This has been on the radar for years now. It's been in urbex circles for as long as I can remember. It’s been derelict for over a decade; Bradley Garret has held parties up there, idiots have set fireworks off up there, I've even known of people getting cheap permission visits – but a week ago I had a message from Sweetpea and MrDan saying it was doable.
Scroll forward a few days and it's Saturday night and I'm sober, speeding down the M11 towards London. I spot a number plate up ahead which seems familiar. It's familiar because I spent last weekend following it in convoy whilst exploring Norfolk. I pull alongside and sure enough there’s an AdamX at the wheel in full concentration. No matter how much of a light show I put on he didn't notice me until he had to try and overtake a lorry and realised there's an idiot driving beside him who's just worked out how to flash his vanity mirror lights to "Boom Boom Pow!".
We pull off at the next junction, AdamX jumps in my car, and we speed back down the M11 while I tell him the plan. Half an hour later we're on the bank of the Thames with Mr Dan, Sweet Pea, and StewEP3. Looking across the water the highest red light on the horizon, twice the height of the OXO tower, is our target for the evening.
We were soon inside, it becomes apparent that we're not too far behind the last builders leaving. The intumescent paint on the steelwork is still wet and the smell of the paint is lovely. All of the lights are on, and we brush past a row of hi-vis jackets hanging up, every moment feels like someone is about to come round the corner with a cup of tea. Straight away, we hit our first problem. The internal core that we are expecting to take up has been boarded up. Looks like we're going to have to do a lot more of this climb up the outside of the building...
So we did.
Despite being more visible, I started to relax a few floors up, knowing that people don't look up nearly as often as they should, and also that security were getting less and less likely to follow me with every meter I gained. By the 10th floor I was still going strong, had settled into a good rhythm, and was level with the highest 'O' of the "OXO". By floor 20 I was knackered and called a break, but Sweetpea encouraged me to get to floor 25 where the workers had their rest area.
We slumped into the hard plastic chairs, sweating and panting. The cool night air breezed through and made the sweat on my face sting as it dried. Despite being inside I felt vulnerable and exposed under the harsh lighting. The sound of a police siren was accompanied by the arrival of a police car near the base of the building, and was all the encouragement I needed to start climbing again.
I powered through the remainder of the climb, so distracted by the end goal I didn't even realise that I'd climbed straight past the top floor (30th) and emerged straight onto the open roof. The view literally took my breath away. The bright lights of the city completely surrounded the horizon, a full 360 panorama of the city stretched out to below.
I done the usual 'hero shots' up on the highest little gantry I could find, tying my hoody to the scaffolding for fear of it flying off into the London night.
By now I was comfortable and relaxed with the height. I opened a mini bottle of champagne and sat at the edge, contemplating a feeling of liberation. The apartment below where I am sat is on the market right now for £2,915,000 (http://www.southbanktower.com/) I'm sat sipping champagne with a better view than them for the price of a £2.50 parking ticket and a bit of a climb.
Quite worrying how the gantry just ‘ends’
About 10m above the roof sits the cab of the tower crane. There are two guys up here, you can see the legs of the second one sitting on the edge near the cab: (Not from our group)
St. Pauls:
After a couple of hours we start our decent. It’s definitely a lot a lot easier going down!
I stopped at floor 15 as it was halfway hoping to get a better shot of the Oxo tower – at the top you’re looking right down onto it, so can’t see the letters. To my disappointment they had just turned them off! I was lucky to get the shots of St. Pauls to be honest, I didn’t realised they turned that off too.
Completing the final bit of the decent and hitting terra firma felt fantastic. I walked through the streets, smiling to myself as we passed drunken revellers jeering loudly at passing cars. It seemed a million miles away from the relative silence from the last couple of hours. We reached the Thames and looked back at the summit of the tower where we’d just been with a sense of achievement, but also of unrivalled camaraderie.
Massive thanks to everyone that came, great company:
Mr Dan, StewEP3, SweetPea, AdamX, UrbanX
Oh, I did video our ascent, and have packaged it into a neat 3 min vid with a soundtrack.
