The house from Tots TV

(DISCLAIMER:  I do not force entry, vandalize, steal, or disclose means of entry or location if it isn't obvious. I do this to protect locations and respect them. Trespass without forced entry is a civil offense rather than a criminal one, which isn't worth acting on unless one causes damage, steals, has ill intent, etc. I simply photograph and leave everything as I find it. I do not condone breaking and entering, and I do not condone what I do. I'm a danger to myself and a terrible role model )

Todays adventure isn't in Shrewsbury. It's not even in Shropshire. The blogs title by this point has become inaccurate to the point of lunacy. It might as well be called "Woodland Wanderings with Crazy People."

Now, you know from my previous out of Shropshire adventures, I don't just go off to blog about any random shed. It usually takes some pretty tempting blog fodder to lure me. And today is no different. I presume some of you are familiar with an old kids TV show called Tots TV.
It turns out the house is only a short drive away, and hidden derelict in some woods, so naturally I wanted to take a look.

Tots TV was a British TV show that ran from 1993 until 1998. The series focused on the adventures of a French girl, a Black guy, and a hermaphrodite who lived together in a secret house with a dog, and a donkey. All of them are puppets, except for the donkey, who was either real or some damn convincing animatronic.

The three main characters would actually spend very little time in the house, and the majority of the episode was mainly about their adventures traveling out into the world, often hiding from humans as they did so. I was often curious about this. Unlike other 90s sensations like the Teletubbies and the Spice Girls, the characters from Tots TV actually resembled human beings. They had no reason to hide. I mean sure, some of the motivation was their magic sack, which they didn't want to fall into the wrong hands, but other than that, I saw no reason for them to keep their existence and their house a secret.

Upon discovering that the house existed in the UK, derelict, and only a short journey away, I added it to my to-do list, but made the visit a higher priority when I found out that it was on the same land as Teletubby Land, which was demolished in 2014 because of it attracting too many curious urban explorers. And I have nothing but envy for those who have explored the derelict Teletubby Land, but the fact that it has been demolished meant that the Tots TV house might also eventually follow, especially since I have heard stories from other explorers of being chased away at gunpoint. The nostalgic significance of this house is clearly known to the land owner.

Doesn't that sound exciting? In we go!

Sneaking in was pretty easy. As you can see, the door is non-existent. The house has decayed and nature is slowly taking it over. We also need to remember that this is more of a film set than a house, and after twenty years, it's amazing that it still stands.

 The building is a lot more spacious than it looks on the outside, and still retains the original colour scheme, although its faded. The floorboards are long gone, but what with it being a puppet show, I have heard that much of the floor was never there to begin with, allowing the puppeteers to operate the characters from slightly lower footing.

 Around the windows would have been a seating area for the puppet characters, and if I recall correctly, there was a table here too.

In fact, if my memory is right, this back door led to a small kitchen area. The house was designed so that depending on camera angle, it could sometimes look like a completely different room in the single-roomed house.

Around the house were these panels with circles cut into them, labeled "Trap support" which would indicate it was part of the trap door mechanism for the puppeteering.

 There was a window seat next to the stairs too, and I'll include screenshots found on Google for the sake of comparison, so that you can see how homely this place would have looked, if you subtract the creepy singing puppets.

Screenshot from the Tots TV opening sequence.

 The staircase is fairly iconic, and right next to the fireplace. In spite of the house having a chimney, the fireplace itself was never meant to be functional, as you can probably guess by the fact that the stairs actually lead over it. It sure looks like people have lit fires in it before though. No wonder the landowner gets aggressive.

The doorway next to the fireplace actually leads "backstage" and was concealed as an unassuming door during the actual show.

 There's a little ledge above the door, from which a puppet could interact from "upstairs." That's still there. The door is long gone though, along with the books on the shelf next to it.

The book shelf still remains.

Here's the power supply to the donkey shed, suitably labeled.

I was curious about what could be found upstairs, although I wasn't sure they ever led anywhere. They did support my weight though, although the two decades of exposure to the elements had made the wood somewhat rotten.

From up here, one has a good view of the entire house, and to my delight, it actually did overlook the backstage area.

