Belgium Piscine Crachoir

I have been to this swimming pool three times now, the first was an attempt back in 2011 on my very first Europe trip, we literally arrived at the pool took a walk around and then got yelled out by a man and his kid who told us not to go in as it was dangerous. We decided to get a cup of tea in the nearby macdonalds and wait till he was gone and then give it another go, but when we returned the place was swarming with cops and it turns out someone else had been caught in there by the angry man. It was sad as we really wanted to go inside. 

But only a few months later while on another trip, we made another attempt and this time got in, it was a wonderful place and although the actually swimming pool was that interesting for me, the corridors and bath rooms were very fascinating for me. The pool was built in 1915 and was used to keep the workers out of the factories and give them some leisure time. The building has beautiful stained glass ceilings, ornate doors and each tiny bath room tilled with a classic freestanding bath. 

In 2014 we made another visit to the pool, we arrived really early in the morning, after our trip over in the Euro tunnel. On realising how much it smelled inside, full of damp and pigeon poo, we made our way on to the roof where we slept for a couple of hours, I swear I saw a large mouse or two run by where I was lay down, but after no sleep that night I went out for a light, only to be awoken by the sound of crows above and the rising sun. It was time to explore and soon it became apparent that someone else was in the building, but also clear that they did not want to be seen, the way we had come in on our exit was open when we had left it shut, so it made us 100% sure we had shared this explore with the silent wanderer.