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  1. #1
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    Arrow 2 Geordies and a Gixer, the BIG euro road trip! 27/7/09

    exactly what it says on the tin,
    2 geordies, a suzuki gsxr, a sat nav and a vague idea of where we wanted to go and what we wanted to see!
    The adventure started at the immense Grande Moulins De Paris flour mill.
    Closed since 1989, the sheer size and the extent of the natural decay here are something else.
    This enormous building has stood since 1920, and while the brand 'Grande Moulins de Paris' still exists and the company still own the land, this big old mill seems to have been forgotton about!
    An interesting soundtrack was provided by canal traffic and the scrapyard over the road. Main point of interest here was the roof, so on with the pics!


















    Soooooo, with the rain spotting on we headed for our next target... the industrial yumminess of Cokerie D'Anderlues.
    The last of the big Coke Plants left standing in the area, it was eventually closed in 2002 after attempts at modernisation failed. The site has been mined since the 1850's.
    Demo should have started last year but it was found that the ground was heavily contaminated so things ground to a halt. The smell here is unbelievable, that fumey, derelict industry smell... sweetened with the smell of fresh rain.
    looovellyyyyy!!
    oh, and no fish eye here, the chimney really IS that shape......

















    Headed back to the motel ready for day two....
    watch this space.
    Last edited by Mexico75; 06-08-2009 at 08:26 PM. Reason: Title icon and merged threads
    The harder you fall, the higher you bounce.



  2. #2
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    Default 2 Geordies and a Gixer, the BIG euro road trip day Two! 28/7/09

    An early start in Liege saw us heading for the big one.... and actually my favourite place of the trip. The imposing coal mine of Hasard Cheratte.
    After a wee bit of mountaineering :O and a close encounter with a 30ft drop that came out of nowhere... we found ourselves in, but at opposite sides of the site! So, half a solo explore ensued while we spend 20 minutes trying to find each other again, each convinced that the other hadn't stopped in time down the bank and was lying in a crumpled heap 30ft down.
    Still, after gaining the high ground we found each other and with eagles soaring above us, we got exploring!

    A coal mine since the 1860's, this was once one of many that mined the Leige coal basin.
    The huge winding tower that remins sits over shaft three which was the deepest in the complex at 480m. The mine was closed in 1977 and is now a Belgian Protected Landmark. Smell-o-vision here too as one of the shafts is kicking out a lovely methaneish smell... so, although the mine is accessable we didnt think it would be a good idea....
    The main buildings you can see were hidden so well in the hills surrounding it, that we really didnt see this place until we were right on top of it. Even riding around later on, there is no evidence of this place from the roadside, and yet it dominates the town around it.



















    Loads more of this place on my flickr.... here

    So, we finally left, knowing that time was pushing on and we needed to make our way up to Germany.
    Site two on epic Tuesday was the sleeping giant Khrupp Ardell, or Sinterlinge.
    Not an awful lot of info on this place but i will add more when i find some! This was once the biggest coke plant in Europe and i love the german's philospohy on this.... big, impressive... lets keep it. But let it rot.....
    lol! its a protected landmark, and set just back from a nicely landscaped public park! Explorers instinct found the trail through the bushes and after more mountaineering (and a slippery bit of rope!) we were in. And we thought Anderlues was big.......



















    again, more on flickr.... kinda went to town in this place, total industrial yumminess!!!

    Last place of the day was the lovely Zeche Hugo. Development on this site has started already, but the concrete headstock is to be kept as a monument.


    A fairly honest place this, clean functional... not an awful lot left to be honest...





    but when we rounded a corner at the end of a corridor we discovered in the echoing silence why people come here....









    thousands on thousands of these baskets are suspended from the ceiling, each with a corresponding hook along the benches. It's sobering to think that each of these baskets represents someone who used to work here, and now they hang like empty gibbets in this vast room waiting on the developers.
    Stunning!
    So, exhausted but happy we ended day two with pizza in Essen.
    The harder you fall, the higher you bounce.



