The first stop on my Europe trip, and the main reason I finally decided to go. EurOpex took place in Glasgow, Scotland, where trespassing laws don't exist. The city and nearby countryside posses a large number of abandoned mental hospitals, as well as other abandoned buildings, tunnels, and odd infrastructure scattered around from various eras. Along with a strong and close knit community of local explorers, this makes Glasgow a great city to visit from an exploring point of view.
If you attended EurOpex, originals are available on request. I also have more that didn't make it in, so if you want any with you or a favorite location in them, email freak20@email.com.
Asylum 1: Broom Hill:
The first location visited on the official schedule, Broom Hill contained
many of the standard Asylum sights. This was the first mental home I'd
visited.
This is what happens when you don't wash the dishes for 20 years.
Roof slate theft is apparently common in Scotland, and the reason for
rapid decay at many sites.
Interestingly, the climate and weather in Scotland is similar to Southeast
Alaska, so many of these
buildings are in the same condition as Alaskan buildings of the same
age.
Asylum 2: Lennox Castle:
A mental hospital designed to look like a medieval castle. Someone
has recently added a half-mast pirate flag, perhaps to honor
pirates who died in the dodgy flooring and barbed wire coated stairways
of this structure. While some of the group was already
inside, a caretaker arrived to throw insults at the rest, and the expedition
was cut short.
Seminary Barbecue:
The shell of a post modernist religious school becomes an excellent venue for food, drink, and partying.
We're probably all going to UE hell for cooking hot dogs and haggis on the altar, and the beer gods were
definitely angered by my un-European ghetto beer cooler.
Botanic Gardens Station
A very popular spot in suburban Glasgow. This underground train station was once a stopping point on an early
commuter line, now combined and replaced with modern light rail. The tunnel continues to a sealed wall and
someone's backyard, and additional tunnels can be followed all the way to active LRT/subway tunnels closer to the river.
Mystery Hotel
A very well secured hotel that took extensive planning and lightning reflexes from the Glasgow bukkake ninja team.
Not only was there a great view and some active security cameras, there were some downright posh UE bathrooms!
Asylum 3: Raven's Park:
Another asylum, also well secured. Complete with lots of original equipment, the weirdest of which was a short-wave
bone heating device that probably gave us all cancer. Jim found a dental office, and several ghosts were observed hopping chairs.
Other:
A junkie hostel that took a lot of effort to get into, but wasn't that
interesting.
Jim gets interviewed for BBC
Scottish style manhole, popped Australian style! (With gratuitous documentary
action).