The Underground Salon

(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 into a place, I never take any items and I never cause any damage, as such no criminal offences have been committed in the making of this blog. 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.)

Today is just a small blog, about a tiny but quirky location outside of my usual circles.

If you know me, you'll know that I'm a pretty extreme introvert. Some say it's unhealthy, but then some people say that the world is flat, and that the Transformers movies were good. Ironically, the world is full of people who think they're being helpful by trying to encourage us to live according to their perception of normal. Not all of us require a shepherd, and introversion doesn't equate to unhappiness. In fact I'm quite the opposite! My soul is made of sunshine, angel queefs and dreams. Living life as I do, with my hobbies, my friends, my family, good legs, a nice arse, and being generally brilliant, I can honestly say that if wealth was measured in happiness, I'd be a billionaire. I just find human interaction exhausting, and I value time to myself too. Sometimes my introversion simply demands that I sneak off somewhere far away on random impulsive solo excursions, so that I can do what I love with only my inner monologue to keep me company. That's what brought me to this place.

This derelict salon was sat in the middle of a town, in plain sight, with a backdoor broken open, and somehow completely overlooked by the towns population. Similarly overlooked was my casual entry through the door. If anyone suspected me of trespassing, they did nothing to show it. But then this town is quite run down, and a bit on the dull side. It's not as bad as Oakengates, but then neither is syphilis. But maybe the townspeople collectively thought "This town is terrible, but if this gorgeous guy with a camera is finding a way to have fun, good for him."
People ask me what I've got against Oakengates, and the answer is this- Sometimes you just can't help but find a town ugly. But I digress!

Now obviously, as a salon, its probably not going to have amazing historic internal achitecture, but it's small and quirky, and I've never done one before, unless you count the salon in Radbrook College. 

 Annoyingly, but also intriguingly, I couldn't find much about this place. The external shot looks vaguely chapel-like but it isn't said to be a chapel on any old maps. Streetview shows the salon to be open to the public in 2011, but closed by 2015, and falling further and further into disrepair as the years progressed. Further investigation led me to the salons Facebook page, which is long inactive, with the last review being in July 2014. So what happened? Why did it close down? And if it's been empty for that long, but open for urban explorers, why is there no graffiti or shattered glass?

Well, allegedly this location was used for some ridiculously high-level money laundering operation, so high profile that even certain council members were involved. Allegedly the staff here were illegally too, with no papers, and paid cash in hand. Allegedly as soon as the owners found out that they were under investigation, the place closed down within hours. 

 Here's the fire exit, leading upwards.

 Here's the toilet, poo splattered, but still in better condition than the toilets in some pubs and clubs.

And here are the washing machines.

I got particularly suspicious as I progressed through the building. There's still power in this place. Given that it's not been open since around 2015, this is just odd. Likewise is the presence of washing machines, which logically speaking would have been cleared out when the business closed. From appearances so far, this place doesn't seem to be closed down at all, and given its dodgy past, that is very suspicious.

Having said that, the power still worked at Lincoln Grange Nursing home, and then even more bizarrely at Cloud House, so it's not unheard of.

The front portion of the salon was pretty messy, albeit, still furnished.

To the left of the main entrance is the reception desk, which still has a computer behind it, along with typical office clutter.

I'm not in any way envious of someone whose job is to sit in front of a glowing rectangle, but I couldn't help but marvel at the computer, which is pretty ancient by technological standards, with obsolescence coming a lot faster to products than it used to. Wait, that's why there's barely any info on this place online! They're probably still on dial-up internet!
Whoever sat here not only got to fiddle with this 20th Century relic, but also had two monitors to look at, one of which likely displayed footage from the internal security cameras.

While this central area itself is pretty barren, the actual tanning rooms are pretty trashed, although I'm not sure why. Having said that, all of the tanning beds have been removed. I can't imagine it being possible to remove them from their tiny rooms and out through the back door without making a little mess. 

The buildings internal cameras are all turned to face the walls, which indicates that I'm not the first person to sneak in here.

Next to the stairs, signs point down to the Underground Hair Studio. It's curious to have a hair salon in a basement, but this place has gone one step further and made the fact that its underground into the actual gimmick, which is totally awesome.

Check it out! Even the sign has "Underground" written in edgy lettering, with the symbol of the London underground. They've really made the fact that its in the basement the primary selling point.
Well the gimmick has certainly sold this place to me! I've never been to an actual salon but if I was going to, I'd be all over the quirkier places. I was quite baffled that there's no internet presence for this place. You'd think, given the emphasis on the gimmick, more would have been done to promote it. But then the lack of web presence is understandable, if there were high level council workers involved in illegal activities here. It was all probably cleared out.

At the back of the cellar was this small kitchen for the staff.

There's mold on the walls, and a bin bag full of rubbish. But there's still cutlery, bowls and cereal here. Add that to the fact that there's still electricity, and this place is perfect for squatters!

Heading upstairs...

There are more tanning rooms upstairs, but as with the downstairs, all of the tanning beds are gone. The architecture sure is cool though.

Here's a foot spa.

Over here's the scariest thing I've ever found in a derelict building, one of the Fifty Shades of Gray books. No wonder this place ended up empty. This book probably caused an entire evacuation.

Here's a little pouch of crayons, indicative that there were distractions for the clients children. But really, given that this building is wide open to trespassers, and the means to scribble on the walls are here, readily supplied, where is all the graffiti? I don't remember the last time I saw a place this free of vandalism, except for very remote locations. For a salon to be wide open in the middle of a town centre, the lack of vandalism is frankly bizarre.

But that's all I've got.

To conclude, the underground salon, and its upper floors, are completely mystifying. I don't know much about the buildings history, nor do I know what the future holds for it. In its glory days, I probably would have just walked past, but now I find myself weirdly fascinated. It's small and quirky, and it's hidden in plain sight.
It's also bloody mysterious, being closed for at least four years but still having electricity, and a lot of stuff left behind. It's very odd.

Of course it's possible that it's getting fixed up to be reopened, and I just happened to stroll in while everyone was on their lunch break. I guess I'll find out, should I ever return here. Maybe there's a nearby ROC bunker or a forgotten cemetery. Wait and see!

Next blog post I'll be checking out a derelict nightclub, and then I'll be off in a completely different direction to check out a care home. In the meantime, like my Facebook, Follow my Instagram, Subscribe to my Youtube and follow my Twitter.

Thanks for reading!