My alarm clock went off. At 7 am. On a Sunday morning. After cursing myself and repeatedly declaring that this is a stupid idea for half an hour, i hit the shower and then the bus. I buy my breakfast and lunch somewhere between two trains. Then i meet up with urbancologne, and off we go for another day of Urban Exploration.
First Stop: an abandoned factory. It's cold, it's trashed, it's boring. And the damn fence is sharper than anticipated. Finally a use for the band-aids that i have been carrying around for so long but never used. Granted, they weren't in my backpack anymore. Murphy, how i hate you!
Anyway, our backup location just earned itself a promotion and we drive on to the next one.

The ceiling is already coming down. In HDR.

After endless driving, we arrive in the middle of nowhere. A small village between some other small villages. We fight our way through a little marsh and arrive at the fence. Do not enter! Danger of collapse. Yeah. Right.
Luckily, this fence isn't sharp. We don't even have to climb. Once inside, we ready our cameras, start shooting and part ways. Until my partner calls for me. "Where are you?" - "Right here!" - "Where is that?" Classic. He informs me that a neighbor spotted him. Since we had read stories about the police checking this place, we plotted our options. Staying inside and getting caught would be stupid. Leaving would be equally stupid. We make a compromise and wait outside where nobody can see us but we can see when something happens.

Chaos & Ivy

Nothing happens. We wait a little longer. More of nothing happens. I say that i expect the next group of "explorers" making their way through the bushes rather than the cops. Then movement. A person walks past the front gate. Then, the same person walks back. Definitely checking out this place. Just moments later a group of 4 comes around the corner to our hiding spot. Low profile clothing, tripods, the usual stuff.

Basket Bottle. Backlit by some cheap LED spots.

After a little bit of smalltalk, it is clear that we found this place through the same channels. We go inside together and everybody does his thing for the next few hours without anything interesting happening.

Bottles

The place used to be a factory for metal works and bicycle accessories. Remainders of the production are laying around everywhere. Most parts of the building look like the workers just left when the roof and ceilings started collapsing and never returned. Apart from that, not much vandalism, theft or graffiti has been going on there.

Workbench, still loaded with tools

All in all, it is a small location, yet a very interesting one with tons of details waiting to be found everywhere. I'd love to visit it again with a lens that's better suited for detail shots, as soon as i have one. Greetings go out to beOcay and urbanex.

As usual, you can find more images in the gallery:

Metal Works August