Britain's 'creepiest house' packed full of toys lies abandoned with tragic backstory – The Mirror
Urban explorers Mitch Johnson and Jake Parr ventured inside what could be the UK’s “creepiest house” full of toys after trekking for 50 minutes through woods in Scotland
Urban explorers have told how they "couldn't wait to get out" of what could be Britain's "creepiest house" full of teddies and dolls.
Mitch Johnson and Jake Parr claim they had heard about the property of a woman who had hoarded toys after her late husband passed away, before she herself died.
And after four days of trying to track down the bungalow using Google maps, the pair from Manchester finally found the property in Selkirk, Scotland. They drove six and a half hours and then had to walk for almost an hour through the woods to find the abandoned property.
Luckily a large panel on the back door of the bungalow was missing and they could enter through the gap it had left. The pair said they never know if they're going to be able to get inside properties they've seen online because they do not break in.
Inside cobwebbed rooms were filled to the brim with toys and teddy bears and Mitch said he couldn't wait to get out. "This was the creepiest place I've ever been to. I just could not wait to get out. I even sacrificed some pictures because I just didn't want to be in there," said Mitch, who has the No Limits Facebook page.
"It was literally a 50 minute trek to the house it was that remote. We were going through all this pine forest and we were hearing all sorts of noises and branches were snapping everywhere. It was just the most bizarre place I've ever been and I've been all around the world doing this."
The intrepid pair met in 2015 through urban exploring and are now best friends. "It was probably one of the most uncomfortable places I've ever been to if I'm honest because I wasn't quite sure if there was anyone in the teddies. It felt like anyone was going to jump out at any opportunity," continued Mitch.
"I felt like I was being watched. I couldn't wait to get out of there, I really couldn't. I spent six and a half hours driving and then maybe an hour trekking to it and I just couldn't wait to get out of the place. I even ended up going and sitting outside while my mate was still taking his pictures. I've been to asylums and loads of places around the world on my own and this was the most scary place I have ever been in and there was just a weird vibe about it that didn't sit right at all."
The 40-year-old said he thought the collection of toys must have been a coping mechanism for the woman who reportedly lived there after her husband died in the 1980s. Her husband's workshop also remained intact and his tools appeared to be right where he left them.
Mitch said: "There were some real collectables in there, some really rare dolls. There were like 200 or 300 Cabbage Patch Dolls. Some of them are a grand each. All the Care Bear teddies, all the Monsters Inc teddies. All the teddies you could imagine. It was just like a plethora of teddies. It was just mental.
"It was dusty as well when you were in there you could taste how damp the place was so I don't know how she lived in there. It was a little unnerving as well because I kept thinking at any moment someone's going to pop out here. You can only just walk into the bedroom, the rest of it was just teddies so it's like six feet deep."
The photographer's love for urban exploring was born out of his interest in history and after showing his friends some of the things he saw, he decided to share his finds on social media. Now his Facebook page he started in 2018 has 51,000 followers. The father-of-one's urban exploring has taken him to places all over the world and he has seen everything from palaces in Portugal to mansions in Marbella, but sometimes the things he sees can take a toll on him. "It can be a bit of an emotional burden because I see that much, it just makes you realise that life is extremely short and the things you accumulate mean absolutely nothing. It's your memories that mean something," Mitch added.
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