# shire horse centre plymouth/devon april 09



## mrzogs (Apr 19, 2009)

my first urbex today early evening around 6-7ish this place used to be amazing fun as a kid, there was allsorts from death slides, horses, carboots, horse shows etc i spent many times here with my family as a young boy!

now there is evidence of pikey's living there and there is still alot to see, the place came into financial difficuties and was shut down back in 2000!

*(from bbc)*
_End of an era: heavy horses being auctioned 

Eight heavy horses have been sold at auction following the closure of the National Shire Horse Centre near Plymouth. 

Hundreds of people from across the country came to Yealmpton to bid for a part of what was once a major tourist attraction. 

Going to good homes: the last remaining horses 
A few weeks ago the centre closed to the public for the final time after 22 years. The auction marked the end of an era as the entire contents went under the hammer including the last remaining heavy horses. 

All the horses were sold to private owners, one will be making the long trip to a new home in York. Prices ranged from as low as three hundred and eighty guineas, to the top price, a mare and foal which went to local farmers for three thousand three hundred guineas. 

In its heyday in the eighties the Shire Horse Centre attracted up to 300,000 visitors a year. It first ran into difficulties in 1996, but was bought by the Hockin family.

"Centre was a major problem": owner Michael Hockin 
With the benefit of hindsight, owner Michael Hockin says he wishes he'd never bought the centre. "It's been a major problem for us. At the time we thought it would be a lot of fun, but it turned out to be a major headache." he said. 

He dismisses speculation it'll become a golf course. Instead, he says there's keen interest to turn it into a national theme park. _ 

i will let the pictures do the talking, they aren't my pictures or in any order, but i am posting them on behalf of my friend who came with me. 















































there were loads of extension cables and leads running, so some pikey has probably tapped into the supply somehow! looks like he had a nice setup in this photo....





















pikey in his caravan ha









































death slides anyone?




































the whole place was literally rotting, we tryed getting to the top of the slides but it was a bit dodgy when we nearly fell through!





















it was awesome there was a play area looked near enough brand new would never have thought it was 9 years gone!






there was no way we werent going to have some fun on our way 


























a few other bits











photoshops 

show ground and seating area






sheep shagger 






hope you enjoyed looking through i recommend going here for yourself, theres no one about and its not being demolished as yet (9 years later) so get down here if you live close.


----------



## will_ainsworth (Apr 19, 2009)

Was a good day, thanks for uploading the pics i have a few edited ones somewhere...


----------



## Scrub2000 (Apr 19, 2009)

Nice one badgers, good report!


----------



## Foxylady (Apr 19, 2009)

Ooh, I've been wanting to see this for a long while. Love the rustic-looking parts the best.
Nice report and pics, guys. Well done.


----------



## cogito (Apr 19, 2009)

Best. Mask. Ever.

Looks like a pretty unique site.


----------



## the_historian (Apr 19, 2009)

Good pics, mate. Glad all the horses got rehoused.
Bit annoying to see all that hay/haylage just rotting away though.


----------



## escortmad79 (Apr 19, 2009)

Looks a bit of a sorry state now, used to go here loads as a kid


----------



## Exploretime (Apr 19, 2009)

PedoBear.........LMAO


----------



## Badoosh (Apr 24, 2009)

Briliiant report guys & great SOH. Had me in stitches.


----------



## extrogg (Apr 24, 2009)

Excellent pics, i may take a wander over there and have a look myself.

I used to work there in the ice cream kiosk on the end of the shop back in its heyday 87/88 and 89..some really good laughs and happy memories..very sad to see it in the state it is now.

I used to have to polish that free fall slide every morning..it was a case of pouring the polish down the slide then throwing yourself off it half a dozen times..could get all the way to the cusions at the end!! Only problem was it used to take the back of your trainers off..ruined my Adidas Avengers!!

The stable girls...mmmmmm!!


----------



## Richard Davies (Apr 24, 2009)

extrogg said:


> Excellent pics, i may take a wander over there and have a look myself.
> 
> I used to work there in the ice cream kiosk on the end of the shop back in its heyday 87/88 and 89..some really good laughs and happy memories..very sad to see it in the state it is now.
> 
> ...



I remember going to a Haven Holiday camp in Filey in 1990 with an Astroglide, fairly similar to the ride discribed above but you when down on it in a thick sack like thing.

The man supervising would spray floor polish down it every now & again to keep it slippery.

A few years before my Dad tried out one & managed to friction burn his arm.


----------



## Badoosh (Apr 24, 2009)

extrogg said:


> Excellent pics, i may take a wander over there and have a look myself.
> 
> I used to work there in the ice cream kiosk on the end of the shop back in its heyday 87/88 and 89..some really good laughs and happy memories..very sad to see it in the state it is now.
> 
> ...



Must have been worth the ruined Adidas sliding into stable girls


----------



## woody65 (Apr 25, 2009)

extrogg said:


> Excellent pics, i may take a wander over there and have a look myself.
> 
> I used to work there in the ice cream kiosk on the end of the shop back in its heyday 87/88 and 89..some really good laughs and happy memories..very sad to see it in the state it is now.
> 
> ...




now this is along shot but around 99/2000 they bought a fairground ride from upnorth and the ride has never surfaced it was in a white box truck curtain sider-do you remember it?

also mrzos did you see anything like that on site

the last that was know was that this place was knocked down and the ride destroyed on site-as this place is still standing the ride may be still there or parts of it?

cheers for any help


----------



## extrogg (Apr 25, 2009)

woody65 said:


> now this is along shot but around 99/2000 they bought a fairground ride from upnorth and the ride has never surfaced it was in a white box truck curtain sider-do you remember it?
> 
> also mrzos did you see anything like that on site
> 
> ...



Sorry Woody but that was a long time after i had last worked there. I know that the owners around that time submitted various planning applications which were all turned down. These included luxury houses, quad bike track and a wildlife/safari park!! My parents still live nearby and we couldnt beleive that there would be herds of wildebeast and giraffes just down the end of the road!!

Try looking on the south hams councils website and look up planning applications that may have included the fairground ride that you mention. 

What was the ride?


----------



## extrogg (Apr 25, 2009)

Badoosh said:


> Must have been worth the ruined Adidas sliding into stable girls



It certainly was...amazing what they would do for a callipo or a strawberry mivvi..!!

The place was a shambles back then..it looked good on the outside but behind the scenes it was a bit of a mess..of course as young lads we used to indulge in our own form of stocktaking!!


----------



## S1MON (May 4, 2009)

Was there very recently, had been before in the middle of the night.
Really good pictures!

We thought there were pikeys living on site? but maybe not, heard off a friend of a friend that theres only one guy that lives on site to 'look after it' apparently.. but didnt see anyone today, but some of the caravans looked active with chairs and tents around. didn't get too close tho.


----------



## Random (May 5, 2009)

Wow, what a cool place! You never would have got my kids away from that ball pool. That said, I wouldn't put it past some [email protected] to leave a hypodermic or piece of sharp metal in there.


----------



## Dieter_Schmidt (May 6, 2009)

Shoulda called the rozzers on that pikey!


----------