Here we have a view of the area immediately behind the fireplace, and it sure looks a lot grimier than one would expect from such a whimsical TV show. But yes, this is the part of the Tots TV house that kids didn't get to see. And given the drop down to ground level, and given the fact that some of these shelves are so high that even a short person standing on the upper floor would struggle to reach them, and especially given that just on the other side of those shelves was that high up window from which the puppets could interact with the lounge area, I'd guess that there was an actual walkway here, a long time ago.

Making my way back down, I went backstage via the door next to the fireplace.

It's a lot more cavernous and less whimsical back here, although presumably it was once cleaner and well lit, and manned by an entire production crew.

There's a fire extinguisher among the wreckage, along with other stuff.

It's almost as if in 1998 when the show stopped airing, nothing was cleared out of here. It was possibly left exactly as it was, at the mercy of nature, vandals and urban explorers.

Here's the hallway which the upstairs overlooked, and as you can see, these shelves are actually really high up in comparison to the ground level. The shot of this area from upstairs was taken from the window up there.

There are still plugs and wires back here. In theory the place could be powered up again, and given a little TLC. One could theoretically reboot Tots TV. Or better yet, convert this into an actual home. I bet this place would be incredibly popular on Air Bnb.

Towards the back of the house, I realised that it probably needs a little more than a little TLC. It's literally falling apart back here, giving way to nature, and probably won't last for much longer.

The backstage area exits out here, where the house doesn't even look remotely like the Tots TV house anymore, and yet it's all connected. Camera angles made sure we never noticed. The external shots of the house were always taken with this area hidden from view.

Nearby is, of course, the Donkey shed, which is much smaller than I remember it being. Of course when the characters interacting with the donkey are hand puppets, the shed obviously looked bigger on camera. I did briefly wonder about the ethics of keeping a donkey in something half the size of your average garden shed. However, in every shot where the donkey is interacting with the puppets via the window in the shed, if one looks closely, the door was always open behind it, and the donkey was also seen roaming around the garden of the house as well, so it was probably treated well, and lured to the shed purely for the shot.

The door to the donkey shed is now padlocked.

Thats about it for the Tots TV house but it would be foolish to come all the way out here and not take a look at what was once Teletubby Land. Prior to its demolition in 2014 it looked like this:

But it has since been destroyed, apparently due to trespassers annoying the landowner, and has now been turned into a small lake.

Unlike the woodland which conceals the Tots TV house, Teletubby Lake is in the open, but there's really very little to see. I've heard stories about the landowner aggressively chasing people away at gunpoint. In fact I've casually wandered around loads of "aggressively secured" locations without coming into conflict with anyone. It raises the question, what do people do to get aggressively chased away from places? If you're discreet, change nothing, and just take your pictures and go, you'll get no trouble.
If you piss in peoples sinks and such, then you'll ruffle feathers.

But that's all I got for today. Next time I'm back in Shrewsbury for something pretty awesome. I also have some footage from it, so I might try my hand at video editing.
In the meantime, share the blog, and like my Facebook page, follow my Instagram, and my Twitter. Be good to each other.

Thanks for reading!

The Haygate

(DISCLAIMER:  I do not force entry, vandalize, steal, or disclose means of entry or location if it isn't obvious. I do this to protect locations and respect them. Trespass without forced entry is a civil offense rather than a criminal one, which isn't worth acting on unless one causes damage, steals, has ill intent, etc. I simply photograph and leave everything as I find it. I do not condone breaking and entering, and I do not condone what I do. I'm a danger to myself and a terrible role model )

Hello everyone. Recently there was a discussion online about how people from Shrewsbury dislike Telford for some reason. During this, some Telford guy told me to convince the people of Shrewsbury that Telford is actually okay.

I did inform him, I'm not some tribal chief. I can't just stand on a stool and say to the people of Shrewsbury "Guys, from now on lets start liking Telford." I'm not someone influential that the people of Shrewsbury would pay attention to, like Charles Darwin or Captain Planet. The best I can do is show how Telfords got a teeny bit less good, with the removal of a much beloved pub and music venue.