Not wise to put it in public, but if anyone wants a link (It’s unlisted on YT) just drop us a PM. Cheers for reading!
Scroll forward a few days and it's Saturday night and I'm sober, speeding down the M11 towards London. I spot a number plate up ahead which seems familiar. It's familiar because I spent last weekend following it in convoy whilst exploring Norfolk. I pull alongside and sure enough there’s an AdamX at the wheel in full concentration. No matter how much of a light show I put on he didn't notice me until he had to try and overtake a lorry and realised there's an idiot driving beside him who's just worked out how to flash his vanity mirror lights to "Boom Boom Pow!".
We pull off at the next junction, AdamX jumps in my car, and we speed back down the M11 while I tell him the plan. Half an hour later we're on the bank of the Thames with Mr Dan, Sweet Pea, and StewEP3. Looking across the water the highest red light on the horizon, twice the height of the OXO tower, is our target for the evening.
We were soon inside, it becomes apparent that we're not too far behind the last builders leaving. The intumescent paint on the steelwork is still wet and the smell of the paint is lovely. All of the lights are on, and we brush past a row of hi-vis jackets hanging up, every moment feels like someone is about to come round the corner with a cup of tea. Straight away, we hit our first problem. The internal core that we are expecting to take up has been boarded up. Looks like we're going to have to do a lot more of this climb up the outside of the building...
So we did.
Despite being more visible, I started to relax a few floors up, knowing that people don't look up nearly as often as they should, and also that security were getting less and less likely to follow me with every meter I gained. By the 10th floor I was still going strong, had settled into a good rhythm, and was level with the highest 'O' of the "OXO". By floor 20 I was knackered and called a break, but Sweetpea encouraged me to get to floor 25 where the workers had their rest area.
We slumped into the hard plastic chairs, sweating and panting. The cool night air breezed through and made the sweat on my face sting as it dried. Despite being inside I felt vulnerable and exposed under the harsh lighting. The sound of a police siren was accompanied by the arrival of a police car near the base of the building, and was all the encouragement I needed to start climbing again.
I powered through the remainder of the climb, so distracted by the end goal I didn't even realise that I'd climbed straight past the top floor (30th) and emerged straight onto the open roof. The view literally took my breath away. The bright lights of the city completely surrounded the horizon, a full 360 panorama of the city stretched out to below.
I done the usual 'hero shots' up on the highest little gantry I could find, tying my hoody to the scaffolding for fear of it flying off into the London night.
By now I was comfortable and relaxed with the height. I opened a mini bottle of champagne and sat at the edge, contemplating a feeling of liberation. The apartment below where I am sat is on the market right now for £2,915,000 (http://www.southbanktower.com/) I'm sat sipping champagne with a better view than them for the price of a £2.50 parking ticket and a bit of a climb.
Quite worrying how the gantry just ‘ends’
About 10m above the roof sits the cab of the tower crane. There are two guys up here, you can see the legs of the second one sitting on the edge near the cab: (Not from our group)
St. Pauls:
After a couple of hours we start our decent. It’s definitely a lot a lot easier going down!
I stopped at floor 15 as it was halfway hoping to get a better shot of the Oxo tower – at the top you’re looking right down onto it, so can’t see the letters. To my disappointment they had just turned them off! I was lucky to get the shots of St. Pauls to be honest, I didn’t realised they turned that off too.
Completing the final bit of the decent and hitting terra firma felt fantastic. I walked through the streets, smiling to myself as we passed drunken revellers jeering loudly at passing cars. It seemed a million miles away from the relative silence from the last couple of hours. We reached the Thames and looked back at the summit of the tower where we’d just been with a sense of achievement, but also of unrivalled camaraderie.
Massive thanks to everyone that came, great company:
Mr Dan, StewEP3, SweetPea, AdamX, UrbanX
Oh, I did video our ascent, and have packaged it into a neat 3 min vid with a soundtrack.
Not wise to put it in public, but if anyone wants a link (It’s unlisted on YT) just drop us a PM. Cheers for reading!
