Despite meticulous planning and emails telling everyone what to bring, you guessed it one of the team forgot a vital piece of kit! ..

This was always going to be a tricky one given the amount of rain we have had recently and it didn’t disappoint. It was fairly dry walking (crawling) along the access shaft but then once into the actual test bore it became apparent that this was going to be an hilarious, if not sticky, adventure.

The water was deep, a lot deeper than last time I was down here, almost a year ago this month, and from memory a lot more slippery !
So not that many photos, but a really fun morning out with plenty of laughs, especially at the expense of Mr Owler who managed to get both his feet wet…snigger snigger…

All the pics can be viewed at www.flickr.com

Mainly I take pictures of abandoned derelict buildings, whether domestic or industrial. Other than that I’m partial to sun sets and sun rises! Which means I’m either up early or out late in the evening!

I like my 50mm lens and regularly take a variety of pics with this. My main weapon of choice is the Sigma 10-20mm attached to my Nikon D7000.

Anything that involves a little bit of danger gets the heart going also…especially if it involves fire !

All my photos get posted to either my Facebook page or my Flickr profile.

Yes I have had a few successes’ and my pictures have been used in newspapers and magazine around the world. I have even had one or two used by the good old BBC .

I do not use Photoshop or have any intention to do so!  All my pictures are SOOC (straight out of camera!)

Looking for a photo shoot location or filming something that just needs a bit of an edge then get in touch !

Box mine is huge! We must have walked a good couple of miles underground ..well you would do when going round in circles! … bloody GPS doesn’t work in the damp, dark confines of underground Wiltshire!
Not many photos which means a return visit is on the agenda…but what a laugh we had !
A little bit of history !
Stretching between Box Hill and the end of Box Tunnel, its the largest stone mine in the country and possibly even the world.
Stone had been quarried from Box Hill since medieval times using open pits but the extent of the stone was unknown until Isambard Kingdom Brunel came in to the town. Brunel built his tunnel through the hill which was completed in 1841. While his many men blasted their way through the hill they became aware of the vast quantities of good quality Bath Stone.
Soon after building the tunnel several local companies started to mine the stone commercially, these companies were Pictors, Nobles and Stones. The mines evolved in a haphazard manner and pass over the top of Box Tunnel. Many of the mines ran in to each other underground causing the huge labyrinth of tunnels we have left behind today.
The total quarried area is approximately 2 miles long and a mile wide in an oval shape. The total passage length of Box is estimated at 15 miles if not more. There were many air shafts leading up to the surface but most have now been filled in. The quarry has a system of light rail and a railway siding on the main GWR line at the Corsham end of the Box Tunnel.

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Now for those of you that do not live in this drought zone they call Kent let me assure you that it isn’t! The amount of water flowing freely out to sea from these drains is staggering!

The water companies should be ashamed of themselves!

But anyway..I digress..turned out that a mixture of water, clay and chalk makes one of the strongest stickiest substances on earth! ..I kid you not..nearly lost me willies every other step..it’s evil stuff !

So, whilst attempting not to sink so far into this primeval ooze that we’d be back in the land of dinosaurs, slip on the metal sectioning or even worse lose my camera we did manage to get a few shots..

It was wet down there…very wet..trying to light the shot keep water off the camera and lens was hard..hope you enjoy the results..

My legs are killing me !

Full set of pics are available at www.facebook.com/urbanexploring

You can see more crazy Lego stuff here on my Flickr profile 

after getting firmly wedged in a window (thanks again Kev) we found a slightly easy way in..such is the life of an urban explorer !