So for those of you that don't know, the Haygate was a pub in Telford that hosted live music, and was popular with metal heads, rockers, goths etc. It closed its doors for the last time roughly a month or two ago, when the owners allegedly decided to move abroad, and it's apparently due to be demolished to make room for houses. I wasn't a regular but I have enjoyed my fair share of nights here, so hearing that it was closing did shock and sadden me. But for someone who blogs about forbidden tourism, it's scheduled demolition suddenly made it blog fodder, and I didn't want all those fond memories to slip away without taking one last look. In we go.

I don't force entry, but rather only use available openings, and this place had already been broken into when I got here, so it should go without saying that I am not the first person to sneak in here. Nor will I be the last.
But I'm probably the sexiest.

The Haygate was a popular rock pub which frequently had live music. I'm not sure when it was built. It doesn't appear on any of the old maps I've looked at, although they do limit my perspective somewhat to the 1800s and the early-to-mid 20th Century, so all this tells me is that the Haygate isn't super old. It was said to be an integral part of the local pub circuit in the 1970s and 80s, so it predates my existence at least, but you could probably guess that anyway just by looking at it.

Exploring the Haygate was a nostalgic experience, and I only wish I'd been able to document it a little better, but as mentioned, someone from Telford broke my camera. It does still work, but is somewhat hindered in its capabilities. Nevertheless, I don't want to tread on any toes with this, just take one last look at what was once a fun place to drink.

 Upon gaining entry I first found myself in the area which once had a pool table and a few games machines. Here I have lost many a game of pool. Of course I do have dyspraxia, so I never really have high expectations there.

 There's still rum in some of these bottles. It all looks kinda like the very last people to leave this building all just sat around for one last drink together, and thought "Fuck it" to the idea of cleaning up after.

There are still loads of glasses behind the bar. My guess is that the building will be cleared out in the days leading up to its demolition.

 It's still possible to see where the pool table would have been, based on the ceiling lights. The TV still sits in the corner, and faces the bar. As you'd expect, there were stools along the bar, but they've since been removed.

 Over there in the corner, I think, was the jukebox.

 It sure is cool to see this wall covered in the final scrawlings of the people who loved drinking here. Of course, as a gesture of immortalising the era, it's good in theory, but in reality, this whole place is going to get torn down. But at least we have photos!

I'm pretty curious about the oldschool entertainment that played here on the 23rd December 2018, given that we're still in May. What kind of temporal sorcery is this? Is the Haygate a tardis?
If anyone out there feels that it would be problematic to move into a new home only to find a pub, and live rock band, suddenly burst through a time rift while you're trying to sleep, it's probably best not to get a home on the site of the Haygate this winter.

"Dim Diolch" is Welsh for "No thank you."
It's strange to see Welsh in Telford.

And next to all this graffiti was a little wall scrawl presumably written by the owners looking to get rid of their jukebox and pool table.

Moving past the "pool table area," the second half of the pub is actually pretty spacious, more so now that there's barely any chairs or tables left. This are was where the bands would play.

The tables and chairs are long gone, but the place still retains its character, and I totally suck at capturng it. But the main door leading out into the beer garden has been barricaded, which indicates that there have been some other intruders here, and it's not gone unnoticed.

I love the purple colour scheme.

Over there's the stage where the bands would play.

There are still pictures of various bands hanging on the walls, and still books on the shelves.

There's a couple of hats on the bar which I propped up for the sake of a picture.

I'm hoping this all gets cleared out before demolition. It would be a shame to leave them behind.

Up in the ceiling, which I never noticed when I used to come here, is a wine rack that still has bottles in it.

There's a picture of young Alice Cooper behind the bar, next to a statue of Teresa May.

We decided to check out the toilets, and found that the ladies in particular have a great decor. Check it out.

The mens are pretty typical...

I do like the little collage behind the door though.

That's it for the staff-only parts of the Haygate. However, there was still more to see.

The cellar was actually pretty huge, but flooded.

Luckily, it was traversible due to the raised bits.

I think the flooding may actually have been due to a burst pipe somewhere...

