The Basque berets factory Pierre Laulhère

Researching for my book on berets, I stumble upon some real gems every now and then.

One web site that got me really excited is the 'Forbidden-Places.net' - urban exploration of abandoned factories, forgotten asylums, military fortresses and hospitals.., evoking lots of memories and passion for exploring forbidden places.

I'll paste a short bio of the author below:

I started very young. As a kid, my father brought me to abandoned factories.

The passion remained. But the motivation has been boosted by the taste for photography and the success of this website (see the Statspage).

So, why such a hobby? We think that abandoned and futureless places are part of our cultural heritage.

So before everything get rotten or disappear, let's explore and photograph them!

This website is like other urban exploration websites. It contains some basic info about the places we explored, so that one can remember and find the keywords to make additional searches on the web if needed.

It allows also the people that cannot or do not want to involve themselves into such visits to get the same adventurous feeling we enjoy when entering into. . . forbidden-places!

The part that did it for me, obviously had to do with berets: an exploration of the abandoned beret factory of Pierre Laulhère in Oloron-Sainte-Marie.

Have a look here.

Touching me most were the comments of one visitor to the site, Werner Joerg from Salt Lake City:

I grew up in the area in the early 60's and vividly remember various beret factories in Oloron. It is sad to see them disappear, one by one and I think that your captivating selection of pictures reflects both fascination and sadness. Fascination because it is/was part of a hidden gem in foothills of the Pyrenees; sadness because the chronic economic difficulties have led to most of my school mates to scatter across the country. I do return to the area about once a year, and every time I make it a point to visit the Friday market and buy some local "stuff", like espadrilles, beret, etc.