The secret society sneaking into abandoned buildings in the dead of the night

Urban exploring has become something of a secret phenomenon in the UK.

Thousands of explorers are spending their time researching, visiting and documenting old abandoned buildings situated both in remote, distant locations and hidden in the heart of urban areas.

In Yorkshire there have been a number of individuals that have taken up the hobby and started capturing the oftentimes eerie insides of abandoned schools, hotels, homes and factories within the region.

Video footage and photographs from inside the premises are typically shared amongst the communities online through different social media platforms both publicly and within community groups.

The explorers tend to take on different monikers when sharing their work, such as is the case with Lost Places & Forgotten Faces, Bearded Reality and The Derelict North, all three of which are based in Yorkshire.

YorkshireLive spoke with the three explorers to get a feel of what it’s like to be part of the community and the best derelict areas in the county worth seeking out.

Each of them got into the hobby through a different avenue. Lost Places & Forgotten Faces , based in Harrogate, was inspired after seeing Bear Grylls explore an abandoned Polish shipping yard to the point where he went to visit it himself.

He said: “I booked my flights and went on my own in November 2019, with the goal of having a wander around a massive abandoned shipping yard, just like Bear Grylls did. I made it to the location, and managed to explore about 30 seconds of it before I got stopped by a couple of friendly security guards. I ended up enjoying the rest of my solo trip to Poland, and when I returned home, I immediately began searching for other abandoned places close to me, and I have since been searching all over Yorkshire.”

Despite only involving himself in the urban exploring community for less than a year he has already visited dozens of sites and gained over 10,000 followers on Facebook.

The Derelict North , from Halifax, also only got into the hobby last year and said it was after he came across some “amazing” videos of abandoned hospitals that he became hooked.

He said: “Ever since then I wanted to start exploring myself.”

Bearded Reality – real name Dan Sims – is based in Huddersfield and started photographing abandoned buildings 10 years ago but only started seriously getting involved with the more advanced side of uploading videos and going on regular trips the past two years.

He said the main thing that got him into it was the joy of documenting places and looking into the history of the abandoned buildings. It also tied in with his love of photography and architecture.

The trio have done plenty of exploring across Yorkshire of the county’s abandoned mills, factories and schools and many explorers have visited from further afield to have a look themselves.

Lost Places and Forgotten Faces said: “I have found that some of the big cities in Yorkshire have many abandoned buildings, with Bradford undoubtedly being one of the most saturated. It seems there is a derelict building on every corner there!

“However, I have travelled far to some small villages to find and explore something cool, such as an abandoned Royal Mail train in Hellifield near Skipton, and a disused Army Barracks in Acaster Malbis near York. I prefer the ones that are hidden away and require a lot of searching, it adds to the thrill of the explore.”

Bearded Reality said he’s travelled far and wide in Yorkshire to find different places and that “it’s just about finding time to do it all”. The Derelict North reflected this, having done many abandoned pubs and schools across West Yorkshire.

Bearded Reality said: “It’s nice to explore the history of places. Especially the areas I’m from. I tend to find the abandoned places you find can often show you how a place is doing economically in the sense that the buildings could otherwise have been repurposed if the funds were available.”

Bearded Reality – or Dan – is something of a collaborative explorer in that he often goes out with friends of other people with the same interest.

He said: “It depends on who I want to hang out with. Lately I’ve been going with a group of about seven or eight people.

“It depends on who it is asking though.”

Lost Places and Forgotten isn’t as forthcoming with other explorers though and had some choice words for those in the community that get overly competitive and try to undermine others.

“When i first started out, many people in the exploring community were extremely welcoming and friendly”, he said. “I’ve met up with a number of other enthusiasts and explored with them, and had some fantastic days.

“That being said, as my popularity began to grow, I found that many already established explorers are very bitter and jealous, and want to see me fail. Sorry guys, but I’m here to stay!”

Asked to elaborate, he said: “I only participate in this hobby for my own personal passion of exploring, that’s why I mainly explore on my own. Unfortunately, a lot of other people in the hobby see it more of a competition between one another. They expect you to give them the precise location of a place you have explored, and doing this can lead to a place becoming ransacked and vandalised. If you tell them no, they will encourage their friends to block you. It can get very petty!

“I recently got banned from a urban exploring website as other explorers had become intimidated by my progress and popularity. Its a shame really, but I’m on my own path and have some big plans for the future!”

The other two Yorkshire explorers were a lot more forthcoming with working with others and less critical of the community, with Bearded Reality saying he likes working with others in case he has a “freaky occurrence” while out on an explore.

He said: “A girl I went out with fell through a floor once. We were there so we managed to get her out. But anything can happen.”

The Derelict North added: ” I think the majority of the Urbex community is friendly and there is little competition. I think at the end of the day we all have the same interest. I work very well with most others.”

The three cited various reasons for why they have taken to the hobby so strongly and gave insight into why so many people had followed suit. The interest in the history, the thrill of exploring and the desire to capture the places in their state all factor in to what make it so popular.

Bearded Reality said: “The hobby has got bigger and bigger which I think is down to people sharing their stuff more. It’s definitely encouraging people to explore their own places.

“It’s been around for a while bit it’s certainly a modern hobby.”