We were never going to get inside Dalton Grange. It was not going to happen, not today, and probably not ever.
More acrobatic explorers have tried and failed quite recently. The last report of an infiltration was a few years ago, and that was likely a break-in. Nevertheless, I added this old manor house to our long list of explores
Dalton Grange previously home to the now-defunct Dalton Grange Social Club was a club for retired employees of what used to be ICI and Zeneca.
The building dates back to the 1870s and during World War I the ‘Dalton Grange Club’ was officially opened, after renovation work brought the building back from a state of disrepair.
Men were scarce in the town; young and presentable ones very rare. Ladies’ evenings were the highlight of the winter season.
The young ladies of the district looked forward to these events with very great pleasure. Lots of shagging took place…
OK I made the last part up, but when the history says, ‘great pleasure’, well one can only think of one thing!
It currently belongs to chemical firm Syngenta, a division of the pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca.
Some wankers tried to burn it down in 2018 but the fire was isolated to a small downstairs area and it was quickly contained.
The club, wound up in 2012 after a decline in membership.
On my insistence we parked over half a mile away from Dalton Grange. Maps had shown me the only place to park was right outside the front gate.
Hindsight tells me this was a good practical idea and after a 10-minute walk we spotted the grand entrance.
The driveway of Dalton Grange is long and leafy, but it was not so long before we caught sight of the stately manor house.
While the front entrance may be presentable the sides and back are not. The amount of greenery was abundant to say the least.
I had to scramble through all this stuff to get to the back part of the house.
Was this a way in, down through the depths of the house? No, there were some inner bars on the other side of the doors that looked more like a prison.
Any potential access points were firmly concreted up like this. Still someone had thrown a brick through an upper window.
The other side of the house was much more accessible. How that scooter got up there is anyone’s guess.
The empty garages are the only place you can ‘get inside’. Well, not this one unless you want to be seriously stung.
Is there really a security system in place or is it one of those bullshit security services that are vapourware.
On the front of the house it looked like an all-seeing eye was installed. They are hard to dodge yet no alarms were ringing and nobody was appearing to kick us out.
Dalton Grange is in good shape with just a few broken windows. Even circling the building I could smell the musty air from within, seeping out like some kind of invisible mist.
We headed back up the long driveway after around 20 minutes quite content. We were never going to get into Dalton Grange.
Exiting the grounds and crossing the road, a non-descript plain grey car pulled up beside us.
'Hoyyyy.. have you two just been in Dalton Grange?', said an Asian looking bloke using an accusatory tone.
DizzyDiscovery responded with a, 'Yes mate, taking some photographs, that's all'
'I know, I have been watching you for some time', responded Seccadude with a knowing smirk.
Now the smart-arse response is, 'So, you know we have been in there, so why are you asking us you twat. Is this some kind of fucking morality test?'
DizzyDiscovery who was closer to Seccadude than me just shrugged and we continued walking down the hill.
Seccadude pulled up in front of the gates for a few minutes and then left sailing past us. If we had parked there we would have been able to block us in. I had the feeling this was his little 'power-trick' for the unwary explorer.
We resisted using any profane hand signals as the car disappeared into the distance.
Do you like posting your Urbex content and photography for FREE on Facebook and YouTube? I like to get some form of reward for my work and every time I create I do just that. Take a look at The Urbex Commmunity on HIVE.
If you want to keep creating for FREE then ignore what you are reading. If you want to be like me and gain something other than BUGGER ALL for your work then click here and learn about posting on the HIVE blockchain.
If you found this article so invigorating that you are now a positively googly-eyed, drooling lunatic with dripping saliva or even if you liked it just a bit, then please upvote, comment, resteem, engage me or all of these things.