Tales of the Urban Explorer: Castle Grove Primary School

in Urban Exploration2 years ago (edited)

The day had been disastrous. Fail after fail had befallen us, and I felt like I was going to boycott Huddersfield permanently and never return.

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If we hadn't have gotten into Wurzel's place (To Be Published) it would have been a whitewash. An angry bloke had chased us from his pub an hour beforehand, foaming at the mouth, vigorously taking snaps of my car while stamping up and down in the middle of the road.

All he needed was a chainsaw and this image would be springing in the back of my mind. Calm the fuck down man; we are not here to destroy.

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It was 2 pm and we had managed a single exploration, pitiful.

“I know of a couple but they are around 15 miles east”, I mentioned to @anidiotexplores who was looking equally depressed and contemplating counselling.

Surely the day couldn’t get any worse? The traffic was not good and it took us longer than anticipated to arrive in the area of “Castle Grove Primary School”.

Castle Grove Primary School has been abandoned since 2014. In November 2021 a huge fire blazed through the school destroying 80% of it. Months before, the local council had refused permission to demolish the school.

"Is that an Armadillo security system?"

We recently had our fill of those damned things at “St Thomas Psychiatric Hospital” and looking at the state of this school from afar I was thinking , why bother?

Not particularly wanting to hear alarms sounding, we scouted to the right of this very forlorn-looking burnt school looking for access.

This was a public park with an annoyingly large presence of dog walkers and the general public walking around like zombies.

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“Fuck it, it’s over the fence we climb and be damned with the consequences”, I muttered to my comrade.

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Once inside we forget about the milling people and concentrated on avoiding that 'thing' close to the school entrance.

Gaining access was not exactly difficult once inside the grounds. Bypassing some anti-climbing fencing we simply walked into the blackened remains where a wall used to exist.

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Someone had placed some fresh beams to stop us from breaking our ankles. The burnt ones underneath may have taken our weight, but it was touch and go.

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I guess no more kids will be learning anything here in the future, I was seeing irreparable devastation.

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Colourful toilets, some of the paint had not melted during the blaze.

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The part of the building may have been the best, there was smoke damage but the floor was intact.

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Finding anything resembling humankind is always tough when fire has been ravishing the buildings.

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The authors likely were not very old, but know what a cock is.

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This large room could have been where the old assemblies took place. For those not familiar with this tradition, the kids are herded together, a teacher is placed at the front droning about some nonsense and at least one pupil faints.

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That does look like a charred climbing frame, perhaps this was the gym?

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The lumps of stone we were standing on are at a guess what used to be the roof. It made for tough walking.

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The stairs took me to another part of the school but looked a little too unsteady even for me.

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Again I am guessing, but this could have been a kitchen. There’s a distinct lack of cooking apparatus so I might be wrong.

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We had to look very hard to find anything such as ‘writing’.

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The stairs in the far corner were usable but beyond was a total death trap. We decided to backtrack and push our luck with that security system.

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Edging around the building, we kept a low profile knowing loud noises may erupt any second.

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"Let's do it and fuck the secca", I said to @anidiotexplores who felt the same.

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We walked brazenly and positioned ourselves in front of the school for a cover shot, except it was not very photogenic at all.

Laughing I motioned to @anidiotexplores. Was this ever a security system, or just something that resembles one?

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talk about a farmer's field with a strategic scarecrow placed - we felt like the crows.

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Now walking with complete freedom, we noted the other side of “Castle Grove Primary School” was quite sealed.

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… and the fencing much more contained. The reason being it was overlooked by a shit-load of houses with one Karen already out with hands on hips.

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This looks suspiciously like a security cabin, now abandoned. Given the years “Castle Grove Primary School” was empty before the recent fire it makes sense.

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We climbed the front gate ignoring the Karen who was now using her phone. Call the cops missus, we will be gone very soon!

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We had one of those silly hoops at the school I briefly attended. I don't recall it being especially popular though. I haven't seen security systems resembling them, but I don't live in an urban environment, much less your camera-crazy UK.

I will make a mental note that security systems are not what they always appear to be.

very generous of someone to lay a path across the burnt floor joists for you

Explorers are such kind souls leaving their climbing gear behind for the next lot to use. I rarely have to pull mine out of the car.

😂😂😂

Assemblies, where at least one pupil faints... Spot on! Lol

I always thought it strange when this happened. Could be one of the lads next to them let one rip and the foul odours did their work.

There was plenty of that in assembly!

So much potential, ruined by fire once again. I wonder how many you have explored by now that have been a total wash due to fire damage. Are you keeping a running count?

Our last outing consisted of almost 100% burnt out places such as this. My face and hands were black when I got home.

Yuck! That sucks!

I have some COVID-Killer liquid in the car. It works kinda!

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I’m always amazed by your bravery, @slobberchops! Glad you didn’t get chopped up by any bar owners with chainsaws, fall through any burned floors, or get caught by police after getting tattled on by a Karen!

