I had a terrifying experience while exploring the old warehouses and industrial buildings on Moor Lane and Victoria Street in Preston. The buildings are surrounded by four roads, Victoria Street, Sizer Street, Ashmore Street and the main road, Moor Lane.
The abandoned site consists of three buildings with a courtyard in between them, these are now being used as a drug den off and on. However, I am sure there is something much more sinister, much more evil lurking in those buildings. I visited them a year ago out of interest for urban exploration for a few days. The first terrifying experience I had took place in the middle two-storey building with the broken windows.
You can only enter through the broken glass door at the front. At first it seemed a rather normal abandoned building, clearly used as a workplace. When I headed up to the top floor the signs of drug activity were more apparent but there was no sign of any druggies. After looking around, I went back to ground floor to look further there when I heard the sounds of pounding footsteps coming from upstairs towards me.
Now as I said there weren't any druggies there and I was alone. Furthermore, I couldn’t see anyone coming down. So, I ran and ran until I was clear from the site but just as I stopped to catch my breath, I heard the footsteps again. Meaning, that whatever it was had followed me out. I then ran until I reached the safety of an enclosed building.
The second horrifying experience happened several weeks later where I had found that these criminals had opened a entrance to the third building which is a large three-storey Victorian building once used as a biscuit factory. It had also been used as a brickworks in the last decade, a site to help Chinese students apply to UK universities and the roof rooms were used as a dance studio. So, it is a fascinating building and a great shame that it is being used as a drug den.
I made a few explorations of the place though I did not take any pictures which is bad practice if I was trying to be a good urban explorer, but the thought slipped my mind. The building is fascinating and itself like a labyrinth, though, what I didn’t know was it is as hazardous as the labyrinth of mythology for there are worse things than druggies in the halls of that building. I never ran into any of them and though I knew that there was risk of meeting them, my visits were relatively safe until the last time. But it wasn’t a crazy druggie that was the problem but something else.
I was visiting one morning, and I decided to take a fall tour of the building. This was not too dangerous until I reached the top floor and something quite terrifying took place. Now, the top floor consists of a main hall and two separate side areas: one looks over “Ribble Brook House”, a student accommodation for UCLAN, and the other is behind a door that overlooks the Vernon Building of UCLAN. It always seemed strange why these building would remain unused despite their prominent locations. The pounding footsteps and what I would soon hear would answer that question.
I attempted to open the door that overlooked the Vernon building, but it wouldn’t budge and then I heard it. The most horrendous moan like a corpse that had been years dead, rearing itself back to life. This moaning continued but I didn’t wait to see how long it would last and I bolted and ran from the top floor all the way to the entrance and I have never been back ever since. There is something evil in that place, something monstrous and it is telling that even the druggies do not stay there for long.
The place was boarded up last year soon afterwards, but it is clear that the druggies have recently started going there again, so it is still possible to gain entrance if you wish. I have seen the way they gain entry so I can tell you that if you want to investigate it. There is property bordering the location that used to be a pub and is now used for social housing, though, I suspect that many of the people are druggies themselves. Well, the bins outside the house are at a fence which they seem to climb over to get into the site. Also, the people who live in the former pub to help people gain access, so you can try them as well. This is of course if you dare find out what lurks inside those dreadful buildings.
