# Mid Wales Hospital - my first visit!



## muppix (Jan 22, 2010)

Hi All,

At the risk of stating the obvious, I know this place has been done to death but it was my first 'real' explore and as such I thought I'd share. Visited with Tripleoptics in January 2010.

Overly cautious as only a pair of real noobs can be, we'd earmarked a potential parking place on site and decided to drive through first before committing to park, but spotted a red car in our spot already and a lady walking a couple of whippets. We stopped next to what we took to be her car and got the camera gear assembled by the time she was returning with her dogs. Leaving the bags and tripods in the car, we made to casually stroll around the site with our compacts in our pockets, and stopped to chat to the lady and to fuss over her doggies. I really wanted to get a feel for how the locals would react to a couple of guys just looking around, and she told us a bit about the history of the place and encouraged us to have a look around the outside, but warned against venturing inside. I got the feeling this was more for concern over our safety rather than the typical "you can't do that because the sign says so" attitude that I was prepared for. Having reassured myself that there'd be no problem we said goodbye and had a decent wander around the place, including a very brief look inside before venturing back to the car and fetching our heavy bags.

Walking through the site and then the buildings I began to feel angry at the deterioration cause by the removal of so many roof tiles. To me it was the equivalent of cutting a noble animal's throat just enough for it to slowly and unnecessarily bleed to death. And for what? A quick profit with no regard for the consequences, that's what. How hard would it have been to replace the expensive tiles with some cheaper ones, sit on the investment for 5 years, and then sell it as a functioning complex? Sometimes it's hard to see what's greater, stupidity or greed.

I digress. We spent about 4 hours inside, generally squelching over sodden ceiling tiles and being dripped on. (The ones right down the back of the neck are the best, aren't they?) It was harder work than I imagined it to be because I didn't want to put my camera bag down anywhere and was also carrying a fairly large tripod, but even so the time slipped by fairly quickly. I suppose the one saving grace was that there was only very minimal graffiti and not as much arson as there could have been, although the air of something beautiful in the last stages of its life was apparent in all of the rooms.

On leaving we saw a couple of lads in an upstairs corridor; the first one ducking quickly away in a hope-he-didn't-see-me way as soon as our eyes met for only a split second, the second one saw my grin and was also mid-duck when he realised it was too late, so he waved at us. Would have been good to stop and chat, but we'd had enough by then and they must have just arrived, parking their car right outside the main reception entrance. (Was it you?) We also met another urbexer, someone closer to our own ages, who chatted openly about the place and showed us some photos from his camera. He too was just getting started with his mission, so we bade farewell and left.

So, what have I learnt from my first "explore"? (Still can't bring myself to use that term without rolling my eyes - as if nobody's ever been there before!)


You're more nervous than you need to be, relax and stay focused.
Being there is a privilege, not a right. Treat the place with respect.
Try to remember the way out. Wandering about looking for an unknown exit does not help with point #1.
Wear old clothes. A wide-brimmed hat would have helped with drips.

Finally, I'd like to share something that shook me a little bit, because I'm not one who's generally easily shaken. Later that night, I'm back at base and looking through the day's photos. Maybe I'm too anal or maybe I just take too many photos, but if I shoot - say - 300 pics then it takes me about 4 or 5 hours to rate, tag, straighten and categorise them. I listen to music while doing this, and on the evening in question I'd hurriedly dialled in "chill-out" as a genre and left the media centre to shuffle through 1,200 relaxing tracks at random. Get this: a couple of hours into the session I was pouring over a dozen or so images of the ballroom, when the music starts to skip and judder, as it might if you'd badly downloaded a track from somewhere, which I had't. Annoyed, I reach for the remote and prepare to delete the offending piece, until I notice its title. Haunted Dancehall by Sabres of Paradise. I kid you not.

Anyway, I'd copy and paste some history here, but you probably know it already. I'd also post a load of pictures, but having just uploaded them to my website I don't see why I should repeat the process for Flickr. Instead I'd like to share one picture from this place, the Mid Wales Hospital, and one picture from St. Athan Boys Village, which we also visited on this mission. If you'd like to see more then you're very welcome to stop by my website.

Thanks for reading!

M.


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## vmlopes (Jan 22, 2010)

Some nice shots there, put some more on here though............

What day were you there, might know some of the peeps there


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## klempner69 (Jan 22, 2010)

As Vmlopes said,please add some more pics ok,as you have put a lot of written effort into your experience only to cut it abruptly short with the visuals.


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## muppix (Jan 23, 2010)

*More Images ...*







































































As always - thanks for looking, more pics at http://www.muppix.net


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## tom83 (Jan 23, 2010)

Nice report, some really good pictures there


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## muppix (Jan 23, 2010)

Cheers Tom! Much better full-screen though ... :yes:


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## lost (Jan 23, 2010)

I haven't seen a Mid Wales report for a while so it's good to see it's still there and not suffering more random demolition.


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## mexico75 (Jan 23, 2010)

lost said:


> I haven't seen a Mid Wales report for a while so it's good to see it's still there and not suffering more random demolition.



No, they've stripped the roof to let the elements demolish it for them, the main hall is a really sad sight, it like building cancer slowly destroying the recently mint main hall ceiling


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## lost (Jan 23, 2010)

It's the way to go when you want a building to deteriorate quicky.
The demolition I heard about sounded like them ramming bulldozers into any given part of the hospital without a care.


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## Lost Explorer (Jan 23, 2010)

Cracking shots there! Nice report


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## Lightbuoy (Jan 23, 2010)

Fabby set of pics Muppix! Great compositions in me own opinion!