😀 .. I remember that day well and have not had such a bad one since. Still have not had any police encounters though we came close a few weeks ago in Birkenhead.

Hmm. I wonder what the consequences would be in the event of a police encounter!

Not much, they will ask you to leave.., that's about it.

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We've got a lot of schools here in Nigeria that are worse off. I nearly cried visiting one where the the students barely sat on the floor to learn with leaking roofs.

I don't know if such are considered as abandoned facilities and are a fitting feature in the Urban exploration community?

Meanwhile, I did a research at a jack pit drainage outfall that has not been maintained since after usage ensued. Is it a fitting content for this community?

Meanwhile, I did a research at a jack pit drainage outfall that has not been maintained since after usage ensued. Is it a fitting content for this community?

Possibly, if its abandoned.

Wow - that place is a right mess. School budgets these days, eh !

It's so wild how these images tell a story of the history the building. Never a dull adventure. Is there one that sticks with you that you recall the most?

Is there one that sticks with you that you recall the most?

Not that I remember, some have been creepy such as Rock Nock Mill's basement. I can remember just about all of them. That space up there could be cleared for something more useful, Im sure.

Hi @slobberchops
Dear Sir I must say revisiting school is not on the top of the list of many and it being this devastated makes it even less attractive.
Having said that could it be the result of the prayers of so many students on the day of the exam who would wish from anything from the school getting bombed to something nasty happening to the teacher so that the exam/test would get cancelled?
Who could say if one of the prayers got answered !
Stay safe sir :)

“I Eat LSD” 😂
Former student maybe? Haha.

A now grown up one maybe. The bad graffiti was as good as it was going to get in there.

Surely the day couldn’t get any worse?

Never ask that 🤣🤣🤣 The Karen might have been more stealthy!!!

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Never ask that 🤣🤣🤣 The Karen might have been more stealthy!!!

It's hardly surprising that all the recent 'visitors' enter from the other side!

Yeah, the welcoming committee is a bit too eager!

Thanks for the vote on my post, I know it'll help the beneficiary :)

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Armadillo security system?

Crunchy on the outside, soft in the middle Armadillo! 😂😂👍🏼

Seek counselling! 😂😂🤦‍♂️👍🏼

Real ones look like this, we figured it to be a cheap-arse worn version from a distance.

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There's a lot of dough in the security biz! I wonder if they are still charging someone for that other cheap arsed thing?

Couple of community service lads and a lick of paint and that could be back in service next week. 😉
!LUV

I am wondering if the council are now going to 'change their minds' about demolition?

In my experience, the condition of the building would make it a prime option for the council to spend thousands bringing it back to life, whereas if they had mothballed it properly, it would more than likely only cost half that figure to reactivate it. But that's typical wasteful councils for you.

We have a special needs school near us that was closed down due to poor ratings. My daughter (She's a teacher) says there are literally millions of pounds worth of equipment in the place. It has been sitting empty of pupils for about five years now. I await the local louts to burn it down tbh.

The school had been closed since 2014, it was never going to find life in its original form. Leave things too long and they always get burnt. I try and get there before it happens (if possible).

I see this whole building is pretty f'd up by fiery blazes took off everything except some concrete walls. It is in no way to repair again for any potential use without razing it to ground and build a new one.

If I would inspect this place, I would blame the unavailability of fire sprinkler system, there are not much clear pics of the roof, but whatever is there I don't see any water pipes running above the false ceiling.

All he needed was a chainsaw and this image would be springing in the back of my mind.

This is the perfect depiction of a hooligan crossing paths with you. 🤣😅

It's not the first angry bloke who's snapped my car reg, called the police, and likely told, 'there's nothing we can do sir, trespass is not a criminal act'.

For those not familiar with this tradition, the kids are herded together

It used to happen every Monday when I was a student, which would made Monday more boring.

It used to happen every Monday when I was a student, which would made Monday more boring.

Yes, it was Mondays, I have bad memories of it all, but never fainted. It was not always a girl who collapsed.

To bad the day wasn’t going great… but you still got inside here.
Great shots. Lots of fire damage.
Have a wonderful Tuesday! 👋🏻😎

Thanks, plenty more burned wrecks coming soon!

Cool, looking forward to it!

What a school. School of breaking in and seeing all the wrecked stuff inside. A+

Karen phoning, chain saw gang explore, what would the cops do make you write lines on the wall?

Graffiti bit outdated, we all know how shit school was, or was it.... !LOLZ

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School was terrible, a very bad experience for me. I attended one of the lowest achieving schools in the county. It's still the same after all this time.

After 12 years having your head pumped full still came out the other end somewhat confused, could go back for the fun though.... Older brothers showed me the ropes on how it's done! 🙃

Assemblies and fainters, that brought back memories, often was the same child who fainted too!
Those bloody Karens get everywhere!

Assemblies and fainters, that brought back memories, often was the same child who fainted too!

I remember it happening, but not who the fainter was LOL.., I wish I could say happy times but then I would be lying.

haha yeah a bloody waste of time!

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