Hi all, have you had a good week?

City wise we’ve seen the Green bin charge increase to £50 a year and new owners for Cruise nightclub (closed since 2022). Meanwhile Pop Specs from the Market secured the financial backing of 3 Dragon’s on BBC’s Dragon’s Den to help expand their super fast eye wear business. It’s another feather in the cap for the Market alongside Nice Bites YouTube fame with Rate my Takeaway , and Pastry Pedaleur’s starring role on Channel 4’s Aldi’s Next Big Thing in 2022. Not bad for a “food hall.”

My topic of discussion this week is a video that was posted online in early December from YouTubers Urbandoned. The video which has so far gained 17 thousand views is a detailed exploration of the Debenhams/Browns building which has been lying empty since closure in 2021.  After somehow gaining access , the team of urban explorers document the architecture as well as the size and complexity of the building.

The cafe is untouched, looking like its ready to trade with teapots stacked and bright artwork of the city on the walls. Another section shows inside the staff locker room and the offices overlooking Eastgate street. After navigating the maze of corridors, the lads reach the sales floor and delight at the ornate chandeliers and skylights of the fallen Goddess of a building. Empty and unloved she awaits the next phase of her life. The narration describes the site as “spellbinding” and ”dream location for shoppers” with its stained glass and ornamental details. Signage for designer brands like Giorgi Armani feel ironic juxtaposed against the emptiness of the retail tomb. Sadly a later section of the video shows water damage and decay which will surely concern the owners Martins Property Group who acquired the site in late 2023. Their plans for the site have not yet been revealed…

In a subsequent video the boys explore the Forum shopping centre- a site holding much less interest as it can still be publicly seen through the gates at the main entrance. It looks exactly the same now after one year of closure.

My own urban exploration is limited to once walking up to the gates of Denbigh Asylum, as well as a walkthrough an abandoned garden centre in Vicars Cross . A 2015 guided tour of the Odeon as it was being transformed into Storyhouse provided a similar thrill- with the ticket machines, pic n mix stands and signage all still in situ having sat there since closure in 2007. The fascination of looking at urban exploration images for me comes from the memories and feelings once associated with these places, and the ghosts of the past that are evoked. The imprint of laughs and tears and happiness and pain that took place in these places lingers. Similarly search online for images of the old Deva hospital , (a popular target for urban explorers before it was demolished) and you’ll know what I mean.

The Browns video ends on a surprisingly positive tone. “It is uncertain what the plans are for the facility, but we doubt it will stay defunct for too long. It is likely that this vacancy will only be a small blip in the building’s lifespan , and it will soon reopen with all the special architecture on show for all to witness once again.”

The future is coming. Sometimes it just takes an age to arrive.

Next week: York