The space time continuum was askew, explorers suddenly vanishing and reappearing from the black void. One such explorer was sadly forever lost to us while buying food from a train station, Monsieur Marc. We looked up and he was gone, the empty cardboard box from his chicken supreme the only proof that he once existed. With heavy hearts we eventually gave up the 5m search radius and slipped off towards our next location. Bon voyage Marc, until we meet again.

Located in Leuven the Stella-Artois brewery and offices dominate the entire north-eastern part of the town. The old Artois brewery closed in the mid 90′s due to modernisation and now sits abandoned on the outskirts of the newer active plant. From the outside the brewery is an unimpressive mass of concrete and glass that many would pass up as a dull casualty of the advancing world, however inside there are treasures to be found to those curious enough to enter.

During the first world war Leuven suffered heavily from the German advance. Fearful of the francs-tireurs the German military burnt and bombed the city, publicly executing anyone who was believed to be aiding the guerrilla fighters, eventually forcing the city’s 42,000 strong population to evacuate.

“We shall wipe it out…Not one stone will stand upon another. We will teach them to respect Germany. For generations people will come here and see what we have done”.

- German Officer , Leuven

We had passed Leuven before while on our last trip to Belgium, but with a lack of planning and the fact that almost every murky grey building was inhabited by Stella workers, we had a 95% chance of climbing into a window and getting a beat down from burly bels. So we gave it a miss, continuing on to pastures new. Today was our redemption, failure not an option. One fence, one climb and we were in.

We stood in the main brew hall, jaws wide open. Gigantic copper vats lay dormant and empty, each able to contain over 15,000 litres of beer. Sun streaming in from the windows revealed the beautifully tiled floor. This felt more like a church, a place to worship the production and existence of beer. The rest of the brewery is for the most part empty, with only the brew hall, its smaller counterpart and a few hop carts remaining. We walked the various levels, taking photos and admiring the view from the snow covered roof before heading back down and climbing out, our previous failure corrected.

Its a shame that these days with industry becoming more compact and less adventurous, buildings of this detail and design wont be built. Most companies now opt for the plastic and steel approach in smaller white wash rooms. Fun. Thankfully, we can still look back on what once was, a small reminder that at one point in time, people had pride.