Tales of the Urban Explorer: Club 051

“Club 051 is on fire.. again”

@anidiotexplores was telling me this over a message chat. We had visited a few months before and that was after the previous fire.

This distinctive building in Liverpool City Centre was formerly home to the 051 nightclub which dominated the club landscape in the 1990s and early 2000s.

The building now looks a far cry away from what it looked like in its glory days. With a capacity for 2,000 clubbers, the empty venue is one of the last iconic club buildings still standing.

The 051 closed in 2005 and became other clubs including Aura from September 2013 but was stripped out by 2016.

Source

...as if there’s anything left in there to burn?...

There is, but you need to go high, very high before you reach anything that doesn’t resemble the coming apocalypse of man.

This one was big, and many people were skittering around what looked like the way in. We were not sure, but unless we slipped under a fence and then another one it was going to be a fail.

We spotted some cops milling around and decided to loiter around picking our noses to look innocent. It’s a step up from whistling while guiltily looking over your shoulder every 15 seconds.

“Let’s do it”, I said.., hitting the ground and ignoring the amazed-looking rubber neckers admiring my lack of dexterity and coordination. You get used to it and within seconds we were safely out of eyeshot and looking at an abomination.

...why would anyone want to torch this.. again?...

Struggling to walk through the desolated basement of Club 051, we slowly made headway through burnt corridors, trying not to touch the filthy walls.

Up was clearly the direction we needed to go and I paused on some scorched metal stairs to take this shot. It looked like it could have been a bar once. That was a calculated guess.

It's got a chain; I am guessing it was a bicycle. The scale of the blaze must have been ferocious.

We climbed several sets of stairs that were not photo-worthy until this large room was discovered. What was it?

It was freaking out @anidiotexplores who refused to set foot inside. Someone weirdo was intent on making a farm out of this floor.

Even what looks like the old reception desk, had piles of hay stuck on the top. This was all getting a little strange.

… and what's with these dangling tyres? Did it use to be a farmyard obstacle course?

The ‘Farm on the 5th Floor' had miraculously escaped the fire, with copious amounts of smelly haystacks to jump in (if you are the country bumpkin type).

I couldn't find any notes, writing, or literature strewn about the ‘Farm on the 5th Floor’ and could only put it down to a deranged farmer, not content with the countryside who wanted to rear pigs in the centre of Liverpool, five floors up.

The things I see, I tell you…, there’s rarely a dull moment.

Moving on, and immediately back into the depths of blackened hell after this small interlude we passed by a small office, with little inside.

The safe had survived but was empty.

The scenery was not improving and I felt like the entire building (apart from the ‘Farm’) was going to be the same.

Climbing yet another storey, took us to the top floor. How things suddenly changed. They must have had great fire doors.

The ‘No Limits’ Gym I guess was housed on this floor. What better place than a huge tower block to work out, while looking over the city?

It was quite messy but in a good way. Surely there was something left behind on this floor.

The reception I presume?

There are 'No Limits' to the strength you can attain while here. Cheesy.

The calendar was quite dull with pre-typed entries in the boxes, and from 2014.

What's in the bags? I have learned not to look, though on this occasion it was probably not multiple piles of bagged dog shit. The vending machines were sadly empty.

Gyms need a locker room, complete with lockers.

There’s always something personal hanging around, and this time it’s Daniel’s Western Union transaction to his mate in Los Angeles. Why did you pay those ridiculous fees?

There are far cheaper ways and those rogues Western Union have now hopefully restructured their payment model or have gone bust. I have personal experience using them.

It’s only ‘single use’ when not found in a place such as this.

'Bulk Powders' or muscle powder. Do you want to look like Arnie used to be? I could have downed the whole pack there and then and mutated on the spot like 'The Incredible Hulk', without the green side effects.

WTF, I made a spelling mistake.

A derelict boxing ring would have been a first, sadly it was missing.

Look at those views of the city, while hanging out with 'skeleton' and drinking Budweiser while doing your weights.

...'@anidiotexplores stares at the boxing sign in vain, hoping to imbue some fighting skills from the gods above'...

Shortly we would be descending and via a different route. I was not expecting the scenery to be any better.

Personal Trainers are expensive; if you have the motivation you can miss them and save a shitload of money.

This is what it looked like while climbing down the stairs; burnt, blackened, and unimpressive.

We had little choice other than picking our way through the basement nightmare again. Walking in this stuff can be quite challenging.

Besides the unstable nature of the surface, you have to dodge all manner of metal items emanating from every direction.

Club 051 was big, and there was no sign of the nightclub it was once famed for. All that was left is the gym and that weird farm halfway up. Now it’s been burnt yet again, there is likely nothing left to see.

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