Tales of the Urban Explorer: The Bat Factory
“There’s something there, an old factory perhaps?”.
We were planning a Wales expedition and I was pouring over Google Maps once more. Someone had posted an article on one of those centralised sites such as ‘www.28dayslater.com’ about a school.
I had found it quickly, and what do you know, next door is this mess of an old industrial site, or that's what it appeared to be.
Surely @grindle must know it, I had to ask...
“Yeah I did it ages ago, it was pretty crap", he came back with, or words to that effect.
While it’s not surprising that he knows it (@grindle knows about everywhere in Wales), I was still determined to have a look.
The school was a bust, bloody builders in there doing their building and drinking endless cups of tea or as we are in Wales, panad. I know little Welsh, and Tea is kind of important in Wales.
With the school being literally next door, we didn't need to adjust our parking spot. Thankfully the area was clear of Karens.
We needed to take a run and hope our momentum held out. This is how you climb muddy banks, and if it doesn't then you slide backward and hope.
That was the way in, besides some makeshift fencing that was wholly inadequate.
“Well.. at least we are not going to be disturbed here”, I motioned to @anidiotexplores who was already disappearing into the nearest decrepit building.
I agree, ‘Plod’ are most unwelcome at places like these.
If it's crap then at least some of the better graffiti artists have visited. It looked quite fresh.
‘Boris’ is another politician who is never in favour with the graffiti boys.
There is a little resemblance don’t you think? The wild hair and spotty tie gives it away.
Look at the tormented hand, the highlight for sure.. with the green crack in the wall.
Besides graffiti, there was little else in the sizable first building.
There are buildings out there, hidden in the trees... I know it.
It could have been a window once, now it’s a window plus. That’s a window with half of the brickwork around it exploded.
Underfoot was getting sloppy as we approached this corrugated iron tin hut.
Inside was worse, but some kind soul had utilised the bits of fallen 'iron' to produce a walkway. There must be something at the end? Walking to the end and turning left, we climbed a small wall and heard shrieking…
BATS! They seemed confused and trapped though there was another escape exit in the top right corner.
For a few minutes they whizzed around at top speed and due to our slow shutter camera phones, we failed to capture them. There was at least THREE.
You can see the blurs on both of my attempts in different places. After a short period of time, we exited where the bats should have if they had any sense.
The corrugated tin house was attached to a more conventional Victorian-style small mill, or factory.
Some big drops await if you are not careful with your footing.
This area looked a little better with some rusting machinery parts.
How many heads has that massive rusty guillotine decapitated? The front entrance was sealed, and the only way in was through 'The Bat Room'.
They made things to last over one hundred years ago, the steps may be full of rust but they were solid.
What is it I wonder? It looked great from this angle and was my highlight shot.
Better looked at and not touched, but very photogenic.
Backtracking through 'The Bat Room' (yes those dumbasses were still in there flapping around), we tentatively used the walkway again.
They could have extended it a little; this part was slippery and full of mud.
Visiting in the middle of summer should have water-free, and mud-free but not here.
As much as we would have liked to see more, it was a quagmire up there. I am considering adding a pair of Wellies to my mandatory Urbex kit.
There was the option of trying from the opposite end, but this meant a wall climb with a sizable drop.
Drop into what, a load of shit?
We could only mope about and dwell on the wonders we had missed in those other buildings.
Bypassing the portable toilet, and in complete despair.. we left.
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Although the Boris stuff is adjusting the hand and crack graffiti was really good wasn't it!
Loved the hand, and have seen those creepy hands before, in Sheffield I think where all the good ones live!
I always like a good spraying! Although to be fair the comedy knobs and assoc poorly spelled wordage usually gets a chuckle as well :OD
Aye.., it does!
Must have been abandoned a long time to get that rusty. Some good graffiti (always spell that wrong) though. Why put in so much effort when hardly anyone will see it? Bats are protected, so that may limit what can be done with it. I see some in the garden sometimes, but I don't know where they roost.
It's out of the way and they won't get disturbed. That hand must have taken some effort. We have bats in the summer as well, not seen them in a confined space like this before.
I guess the artists need somewhere to practice. I bet they take pictures to show it off anyway.
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@slobberchops, realmente el sitio es increíble, allí se ve como la naturaleza tomo el control del área urbana nuevamente, tiene mucho tiempo abandonado por oxido en las estructuras metálicas, lo que mas me gusto fueron los dibujos en las paredes "grafiti" muy originales y bonitas tu fotos, espero algún día llegar a tu nivel, esto es nuevo para mi, saludos y muchos exitos.
