Lost in the Catacombs with Matt of Finders Beepers

This week on the No Tracers urban exploration podcast I am joined by Matt of Finders Beepers. In this episode Matt will share many of his favorite exploration stories, including the time he got stuck in the catacombs for over 14 hours! Can you imagine being underground for that long? YIKES! Follow Finders Beepers: http://youtube.com/c/findersbeepershistoryseekers https://www.instagram.com/findersbeepers

0 (0s):

Welcome to the No Tracers podcast. How's it going guys? I hope you're doing well. If this is your first time hearing my voice. Hello, my name is Kay. I am your host. Hear on the No Tracers podcast. This is a podcast, all about urban exploration. It is full of tips, tricks, and tales from different adventures that not only have I gone on, but my different guests on this podcast have gone on. If you're new to the podcast, please go back and listen to the previous episodes. I have other guests as well on this show. And the first couple of episodes are actually full of tips and tricks for you. If you are trying to get into urban exploring, I have been exploring since I was 13 years old. I'm now 27. I've been documenting my explorations for the past five, four years.

0 (43s):

And I, I think that I've got a little bit of insight on how you could get started as an urban Explorer. So definitely check out those previous episodes. And if you guys are into photo prints or really cool books, I have a book out called No Tracers and urban explorers diary. It's full of high res photography and stories from my explorations all over the world. If you guys wanna check it out, pick up a copy. You can go to No Tracers dot com slash shop. And if you want to read my blog and see some of my photos from abandoned places just had to No Tracers dot com slash blog. There is a link down in the description. If you guys are looking for gear, there are a bunch of Amazon links in the description as well.

0 (1m 23s):

For things like backpacks, solar chargers, camera gear, audio equipment. If you need that, if you're trying to start a podcast like this, there's a bunch of gear links down in the description for you. Masks, boots, backpacks, all that kind of stuff. Definitely check out those links. If you guys are looking for some gear, but like I said, this week, I am talking to Matt from finders Biebers and we are going to dive into this episode. If you guys like what you're hearing at any time, please leave a rating and some feedback. And if you do so, I will send you a signed photo print. All you have to do is take a screenshot of your feedback and send it to me at No Tracers on Instagram. And I will mail you a signed photo print from an abandoned place. That's all you got to do. It's free. It takes you like 30 seconds to leave feedback, and then you get a photo print.

0 (2m 6s):

It's easy. I need to take a second to think our first partner, which is liquid death water. I am now a death peddler. If you don't know what liquid death water is, don't worry. You've got an ad coming in 3, 2, 1

1 (2m 20s):

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0 (3m 7s):

Just to note on this episode. So there's actually a little bit of feedback on this episode. I don't know if it's feedback, but it's kind of like a wobbling sound effect. I don't know what it is. It might've been something with a finder's beepers microphone or with the connection we had, but just so you know, that is there. So I'm sorry if that's annoying, but I just want it to let you know upfront, but this episode is super great. So I hope you stick around to the end and power through the weird vibration sound. All right. Finder's beepers. Matt, can you please introduce yourself and tell the audience how long you have been exploring by that? I'm

2 (3m 38s):

Up from finders beepers. I'm over in the UK and we've been exploring probably for about three years now in the UK and all over Europe and further afield as well.

0 (3m 51s):

So what got you into exploring in the first place? What made you catch the bug?

2 (3m 56s):

Well, we started off being metal detector as such. I wasn't going on a slow in at first, but the history element of that made us look into the building side of things. And then we went from there.

0 (4m 11s):

So what was your first exploration?

2 (4m 14s):

The first one we did, we did a couple of small ones to light farm houses and things like that. But the first major one we did was a mental institution that went right back to the early 18 hundreds, a massive, massive place. It was just about turned into houses. So we went on in there. It was fantastic.

0 (4m 36s):

So for those that don't know, I mean, they should know the UK is obviously been around a lot longer than America. A lot of the people that are from America came over from the UK. And so you guys have older buildings over there, which I think is super fascinating and super amazing. Like here in America, our stuff is mostly from like the 19 hundreds on and you guys have stuff from the early 18 hundreds. And even before that, can you talk about the history behind some of these places that you've explored

2 (5m 5s):

This isn't like you say this some amazing, really, really old buildings state. In fact, I think all this one we've been around dated in fact, to having buildings in the 13 hundreds. So quite a long time, but I think that's, that is the good thing about the new co UK exploration, such a varied amount of buildings, whether it be the really old, all this new book, more interesting for other reasons of things that are on there.

0 (5m 37s):

And then when did photography and videography come into play for you? You've got a YouTube channel. So I know you do a lot of video stuff. When did you guys pick up the cameras and start documenting everything?

2 (5m 48s):

It was, we started metal detecting as a bit of a hobby as, as friends. And then we went for a weekend away to Scotland. And this sort of, from there, like I said, to put the name by this, that's why the name comes from inside. And then we started to take photos on videos, not only of the, the things that we found, but the areas and the places and the things like the buildings and the history around that. So that's where it started.

