Urban explorer's shopping centre tour 'about documenting history'

To Chris, urban exploring is about documenting history, photographing memories "before they're gone forever".

He is part of the online community where people record and share their "urbex" adventures in abandoned buildings.

Their enthusiasm is unlawful and can be dangerous, with police repeatedly warning those involved over the years about what they do - but Chris said he never broke into anywhere and always left everything as he found it.

"Decades down the line, people are going to be thankful," he said.

"It's not about how you got the pictures, it's just that you got the pictures. That's what's important. It doesn't matter how they were taken, as long as they were taken."

Chris, who did not want to give his surname, shared with BBC Radio Shropshire some of the photos he took when he went around a derelict shopping centre in Shrewsbury.

The Riverside was bought by Shropshire Council in 2018 and, after several years of planning, the buildings were demolished from August 2024.

But Chris said, just before that happened, he wanted to try to see inside one last time and "I realised that it was wide open one night and decided to have a bit of a wander".

"The very next day demolition commenced and that was it."

Among his photos of the derelict centres are ones of empty shops and stationary escalators.

He also went into some of the staff rooms, which he described as eerie.

"You could see all these little whiteboards in the staff room with all like the last little scribbles that the staff made on the last day and it was very sad," he said.

"I was very privileged I think to be able to see all this and document it before it was gone forever.

"It was just completely empty, completely void of life and you're just thinking 'you know once upon a time this was thriving and it's not anymore and it never will be'."

People have been exploring derelict buildings and sites since the early days of the internet, sharing their stories, photos and videos to message boards, blogs and sites like YouTube.

Trespass is often regarded as a civil rather than a criminal matter, and so can lead to court action from landlords, but there are circumstances when those trespassing can be prosecuted for committing criminal offences.

A West Mercia Police officer in 2024 warned of the potential dangers from urban exploring, from crumbling structures to hazardous materials, such as asbestos.

"Our advice to content creators filming here is to check the law, always have permission from property owners or landowners to visit sites, not to endanger their own lives, or those of others, and to be responsible for the videos they share in the public domain," Det Sgt Kelle Westwood said.

While he understood there were critics of urbex and there could be dangers if people were not careful, Chris said he felt the benefits were huge.

"Capturing something before it's too late? Yeah, absolutely," he said.

"That's why urban exploring is so important - when it's done right, when it comes to actually documenting history before it's gone forever.

"That's what it's all about for me anyway."

Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.