There is something incredibly cool about having unique digital content that cannot be attained, ever. Nobody can ever go to the Bradford Arms, as it no longer exists.
In September 2020 we visited The Bradford Arms almost a year after our failed attempt in 2019.
The pub has been subject to many arson attacks and was still smouldering in October 2019 when we peered through these metal bars (below) and failed to gain entry.
Hoping for better luck, myself, @dizzydiscovery, and @goblinknackers approached the back of the old pub and found the bent rail guard gone.
...'The Bradford Arms, October 2019. Still on fire, but we couldn't get in... this is what happens when you are too fat and can't fit through the bars'...
Inside was a homeless bloke, middle-aged who seemed quite pleased to see us.
"Come in and join me.., got any smokes?", he said in a raspy voice.
@dizzydiscovery handed him one which appeared to be our official entrance fee for straddling over the burnt-out gap of where a window was once installed.
Before we had a chance, another homeless bloke came shuffling toward us and went inside, not seeming to give a shit who we were.
@goblinknackers, always the diplomatic one, explained to #homelesssmoker about Urban Exploration.
The smoking one seemed at ease and quite used to visitors.
“Yeah, we get those kids all the time, you lot are a bit older”, he grinned taking another puff.
We climbed inside and marvelled at the sights. The Bradford Arms I could guess smelled permanently of smouldering timbers. It was something you could probably get used to.
#wanderinghomeless who had vanished suddenly came into the room and started up a conversation with #homelesssmoker.
This was all getting a little surreal for me, and I took my leave to photograph ‘their home’.
“You see, that old vodka bottle over there... that is unique as it's only been here and is the only one in the world like it..”, I could hear #homelesssmoker rasping away in the background.
“That’s a lot of crap, it’s just an old fucking bottle and nothing else”, wheezed #wanderinghomeless who was now sat down and sharing @dizzydiscovery’s entrance fee.
Ignoring their incessant rambling about Urban Exploration and 'unique objects' I started looking for anything interesting.
One of them might sleep on the left side where all the shit has been cleared away. The Bradford Arms was seriously burned.
A unique bottle of Cointreau, I would tend to agree, but valuable? It made for a different photograph.
I was glad to get away from the rambling, while @goblinknackers hung around for some reason. #wanderinghomeless seemed quite intellectual in a warped kind of way.
The cellar looked dire but I went down anyway treading careful and hoping not to slip on my arse.
Down there were plenty of dusty glasses and the remains of the pumps.
Mrs Chumber appears to be paying off her loan. Lowell Portfolio I are a debt collecting company, not a loans agency. This is not quite what it seems.
Now what was this, one of those old space invader machines, or a fag dispenser?
So the pub was not mortgaged or owned, but leased and from 1998. The Chumbers have had the pub for some time.
Were the Chumbers renegades or having problems paying? Most people pay their council tax via direct debit these days.
They needed external staff to run the pub. It might have been busy once. Did Brian James Riley get the job?
Upstairs was a bit of a goldmine. Stuff everywhere and those two homeless bums downstairs (who were still bickering over what was valuable or not) must walk over this everyday.
Little Sonia Chumber is a little above average. They could have come back to retrieve all these personal items.
It was a little dank up there. As there were no windows it’s hardly surprising
As it’s a pub, all the living quarters are upstairs. As hard as I tried searching the kitchen was devoid of HP sauce.
I nearly fell over when I saw the master bedroom, complete with double-bed and quilt. Now that is sleeping with style even though all the windows are broken.
There was the little issue that in one corner of this room the wall was quite visibly bending outwards.
I suppose you could go to bed, and the house would collapse around you before you could wake up burying you alive. Let’s hope the sleeper is one of those heavier types.
For now there’s even a range of books to take in before you crash.
We gave up trying to get into the far room, the amount of stuff in the way as a little much.
I could have done some more digging but #wanderinghomeless appeared again telling us this was his bedroom and complaining that 'his house' was collapsing in the corner.
We had seen everything by this time and prepared to leave, though he seemed to want to chat, er complain... some more.
…’a possible entrance if you want to risk impaling yourself. There are... were easier ways in and out’…
I have since learned from @goblinknackers that yet another arson attack was made on the building making it critically unstable around January 2021.
The fire brigade dragged the homeless bloke out and he lived. It has since been flattened and now looks like this.
[Photograph provided courtesy of @goblinknackers]
This report confirms that it will be converted into a drive-through restaurant. Maybe not a bad idea as nobody can go out due to the virus.
Are these photographs that were taken just a few months before the final arson attack..., the last ones ever of The Bradford Arms?
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