Tales of the Urban Explorer: Mr Stein's Place
“Is that worth a stop?”, I said to @anidiotexplores. We were now in deepest Wales, a country slightly hostile to the English race so had to tread warily.
An old house that looked like it might fall over if we blew too hard was passing us by quickly. It was time to screech the brakes on, reverse a little and send my comrade in for a pre-inspection.
Mr. Stein's Place had not been on our radar that day, we were more interested in 'The Brass House' and 'Granddad's House'.
These are both 5 star rated time capsules that were now being visited by every man and his dog and are about to be listed in Trip Advisor’s ‘Best Capsules in North Wales for the Everyday Explorer’.
Dilapidated or not, this was worth a look if we could bypass the neighbours whose house was physically attached by means of the left-side wall.
A thumbs-up from @anidiotexplores told me there was something worth looking at. Now it was a question of catching him up, which is nigh impossible.
Bypassing the fencing, I edged down the side, found an outhouse full of junk, and then next door’s garden.
Oh shit.., I silently backpedalled and wondered where the fuck @anidiotexplores had disappeared to.
Looking up, I saw it and this was going to need some of the old heave-ho to get in. It doesn’t look so hard but the handy stepping device was attached to the ground in that place for good reason and the window at an angle.
That’s great if you are young and supple but a struggle for me.
I figured my comrade was already inside, not having tea and biscuits with the neighbour so leaped up and entered through what was a window.
It wasn’t that bad and I shortly found myself in a classic derp of the finest quality.
There's a number on the old bed. I wonder if I could complain about the quality and get a refund if I called?
The bog is almost serviceable. We as explorers are always in need of a piss; may as well use the provided amenities. Someone once took a shit and left their coffee pot. One should always wash the dishes.. tut tut.
The insides of old cupboards often attract leftover wallpaper. I have always wondered why that is.
Is it an old fridge? Opening closed ones can be deadly and have been known to incapacitate foolish explorers when opened with toxic fumes. If they are already open, then it's quite safe to go closer.
Old Ski Yoghurt pots from the early '80s. I stacked these on the Kwiksave shelves occasionally during my hellish tenure there.
Not content with a single fridge, Mr. Stein had another.
I took TWO photographs of this dratted printer and both were a little blurred. It's an old dot matrix from a company I have never heard of.
Mr. Stein was a ham radio enthusiast. That is so 80's.
We are not the first explorers to delve into the property. Some of them like to leave their mark and come for other things.
Downstairs was a little bleak and I was pleasantly surprised to see some very sturdy stairs.
The bedroom, or did he just live in this one room? Compared to the rest of the house most of the clutter was confined to this one room.
It looks like it's from the 1980s but is clearly stamped 1996. He was into his radios and a pensioner even then.
By the looks of the exterior and the foliage penetrating the house, Mr. Stein must have been the last owner.
Another fabulous shot of my foot distracts from the BASIC listing I see. Not a chance this is the 90's, but early 80's. I don't recognise the style of BASIC this is written in. It's not your regular BBC Micro, Commodore 64, or Sinclair Spectrum.
Having a bath in this room would bring all your senses to life within a short period.
Whatever that is or was, it contains a couple of light bulbs.
Not all of Mr. Stein's house contained great floors as you can see.
Looking from the other angle, this section is a little off-limits.
'LOOTAD.DOC'. It's the old DOS 8.3 format for file names. Was he running some kind of advertisement?
Plenty of old clothes if you are desperate enough. Bung them in the washer and you can go vintage.
For an old bloke, he was quite IT literate. The Accumulator and the X and Y registers are a fallback to the old 6502 8-bit processors and hail back to my early learning.
One room on the top floor was a pain in the arse to access. Lots of clutter was guarding it and so I made a special effort to see what was inside.
It was loaded with more old junk and a fancy wardrobe with names for your night-time clobber.
I did look up Paul Stein and the village where he lived to try and locate him without any success.
He could have passed from this world or lives in an OAP home somewhere. What's left of his memories now remain in this old house.
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'Tales of the Urban Explorer'
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The more I go exploring (via your posts) the more I am interested, but not physically.... reading safely from these posts are good enough for me! 😁 I guess the fascination is wondering what kind of person the home belonged to, and what was their work/business/etc etc. Btw that two bulb thingy, me guess would be a kitchen/stove hood - kinda looks like mine...
I can't always find correspondence but I always look. Yes, it does fascinate me who lived there, and often the docs I find are quite personal and tell a story.
Yes, you are likely right about that.
As someone that studied Electronics at Uni many many years ago, I appreciated seeing some of that geeky "X and Y register" stuff :)
I do wonder how a place gets to this state. At the point of abandonment, is there just nobody willing or able to take over the home? No children, no relatives? Is the government not interested in this piece of property? What about the land? That belongs to someone right? One wonders.
Probably no relatives to pass it on. I think that's the case with many of these. I loved the old computer listings in there, reminded me of when I was young and keen to learn. I got past the learning thing some time ago sadly.
fucking rocket science!
Originally built as a meeting place for the anti-alcohol brigade!!!!!!
Its one I failed a couple of times when passing, glad you got in
Was it you who told me it was a temperance bar, I can't remember? When I came to do the write-up I felt Mr Stein should be credited as his life is in there. Now you know how to get in though it takes some effort.
yup
I also tried to explore this old dilapidated building but i was unfortunate because some street dogs was just sleeping inside and i crushed tail of one of dog by mistake...lol .I had to run away before he bites me.
