Ever met a freindly security guard?

[UrbanDoucheBag94]

There was a cracking chap at St. Crispins in Northampton last year.
He saw us taking photos and he approached us and said we could continued taking photos seeing as we were "mature" enough to know what we were doing and know what risks were involved.
He told us to be wary and to find him if we found trouble makers (people damaging the property etc) - We did come across these types but couldn't find the security guard...

 

[Praada]

The middleton security guards are pretty sound, they caught 7 of us in the bushes trying to get the gate at the middleton end, they heard us snapping twigs under our heavy feet, said we know you're in the bushes theres 3 of you to which we all jumped out laughing saying no there's 7 of us haha! They then went on to say we wouldn't of got in and better luck next time... Can't wait until the day we finally make it inside and can say better luck next time to them on our exit

 

[Lolz101]

Had both really, one guy wielding a large axe over his shoulder with a black lab was probably the most friendly ive ever met, told us to watch out for some large holes in certain buildings and let us on our way after explaining we were just taking a few flicks. Got turfed out a steelworks in sheffield by a lady secca who was scared and thought the noises she was hearing were ghosts till she realised we were infact humans o_O

 

[mookster]

I've had both sides of the coin. It all depends on your attitude really as most of them are pretty decent people just doing their job but there is always the one or two exceptions. The security at Harold Wood Hospital were right arseholes to us for no reason at all for instance.

The best I've ever had was at Abbey Mills Pumping Station in London, we turned up and couldn't find a way in at all then walked around a corner and bumped into either security or a contractor (never worked out which), he asked us what we were doing and when we said we wanted to take some photos he said he had an hour or so to kill whilst waiting for someone to turn up on site so let us in and gave us a guided tour of the building. Fantastic bloke.

Either that or the security who turned up at the old Centre For Human Sciences in Farnborough. Unbeknownst to us the cameras on site around the centrifuge building were still monitored and after setting the worlds loudest alarm off, a couple of hours later official security from the head office of QinetiQ turned up. We were busy in one of the smaller buildings and out the corner of my eye I saw something moving outside and about ten seconds later a security guard appeared in the corridor of the building we were in. We were expecting big hassles being in a site partly owned by QinetiQ on the fenceline of Farnborough Airport but he was one of the nicest guards I have ever met. Had his out-of-breath slightly frustrated mate not turned up a few minutes later it looked like he was on the verge of saying to us we could continue on exploring.

 

[Olkka]

Some great stories here.
I've not explored as much as the OGs on here but out of 15 or so big-ish explores in the UK I haven't had any tense run ins with security.
One time a friend and I stopped off at Mid Wales on the way to somewhere else, we kicked around in there for like half an hour no problem and then decided to go park the car outside the main entrance for a smoko. Then a van drives up and a very rural old geezer asks 'you're not going in are ya?', I say nah mate and begin milking some waffle how I'm not about the urb3x lyf but he just spins the tyres in his van and shoots off almost instantly after I said nah mate, hehe
Another time in a military hospital in Kazakhstan's biggest city - Almaty - we were cruising round one of the upper floors when a seemingly stray dog carrying a huge chicken-like carcass comes round a corridor corner, followed by a bloke smoking a tab but wearing a lil badge with the Russian word for security on it. I immediately ask him 'how much for photos' in Russian and he says '500 tenge', or about £1. That was that.

 

[Baggy trousers]

Most of them I've bumped into have been sound, had a run in with one at fletchers once calling me a '28 terrorist' (is that a thing?!)
And then there was elwyn.... and everyone knows about him!

 

[AnonyMouse]

So... This hobby obviously comes with it's security encounters, because these abandoned places aren't going to guard themselves. Most guards will chase us off the site or get the police on us, but some occasionally realise that we aren't there to smash up or set fire to the sites they're guarding and can be a little more friendly. It's rare, but it does happen.

I've only had one encounter that you could class as friendly, I was exploring the Greyhound Stadium in Portsmouth before it got demolished, I'd got through the gate and was just looking around, but a security guard in high-vis walked in on me and told me to leave, I explained to him that I was just there to look around and wasn't there to vandalise the place, he told me "I shouldn't do this, but since you seem alright, I'll give you 15 minutes to look around, then you'll have to leave". I kept an eye on my watch and left after 15 minutes as he asked, which was probably the best thing as he was stood by the only way in and out of the place. I wasn't expecting him to give me that kind of leeway.

That's the only friendly-ish security encounter I've had. So... If you've ever had one, I ask. What was it?

- Rainey

I approached a guard in a school scheduled for demolition last summer and asked if it's OK to come around with a camera and take few photos before the work starts. He asked me to come back next weekend as he needs to ask his boss but it shouldn't be an issue.

Sadly I couldn't find time to do it for a couple of weeks and somebody has set fire to one of the buildings in the meantime. I didn't want to go back and sniff around the place after that.

 

[Rainey]

Most of them I've bumped into have been sound, had a run in with one at fletchers once calling me a '28 terrorist' (is that a thing?!)
And then there was elwyn.... and everyone knows about him!

I think 28DL is becoming more widely known across the country at this point. I even found 28DL graffiti in one of the places I've been to. Also, even I've heard about Elwyn.

 

[Taliesin Bourne]

Most of them I've bumped into have been sound, had a run in with one at fletchers once calling me a '28 terrorist' (is that a thing?!)
And then there was elwyn.... and everyone knows about him!

I'm afraid your statement about everyone knowing Elwyn is incorrect as I am not parry to this story. Who and what is this mythical Elwyn? haha

 

[Jekyll.Black]

'Official' security are fine, as in they are professional and will ask you to leave... after you've had 5 minutes to get the pics

The assholes are the guys who take it upon themselves to guard places, and usually were employed by the site when it was operational. Ex miners in the valley coal mines, and the guy at Denbigh