I don’t know the name of this place. We passed by it while visiting the Chateau Heers mentioned below.
It was definitely not empty and there was a dog barking behind the doors of one of the adjacent buildings, a point at which I decided probably not to attempt to go in. Well urbex is all good and well, but breaking and entering is another thing... so just some impressions of the outside of the place which I added to the Heers gallery. [didn’t feel it was enough to warrant it’s own gallery]

the unkown, in use chateau -> images at the back

Another one I had lying in the closet...
Some months ago I was looking for a castle in decay, it was also aired on TV for the program Jambers a while back. The owners still live there. Sad story actually: about a wealthy family gone bankrupt. Problems started for them back during one [or both] of the WWO’s and the Germans confiscated most of their properties back in Poland.

Found the castle and also met the inhabitants! They were friendly enough to let us in and take some pictures but only in the courtyard. I did take some pictures from inside a hallway but actually they were pretty crappy so I didn’t put them online. Not many pictures then and mostly from the outside. Besides the front port, you can’t get in... Piss ‘em off and they’ll sure call the cops!

Some impressions though [go to the gallery]

After some radio silence, I thought this would be an appropriate update: an empty radio station from the early 1920’s in Holland also known as Radio Kootwijk.
Unfortunately I was not able to take any pictures from the inside, although that probably would be worthwile... The outside however also provided a nice view. Completely located in the middle of nowhere. Not many pictures, but nice ones from the main tower IMO.

Go to the gallery.

Found this site when doodling on the Internet: http://ellisislandghosts.com/
Urbex photography with a professional touch to it... nice.
[it certainly does help when the place you're visiting has this rich and "loaded" history as this one.

Proof that Beringen Coalmine is a dangerous place to wander about... I guess we don't need it anymore. Over time more and more news bulletins mention people falling through ceilings etc... whether they be urbex photographers or just plain old copper thieves.

Amazing, at last a new update. I managed to find some time to put this tidbit online. We visited Baviere a while ago, can't exactly remember the date but it was a sunny afternoon for sure [as you will see in the pictures]. We were let in by the friendly people living there and we had company from their dog all the time. You see him in one of the images. I was always afraid he would lift his leg against my tripod
go directly to it : Baviere Hospital

I would like to take this opportunity to mention a photographer who's work I adore. Bruce Percy is a photographer living in Scotland. He is mostly interested in nature photography, well living in Scotland who wouldn't? One day when going through his online portfolio I stumbled upon what looked like a urban shoot! The Mavisbank House had been abandoned many years before and it reminded me a bit of Chateau Neufcour. Although it's not really his style he was enamoured by the place and decided to do an essay on it. He's not the person interested to go inside these kind of buildings but the beauty and purity of decay and the way the building becomes one with its surroundings over time is depicted well in his own style.
Sometimes I forget how the outside is equally important as the inside... The Mavisbank House
also take a look at his other astonishing work.

[This image is copyrighted by Brucy Percy ©1989-2007]

It's a cemetery already visited several times by other urbexers and afficionado's of the genre. It was a real pleasure taking pictures here because of the serene atmosphere there. The light on one side of this long row of forgotten automobile dreams is filtered through tall pine trees which give the lighting a specific photographic quality. Furthermore it's quiet and calm and I also have no idea if there is an owner of this place. Probably there is, I don't think we have much "unclaimed" land here in Belgium. But considering its location on top of a slope surrounded by trees and bushes it might very well be there still for years and years to come. I would definitely go back within 10-20 years and take some 100Gigapixel images using my inner-synaptic nikon photo contant lens to compare.
I'll give a post on the website here when that time comes

enjoy

On my first trip over there my friend Tom accompanied me. Since he is living in Berlin, it was one of those rare occasions when the man was in Belgium. I have also put his pictures online, you can find them here.

I recently found out by reading a book from Friedl' Lesage that famous Flemish defence Litigator Jef Vermassen has his office in a restaurated part of the castle [well a separated 'portiers huis' actually but it was part of the castle domain. Jef Vermassen is an art lover and he mentions he doesn't want to be around the office the day they start with the official destruction. We all can sympathise with that can't we?

Just a tidbit for those of you who didn't know...

When on a short vacation in Brittany France, I passed by the site of Etel where a few old shipwrecks are lying alongside the shore of the river. I believe many photographers who know about the place have visited already because it sure allows for some fantastic images. For this session I opted mostly for the black and white variants because of artistical beauty with the subject.

Together with the site redesign some new Urban sites have made it online, these were a few places I visited during the last half of 2005 and beginning 2006.

You'll find the following new sites in the Urban section:

* La Chartreuse
* Volklinger Hutte [Germany]
* Anco
* Beeringen Charbonnages
* Wintercircus Gent
* Cinema Theatre Variete Jumet
* SFPO Boulogne Sur Mer [France]
* EDF Pont Sur Sambre [France]
* Another Car Graveyard
* Trainstation Montzen