  3. #3
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    Default 2 Geordies and a Gixer, the BIG euro road trip day Three! 29/7/09

    Well, after a well deserved lie in, Wednesday saw us take a break from exploring and take a ride down to manneheim for the Sinsheim and Speyer Auto und Technik Museums.
    Not strictly urbex, but if you like planes, trains and automobiles.......
    geek out........

























    Soooooo, back across to Belgium and back into urbex for day 4, and the site i really came across to see, Fort De Chartereuse......
    The harder you fall, the higher you bounce.



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    Default 2 Geordies and a Gixer, the BIG euro road trip day Four! 30/7/09

    Well, back to Belgium and back to urbex, the next site on the list was the old, imposing fort of Chartereuse.
    Now, this is the site that got me into Belgian Urbex to start with, so indulge me in a little history lesson....
    Since the revolutions in 1830, Belgium has been a country in its own right' This fort that was once built to protect the city of Leige was given over to barrack the newly formed Belgian Army.
    At its height, the barracks was home to over 2'000 men. WW1 saw Belgium occupied territory, and the fort inevitably fell into German hands.



    This memorial is dedicated to the 49 soldiers lined up and shot here when the fort was used to house Belgian and French prisoners and members of the Belgian resistance.

    WW2 saw the fort back into German hands, and was used this time as a barracks from 1940, to 1944.
    In 1945 the Barracks became an American army hospital, utilised mainly during the Ardennes offensive.
    Walking around this place, it just ooooozes history, from the shell holes still in the walls, to the sombre memorial at the gates. No flag has flown at this memorial since 1982, and the site is now a playground for paintballers. Still, get into the old barracks itself and its character is far from harmed, the paintballing seems reserved for the more modern accomadation blocks.
    Anyhow, enough waffle.. more pics!




















    on ne passe pas.......





    A little worn out from the ride across from Mannehiem and with failing light, we decided to make our way over to another staple on the Belgian Urbex diet, Chateau Noisy... or, to give it its Sunday name......
    Chateau Miranda.
    Well, we could have..... if we could have FOUND the place! After wandering around for hours before we realised that perhaps the gatehouse may hold something else behind it, we bumped in to a couple of Dutch explorers who asked if we were there for 'the castle...'
    RESULT!
    not that they knew how to get in either, but they convinced us we were in the right place! So, a quick scout through some MORE heavy forest.... this amazing place emerged in the late evening sunshine.
    Chateau Miranda was built as a summer house for the family of the Count of Liedekerke - Beaufart in 1866. It was still owned by the family until ww2 when it was briefly occupied by the Nazi's.
    in 1958 it was used to house railwaymen's children and became 'Chateau Noisy' until abandoment quietened it in 1991. This must have been an amazing place to be if you were a kid.........

















    so, there you have it. The end of a very long, but very rewarding day!!!
    The harder you fall, the higher you bounce.



  5. #5
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    Default 2 Geordies and a Gixer, the BIG euro road trip day Five! 31/7/09

    Here we are, journey's end!
    On the way back to Calais we swung by the deceptivley large textile factory of Du Parc.
    Very much like Cerebos salt this place, with its massive rooms and scattered equipment, very photogenic especially when you get to the room where the bobbins of threads are!
    Closed since 2001, Du Parc made lingerie for men and women. Operating since 1880, the name 'Du Parc' was established in the 50's. Changing trends i guess forced the company into administration, and this factory which once employed over 1'000 people was closed.

    This place really is bigger than it looks... good job i was accompanied by someone with a far superior sense of direction to mine otherwise i would be there still........

















    so, et voila!
    The only fail of the trip came at Mesen, access was simple but just toooo public for our liking so we decided to shoot the breeze in Dunkerque before boarding the ferry back home.
    We left Belgium exhausted but smiling, more than a weeee bit saddlesore BUT, more importantly with unfinished business.....

    Hope you enjoyed my holiday snaps!
    Bring on next summer.
    The harder you fall, the higher you bounce.



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