The Kidlington silos.

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On our first visit, (which turned out to be our test visit) we had no idea how hard it would be to get in. We also underestimated how long looking round would take. At least we only had two of us to get in. We had hoped fields would surround it, as the aerial photos off the Internet showed. Sadly not. Since the photos were taken, a large “Park and Ride” bus station had been built. Not a huge threat, as most of the area was parking. Wrong. The whole place was filled with security cameras. In the car park of the bus station, if we went into the desolate overflow car park we could get within 20 meters of the building. The fencing would be no problem. But due to the cameras, access from that side of the building would sadly not be possible. The cameras were also moveable. As we left the overflow car park, One of the cameras followed us. Defiantly not a good entry point: manned cameras. Another worry was a mass of cars in the buildings compound. Enough cars for a minimum of 30 people. On our second visit, we soon found out what the cars were doing there. A car hire business was nearby. And they were obviously utilising the grounds of the silos to store cars.

Entry was proving to be hard. Although the car hire business only had a 4-foot gate, we were unsure if anyone was in there or even worse, the threat of cameras. So we turned to the other side of the building. To get to the open area that was the railway-loading courtyard, we would have to climb over the wooden fence on the top of a bridge. Unfortunately, this bridge was over a very busy motorway. I was very concerned about the traffic, but BlueShiva was his usual calm self. We parked up in a small lay-by and then set off to the bridge. As there was a pavement (sidewalk) on both sides, timing would be critical. When that moment came, BlueShiva leaped over the fence and ran down the steep side of the bridge. I cautiously followed. I had spotted a cyclist coming towards us on our side of the bridge. We pushed our way through a clump of low trees. The cyclist passed over us without incident.

We continued with our plan, but only found a two-meter bramble bush in our way. On the other side was another two meters of thorny trees. The only sharp object I had with me was a two-inch lock-knife. I had the idea of pressing down the razor sharp branches with our feet. It worked fairly effectively, only a few minor cuts. On the other side, there was just enough height to sit up in. The problem was that we couldn’t rest any part of our bodies on the ground, as it was covered in dead brambles. We managed to use gloves and weaved our way through the bush.
“Hang on a second...” I said
“What?” said BlueShiva
“I brought a hack saw. I forgot about it”
“Excellent. Pass it here” replied BlueShiva.
BlueShiva managed to cut a nice hole through the final sheet of brambles.
“Very well prepared today” said a happy BlueShiva. As I put my bag on, BlueShiva suddenly said “shhhh!”. A weird zipping noise was echoing through the disused railway lines. Sort of like a laser gun from a 1960s futuristic film. A froze with fear. My heart rate tripled. Without warning a train flashed into view. “SHIT, train!” I whispered in my typical paranoid state. “Its ok, they wont be able to see us” whispered BlueShiva. The train passed as quick as it came.
“Ok, you see the large red wastebin over there,” said BlueShiva, “I’m going to run over to it. Only follow when I tell you to”
“Ok” I replied.
BlueShiva climbed out the hedge and looked both ways down the railway line. He dashed over to the bin, and climbed behind it. After a wait he poked his head round the corner. He gestured to follow him. I burst out the bush and checked the railway line. I ran as fast as I could to the bin and ducked for cover. I looked around.

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“Get the binoculars out” said BlueShiva. “I’m a little concerned about those things on the concrete poles.

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These turned out to simply to be lights for the loading bays. This was our first entrance. So as not to spoil the main story, I will only summarise the rest. We climbed over the fence onto the compound and searched for a way in. We found two doors. One on the bus station side; another on the other side, in a makeshift scrap yard. Both of these doors were locked. We disregarded them as useless. Ironically, both these doors would have given us full access to the entire structure, had we forced entry.

We found our way into the main office, and found an old CO² fire extinguisher. We also found some worrying records dating to 2003. We hoped that the work was only removal, and not the storage of some sort of dangerous substance. A lighter hearted discovery was made. Some humorous workers had stuck the “All enquiries” sign on the toilet door! As we were making to leave, I noticed a suspicious stack of wooden pallets. With careful teamwork, we managed to move some of the pallets. As I climbed the pallets, it became obvious that this was our way in. We were short on time, as I had to be home to revise for my year 10 exams. We decided to enter.

Basically, there was a series of ladders leading up a small shaft. This lead to the first floor of the open roof. We hastily proceeded to climb a small ladder to the second roof level. We finally ascended to the highest point of the building. To cut a long story short, we climbed onto the covered tops of the silos and used the stairs to get back to ground level. We found that the door from the scrap yard was held shut from the inside by a huge bolt and some chain. We decided to leave this entrance open for the next days visit, then use the ladder to leave and block up the entrance with the pallets. This was for safety and enjoyment reasons. We didn’t want some group of kids getting in and vandalising the place. Neither did we want to give an easy entrance for people who may not be as careful as we were, and fall from one of the numerous open drops. We left, eager to return and see the insides in the light of day. We escaped the same way we got in. We had all the experience we needed for a perfect day out…

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