Today is the day I should probably buy some lottery tickets. Cannon's Brewery in Sheffield is a place that drew attention to itself with so many urban explorers visiting they had to lock it down. For the past few years, I've made a detour every time I passed by to see if there was a way in.
I've had no luck for at least four years getting in to Cannons and today was the day my luck changed!
The @inksurgeon and I had originally intended to visit another abandoned building in Sheffield but that turned out to be a bust. So as a Plan B we decided to take another look at Cannons and check for access. This time we got lucky! The metal pallisade fencing had two bolts taken from two of the slats meaning that a quick adjustment and we were in! Even a big chap like me managed to fit through the gap!
Cannon's Brewery has been stood empty and abandoned for years. I understand the place is due for demolition to make way for more damned student flats but for now I took what I could and grabbed as many photos while I got the chance!
This is what I got:
Light and Shade
Once we were inside the fence, we headed for the cellars. Underneath the whole site is a sprawling array of corridors with low ceilings easy to bump your head on (which I did twice!). In certain sections are these amazing spiral stairways, perfect for a dark and moody shot.
Roll out the Barrel
In the cellars are the remains of old barrel tracks for transferring beer barrels:
It was dusty down in the cellars and I had to leave due to the allergic reaction I often get on my throat!
Bump
Looking from within the low cellars towards the barrel handling area, the ceiling height was just high enough to stand up in but I do now have paint peelings in my hair!
Spiral
As I left the cellars to move upstairs for fresher air, I couldn't resist shooting this spiral staircase. Shooting this wasn't a comfortable experience!
Fresh
Once outside the cellars I was pleased to breath in fresh air and managed to bag this shot of the brewery with my iPhone:
The Sketchiest Stairway to Heaven
I got half way up these stairs and decided to abort the ascent! The landing half way up isn't secured and my days as a base jumper are long gone!
Red
We entered the main brewing building via these stairs. I'm still obsessed with selective colour treatments. I'll get over it eventually!
Zig and Zag
The light today was amazing. Walking up the stairs I spotted the zig zags on the stairs. It took a while to walk up these stairs, I kept seeing photos everywhere!
Shot with an iPhone 13 Pro, these things are still continuing to surprise me!
The Vats
I say vats, there's nothing actually left of the vats which emerged through these floors. The metals used in the vats must have been worth a lot of money becasue everything else was left behind. Presumably they were made of copper.
I wished I'd brought my fisheye lens. My 20mm just didn't cut the mustard!
The Cannon's Brewery logo in the windows gives the game away. I've spent most of my time following some sort of urbexer's code, never revealing a location but here there's no avoiding it.
The Obligatory Look Up Shot
With the lens I had, I got what I could. I like to wander these places with only one lens and that was a 20mm. A return with a fisheye lens is on the cards!
Vertical iPhone Pano
Not having a wide enough lens on me at the time, I usually whip out the iPhone 13 Pro and take a pano shot. This time I moved the pan vertical. You do have to be careful not to shoot your own feet however!
Light and shade
As we exited the beer vats room, we wandered in to a few dark rooms with great light beaming through the doors. It would have been rude not to shoot it!
Up on the top floor
We moved up to the higher parts of the brewery with these greats beam of light. We had a lucky day today with the light!
Beam Porn!
Probably my favourite of the day, this composition is right up my street!
About me:
I usually specialise in shooting lightpainting images but occasionally dabble in urbex and artistic model photography. I'm always on the lookout for someone to collaborate with; please don't hesitate to get in touch if you'd like to create art.
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