The Bull Hotel. Light in the darkness.

The place on the corner stood standing empty for years.

Colourful painted boards on the windows at the front. Demolition taking place at the back.

The Bull Hotel is a place I've driven passed time and time again as Laura used to live just up the road from it. Only the other day, i noticed a way in.

With something you love in life, you must try your hardest to do the best job you can, no half measures. Get results.

Ive not enjoyed urbexing for a while, its nothing compared to street photography. The explore itself is the best part, the photography can be a bit boring or a bit basic.

My constant challenge of finding the light has produced some of my greatest urbex shots ever.


Its a dangerous place to be; holes in the ceiling and holes in the floor, piles of defecation under foot left by the birds. Every step could be an expensive one if go through the floor boards. Its all part of the fun.

A blessed moment, a bird flies away at the decisive moment.

The light in the dark

Exploring in the dark, following the light, whats round the corner?

There's always a chair.

Open doors provide so many photographic opportunities.

The female of the species is more deadly than the male

Danger

How can you ignore the opportunity. The beauty in the decay.
Each time the cloud broke above, this beam of light was the centre piece.

Everyone has issues.


I like these times alone.



Embrace the light.

The hotel; there's no life in the dark

My 2nd trip into the hotel with my friend Stuart was just as good as the 1st, its great to explore with someone else who's armed with their camera. Its good to bounce ideas off of each other and too help each other where needed.

It was another 2 hours spent walking around showing the sights that I had already seen. This time already armed with the layout in my mind, I knew of different rooms I wanted to revisit to get shots i hadn't before.

The abundance of dead flies in the rooms upstairs is immense.

Would you want to stay in this room?

Empty corridor

 

 

Joke's on you.

 

Visiting a hotel but not staying because its cold, damp and abandoned

I love exploring, I love urban exploring, I love urbex.

So, I wont say where this place is because I don't wish for it to be ruined anymore than it already has.

This building is big, loads of bedrooms and loads of public rooms, such as a ball room, bars and dining rooms. There's stair cases, long corridors and dark basements. Smashed windows cause doors to bang and wind to blow through gaps, water flows randomly through pipes and somewhere a toilet flushes when we're the 'only' ones there.

This place is really starting to have seen better days, its sliding in to disrepair extremely fast now. Water has leaked and has rotted through floor ceilings and floor boards. I would hate to think how much it would cost to do up if it was to be modernised and re-opened.

Ive visited 3 times now with different people; the 1st with Laura, I really can't believe I got her to have an explore. The 2nd was with Stuart and the 3rd was Josh and Abi, I wont mention who enjoyed this the most out of the two of them.

The 1st time I visited I was armed with my 5D and Sigma 17-35mm, the lens is old and like the majority of lenses, even expensive ones, is flawed but for a cheep bit of full frame wide angle it does the job. I should really get a more expensive lens but until ive used this lens more than the 3 times ive used it now I wont bother, plus for the price I paid ill soon get my money back. Plus I think its a case of finding the optimum focal length and aperture and so far ive not put the effort in with it.

The shots below are all form my 1st visit, ill post shots from the 2nd visit in my next post.

I didn't

Manicure time

Now that's what gone off milk looks like

If Carlsberg made door knobs

Keep on exploring.

Exploring Salou; Hotel Cala Vina

I should of gone back in..................I  should of gone back in.

We've recently been on holiday, Laura and I, to Salou in Spain. The weather was hot and the food was good, what more can you ask for?

When walking back from a meal in the local resort we walked past a hotel that was abandoned.......result!

Laura, kindly waited as I jumped over the fence surrounding the hotel and searched for an open door, I didn't find one though.

A couple of days later I decided to have another look. I started by going round the back and taking a selfie.

Real exploring clothes, swimming shorts and a vest

I then walked around the site and climbed up a low level building. It was then when I see possible entry point. The downside, I had to climb again to get to it, not so easy when you've got short shorts on and a camera bag hanging off your shoulder.

Oh well.

First I had to balance on a flimsy open ventilation pipe that was just wide enough that if I fell in I would be stuck, I mean really stuck considering no one would know where I was. The next step was to push off of a wall and then jump to a very unstable piece of scaffolding. The scaffolding wasn't supported at the end I was to climb up on, when I put weight on it moved and sunk and swayed. I really had to either man up and go for it or just give up.

I went for it and jumped and balanced on my stomach before I brought my leg up and climbed. Rough work when I was in little shorts.

So I was on the scaffolding but I still had to get in. The way in was a small opening made by pushing a piece of boarding back, getting on my knees and crawling through.

Safe to say it was absolutely roasting inside. I mean damn it was hot.

The corridor I crawled into. The gap i crawled through is on the left hand side.

My goal was to run upstairs and get on the roof, I was stopped immediately on the next floor up, an ALARM. To say it was surprising is an understatement. There was no way I was going up on the roof to then have police or security turn up when I had no other way of getting down.

I lost my bottle!

So I turned round and went down stairs to the ground floor.

It was weird.

The reception and office behind looked as though the hotel employees had downed tools one day, turned off the lights and locked the doors behind. I mean everything was still there; computers, paperwork, pens, pencils, you name it.

 

The alarm was still going off and it was dark, not ideal for photography as I felt rushed so I didn't have time to swap lenses, I just took 2 shots and another selfie and then ran back upstairs to get out. I had crawl out and jump down yet.

I really wish I went back in, I just know that there would be a dining room full of tables and chairs and kitchen full of pots and pans. That's not too mention the guest rooms, there was probably 100 of them.

I did however take a couple of shots of the outside.

I just love a good tilt

It was a big place

 

I really hope I go back to Salou for a holiday again.

Ill have to take less camera gear though as my bag weighed a tonne.