An urban explorer, who has adventured through a series of Nottingham pubs that have been frozen in time, has called on drinkers and developers to protect the “time machine” boozers. YouTuber Unseen Footage, who only wants to be named as Dan, recently filmed inside of the Pelham Hotel pub on Gawthorne Street, New Basford – which closed in 2019 and was severely damaged by a fire in 2023.
Despite being derelict and lacking a roof, Dan argued the pub was one of the many historic boozers that should be treasured rather than left empty. “I suppose it’s a bit of a time machine in some respects. If these walls could talk, who knows what they could tell us about what has happened over the years.”
Inside the pub, the explorer found years-old receipts, intact beer taps, aged stained glass windows and seating, as well as what he believes could be a bomb shelter in its basement. Planning permission was granted for the Pelham to be turned into a pair of shops and a HMO in October 2023, but no work has begun at the building since this plan was passed.
Dan, who said he was intrigued by the lack of information about the pub on the internet, said he shares videos and pictures of different abandoned water holes on the large ‘Nottingham Pubs’ Facebook group – taking many punters down memory lane. “Whenever I put like a video up from a pub that I’ve done, people always comment down below it saying ‘I remember when so and so used to run it, or I used to work there’.
Inside of the Pelham Hotel in New Basford (Image: Unseen Footage on YouTube)
“It’s just really interesting to find out about the people who used to live there, what used to go on, who used to be the resident DJ, and seeing how they changed through the different eras.” Other Nottinghamshire pubs visited by the explorer include the nearby Raven Inn, Basford, and Town Mill in Mansfield.
He added: “The history behind these places needs to be preserved, and this is why I feel I’ve got a duty to go out there. I see how it’s decayed over time and how Mother Nature has taken over if its been left for a long time – you get branches pushing through windows and things like that.”
Dan said that while viewers sometimes accuse him of breaking the law, he never forces his way inside the abandoned structures. He added that he never shows how to enter the empty structures, as this would make them vulnerable to vandals.
There are still well preserved signs of the once-roaring pub’s glory days despite last year’s fire (Image: Unseen Footage on YouTube)
The filmmaker, who explained he intended to visit more pubs in the future, reiterated his call for people to save as many as possible. “Everyone across the world knows UK for its boozers, but more are closing down every single day and obviously they have not had a great time recently,” he said.
“A lot of them have been the older, more traditional style of pub, so we need to try keep that history alive.”