0 (6m 19s):

And then for you, or for, for new explorers, they often ask like, what gear should I bring? Should I get a light? Should I get shoes? Should I get a backpack? What gear would you recommend for new explore?

2 (6m 33s):

It depends really what level you want to go into it. So for example, the first building we went into was a farm house, which wasn't really doing much to where it would be burnt out. At one point, the guy that had lived there committed suicide, and we want to sell to look into that really. You wouldn't need anything other than cause we, I feel edit and do they're not an, so you don't need the biggest, best camera in the world. The phones these days are absolutely fantastic. And I think it's because I've got the background of working for apple in the past. I knew the apps to use is to have to have a bit of knowledge around that.

2 (7m 14s):

Obviously health and safety is quite a big thing. If you're new to it, when we're a little bit gung ho we don't re we get to hold up all the time for not having the right protective things and masks and one being on the books we're at that age where we almost at our time anyway. So it didn't really matter. But yeah, I think, I don't know it's down to you. It depends. I would say that the safety element is important. Obviously we do make live and we have a laugh about it, but obviously we have been doing this for a while and we're quite comfortable with ourselves to do that.

2 (7m 54s):

But as a new person coming into it, you might want to get something that's going to stop it to something on nails masks, for example, especially with the corn situation. And then, like I said, we've always used a phone, so it'd be comfortable just used it using the phone and they added some software on there to do that, to start off with, to see if you like it.

0 (8m 15s):

Perfect, man. Thank you for telling everybody about that. I think it's super important, you know, especially like you said, right now, masks are important and respirators, there's this blood as best as lead paint, all kinds of different stuff in these abandoned buildings. So safety is definitely important. What has been your scariest exploration?

2 (8m 35s):

Oh, this just so many and for different reasons, I think the most scared I have been was probably in Russia. We went to what we thought was an abandoned, funded military base and it hadn't been abandoned and there was lots of abandoned military helicopters that probably about 40 a fish day when we first researched it. When we actually got there, the military had reclaimed the area, there was quite a lot of Russian army with big, big, massive dogs and Goldens and all the helicopters were still there, but with Goldens attached and bombs attached at all.

2 (9m 19s):

So, so yeah, we got chased by the Russian army. That was pretty scary. I would say that's probably the scariest in that regard and so on. We think to some pretty spooky places as well though. We've, we'll be like a lot of the asylums. They've got that URI feeling about when like this, somebody watching you all the time. And I think the main one would be on the spooky side of things is somewhere called St. Joe's seminary, which basically was a school for Catholic priests. So the children were made into Catholic priests eventually.

2 (9m 59s):

And there was a lot of self abuse that went on there and that was ultimately why it was so what was damn well, we fell. I, I saw, I believe in ghosts on day one comes with me, those not all this totally, totally skeptical. And he felt petrified. He felt like we were being watched the whole time. It was really, really uncomfortable in that. I loved it. We both really enjoyed it. Just fell on edge all the time.

0 (10m 28s):

Yeah. I call that feeling the darkness. It's hard to explain it unless you're an urban Explorer because people don't understand what it is, especially like those that don't believe in the supernatural, they, they oftentimes are like, oh, that's nothing. It's all in your head, but no, there's like a tangible feeling in the air.

2 (10m 46s):

Yeah. Yeah. Definitely a weird feeling. It really like we have apparently got that extra sense to know when somebody's watching us. Like when you started to feel someone looking at you, that's what it felt. It feels like all the time it's, it's uncomfortable,

0 (11m 4s):

But it's so powerful. And it's so interesting to like push yourself through that. You know, I love, I love pushing myself through that, that scary feeling. It's so it's so invigorating. You know what I mean?

2 (11m 15s):

Definitely. I prefer explores like that. Anyway, I'd rather that than just to an empty building with nothing about it. I think having that feeling there is definitely a factor.

0 (11m 31s):

So you've been to the catacombs before. That is one place that I've wanted to explore extensively, but every time I get ready to go, I always hear the horror stories of people getting robbed and left in the catacombs. But can you talk about your experience down there?

2 (11m 48s):

So as there's a bit of a mixed one, so we, we know quite a lot of people that have been down there and had fun experiences. So down that we went with his good friends with exploring with Josh, I think we're going back to the costumes with Josh next year, sometime, or to this year, depending on when lockdown is lifted and also Allie law. We're good friends with him as well. And both of them have quite nasty experiences down there. Josh actually swore he would never go back down again, but we have sort of around him and made him come with us. But yeah, we were aware, right? We knew, I think we were more worried before we got in the, when we actually were in there because of all the horror stories.

2 (12m 35s):

Well, once you get in there, this is just, we had to play. It's so strange for stop for the first good, almost two hours. You bending over walking almost on hands and knees through quite deep water through tunnel, after tunnel. So that sort of takes away that fear because you just work in and it's really, really hard, really hard work. But then when it opens up amazing players, it's, it's not like anywhere I've ever been before. And I don't know, I didn't feel particularly on edge when I got in there.