Rooftops of Shrewsbury: Wakeman, again

(Disclaimer: Joking aside, I fully understand the risks/dangers involved in these adventures and do so in the full knowledge of what could happen. I don't encourage or condone and I accept no responsibility for anyone else following in my footsteps. I never break in a place, I never take any items and I never cause any damage. I will not disclose a location, or means of entry. I leave the building as I find it and only enter to take photographs for my own pleasure and to document the building.)

I first went up onto the rooftop of Wakeman School in 2016, during the day, and largely I prefer those pictures to the night time ones. Nevertheless, night time rooftop shots have their own atmosphere that isn't captured in daytime shots, and a night time explore wasn't a option back in 2016. Rooftops like Wakeman aren't easy to access, so I take what I can get.

Wakeman was built in 1921, in response to a growing number of students in Shrewsbury. At the time, the overflow of students wwas being educated in a derelict brush factory. Wakeman was originally named the Shrewsbury Borough Technical School. When it became too full, it expanded, and reopened in 1938, but with the war looming it didn't focus on standard education, providing instead military courses, and also training people to work in local industries to help the war effort. They also manufactured munitions. Rumour has it that there was a morgue in the cellar too, but this likely dates back to the original building that stood here, which was used as a hospital during the First World War.

Following the second world war, the school began teaching more conventional educational courses for what would today be considered secondary school and college students. However as the students became too overnumerous, the college-aged students were sent off to a different facility, and the school reopened in 1957 purely for eleven to sixteen year olds. It was named Wakeman School in 1961, after Sir Offrey Wakeman, Chairman of the Board of Governors and former World War One captain.

And between 1961 and 2013, there have been numerous bizarre stories connected to Wakeman. Everything from secret liasons between student and teacher, and one terrifying tale of a student being kidnapped by people in the nearby drug den / brothel and abused for several days before being let go.
The school closed in 2013 due to insufficient student numbers. As it closed, various pieces of leftover student ceramic art were accumulated and put on display in bricked up windows and doorways around Shrewsbury.
It was not the end of Wakeman though, as it reopened with courses for sixteen to eighteen year olds. However, the building was completely empty when I climbed up there. Here are some shots. There aren't many, I like them.

A shot of the Abbey.

And down there is the former drug den that I mentioned before. I want to emphasise on "former" because I don't want to damage the business that's currently there.

The English Bridge, leading into town. The views from the other side of the bridge can be found here.

Here's a rare shot, because I don't usually show humans on this blog unless it's a photoshoot, but here's a shot of my friend Chloe sat in the clocktower. It was a long exposure so it's a miracle there's any indication of a human present in this shot, to be honest.

It seems rather fitting to finish with a shot of the Abbey from the actual clocktower of Wakeman, a clock that I must point out, is either non-functional or wrong. It is, however, covered in signiatures from people who have climbed up there in the past, which is quite nice. When it comes to exploring Shrewsburys rooftops, I was not the first, and I won't be the last. Occasionally while rooftopping I even bump into other rooftoppers, but this is rare because the traditional, universal reaction to being discovered is to run like fuck.

Nevertheless, Wakeman made for a great chillout spot, and that is one of the perks of rooftopping- it provides a space, above the rest of my species, to sit and ponder. I did, after all, get into this whole thing as a form of escapism. I'm an introvert to the point of near social reclusion, although I don't come across this way, because in spite of this, I'm confident in who I am, I like who I am, I'm having the time of my life being me, and I'm incredibly happy and at peace.
It's just that I'm incredibly socially awkward, and often I find that when I do venture into the world of the humans, I'm quickly reminded why I prefer to stay away. I don't find humans necessarily bad or negative in anyway, but at the same time I struggle to find them relatable.
What I have learned from mingling with the humans is that no matter what you do, someone will grumble. And some people, usually insecure or bored themselves, require a villain or some kind of drama, and the socially awkward one that nobody really knows makes excellent villain fodder.
Of course, it's hilarious. Sometimes I'll hear some whisper about how someone dislikes me, and I'll wonder how, because I'm such a social recluse, I literally have no opportunity to annoy anyone. I just get on with my excellent life, you know?

Any one of us can fall victim to rumour, and become what I call "a convenience villain," and perhaps some of my readers relate, so here's my advice for all of you:
It's important to remember that if 50,000 people want to think that you're a bad person without checking facts just because their friends friends friends sisters friend said that they heard their friend say something to their friend, then that's 50,000 people you're better off without.
There's no shame in removing yourself from a situation or social group simply because they're a bunch of drudgeons. If I stop to scrape dog crap off the bottom of my shoe, it doesn't mean that the dog crap won, it means that I'm smart enough to scrape dog crap off the bottom of my shoe.

There are people in my life who think I am great. They came to this conclusion because they got to know me. To worry about the opinions of strangers listening to gossip is to invalidate the opinions of my loved ones, by holding them at equal importance to a bunch of idiot strangers. Do you see?

But there is more to it than that. Even if I had no loved ones, even if I was completely alone, even if I lost my house, and lost my job, I Will Thrive. I will thrive because I am doing what I love, and against that, there's not a thing anyone can say that will make a difference. Do what you love and you become untouchable.

What I have learned is that normality is a performance. We'll reach the end, no matter what, and on our death beds, we'll think back and ask "Was it worth it?"
In the meantime we focus on making sure that the answer will be "Yes."
I mean we know what the ending of the story will be, so why rush to get there? Let's drag this story out.

At least that's what Ouija LeMay told me, but she's bonkers. I saw her face down the Welsh Mafia once, armed with nothing more than a jar of syphilis, and the bra of the deceased Sarah Schitt. Apparently she haunts it, which is fair enough. Some of them are bloody expensive, and we can't judge Miss Schitt for not wanting to part with hers.

On a final note, I cut my hand pretty mightily on this climb, and now there's a massive scar that will throw off palm-readers for ages, unless when telling my future, they notice that it's a climbing scar and they tell me "You will die doing something stupid."
The lesson is, be careful out there. Obviously I can't stop people doing this, and it's not my place to. But be careful. There are real risks involved here.

Next blog post, I'm going to Birmingham, and then I'm returning to my home town of Oswestry. In the meantime, share this blog wherever you want, Like my Facebook, Follow my Instagram, Subscribe to my Youtube, and Follow my Twitter. You're all awesome.

Thanks for reading x