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Masses of history as follows:

Administrative history:The first publicly-run lunatic asylum in Kent was situated at Barming Heath, near Maidstone. By June 1872 it was clear to the County Quarter Sessions that one asylum was insufficient for the needs of the county.As a result, the Kent New Asylum Committee was constituted. After a short period, the Committee purchased 120 acres on Chartham Downs near Canterbury, with the intention of building an asylum to serve the wholeof East Kent. The site was described by the Commissioners in Lunacy as being in ‘so bleak and elevated position, exposed on all sides’. The site was approved by the Commissioners only after intervention by the Secretary of State.The first asylum buildings were designed by John Giles and Gough and built between 1872 and 1875.On 5th April 1875, the first patients (East Kent patients housed at Barming Heath) arrived at the KentCounty Lunatic Asylum, Chartham Downs. Staff in the first year consisted of a medical superintendent, sixtynurses, a chaplain, a clerk/steward and ten tradesmen. These were overseen by a Committee of Visitorsformed by the County Lunatic Asylum Committee of Quarter Sessions.On the removal of many of the administrative powers of Quarter Sessions in 1889, responsibility formanaging the asylum passed to Kent County Council. From 1920, the managing committee of thecounty council was the Kent County Mental Hospitals Committee.With the formation of the National Health Service in 1948, Kent County Council was absolvedof responsibility for the hospital. Renamed St. Augustine’s, the hospital, along with St. Martin’sHospital (formerly Canterbury City Mental Hospital) was run by the St. Augustine’s HospitalManagement Committee (later Hospitals Executive Committee). This committee was responsibleto the Canterbury and Thanet Health District, later Authority.The hospital closed in 1993 and redevelopment of the site was started in 1997.History and Development of the Site1872 Site purchased for £6,2365th April 1875 The first patients arrived1875 The gas works were in operation1876 Accommodation had been built which could accommodate 870 patients at a cost of £211,8521887 A twenty bed sanatorium was added (later used as a night nurses home)1893 A new mortuary was built1898 Hawthorn, May and Hazel blocks were opened1924 New blocks were added1910 Staff recreation rooms were added1929 An operating theatre was built1931 A new nurses home was built (later named Godfrey House)1938 The mortuary was redesigned1939 Admission block and two convalescent villas were built at a cost of £60,000.These were taken over in 1940 and used as a military hospital.1948 A report on the inception of the National Health Service listed a total estate of 300acres, 200 of which were under cultivation and 73 residences for staffRecords of Individual PatientsPatients from East Kent usually came to St. Augustine’s, with a few exceptions.From 1902, Canterbury Borough had its own Mental Hospital (later St. Martin’s Hospital).Prior to this, Canterbury Borough patients were reported as being in various location includingFisherton House, Wiltshire and in 1896 at Derby County Asylum. Often, St. Augustine’s took patients from surrounding counties who could not be housed in local asylums. This was particularly true of the London boroughs. During World War I, patients from a number of counties were transferred to Chartham as a result of their usual hospital being requisitioned by military authorities. These patients are listed in separate admission and discharge books.The hospital was also part of the Emergency Medical Service (EMS) during World War II. Records of the EMS in this hospital are not held.Closed in 1993 and turned into a gross housing estate in 1997 !

Full set of pictures at www.facebook.com/urbanexploring

Thanks to Kev for taking that girl to show a house and finding this !

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Over some nasty barb wired fences, across open ground, diving into the undergrowth for cover, sliding down into gullies to make our way into the first building..how noisy is a group of nine ! Still secca were clearly having their cornflakes so we made it unseen..Pye never fails to impress! The place is just massive !.. the machinery is huge..I’m still baffled how anyone can think up these types of sites..truly some clever people in this world.

Whilst cocking about trying to see who was going to be brave enough to descend the wooden ladder (thanks Kev) we must have made too much noise and whilst 5 of us were buried in the underworld two of our team had a very nice exchange of pleasantries with the local ghurka regiment that patrol the site !The rest of us emerging from the pitch black of some dark exhaust tunnel decided that we should make our way back out…as stealthily as you can be running in the rain, scrambling across brambles and debris, squeezing under Heras fencing we made it too our final destination for a few quick last shots before we made our final and rather undignified exit onto the main road to Farnborough.

A great day with some very cool people…so thanks to Trevor, Wes, Kevin, Chris, Ollie, Robbie, Matt and John for a great way to spend a rather damp and grey Sunday morning !

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Still amazes me that places can be left to rot with the former occupants possessions..so sad…enjoy the pics….it was very dark in there so a lot of flash and torch light was needed !

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