A SPECTACULAR social history has been uncovered behind the doors of many abandoned homes and buildings across the north through the growing trend of 'urban exploration'.
Often referred to as urbex, urban exploration is seeking out and photographing old and abandoned buildings, often years after their owners have closed the door and left.
Urban explorers often display their findings on social media and insist they stick to the rule of taking nothing but photographs and leaving everything else as they find it.
One enthusiast, who has recorded abandoned homes and businesses across the north west, said he was fascinated by what he uncovered and had uploaded his findings onto the web page “Urbex: Forgotten Ulster”.
The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, has been photographing the interiors of abandoned buildings for the past five years.
He said he initially photographed buildings close to his home before expanding out across the orth and then into Donegal.
“I was struck, for example, by the huge number of religious artefacts we found in abandoned homes in Co Donegal,” he said.
In many of the homes, he said it appeared that the owners merely closed the door, leaving many contents behind, some untouched for decades.
“We found clothes hanging where they had been left and shoes and even in one house a wedding dress. In the bedroom of another house we found things like a commode. It’s sad but fascinating to think of the history behind the people who lived in those houses and wore those clothes,” he said.
While most of the buildings were derelict, some were relatively well maintained but still had been abandoned as they were on the last day of business. Another like-minded explorer, Forgotten Ulster, found an open door at an abandoned hotel in Co Donegal.
“It was last year and it looked as if squatters had been living there at some point. But it was fully furnished as a hotel with piles of linen lying outside each room door ready to be collected for washing and some of the beds still made.”
The explorer makes a point of never revealing the whereabouts of the buildings he visits so as to ensure that they are not disturbed by opportunists.
“Some people think we should not go into the houses but we treat them with respect and believe the social history we uncover is spectacular; when we can we ask permission and we don’t force entry,” he said.
