It's been a while since I posted a blog to the Hive due to work committments and no play at all lately. This being an Easter weekend, I awarded myself some time off (I'm self employed) and took a tour around my local derelict buildings, what's left of them.
Today's 2nd location was an abandoned bus depot in Rotherham. It's not the most glamorous of places to visit but I've been fascinated by this place ever since I realised it was derelict. The reason for my fascination is because I design the interiors of vehicle service workshops for a living. I design all the systems involved in servicing a car, truck, bus, motorcycle or van. I've covered pretty much every scenario in my time.
I understand that First Bus, the operator, moved out of this depot in 2017 and the depot has since been used by the local police for firearms training. Lately the car park has been occupied by multiple caravans of the travelling community. With the travellers in place, we've avoided trying to get in since we would only expect unwanted trouble if we went anywhere near the place!
So once I managed to fit my enormous bulk through a 24" square cut hole in a jaggy fence, I clambered down a slippy banking and narrowly managed to avoid tripping arse over tit! This is what I got:
In the pits
This urbex mission felt very much like a "bus man's holiday" This is a lower area at the front of a line of service pits with steps up to ground floor level. I've designed the services around these types of pits many times in the past including one of the biggest in Europe, so it really felt familiar.
Not good for the knees
Pits in workshops have become less popular over the years favouring other methods of underside inspection. Climbing up and down these steps all day long can't be good for the knees!
Tight spaces
At my age I wouldn't like to work under these pits espcially being 1.8 mtrs tall bumping my head in 1.5 mtr pits. I always thought I could tell a bus mechanic in the street by the stoop they develop after working under these pits!
No Jacking
These platforms straddle the pits to enable staff to hop across from one side to the other. I have many examples where this sign was ignored and the crazy fool tries to jack up a bus with 10 tonnes of load with predictable outcomes!
Huge
Despite having a bag full of lenses, I couldn't quite convey the scale and size of this depot. This was just one half where the buses would have been parked.
iPhone Pano
I'm not normally a fan of these panoramas made with an iPhone but it does help to convey the scale of this place!
Extra long pit
Knowing a little about bus garages, I believe this extra long pit would have been used for underside inspection for more than one bus at a time.
Deja Vu
I saw this brake tester and immediately recognised the make and model. In fact I used to work for the damn company that made them and I'm sad enough to know the size of the hole in the floor it went in to!!
Scorchio
I don't know of many derelict buildings where some nerk hasn't tried to torch the place. Luckily this PortaKabin was caught in time before it took the rest of the depot with it!
I spy an old boiler
One of my lightpainting bucket list shots to take is to shoot old boilers in the dark, spending ages setting up lighting all around to make it look cool. I will be back sometime soon in the dark!
Holes
I found myself peering in to the holes in the boiler to see if I could backlight them with a flashgun. It would be cool to have smokey light beams emanating from the tubes. Gotta be tried on my return in the dark!
Nature reclaiming
Hanging around in gents toilets is not something I'd make a habit of but when you see the overgrowth trying to claw it's way inside, I have to hang around to shoot it!
I love a good circuit board
In the switch room next to the site's main boilers is this excellent looking circuit board. I shot this thinking I can't be the only person who loves a good circuit board, right? I'd love to return in the dark and light paint this some time soon!
And finally....
It's always safest to enter these derelict buildings with someone responsible enough to phone for an ambulance in the event that I fall over something or trip down a deep dark hole. With this photo, I'm not so sure @inksurgeon has the right level of responsibility to provide emergency care....
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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