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 BrickMan
 
Location: NorthEast-England
Gender: Male
 |  |  | The S.S. ManxMan - Steamship - Live Infil - June 2009
< on 7/2/2009 6:24 PM >
|  | | | From the first time i went to visit my university on an open day in 2004/5, Sunderland has always had Epic, in the form of shipbuilding, cranes, medium & heavy industry and of course, the vaux breweries site, aswell as a now pretty trashed asylum that most people will know Sunderland for. But it was the S.S. Manxman of the Manxman SteamShip company that got me interested.
She was laid up in the river, rotting against a derelict looking strip of quay. Over the years she's been piked, sank no less than 3times, and moved in and out of the Pallion Engineering drydock as space allowed.
This is where she was when pikies boarded her, and cut out vital water pipes in engine room and sank her in ~2005/6
Roll forward to 2007, Northern Exposure cracked the shipyard and got some fantastic shots in daylight inside the dockhall, see report here... ( sorry report deleted in vast '08 clearout).
Ever since his first visit, I've been trying, must be on more than 10 occasions over 2years, its always been locked down, alarmed, securitas 7 pro'ness, or live as fook.
This trip, was sucessful, but live as fook :cool:
In attendance, UrbanFox & Dempsey.
We made our way thru the site to the point of access, I went first, had a look, then went back to the others 'bad news, she's welded up' but I can see the ship.
Up until now, both of the others were sceptical that there was even a ship still in there (i'd seen the ship 2weeks before as the dock doors were wide open  ). Hearing news there WAS actually a SHIP inthere, they instantly perked up, and had to have a try themselves.
UrbanFoxs slender build helped us out once again, and we were in.
First thing that hit us was the wild 1980's music being blasted over a 1970's PA system that was minutes from death, then workers on both sides of the dock hall, in the fitting shop and the next shed down, great shadows & flashs of light from welding operations lit the vast dockhall up like a christmas tree.
Urbanfox wasn't happy at first, insistant that we take some pics and qucikly get out, it was too risky.
But I'd been too many times, too much failure, I couldn't walk away now, and neither could dempsey, the knowledge that she'd be scrapped onsite or shipped off to greece for cutting up any day now was fresh in our minds.
Arrogance & the need for epic took charge and we made our way down the extremely live, extremely well lit dock hall, towards the workers and the ship...
Where I'm crouched there is just one story down from the fitters shops, and there is a whole shifts worth of people moving about up there.
We had two choices, this end, wide open but away from workers maybe a chance to leg it if we need to, or at the other end of the hall right past the workers & the open dock door, much better chance of running away, but incredible risk of running right into one of them.
The ship has been moved from the left side of the hall to this side of the hall in the last 2weeks or so.
There is a trust whose intiative was to restore her to either stable & museum condition, or full working order and run her as a ship again. A lot of the right interest & investment was there, but the last key piece, a prime location on the newly renovated Merseyside quayside was not forthcoming, the nail in the coffin. She will liekly be cut for scrap, though the owner is holding off on this for now.
If they do cut her up, I want the manx logos, I will mount them onto the side of my house.
Massive brass twin prop's, watch you dont' bang your head on them, hurts like hell.
bit of a photo fail, but I was gutted, there was no gangplank, and no ropes that you'd want to shimmy on, add to that teh EOT cranes in this hall and the next were in constant usage throughout the night that the risk was just too great. We couldn't get on. After a while we didn't care if we were spotted, we NEEDED on, but there just wasn't a way, unless you have a 50ft ladder, or can work an EOT crane :freak
Remants from the 80's when it was a party ship. AFAIK they didn't convert much, just fitted out teh canteen as a dancefloor, that was all the damage I think.
Again, not a great pic, but I was extrem happy to be there. And the atomsphere in the hall could not be bettered. CLASS '80's emotional music been thrown out over the PA system + noise from the entire shifts worth of workers welding, grinding, blasting & dropping tools was just amazing.
Now down at dock level (4-5m below river level), apart from the immenant threat of being spotted by workers or security or any of the dozens of securitas 7 ball cams. There was gapping bottomless drain holes all over the dock floor, some obvious, some covered by dirt & loose covers etc.
Add to that massive pipes around the dock floor that would occasionally gurgle to the tune of thousands of gallons of water being moved around, the experience was amazing.
I like how the club/pub banners are still up, in someof the windows there are pint glass's resting against them.
similar shot, but I like it, its deliberatly uncropped especially for my hatORZ
Back underneath again after dempsey got shat on by a seagul (twice in one week, last time it was his sandwich, this time, him ROFL).
The ship is still wet underneath, with seawater seaping from all sorts of crevaces. And big patchs of oil are all over the place.
LAST shot, just can't get enough of that ass. out of all the ships, this has the best ass. The companies logo, large & proud, a sign of times when we used to be proud of our rich industrial and shipbuilding heritage. Now we choose to hide it in places like this.
I realise there has been a 10year struggle for the friends of the manxman (and others) who have tried extremely hard to get this ship saved from salvage and back into public usage (either as a ship or a museum) and vast sums of cash have flown about, but merseyside port authority are having none of it, in a similar way they delt with the Kreigsmarine Unter-Boat that was CHEESEWIRED at their hands in 2008 (that was one of the last THREE Unter-boats surviving worldwide, criminal).
If anyone wants to visit, feel free, but access is very fragile and workers ARE on site 24/7, literally.
edit:Fixed Borked links <DW>
[last edit 7/2/2009 6:49 PM by Darkwolf - edited 1 times]
Go.. IN.. turbines...
More on my FlickR |
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cr400
     