Anyway, back on the ground level...

Behind the bar, the building continued into a staff area,

I'm not sure if the Haygate did food or not, seeing as I've only been there at night, when a bands been playing and there's been large quantities of alcohol in my body, but this seems like a kitchen area, and the dishes still on the rack would suggest so.

There's a big safe back here, with these massive old keys on top.

And there's a drum back here, possibly left over from a gig.

Making our way upstairs, we found a home made stairgate, which would indicate that one of the occupants had a dog, or a small child.

But it's worth pointing out that the upper floors of the Haygate were residential, and so wandering up here is a little more tabboo than poking around downstairs in a formerly public bar. Nobody lives here anymore, but it was still a home, so we were respectful.

The first bedroom was this blue one, still partially furnished.

That's the worst penis graffiti I have ever seen. It looks like some kind of Penis / Nipple amalgamation. If my penis, or my nipples looked like this, I would join the circus.

On a shelf above the door was the Ice King from Adventure Time.

And lining the walls were all these old posters of previous gigs that the Haygate had held.

The next room had this creepy teddybear, and loads of graffiti.

It's clearly not actual vandalism, but rather what I call "House graffiti." The wall scrawling was done when the house was still being lived in. In that sense, it did remind of of Chaos Manor, particularly with the stuffed toys still lying around.

"Bron has an amazing pen."

My favourite piece of graffiti is right under the robot.
"Even when he is getting his dick wet, he is thinking about Bronny, and hoping it's her, but then when he finds out it's not he cries inside."
That's beautiful.

I seriously hope someone comes back for all this.

This room reminded me of the hairdressing suite in Radbrook College for some reason. I guess they smelled the same and have a similar decor. It sure is odd that the Haygates rooms are reminiscent of various prior adventures.

There was quite a spacious kitchen up here too.

Alcohol, tinned food, kettle and toaster. It's totally ready for squatting!

There's a distillation bottle still up here, in an old fireplace.

And finally, we have the bathroom.

The toilet up here is actually pretty cool. I love the decor.

In fact, what I love about the Haygate is, graffiti aside, a lot of effort went in to making it look pretty. It wasn't everyones cup of tea, given that it was a rock pub, and that's okay. But rockers, goths and all that, they get a lot of shit from more conforming members of society, simply because they have long hair AND a penis, or something. And I think it's important that people who are made to feel uncomfortable just for not fitting someone elses standards need somewhere to go where it's okay to be them.
So pubs like the Haygate are, in my opinion, pretty important. When I heard that the owners had sold it, I hoped someone else would pick up the business opportunity, and like many, I was sad to see that it was going to be demolished.

Finally moving into the beer garden, I actually found it was a lot smaller than I remembered it. But then this adventure was probably the first time I'd been sober at the Haygate.

I love this passive-aggressive poster asking for people to keep the noise down with the additional line "Our neighbours do not like to hear people enjoying themselves."

All of the old games machines are out here.

Well I guess that answers the questions of if they served food.

It also seems that someone here kept rabbits. That's pretty cool.

I don't remember the table football from any of my visits to the Haygate, and I assume it was in one of the upper rooms.

But that's about all I have on the Haygate. I feel like its a bit of an open wound for the people of Telford, and hasn't quite been left to rot long enough to get the real nostalgic vibes that come with some of the other pubs I've blogged about, but I'm sure that once it's rubble then these final pictures will make someone happy. In the future it will be destroyed, either by the demolition, or by idiots. I wanted to see it one last time first.
But that's why I love the internet. Everything we put onto it is preserved. In one hundred years this will be considered recorded history, as will all of our social media. People in the future will use our internet output to study older civilisation. That's a big deal. Some poor history student is going to have to swim through oceans of photographs of meals, dogfaces, and mundane Facebook updates about mundane days. And I guess I want to record the existence of places like this, which were important in their day.

Anyway, share the blog if you enjoyed it, and don't forget to like my Facebook page, follow my Instagram, and my Twitter. I barely use Twitter, but who cares? If it's your thing, you'll get updates.
My next blog will be important, and so much fun.

Thanks for reading.