Weeks before, we visited Callis Mill close to Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire and inadvertently spotted a boarded up pub looking very sorry for itself.
I always intended to go back to ‘The Woodman Inn’ though a quick check told us it was sealed and inaccessible via conventional methods.
Some investigation and historical digging told me that The Woodman Inn was built in the late 18th century and has been empty for a long time.
How long is a good question, but perseverance in digging the dregs of information from the internet says, ‘somewhere between 1995 and 2000’.
It was not always a lone building with others built and then demolished right next to it several times over the years.
One was a sweet shop in the 1950s ran by Asians. At this period in our history, this would have caused quite a stir.
Who would buy confectionery from a shop that is in the middle of nowhere? I can see why that particular venture was doomed to fail.
The day we attempted to infiltrate The Woodman Inn was a little cloudy and overcast. I was hoping for some dark thundering clouds for dramatic photography but it wasn’t to be.
Parking can be an issue when visiting these places. Right outside on a lay-by is the ONLY place to park which tells everyone, ‘someone is in there’. That day we had little choice.
Navigating the anti-climbing fencing presented little problems as it was bent and a little wrecked, and we were soon in the grounds.
The car park was large, highly overgrown but I couldn’t see a place for cars to enter or exit at either end. Maybe it was just for flying vehicles or helicopters? The parking lines told me otherwise.
This side of the building was sealed tight unless you could jump around 30 feet into the air. Some graffiti had been sprayed on the sidewall but besides a chest freezer (empty) there wasn't much to be seen.
Some steps went around the back but the thorns were pricking me through my shirt. Nevertheless, I climbed up this barely visible path to the rear of the building stoically enduring the pain.
There was a door but blocked with those statutory concrete building blocks. Where are the demolition boys when you need them?
There was only one thing for it. Go around the other side of the building.
After being pricked to death again retreating down the same almost invisible pathway we ended at the front of The Woodman Inn for the second time.
The other side was a little more challenging and we needed some ‘utility' apparatus to check out that open window as it was around 7 feet off the ground.
After some climbing up embankments and scrambling around we were in the grounds again.
It was more like a jungle this side, and we had to meander around large clumps of wild trees and branches to get around to the back.
An annoying branch had to be removed as it kept hitting us square in the face every time we tried to peer through this partial window.
My climbing days are over and it’s doubtful these vines would support me even when I was a lithe skinny lad.
The flash worked but it yields grainy crappy images like this one.
I could see the floor had collapsed and what can be seen is the basement far below. There was a bar to the right still intact, and a few plastic trophies on a shelf to the left.
Dropping down there was pure death! After seeing this vision I was completely turned off by any more exploration.
@goblinknackers was still bullish about The Woodman Inn and suggested we bring some 15-foot ladders, but if the ground floor is collapsed, then gaining entrance to a 2nd-floor window would send us to our deaths far below on the first step.
The only safe way to see The Woodman Inn is via the ground floor and that would be very tetchy.
20 years of abandonment causes wooden floors to collapse under your feet, and it would be dodgy as hell to even explore using this option.
There are some relics and history in there, I'm sure of that but there are other safer places to find. This is one I'll be crossing off my list as ‘too dangerous'.
Visit and enter at your peril.
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I was totally hoping you'd see something dodgy down the window.
It does look dark and dank. I should have taken a 2nd shot but I was terrified of dropping my phone. The big light had to stay off as there was nowhere to station it.
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“Keep out” 😂😂😂 yeah sure.
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Some places even I won't dare go in.. through the 2nd storey window :)
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someone must own this? seems a shame
Yes, it will have an owner. It's their responsibility to keep the likes of me OUT! They are doing quite well I would say!
Your outdoor shots and the struggles you had just getting those are more than enough I think it’s a good call to not try and get in there sounds to dangerous to me
Yes, if the ground floor is like this, the top levels will be extremely hazardous. You get a feel of it after doing 20 or 30.
Yes I am sure you do trust your feelings I say
Very wise decision! But what is it about old abandoned buildings that tickles our fancy? I know my imagination runs away with me but one thing is that I always find it a melancholic place, thinking these were once thriving buildings full of life!
You have not gone ghost hunting yet?
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No!.. it's one thing going these places in sunlight, and even then they are incredibly creepy. Night would scare the crap out of me.
And some people do that for fun!
I am amazed you risked your phone for that shot! Best indeed to leave that death dive to someone else!
The ladders were a pain in the arse to lug over all the fencing. I needed something to show for all the pain. In the end they were too small to reach the upper floors.
Any open entrance is a feasible way in, but common sense needs to prevail at times.
Damn you, common sense!
True though!!
I hear you, I wouldn't entered that not even for a million :)
I don't generally give up that easily. @goblinknackers statement of, 'if its hard to get into it probably has the best view inside'.
There would have been something interesting in there for sure. Just wasn't to be this time.
Lots of great shots. Thanks for sharing your outline and experience. Happy Lucky Friday The 13th.
Thanks, didn't realise it was 'that date'
They really do not want you to get in there. Bricking up the doors and windows is likely to deter just about anyone. Given the state of the floors you can see they don't want to be liable for anyone breaking their neck. You just wonder why it does not get demolished or re-developed.
The thing is, people do and have claimed due to this. 'You didn't secure the property well enough', states the claimant!
Doh! If you are going into a building with big 'Danger, keep out' signs you should forfeit any right to claim. Would you claim if you broke a leg?
No, I wouldn't, but that's just our crazy laws.
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CHICKEN!... ha, no... perhaps it is for the best... after all, Woodman Inn sounds exactly like the place that would be haunted by the souls of past explorers...
... do you get stinging nettles over there? It looks to my incredibly untrained eye that there could be some in some of the photos...
Not on this occasion, it was blackberry bushes with their prickly stalks. Nettles are terrible, I wouldn't have dared if it was those.., and yes they are everywhere during summer.
They are rampant here... but the school our kids go to, they send out the 2-4 year olds with rubber gloves to harvest them for soup... crazy Dutch!
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Too pity that such places getting closed (
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That's too bad you couldn't get in. You got some great shots of the outside. I really like the ones where you can see the old foundations overgrown with foliage. Those are really cool places.
I try and make the most of what I can get. There's always some history you can drag up, and this one is particularly old for a pub.
In 1795 that 'A' road would have been a cart track with horses pulling along weary passengers.
That's why we have so many pubs on these main roads. They are from another time.