Urban exploration is the exploration of man-made structures that most people don’t get to see or are completely unaware of there existence.

Often abandoned or hidden, such as Power stations, bunkers, tunnels, and rooftops. People are drawn to urbex for the thrill of discovery, photography, historical interest, or simply the experience of seeing places few others have. It combines adventure, history, and a measured risk.

In the UK ‘trespass’ is considered a civil matter and therefore often results in a security guard politely telling you to leave if caught.

Sites classed as critical infrastructure such as train lines, sewers or nuclear power stations have there own laws to contend with the same goes for a lot of Military sites too.

Over the years rooftops have become popularized online especially in major cities which as a result often end up with ‘high court injunctions’ placed on them, getting caught somewhere with an active injunction is going to result in issues with the law and one hefty old fine.

For the majority of abandoned spaces, simply entering them is not breaking any law.

We don’t break in or damage any spots we go to. On average around half of the places we try will be sealed and when that’s the case we move on to the next spot. There have been locations that we keep an eye on sometimes for years checking them out every now and then just to see if the situations changed and sometime we get lucky but other times we take the loss and move on.

In today’s age finding spots isn’t as hard as you may think, whether you regard this as good or bad the point is anyone can go out and explore and its never been easier to find spots than it is today.

My go to for new spots typically is networking with other explorers, forums such as ‘28 days later’, social media, news outlets, scanning google earth for anomalies, and old maps typically using Scottish library resources.

Another way i like to find new places is by word of mouth or speaking to locals as typically there going to know there area better than anyone else and most of the time have stories or history on the place that you would struggle to find anywhere else.

As with most things there is an associated risk, each dependent to there own scenario.

Personally i spend a lot of time underground in caves, old mine workings and drains where i take a helmet, first aid kit, spare torch, extra batteries and a 4gas detector.

The dangers of urban exploring can be found in most places, in derelict buildings there’s always the chance of falling through rotten floorboards or encountering a disgruntled owner.

When scaling high stuff theirs always gravity to contend with.

A common danger ive found throughout this hobby is being misunderstood, with most people not understanding or not wanting to believe that people are just generally curious and want to explore there surroundings deeper. What’s behind that odd looking closed door you may walk past on your daily commute or underneath that manhole cover?. being curious about such things is perfectly normal. As a society were always exploring our surroundings from an early age often in the hills or surrounding countryside so wanting to do so in a city/town environment when theirs often some form industrial heritage surrounding the purpose only adds to the mystery.

However sometimes the biggest danger can be trying to explain this to a security guard of confused police officer.

Over the years ive tried, tested and generally lost more kit than i like to admit.

below is a list of gear i use for different types of shenanigans.

CLICK HERE FOR THE GEAR

We try to avoid getting caught as much as possible but sometimes it can’t be helped. In these situations Its best to be respectful and inform them of your intentions straightaway. This will often de escalate the situation and result with being led off the site and told not to come back. Its important to note that once you’ve been told to leave, any attempt to return and try again could potentially fall under the ‘aggravated trespass’ which is a criminal offence and could result in police action.

However, there have been plenty of times when security guards have over reacted. This could be getting physical, demanding all footage be deleted or just calling the police for no reason. This tends to be the case when exploring somewhere which has been getting a lot of attention and the security are just sick of constantly dealing with trespassers.

If the police are called, the majority of the time there more annoyed with the security guards for calling them and wasting there time in the first place. I usually record with my go pro our entry to most places, as a disgruntled security will justify the required police presence to us ‘breaking in’, so its always good to be able to show the officers there making it up and show them the footage.

AN EXCUSE - Plenty of times I’ve been stumbled upon by security or a nosey local asking me what I’m doing and when there’s not been a plausible excuse at the ready they often go to thinking the worst and demanding you leave or worse. A few excuses that have helped in the past are explaining you're trying to get to whatever is next door say if its a football field or separate housing estate and thought there was a short cut, Or you could download the Geocaching app and show them your on a hunt, this may get you judged slightly but often de escalates the situations quite quickly. Another one which a friend of mine has tried is to tell them you're looking for your drone, he happened to come across a broken one on the floor and just carried it in his bag as a backup excuse at the ready.