That looks like a tough climb! Take some sausages next time, dogs are very forgiving if there's food to be eaten.
This post is worth it for the Ski yoghurts alone! As soon as I saw them I was basking ina warm glow of a memory from yesteryear!
Was there anything else to consume besides Ski? They had the market wrapped up when we were small!
I dont think there was, they had it totally wrapped up. It was such an exotic thing even tho looking back it was all crazy additives and probably little in the way of natural yoghurt to their products!
I imagined skiing in the alps while necking a nicked yoghurt in the Kwiksave back-shop hehe...
I imagined being able to afford the dry ski slope on the local hill that all the poshos used to go to. We used to sneak in through a hole in the fence and look on in wonder at this skiing malarkey
Wow, it is a lot bigger than I would have guessed from the picture of the outside. Did you do edits on the photos of the foliage coming through the window or was it really that brilliant of a green? Cool stuff.
Yes, it's all filtered through the usual bulk system I use. The fans on my system go nuts when I kick it off.. and tell it do 35 at once. Must be processor intensive!
Haha, that is funny. It seems to do a really great job. I like how the colors always pop!
They can be OTT at times, but overall the result is OK. The filter is designed to enhance buildings, but doesn't always do so well with foliage. You can always read it with shades attached?
Gotcha!
Like the toilet🤩
Guy had classy Digs, looks like a great place to have a nose about. Glad you noticed the floor, I've forgotten to watch where my feet were going once, and once only. Still smarts sometimes to this day. Bloody rotten floorboards.
One day it might happen to me. I am very careful on upper floors and haven't even had a close shave as yet.
I'm alot more careful these days, something about going from the attic to the living room in 4 seconds with a brief stop in the master bedroom made me much more aware of the footing 🤣 funny thing was they didn't even have an elevator...
My last explore was alot more fun just because it was mostly at ground floor level.
Not to.mention the light was great. Still waiting on my led light before I do another dark place. Mostly cause the photos turn out shit.
Thanks for taking us along
Now what does one need with two fridges? He must have had a lot of Ski yoghurt to sustain himself while geeking out on '80s IT stuff.
One of them could have been a freezer, but if that's the case.. why is there Ski Yoghurts inside? There is such a thing as frozen yoghurt I guess.
Perhaps there were actually two Mr. Steins in that place.
One must appreciate the good match between the couch and the wallpaper. Who would bother to such extent to match those two lol. There is something just old old about that style of wallpaper. It might be appealing for those who are into vintage though
Spectacular images! I love the way you document. Great content of the history of recent years! Great post. :)
Thank you for considering me. Blessings. :)
What a cool place, I bet that was a real surprise to find all that early IT paraphernalia! I look at some of the things I find in has been thrift shops and think how this is how it all began... and to be a part of that seems so remotely far from now. We have come so far in such a short time.
The real pioneers knew back then that it would go far.
I am so surprised that you found so much. Did he never throw anything away? It is such a shame to see the things that he hung on to just be reduced to a pile of rubble. Also, I might add that you could almost be considered a high jumper with the distance that window was from that little stool. Oh, score! You got in one that @grindle didn't?
I was going to ask if you wore boots to go into places like that until I caught a peek of a sneak(er) - plus the fact they would probably be awkward. But, sweet Jesus! Places like that just scream rats to me. Although, nothing to eat, so why hang out?
So glad you got in. Your pictures are stunning on this explore. The vines creeping in the window add a touch of nature - well, more than a touch. They were really awesome shots. Different editing? Or just the colors. Either way, this was a nice one to look at.
I also like the fact that you never destroy anything to get to your goal.
Most explorers I know wear what we call trainers (sneakers). I don't know any that go in hob-nailed boots!
Same filter as usual, the greenery tends to be exaggerated, not good for the photography purists.
Every new post still amazes me ...
As always, you have an exciting adventure! Write more!
You wouldn't normally expect to see a Dot Matrix in someone's house unless they're a geek. I notice one of the fireplaces has been pinched.
I used to support those printers and daisywheels. Like was simpler then, besides those idiots who wanted to print graphics with their daisywheels.
Pfft, I remember when they brought in those new-fangled mouse things.
I always find it sad that days gone by, these places were someones pride and joy, now left to decay and crumble in time. Those plastic Ski yoghurt cartons will probably last longer than the house will. BTW Ski yoghurt, now that is a blast from the past, I can see the advert playing in my head now, amazing what useless things we can remember lol.
Ski was great when I was a kid, that's all there was!
This looks like a better urban exploration trip than i did :D (check my latest post ;) )
Nice find Slober Chops! Looks like that place is a little time capsule. Very cool!
Once upon a time people lived there, loved and suffered ...
What a beauty of a place. I was rolling after seeing that coffee cup still sitting by the hopper! Maybe because I also take a cup of joe in there from time to time.. TMI!! Sorry.😆
There was lots of cool stuff to see, especially the multiple layers of wall paper. The 'Open Air' Look is trying to make a comeback, so this place may be up and coming. lol.
Thanks for the tour.. Exciting as always. What was nice is that they left a hard hat and safety glasses there for Urban Explorer use. So Nice of Mr Stein. 😉
I do wonder what became of Mr Stein. I try and find them if possible and have had some success in other ones. They are generally dead and if they are haunting the old house, are making a bad of job it!
hehe.. ☠️=👻
He is probably at that hospital that you couldn't get into. Maybe he died there and is now waiting to be brought back via a Ouija Board 😆