On my first visit to Cane Hill, this was all portacabins and wooden sheds. For this was Cane Hill’s social club, where the patents could be social for a couple of hours, after which they could return to their anti-social ways. (I guess that’s how it worked anyway.) Compared to the rest of the place, it was very boring and we didn’t give it much of a look.

On my second visit to Cane Hill, it was a burnt out shell, the target of the second arson attack. A sad sight to behold, but interesting as a huge iron safe sat almost untouched amidst the wooden wreckage. Unfortunately it wasn’t worth the effort to get to, for fear of breaking your neck falling through the black, charred wooden floor.

What would you keep in a safe in a social anyway? Beer? Money?

On second thoughts, perhaps it was worth the risk.

Here’s the site now. No burnt remains. No safe. No nothing. They cleared it. And this is why I took the shot. Because, the bulldozers have been to Cane Hill and they’ve cleared the social club.

What’s next?

2009: There were always constant rumours buzzing around that Cane Hill was about to be demolished. This often lead to a wave of urban explorers descending on the buildings for "one last visit" only to be slightly perplexed when nothing happened over the next few months.

This continues today. At the time of writing, West Park and Severalls are about to be demolished yet again.