The Joy of Urbex(ing)

Some years ago, I was randomly slogging my way through the internet when I came across a fascinating article, from a very impressive and interesting blog. The blog is called BLDGBLOG and the article can still be found here: http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2005/11/london-topological.html
Investigating the underground realm that exists beneath our very feet, the article is all about a growing and highly popular movement known by the rather daft name of Urbexing, short for Urban Exploration.
The name is obvious. It is the exploration inside urban enviornments. But you may ask, what is the point of exploring somewhere which is essentially the antithesis of exploration. When one thinks of exploration, we think of Sir Francis Drake, Marco Polo and Sir Walter Raleigh. These men set sail on wooden ships, for distant lands where no western man had ever gone before. So how can one explore what is essentially a place not only discovered, but developed and shaped and changed and inhabited over decades if not centuries?
Well, civilisation is ever changing. Factories, sewers, tunnels, buildings, shops, military facilities, power generating plants, houses and offices all come and go, are inhabited and abandoned, built and demolished. Urban Exploration is about finding these forgotten places, these ignored, hidden and marginalised little slices of our cities and towns and nations. It is about rediscovering and reconquering these places, before they slip away forever.
Urbexers have only two rules. Take only photographs, leave only footprints. It is a key feature of the community. You cannot break into these places, you must gain access legitimently, otherwise you are not only trespassing (a civil offence) but also breaking and entering (a criminal one).
Although my madening work schedule and impossible life style makes if difficult to keep up with this new hobby, I have had some amazing experiences around the Derby area. I have walked through a pitch black tunnel beneath the city centre, I have stood among giant cooling towers of the now mostly demolished Willington Power Station and I have investigated the winding corridors and partially collapsed theatre of the Derby Hippodrome.
I recommend Urbexing to anyone with a healthy sense of adventure and danger, as well as an interest in history, architecture, sociology and philosophy. There are places all around us. You only have to go and look for them.