And
now you wonder where Urbexland is and if it truly exists. Well, not
as a real country with borders and a government, president or king.
Yet it is the land of Urban Explorers, people who explore abandoned
properties. Thus a land with people and also laws! The main law of
the Urbexer is: 'Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but
footprints' and they stick to it very seriously. Most Urban Explorers
were always very welcome; they saw my sheer beauty and took the most
wonderful photo's to preserve it for the time I was gone.
My
relationship with these young people who dared to visit me although
the many stories about my permanent ghosts, was always very good. I
admired their equipment which varied from very flat telephones that
are also camera's to the more advanced camera's that look so
different than the very first ones I saw when I was build. Still on
tripods but not the large wooden ones. And the modern photographers
do not hide under large black cloths, holding up their magnesium
boards to produce a flash light.
Some
of the Urbexers still wear black cloth to cover the lower part of
their faces against dust. Some with the print of a skull but you will understand
that this does not scare me a bit being a host to ghosts (a nice
title!!).
They don't use
Magnesium any more but small lamps on top of their camera spreading
an enormous amount of light. Though often they don't use a light at
all and when I look over their shoulder I see myself at the back of
their camera's in grids with information about light and dark, depth
and much more. I don't understand this language but know the results
are glorious photo's.
Indeed I started to
love these people who obeyed their own laws seeing the beauty in my
decaying body that once was so glorious!
I
am not going to tell you when I was build, by whom, how long it took,
who my owner was and my destinations over the past centuries. Or, and
this is so very sad, that I do not exist any more. You can read all
this and about my demolition on the internet where you will also find
numerous beautiful photo's of me.
Actually
I am here to tell you about the ghosts that moved in during the build
and that never left me. If you ever visited me without obeying the
Urbex law, you will have met at least one of my ghosts. You have
not??? Do I hear that correctly? And you think you can fool me? I
remember you being so very scared that you ran for your life. I know
very well you don't want to talk about it, afraid people will know
you had a destructive mind concerning my beauty and past. Or people
might not believe you at all. Do you remember the stairs that started
collapsing? You still think this was a coincidence?? Ha!!
Back
to my ghosts of whom some already lived with the family that created
me. This is hopefully not a surprise; every castle, manor or even
small house has it's secrets and they had to come from somewhere. Of
course, over time there were added a few more after people passed away
and let me tell you that this was not always the owner of the castle
or some one who lived here.....
Ghost
are also normal beings who need shelter. The ones who live in the
woods are not real ghosts but made up creatures to let people believe
in fairy tales. We don't interact, let alone marry someone from
outside. That is if we believed in fairy tales but we don't. Nice to
read them to your children for bed time but there it stops. Oh I
agree that you don't read our stories to your children. Strange when
I come to think of it because at Halloween, when you also dress like
my inhabitants, your children are the little spitting images of my
ghosts, or even worse, vampires.....
Now
you, as a one of my former visitors - either welcome or not – ask
yourself how many ghosts there were (or are, they are still with me),
will I surprise you by telling it were quite a few and of all ages?
And that they were always around, following you where ever you went?
Did you never had the feeling of someone walking next to you when you
carefully walked up the crumbling stairs?
Did
you never shake your head to get rid of that white shadow which was
in your way when you looked at the once so beautiful blue or red
ceilings with the white arches? And was it you who mentioned that the
flakes of the peeling blue ceiling caused the effect of stars?
Or maybe you remember the strange noise in your film camera while editing at home; a noise you were not aware of when filming.
Or maybe you remember the strange noise in your film camera while editing at home; a noise you were not aware of when filming.
Do
you remember looking through the round window and all of a sudden
feeling a bit dizzy while you had never been afraid of heights
before? And when you stepped back, feeling like you escaped from
something terrible?
And
you, yes you who sat in the elegant red chair at the landing on top
of the stairs. Please admit you thought the chair moved.... because
it did!!
Don't
tell me you did not hear the sound of running water when you stood in
front of the double bath. Oh yes, now I mention it, you also saw one
of the white curtains moving.... A curtain on it's own looks like the
image of a ghost the way you picture us. You giggled!! A nervous high
giggle, not at all you......
And
when you crossed the rotten wooden floor but never fell through it?
This was because we admired your braveness and protected you.
Remember
taking a picture of my coat of arms? You swore you heard the Griffins
blowing through their nostrils but someone said it was the wind...
who do you believe now?
Like
I said, my ghosts are with many. Some are bound to only one part of
me. Which should not be a problem as I was a large castle but if you
know something about ghosts and their desire to float through walls
and doors (did you ever question why they never go through ceilings
or floors??), you understand they don't want to be locked up. Others go where ever they want to go and this is more
often than not, causing conflicts with their 'bound' colleagues. In
real life they all had different characters which did not change
after their death. And not all characters got along which caused
occasionally major conflicts. But ghosts can not hit or injure each
other, let alone kill (this is one of the advantages of being a
ghost!). So, when in a bad mood, they take out on others, mainly my
visitors. And did I stop them?
In
the beginning of this story I talked about the Urban Explorers that
became my friends. Unfortunately there were also others who called
themselves explorers but who's only gaol was destroying my beauty
without any form of respect for my history and last but not least,
for my owners who would have loved to restore me to my former glory
but could not because of the high costs and endless rules and
regulations. And to be honest, I loathed the disrespect for my owners
much more than that for me.
Of
course it hurts when some idiots smash your staircases, walls and
ornaments with sledgehammers. And why? Some unfounded hatred
against.... yes, against what? Driven by jealousy? Being the big boy
afraid others think you are a softy when you enjoy architecture? I
can think of many reasons – that much I have learned from the
destroying visitors – but none of these reasons I understand.
 |
| Photo: @darrennisbett (Instagram) |
It
was with these people that I kept silence when my conflicting ghosts
talked about revenge. Revenge not always on short term, some might
not have noticed (yet) what the result of the ghosts backlash is but
somehow and some day, they will. Particularly after the fire earlier
this year. I knew then that I was far beyond saving and I cried for
my owners; I am an important part of their history! I cried for the
respectful Urbexers who loved me. I cried for my ghosts who went out
of control.
And
as I mentioned before, I am demolished but we are still here. Looking
for new homes....
Note
from the author:
I never had the pleasure to meet Noisy and to visit her though I
listened to people who did and who took beautiful photo's. I listened
to the photo's and therefore to Noisy who at one evening, talked to
me and asked me to put her personal feelings on paper; which is a privilege. And so I did.
This is the way of Noisy to thank the respectful explorers. The
amount of Instagram posts with R.I.P. shows the love for Noisy and
she will be remembered for very long.
But
her story is also a warning for respectless vandals. She emphasised
'warning'....
Word
of thanks:
Darren Nisbett (@darrennisbett
on Instgram) gave me permission to use his photo of Noisy for
which I am very grateful. Thank you Darren!
Please visit his Instagram account and website 'Darren Nisbett Fine Art Photography'
Please visit his Instagram account and website 'Darren Nisbett Fine Art Photography'
I have not only chosen this photo because Darren is a gifted photographer but also because it does show ánd the grandeur ánd the downfall; the pool in front of her, her tears.
Helen
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