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Gender: Male
| | Re: The S.S. ManxMan - Steamship - Live Infil - June 2009
<Reply # 1 on 7/2/2009 7:07 PM >
| | | | One of the best sets ever, fantastic job of gettin' in and out, thanks for posting this!!!
You can see a million miles tonite, but you can't get very far.
Honorary member of UER lifetime acheivement award winning, 2Xplorations and Guide Services, Texas. |
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Will363636
Location: Georgia
Gender: Male
| | Re: The S.S. ManxMan - Steamship - Live Infil - June 2009
<Reply # 2 on 7/3/2009 4:35 AM >
| | | | you fucking amaze me
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Sixmoons
  
Location: Adelaide, Australia
| | | Re: The S.S. ManxMan - Steamship - Live Infil - June 2009
<Reply # 3 on 7/3/2009 6:23 PM >
| | | | Thanks for the cool story and visual tour. Looks like it was a kickin expedition.
You may think you can fly.....but you'd better not try it. |
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buckybear
Gender: Male
| | Re: The S.S. ManxMan - Steamship - Live Infil - June 2009
<Reply # 4 on 7/3/2009 10:12 PM >
| | | | http://www.manxman.orangehome.co.uk/
The official website has some current interior photos. One of which looks like turbine with the access cover open.
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BrickMan
Location: NorthEast-England
Gender: Male
| | | Re: The S.S. ManxMan - Steamship - Live Infil - June 2009
<Reply # 5 on 7/4/2009 3:50 PM >
| | | | There was some much better & in more depth photos posted on the UK urbex forum, but was since deleted or I just can't find it.
photographically they weren't the best pics, but they just showed what was there VERY WELL.
Like I say, I've been trying to get on this ship for 2years, and I have yet to make it, workers (15-30 at a time) are literally just 20m away from teh ship on one side of the hall, and have direct line of sight from the other side, so actually accessing the ship (with rope or actually using one of the cranes) is basically impossible, without being caught. Workers are onsite 24/7, literally
Go.. IN.. turbines...
More on my FlickR |
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insanedArk
Location: GTA
Gender: Male
| | Re: The S.S. ManxMan - Steamship - Live Infil - June 2009
<Reply # 6 on 7/4/2009 3:57 PM >
| | | | Very cool exploration and nice photos. I made a slight manipulation of the uncropped shot just to see what could be done with it.
Photo Credit: BrickMan
[last edit 7/4/2009 4:13 PM by insanedArk - edited 1 times]
Stay tuned for Exploring the World with Insane Dick! |
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Sixmoons
Location: Adelaide, Australia
| | | Re: The S.S. ManxMan - Steamship - Live Infil - June 2009
<Reply # 7 on 7/4/2009 4:13 PM >
| | | | Posted by BrickMan
Workers are onsite 24/7, literally
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24/7 including public holidays ? You might need to wait until Christmas eve or New Years eve for your chance.
You may think you can fly.....but you'd better not try it. |
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BrickMan
Location: NorthEast-England
Gender: Male
| | | Re: The S.S. ManxMan - Steamship - Live Infil - June 2009
<Reply # 9 on 7/4/2009 8:14 PM >
| | | | | 24/7 including public holidays ? You might need to wait until Christmas eve or New Years eve for your chance. |
There are no workers on site during public holidays, BUT security is increased from 2staff to 6staff. And they use the IR securitas 7 installed ball cams to good effect. Believe me I tried.
Yeah I like the shot of the back of the boat the best aswell
Go.. IN.. turbines...
More on my FlickR |
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Happiedaze
Location: Galveston Area, TX
Gender: Female
| |  | | Re: The S.S. ManxMan - Steamship - Live Infil - June 2009
<Reply # 10 on 7/4/2009 8:50 PM >
| | | | This is one of the best threads I've seen in awhile. I loved the pictures, especially the 3rd one and loved your description of your surroundings. That's what exploring is all about.
Oh, and what is the 'Mansfield' sign on the top of the ship? I can't make out what it says under 'Mansfield.' I live near Mansfield, Texas and wondered if there was a connection.
'Our plans are all laid out,
take all these unmarked roads,
we blaze the trails to places no one goes, yeah!' -Rise Against |
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BrickMan
Location: NorthEast-England
Gender: Male
| | | Re: The S.S. ManxMan - Steamship - Live Infil - June 2009
<Reply # 11 on 7/9/2009 6:15 PM >
| | | | Mansfield is a landlocked town in the Uk, a bit of a shthole now as the deep coal industry in the area is finished.
As for what it means on the ship, might have been they were supporting the mansfield football club, or it was the name of a brewery or chain of pubs, I don't know. THere is also the name (in garish neon) down the side of the ship of when it was a 'floating nightclub' something that the orange people of britain seem to enjoy
Go.. IN.. turbines...
More on my FlickR |
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