Secrets and highs of urban explorers
DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME OR ON TOP OF YOUR HOME, WARN POLICE
LONDON’S amazing landmarks, bridges, skyscrapers and secret spaces are great to look at, and admire, from a safe distance.
But we’re not really supposed to try climb up them, or even worse, jump off!
But that is exactly the mission of the socalled ‘urban explorers.’
Ask them and they’ll tell you that when they do it right, they come and go without anyone ever knowing they were there.
But a new generation of daredevil urban explorers are becoming a serious concern for the people whose jobs it is to keep people safe in the City.
And the authorities are getting increasingly twitchy about it.
What’s been going on?
There have been some extreme recent cases of urban exploring.
In one infamous case, City of London Police have revealed, a YouTuber they caught last year, had ignored London’s little-known bylaw which bans anyone from jumping into the River Thames and backflipped off Tower Bridge.
“He did a backflip off the balustrade of Tower Bridge and into the River Thames,” PC Sam Lowe of City of London Police tells us.
“He even claimed afterwards he was going to jump off the London Eye. But that’s a huge danger – you’re going to get hurt.”
That time the “explorer” got himself a community protection order warning him not to climb on the balustrade of any bridge, PC Lowe says.
The banning of two such “UrbEx” explorers from the financial district, which governs a nice looking patch of towering buildings and bridges, was highlighted in a report to City of London Corporation councillors by local police just last week.
But the question of how to handle daredevils with social media followings in the hundreds of thousands is not only frustrating authorities.
There’s also a turf-war unfolding on London’s rooftops. That’s what some of those who take part will tell you.
Andy Kay, who runs urban exploring website Behind Closed Doors, has described a split between “old-school” adventurers, and those driven by exhibitionism, fame and money.
Mr Kay described urban exploring historically as an “underground hobby” - it was “an activity for the few, unheard of by the many”.
Behind Closed Doors urban explorer and photographer Andy Kay goes where most wouldn’t dare for the thrill of seeing London views from the rooftops.
“It was there in the background, available to those who looked, but never presented in mainstream media,” he said.
He says the hobby flew under the radar for a long time, because it fell in a legal grey area of trespassing - and while that’s against the law, it’s a civil, not criminal offence.
“Getting caught by the police, in the most part, means being asked to leave with a slap on the wrists.”
With a hobby that is largely unheard of, and the police finding few people who do it, that would be unlikely to change.
But the audience and participants are growing at a huge rate.
So just how popular is ‘UrbEx’?
An Instagram search reveals nearly 6 million posts including the “UrbEx” hashtag, with incredible photographic talent on display and breathtaking footage, in aweinspiring locations from skyscrapers to abandoned mansions.
Among them are daredevils showcasing adrenaline-rushing feats, with brand sponsorships, paid advertising posts, and merchandising. Extreme sports stars are a growing niche in the community.
Mr Kay said the social media and mainstream media fascination with striking photos, and footage of breathtakingly dangerous feats from some explorers has brought the activity to a wider audience.
But he claims by bringing widespread attention to the previously secretive adventuring is at risk of ruining it.
“The result is always the same – the location gets looted, trashed and ultimately
destroyed due to the unwanted attention this brings,” he said.
He accuses some social media UrbEx stars of “glamorising” the activity with showy videos, and deliberately attracting police attention for hits.
“A select few have discovered that getting caught adds a lot of drama and excitement to a video, and now get caught, on purpose, on a regular basis.”
“To any true urban explorer, getting caught is considered a fail,” he adds. “Those in the core community want to get into a building, and then back out again, without anyone ever knowing we were there.”
Added to that, the instantaneous ability to share footage of a secret previous spot