Pyestock Diaries

We left Cell 4 and made our way back along Weir Road towards our infiltration point. By now, this section of the site was mapped out in my mind and I was starting to gradually fill all the gaps in the various photographs I’d need to take. Exteriors, interiors – it was starting to come together.

And now that I'd got photographs of plans and schematics, then the naming and function of the site was starting to make sense as well.

The sky was turning grey and it started to drizzle but I didn’t care: finally a small corner of Pyestock made some sense. That would be a good foundation to start with the rest of the site.

And I pondered that as I sat stuck in traffic on the M3 for one and half hours. Marlon crawled past in another lane. "Excellent" he shouted. "My gear stick lights up."

"By taking a slightly different route, and deviating from my norm, I'd discovered a whole different part of Pyestock (a point which should delight the psychogeographers). Of course, this was just the start, as further explorations would delve under, and climb onto, various parts of Pyestock, but this was an important first step.

The first building was not a test cell but Number 10 Exhauster. Cell 3 West was identified by labels and documentation found in and around the cell itself; the Air House and Cell 4 were revisited to take extra photographs.

The photographs of the plan found in the Air House were pieced together over satellite images of the site, annotated and coloured; these eventually became plans of Pyestock.

Because I was so pleased with the trip, I was back a week later for my biggest exploration yet."

© Simon Cornwell 2007

Leaving Pyestock via the southern side of Cell 4 under Brian's Bridge. 24|03|07 © Simon Cornwell 2007