Tales of the Urban Explorer: The Woodman Inn

Weeks before, we visited Callis Mill close to Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire and inadvertently spotted a boarded up pub looking very sorry for itself.

I always intended to go back to ‘The Woodman Inn’ though a quick check told us it was sealed and inaccessible via conventional methods.

Some investigation and historical digging told me that The Woodman Inn was built in the late 18th century and has been empty for a long time.

How long is a good question, but perseverance in digging the dregs of information from the internet says, ‘somewhere between 1995 and 2000’.

It was not always a lone building with others built and then demolished right next to it several times over the years.

One get's used to these wonderful open and welcoming invitations. 'Welcome Urbex geek..., come in, yes you! and explore me', would be much more preferable.

One was a sweet shop in the 1950s ran by Asians. At this period in our history, this would have caused quite a stir.

Who would buy confectionery from a shop that is in the middle of nowhere? I can see why that particular venture was doomed to fail.

The day we attempted to infiltrate The Woodman Inn was a little cloudy and overcast. I was hoping for some dark thundering clouds for dramatic photography but it wasn’t to be.

Parking can be an issue when visiting these places. Right outside on a lay-by is the ONLY place to park which tells everyone, ‘someone is in there’. That day we had little choice.

Navigating the anti-climbing fencing presented little problems as it was bent and a little wrecked, and we were soon in the grounds.

The car park was large, highly overgrown but I couldn’t see a place for cars to enter or exit at either end. Maybe it was just for flying vehicles or helicopters? The parking lines told me otherwise.

This side of the building was sealed tight unless you could jump around 30 feet into the air. Some graffiti had been sprayed on the sidewall but besides a chest freezer (empty) there wasn't much to be seen.

Some steps went around the back but the thorns were pricking me through my shirt. Nevertheless, I climbed up this barely visible path to the rear of the building stoically enduring the pain.

There was a door but blocked with those statutory concrete building blocks. Where are the demolition boys when you need them?

I could see an open window but getting down there was a bloody nightmare. Too many nettles, thorns, weeds, long grass, you name it!

There was only one thing for it. Go around the other side of the building.

After being pricked to death again retreating down the same almost invisible pathway we ended at the front of The Woodman Inn for the second time.

The other side was a little more challenging and we needed some ‘utility' apparatus to check out that open window as it was around 7 feet off the ground.

After some climbing up embankments and scrambling around we were in the grounds again.

Is this the remains of the sweet shop from the 1950’s? If so there’s barely a trace left.

It was more like a jungle this side, and we had to meander around large clumps of wild trees and branches to get around to the back.

Was this the way in? We were about to find out

An annoying branch had to be removed as it kept hitting us square in the face every time we tried to peer through this partial window.

My climbing days are over and it’s doubtful these vines would support me even when I was a lithe skinny lad.

Juggling a large light with a phone to take a photograph is hard. I had horrific visions of my phone falling down this 12-foot drop into all that crap below.

The flash worked but it yields grainy crappy images like this one.

I could see the floor had collapsed and what can be seen is the basement far below. There was a bar to the right still intact, and a few plastic trophies on a shelf to the left.

Dropping down there was pure death! After seeing this vision I was completely turned off by any more exploration.

@goblinknackers was still bullish about The Woodman Inn and suggested we bring some 15-foot ladders, but if the ground floor is collapsed, then gaining entrance to a 2nd-floor window would send us to our deaths far below on the first step.

The only safe way to see The Woodman Inn is via the ground floor and that would be very tetchy.

20 years of abandonment causes wooden floors to collapse under your feet, and it would be dodgy as hell to even explore using this option.

There are some relics and history in there, I'm sure of that but there are other safer places to find. This is one I'll be crossing off my list as ‘too dangerous'.

Visit and enter at your peril.

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