ALL NEW Competition Thread...Last Post WINS ;-)

[naughty.tortie]

Well..... it couldnt be lost forever could it !

So its back... all singing, all dancing... no farting allowed...

May the dirtiest player win 😄




I am first... I WILL BE LAST

[dark_castle1]

All I know over that way cke is the Kenbridge Hotel and Balmaclellan

[peteryola]

I've been away myself - spent the whole of last week travelling around on trains, making up for the lost ground from earlier in the year - to the extent that I have pretty much undone all the damage the lockdown did to my targets...  Starting last Sunday 2nd and finishing yesterday 8th, I've covered 4,065 miles and found something like 60 or 70 trains that were on my list to get rides on, plus knocked quite a few off my photo hit list as well.

[cke786]

Well, I went back to Gorton to do more digging, wasn't exactly my most productive day there ever, but I did manage to get in further wth my camera to do more video, which I will edit together and put on YouTube later this week, but I also turned my camera around so I could see what was above and, well..... let's just say I am now more concerned. Here's a couple of screen grabs from my clips, on the left is examining the opening more, with the second being of what is above me if I try to go inside:

 

[peteryola]

Hmmm.... is that just loose rubble held up by corroded iron bars?

[cke786]

It seems to be the same sort of rubble I've been having to dig out, though only one of those is a metal bar, the other is one of the metal roof supports, that had cemented blocks placed inbetween to form the base of the roof. So things are a little more precarious than I initially had thought they were and hoped for, which means at least another weekends worth of digging and clearing, along with spending some more cash... drat!

[peteryola]

Presumably that's from the demolition all those years ago - if they only flattened it to ground level they wouldn't have really bothered to actually collapse the roof of anything lower would they?  It would have been done on the cheap... so probably knock the roof in, but not bother with actually cutting the supports.  Result - loose debris everywhere, but some of it still above the roof line because it would have got caught on the bars.

[cke786]

Yes and no, in the section I'm digging here, the cemented sections are gone, to an extent, but the the right of where I am digging now just past that loose rubble, they are still intact and in situ, the air vent pipe is still poking out of the top in one section that I've uncovered, in fact I had to dig out one of the broken collapsed blocks as It was really blocking my access for this part!

Well I went to B&Q yesterday, got myself a long metal bar, which I am going to bend the tip over, so I can use it to drage out the fallen bricks which are beyone the normal reach of my current spade, plus it'll be much safer and less claustrophobic than having to kneel under the rubble section whilst I do it!

[peteryola]

When is the next mission then?  Would it be this wekend or does that somewhat depend on if the forecast thunderstorms materialise or not?  I imagine that heavy rain might fill these remnants up for a short while?

[cke786]

I would definitely be going on Sunday this weekend, as long as it's not tipping it down with rain, though this one wouldn't really be affected by the rain, regardless of the trench I've dug, as it's below the floor level, the only problem would be the slippery slope I'd have to slide down in order to get to it!

It's almost time to move on though, once I get through this there's nothing else to find, so it'll be back to my regularly scheduled program and get on with visiting other disused railway stations, but I'll still keep tabs on the place, I've been informed that there will be some roadworks done later in the year and the old tramlines are still under the tarmac of the road, so when they start doing the work, the site manager has said he would let me know and I could come down and visit the site.

[peteryola]

Now that's particularly interesting because quite a lot of places do still have tram lines under teh surface, but they don't get exposed all that often.

[cke786]

Indeed, many places could actually have the tramlines reinstated quite easily... obvioulsy at an expense, but they could be brought back again, as an alternative to buses!

[peteryola]

Yes, although most likely new tracks would be needed from scratch - modern trams have different clearances compared to the older ones and the older routes may not be the most logical for the present population and travel habits in a given town.

[cke786]

True, though they don't seem to be bothered about the present population or travel habits for many that have been reinstalled around here so far.

I also went back to there yesterday, with my latest tool, a long piece of metal with the tip bent over, I managed to clear our more in this one session than I have in the last 4 weekends, yes more bricks tumbled down, but this was what I expected and wanted. I was now able to see more to the right, which had been blocked the most and whilst there's not enought room for me to attempt entry, I did get a reasonably good view in the chamber I had to lower my phone down into, though not great:

[peteryola]

Are there any signs of any original decor still on the walls at all?  Maybe in the form of ceramic tiles?

[cke786]

Due to the low light conditions, I couldn't see anything like that, I'll have the video up on Twitter that I took this screen grab from later, however I can say that I have been digging out a lot of pieces of ceramic tiles from the area, including from the trench I've dug, so I think there might be some on the wall, though I won't know until I get inside with my floodlights!

I'll be back again on Sunday, though again not sure if I'll be able to go inside, but hopefully I can clear more of the dirt and rubble out of the way to set up my floodlights and shed some light on the subject. My only hope is that nothing happens like it did this Sunday, as whilst I was trying to get a video of the inside, I pulled a chest muscle and I'm dealing with that consequence at this moment, however it was the pointless nearly 4 hour wait in A&E for a 5 min examination and discharge that pained me the most!!

[peteryola]

Ouch... I've pulled a few muscles in my time.  Makes for a rather uncomfortable few days, especially if it's one of the side ones...

[cke786]

Still not as bad as the trapped nerve that I had to deal with a few years back.... which was in my back!

Hopefully this Sunday is going to be good on the weather front, I want to do as much as I can in clearing out underneath the parts that I have exposed, I also need to dig down a little bit so I can make it easier for me to get in, plus I want to beging shoring up inside too!

[peteryola]

I can imagine.... back in summer 2004 I had a slipped disc... big ouch...

[cke786]

Unfortunately on the weather front, it was not a good day, but the pain still in my ribs was just too much, so in the end I didn't go! I just hope that next weekend my ribs will be better enough, I really need to get back to work down there!

[peteryola]

That's unfortunate and yes, the weather was somewhat wet and windy in the south as well; Saturday was passable and we managed a day out to Whitstable in Kent, but the rest of the weekend wasn't as good.  Tomorrow isn't looking much fun either, but at least it's only a working day...