Thanks, it's mainly what I write about here.
ok very nice your photos, and interesting content, greetings
The graffiti was very good. The wide angle photo made it look like some trendy art gallery in Soho lol.
The rust really pops against the green foliage.
Cool find. 👍
It's all regular phone camera photography.., no tricks or fancy stuff beside the filter. I go light and can't have a DLR camera banging away on things when I am trying to scale walls and entering windows. There's no room!
Makes perfect sense. As a mostly dslr shooter I get what you mean about going light.
I've always done smartphone photos as well but was not overly happy with the results.
Until I got my hands on an iPhone 8 plus. It's kicking my dslr's butt lol
Smartphone cameras these days are brilliant. You've may already have a wide angle lens on your camera?
Interesting.., I have not had a proper camera since the SLR days of old. I recently ditched my iPhone 7 for a 12, but these images were taken on the old phone.
Wide angle, very likely.., but I haven't taken the time to learn how to use the features yet.
I think the iPhone 7 may have a built in function that assesses the composition and chooses the right settings?
The iPhone 13 has a dedicated wide angle lens and a whole bunch of AI giggery pokery that basically takes and enhances the photos for the user. 📽🎬😂👍
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Great exploration. I like the rusty stuff.
at night
That's a really cool Light Painting spot. Some of the interior old machinery is super cool and a great subject for urbex'ers. I would love to see it during the night.
For a second I thought its a place I actually have been. That entrance looked like one from an abandoned old dog orphanage outside Berlin here. Anyhow cool post .. thanx for sharing.
There's a Light Painting community here and they do some great things.
I know a hand full of them personally. Had the honor to play with them on several occasions all over Europe.
Some will visit Berlin soon again .. We met a few times and I also plan on visiting the UK hopefully soon.
Bat factory is a killer title, I imagine how it feels crawling through. Always a pleasant read, as we appreciate our cozy homes now even more !LOL
Apart from the mud it wasn't a bad explore. Its extracting the crap from your shoes before getting in the car that is a PITA.
The graffiti was quite good in this one. Much better than the usual you see.
You can just make out the blurred bats in the photos lol. The way bats swoop down when they fly would make me not want to go in and out of their room too many times. I just picture Jim Carey in Ace Ventura screaming "They're in my hair!"
This was a first, I have never seen bats in well over 200 explores. Made it a little different!
This place has been deserted for so long, its surroundings are filled with green fungus and rust. I find graffiti a useless art, It's something special that only a painter can understand, do you find it interesting?
I find any abandoned place interesting, there's always something to photograph that is not generally seen.
Has tenido que tener coraje o valor para entrar allí he! En casa entró un murcielago, y casi que la vendimos con tal de no verlo otra vez jaja
Saludos
Looks like that wasn't a complete bust. Time to plan a dry season re-visit?
That was September 2021, hardly the wet season. There is a lot more to it, and Wellies would be needed for the rest. Maybe..
I love the dilapidated building and area. The tormented hand on the wall is a logo from a skateboarding brand called "Santa Cruz". Great pictures, thanks for this amazing adventure without having to be there.
So it is.., and I thought it was an original idea. Seen it twice now.
An amazing exploration. I can’t leave without saying the art is just so creative and interesting which is really turning my attention. If I visit there alone of course I will find it creepy. You are the strong person and really appreciate your experience about exploring. You are an inspiration person.💖
some nice new art work appeared. tbh, the school was better, shame you couldn't get in.
Definitely some of the better graffiti we have seen! Kind of sucks that there weren't more artifacts for you to look at but the other mechanical stuff was pretty cool. I am shocked that chain hasn't broken and that large rock fallen. It almost looks like some of the large grindstones we have around here that use to be used for milling wheat and corn.
very good photos and good work
Damp dump to say the least, Boris a guillotine handy being right there caught up in bats.
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They told me if I killed myself now it would save the lives of countless others.
Saying the longer I wait to kill myself the more people will suffer.
They are reckless and should have shown the proper media what they had before taking me hostage for 5 years. I know there are many in prison that dont deserve to be there because of this. Your stay in prison will not be fun @battleaxe and friends. People are going to want you dead when they find out what you did. I hope you die a slow painful death. You sick mother fuckers.
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Its a terrorist act on American soil while some say its not real or Im a mental case. Many know its real. This is an ignored detrimental to humanity domestic and foreign threat. Ask informed soldiers in the American military what their oath is and tell them about the day you asked me why. Nobody has I guess. Maybe someone told ill informed soldiers they cant protect America from military leaders in control with ill intent. How do we protect locked up soldiers from telling the truth?
Very artsy but that still doesn’t beat the last pic of this post😜.