Our failed hiking expedition and the fascinating urban exploration in Birmingham that resulted
After accidentally choosing two of the worst days on record for our last two adventures together, me and Ben Cook were determined to make amends with a nice relaxing 3 day hike through mystical Snowdonia, picking the 25th of August as our departure date. Unbelievably though the forecast for day 1 and 2 was lots of rain and 50mph winds. Being the soldiers we are we decided to give it a go anyway, but being the Idiot I am, I rushed the plotting of the route. The combined result was a comically premature ending that even Marcus the Chess teacher would be ashamed of.
We were determined to make amends however, so we headed into some of the grizzliest corners of the second city for what turned out to be some fascinating urban exploration. In just 5 hours we stumbled across an old abandoned factory used for illegal raves and containing groceries older than me, abandoned Victorian railway tunnels, an abandoned underground football pitch and an old forgotten Jewish cemetery.
We're gutted the hike failed but we're hoping that what followed compensated in some way. And do not fear, the hike will happen soon.
The link to the urbex blog: https://www.28dayslater.co.uk/threads/sandhar-and-kang-sk-buildings-nee-george-j-mason-ltd-grocers-birmingham-2020-to-2022.137799/
**No subtitles so use good headphones/speakers + watch in 4K**
Comments (25)
I'm late to this haha, but omg, I've been a fan of you for so long, and always hoped your videos would feature a place that I know and have been, but I did not expect you to be starting your adventure in Wales literally on the street my aunt and uncle live, showing their house on the video! And then the fact that I was staying at my aunts and uncles that very day too, without knowing you were on one of your awesome adventures. And to further it, you hiking up to my favourite lake, and favourite place on earth, where your videos spirits always make me want to wander that forest to know end. It's very strange to see a place you know so well on a video by someone else. Awesome video as always tho!
Bear Grylls impressions are always a treat
Hi all, translator & Jewish historian here! I did some digging on the tombstone that you asked if anyone in the comments could translate. Poked around and it's likely to be the tombstone of Rose Mary Levine, daughter of Simon Mordechai Levine. Unfortunately, a preliminary search didn't turn up anything online about her death date, but her tombstone indicates that she died (or was born on) the Jewish holiday of Sukkot (in the fall). According to Birmingham death records, she was 28 at the time of her death, but I was unable to verify that. I would estimate the tombstone to be from around the late 1850s to early 1860s based on the dates of those around her. Wild to think you guys stumbled on a tombstone that's around 160 years old!
Woah what a true expert in your field, incredible work! you're so talented to extract all that information all on your own from just a few seconds of footage!
Looking forward to your next video, when will it be please?
Who was the guy in the corner rave area
Tom mate you need to get some friends, clean off that pitch and have a game of footie there. put it on the main channel even. it would direct traffic to your patreon AND be a banger of a video.
Ben walking round the abandoned building with a massive stick ready to whack any trouble makers haha
Loved this video as always ! Funny how this was where TGFBRO did a hide and seek in that building , Tom you should look at it, the police were involved and everything it’s on YouTube from about 2018
Yeah more of this please!
Cheers Tom & Ben, good decision to get off the tops, and a great Urbex mission. Personally i wouldn't create a mountain route on Strava, use the OS site for creating and OS app as backup to the watch.
I love the Strava app, but you’re totally right about its inability to handle off trail routing and guidance. Do you have a different app you use for this Jason?
No matter what you do you always find yourself in some sort of pickle don't you Tom. Be it a lime pickle this time
Loved how you flipped this into something even better when things didn't work out! That last staircase was held together with vines and luck! Speaking of mysterious graveyards and with spooky season coming up- did you happen to see the Reddit post today where someone found an old grave with your name on it? With such a common name, they're saying it could be a whole new series of GeoDetective XD
The UK really is filled with wild areas. from the breathtaking nature to random forgotten areas in the middle of a big city.
Pity you didn't get to that first camp spot, I camped on the eastern end of that lake back when I was in school for DofE! It was a lovely spot, navigating in the mountains around there is not easy though. There was a lot of guess work and climbing over fences and walls from memory
The Bear Grylls impression had me rolling! Great content as always <3
Awesome video Tom! Hope all is well with Verity and the baby.
There is almost an "uncanny valley" kind of feel to abandoned urban areas. Especially ones that have been abandoned fairly recently. Like that football pitch. Gives the same vibes than those online games that don't have any active players anymore. Just another empty server.
Gotta love unexpected adventures like this! Keep up the good work Tom & friends!
Loved it!
What a fun video… two very different ends of the exploring spectrum. Looking forward to when you and Ben can conquer Snowdonia.
I wish I had the balls to do some of the things you do Tom. My missions are far more tame so far: https://youtu.be/pJp5eoPB8OA
Thanks Tom
🎵What’s he going on abooooout? He ain’t my frieeeend *ding ding dingedy ding*🎵