BELGIAN URBEX WEEKENDER

The world is full of well-known and amazing buildings which attract hordes of visitors, but, for a small community it’s the decaying, abandoned, and unknown which lure their fascination; This is the world of ‘urbex’, or urban exploration. It’s a world that I, along with Dan and Macca will be delving into over a weekend in Belgium.

Our second stop of the afternoon is only about 30 minutes away, at the abandoned Power Plant IM. Built in 1921 it was one of the largest coal power plants in the country, even before it was expanded further in the 1970s to allow for the burning of gas, which it did until it’s closure in 2007. As we approach the site the sheer scale of the station’s cooling tower becomes apparent – perhaps for me, I release I’ve never actually been up close to one of these before so I’m in awe of its smooth symmetrical rounded concreate towering above me (forgive the pun). As we approach the site, we’ve noticed a handful of people around, we’re initially worried these may be security guards ready to hinder our attempts however it soon clear, like us, they’re explores. We approach an elevated door at the end of a metal staircase, not knowing what to expect, and urging it not to be locked, I express a sigh of relief to learn the door is thankfully unlocked.

Entering the cooling tower is a surreal moment, it’s a place not meant for humans but yet there are a couple of others inside taking pictures and wandering around. I find the stillness, the bright green moss on the grey concrete rather tranquil. Across a river is more of the abandoned complex, but the only way in is to try and climb on to an industrial bridge where the lower steps have been removed. It requires a bit of ape like scrambling, but we manage and head over to the buildings just as it begins to pour down. There’s no door per-se, rather a large opening, so access is unhindered as we step into what could easily be a dystopian film set with rubble, mangled metal, and rust wherever you look.

It will soon start getting dark so we’ve decided to call it day and once again negotiate the bridge over the river. As we head to our car we do see an opportunity to take a look into what looks like an abandoned train depot, which is an added bonus which makes up for the disappointment of not being able to access the early site.

We spend the night in a hotel in the town of Liege, which rather unexpectantly turns out to have quite a raucous a night life. The next day begins with a rather abrupt wake up call, unsurprisingly I’ve slept through the alarm and Dan’s thrusting some strong coffee in my face. Eventually, once I’m somewhat corpus mentis we’re heading to explore some more remnants of Belgium’s past.

We start our morning with a visit to Fort de la Chartreuse. Built in 1817 by the Dutch it served, as the name suggests, as a Fort before being used as a barracks, and later as a prison by the Germans during WW1. It also served as an American military hospital briefly during the second world war. Since 1988 the site stands abandoned, with the most recent tenants, the Belgian army, leaving. Access is via a road leading to a semi opened gate with the buildings occupying a pleasant green space. We pass a few joggers, mothers pushing their prams and people walking there dogs. I’m surprised to see that no boards blocking the entrance. The building has literally been left open for anyone to wander in.

Still around the proximity of Liege, our second stop is the Cockerill Sambre steel works. This is a huge complex which became defunct in 1999. We’ve pulled over by a fence but after a quick look around and noticing the barbed wire and cameras, and with yesterdays defeat still fresh in our minds, it’s not long before we mutally agree to give up and head to our penultimate urbex spot.

Only a short drive away we reach the ArcelorMittal steel works, from online forums and browsing through google maps we think we’ve found a way in. Parked in a seemingly quite industrial estate we duck under a flimsy mesh fence and briskly head towards the buildings. Once there it’s somewhat secluded and we walk along the building trying to find an access point, then by chance we hear a screech of metal as a gust of wind pushes a large shutter open. An entrance has reviled itself!

Inside it’s pretty dark and it takes a few minutes for our eyes to adjust, but we’ve also come prepared with torches. The whole area is cluttered with metal as we cautiously make our way deeper into the complex where it suddenly opens up into a huge industrial hall, completely deserted with only the eerie sound of rain and wind around taping and shaking the metal and glass roofing. This really is an urban explorers playground and what I feel the weekend has been building up to.