free hit counter
Former BBC Manchester Oxford Road crane, June 2016 | Oblivion State Urban Exploration

Post a thread

Post a thread in one of the forums

Browse the forums

Browse threads and contribute to reports

Contact Staff

Contact the team

Former BBC Manchester Oxford Road crane, June 2016

True_British_Metal

Full Member
OS Member
Joined
Aug 27, 2013
Messages
66
Reaction score
127
Points
33
Visited with Slipdrix.

I never thought I'd be sat up here. Really, I thought after all the crap that went down after my last crane climb 5 years ago in April 2011 (although funnily enough, I never got hit by it all), I would never do one again. I did actually try One First Street in Manchester with Ptchaw back in ~2013 when the entire site had about 7 cranes on site, protected by CCTV and a patrolling guard, but instantly tripping an external PIR put paid to that and I never tried again. Besides, I never truly felt comfortable up a crane; firstly the sensation that being unshielded from wind left me feeling like my camera would blow off the side! The worst however is never having anywhere to hide if security spot you; in my head it's a near equivalent to getting caught naked... in public... with nowhere to run!

I didn't want to do this at first, but Slipdrix insisted we get out and try it, and in hindsight it was rewarding. Very, very rewarding. Expecting it to be an absolute fortress, getting in was actually far easier than expected. Not a soul in sight, and little in our way to stop us getting around. Just get in the base, make your way up as fast as possible and don't mess around.

That's exactly what I did.

27394615300_b218d03a8c_b.jpg


27394590300_eb6e238974_b.jpg


27060954864_2d1ab28cc4_b.jpg


The photos were taken at ISO100 wherever possible, but other times there was nothing to stick the camera on so I switched to AUTO ISO which made the pictures a little grainy.

27673042345_48d2fe4531_b.jpg


27394568640_98d3d11ff0_b.jpg


27637793686_133f37bbca_b.jpg


27598438841_f33274d677_b.jpg


So there we have it, my first crane for 5 years. Maybe I'll do some more in the future, because the photo opportunities really are rewarding. Unfortunately I dunno if I'll ever be able to shake the fear of being seen, so I don't think I'll ever actively seek out to do them in the future. But who knows?

Coming down, we did actually get spotted, albeit not by the site security. Opposite is a building currently being renovated, and under scaffold. Halfway down we saw him come out to do a patrol, but afterwards he didn't actually leave. He just stood outside the cabin door, basking in the night air or having a cigarette perhaps. There was no way he couldn't see us by this point, so we heard a loud whistle. We couldn't stop then, and he was effectively powerless so our only choice really was to run away back where we came from. Somehow we got out and pulled it off without a hitch. Fantastic.

Thanks for reading. Love as always,

TBM x

 

The_Raw

Administrator
Staff member
Admin
Joined
Dec 16, 2013
Messages
3,931
Reaction score
2,183
Points
113
Liking that mate, and cool write up again (y)  

:comp  

 

Maniac

OS Full member
OS Full member
Joined
Nov 3, 2008
Messages
1,269
Reaction score
324
Points
83
Location
Kent
Nice one! I know what you mean about cranes, it's not so bad once you're up there, but the risk of being spotted while climbing it are high until you're a certain distance off the ground. Well done for giving it a shot! :)  

 

hamtagger

OS Full member
OS Full member
Joined
Jan 30, 2014
Messages
3,517
Reaction score
1,062
Points
113
Location
Lincoln
Good job mate, you wouldn't catch me up one of those mothers!  :?

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Top