Thanks for posting


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## cogito (Jan 23, 2010)

Brecon and Radnot Joint County Asylum has been taking a punishing this winter now that the roofing has all gone


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## sallybear (Jan 23, 2010)

You have a really good eye, composition and colours are great. Great pics to a great report. Just because somewhere has been done to death, it's all in the eye and you have shown the place in a different light. Enjoyed the first two was disappointed that there were no more at first. Don't hold back next time!!


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## wagg20 (Jan 23, 2010)

Some mighty fine shots you have there!

www.norfolkinruins.co.uk


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## muppix (Jan 23, 2010)

Thanks for the positive comments everyone, it's really appreciated.
Here's to many more such missions!

m.


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## Goldie87 (Jan 24, 2010)

Its a shame how its gone downhill. You got some nice shots anyway


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## Scruffyone (Jan 24, 2010)

Great shots, this one is on my to do list!. The church in pic 1 bears a striking resemblance to the one in St. Athan Boys Village, I had to do a double take at first. Very Impressive


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## muppix (Jan 24, 2010)

Thanks Scruffy, that *is* the church at St. Athan's. 

It was Cogito's photos of that place which convinced me to add St. Athan's as a destination on the same outing, seeing as it was "on the way" from home in London. Glad that I did, got some great off-camera flash pics there.

m.


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## Foxylady (Jan 24, 2010)

Stunning photos, muppix. Really enjoyed your write-up...loved the 'haunted ballroom' story.


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## cogito (Jan 25, 2010)

muppix said:


> Thanks Scruffy, that *is* the church at St. Athan's.
> 
> It was Cogito's photos of that place which convinced me to add St. Athan's as a destination on the same outing, seeing as it was "on the way" from home in London. Glad that I did, got some great off-camera flash pics there.
> 
> m.



That's actually a fair old diversion! Shame it ain't what it used to be, numerous buildings have been demolished since my ageing report, and in the last few months to more buildings have been subject to two arson attacks. Although having spoken to site security a few times I get the impression that both have been carried out by the owners on some of the asbestos based buildings in an ill thought out attempt to reduce demo and removal bills. Sad times.


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## Pete (Jan 27, 2010)

cogito said:


> That's actually a fair old diversion! Shame it ain't what it used to be, numerous buildings have been demolished since my ageing report, and in the last few months to more buildings have been subject to two arson attacks. Although having spoken to site security a few times I get the impression that both have been carried out by the owners on some of the asbestos based buildings in an ill thought out attempt to reduce demo and removal bills. Sad times.



Clearly the mentality of the owners is quite apparent in using arson as a technique of destroying an asbestos building!


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## Cdfurbex (Jan 28, 2010)

You sure this is mid wales asylum? it looks like the boys village in aberthaw (not a criticism, just a heads up)

heres one I took of the same building...


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## muppix (Feb 2, 2010)

Cdfurbex said:


> You sure this is mid wales asylum? it looks like the boys village in aberthaw (not a criticism, just a heads up)



Aye, that it was. As per my original message:
_... I'd like to share one picture from this place, the Mid Wales Hospital, and one picture from St. Athan Boys Village, which we also visited on this mission ..._​The other pictures from the boys village were OK, but I didn't think they were worth posting in their entirety. (still visible here though) 

Cheers,
m.


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## freebird (Feb 4, 2010)

Missed this until now. Sad to see its condition but good to see some great pics of the place. I love that hall shot!


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## tom46 (Feb 5, 2010)

Mate, stunning shots, some of the best asylum shot's I've seen. I have a real thing for nuthouses as well so this was an awesome report, both for the detail and the excellent pictures.

Really like your site too


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## muppix (Feb 5, 2010)

tom46 said:


> Really like your site too



Cheers Tom, that's what I like to hear! I've put a lot of effort in and am really pleased with the way that photos can be viewed full-screen at native resolution, just hope it's obvious in the UI that the option is there.

I'll be uploading more photos to the site soon (got over 120,000 waiting to be sorted!) so if you want to know when they go up and you're on Facebook do a search for "muppix.net" and become a fan.

Right, enough of the blatant plugging - sorry. 

m.


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## Potter (Feb 5, 2010)

Fantastic work.

A real shame it been allowed to get in that state.


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## tumbles (Feb 7, 2010)

Great pictures, place is in a very bad state of affairs now. Rumours are someone in the town has put in a £150'000 bid for the place. Not sure what you could salvage other than admin, some of the workshops/boilerhouse and chapel. The rest is too far gone.

You've got a shot of one of the old padded cells btw, in ward F5


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## muppix (Feb 7, 2010)

tomarse said:


> Rumours are someone in the town has put in a £150'000 bid for the place. Not sure what you could salvage other than admin, some of the workshops/boilerhouse and chapel.



Surely the land alone has to be worth that? Heard somewhere that it was 37 acres or thereabouts, and seeing as there are/were plenty of buildings on there it stands to reason that permission would be granted to replace them at some stage. 37 acres with planning permission for 150k? If it wasn't for the demolition costs *I'd* tear your arm off! 



tomarse said:


> You've got a shot of one of the old padded cells btw, in ward F5



If that the B&W shot of the narrow room with the single chair facing away from the window? If so then that was a throwaway snapshot with my G10 which turned out so grainy that there was nothing else for it but con convert it to mono. Wish I knew more about these places when I go to visit - ultimately I learn it all afterwards.

Nice site by the way, enjoyed exploring that too. 

m.


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## tumbles (Feb 8, 2010)

muppix said:


> Surely the land alone has to be worth that? Heard somewhere that it was 37 acres or thereabouts, and seeing as there are/were plenty of buildings on there it stands to reason that permission would be granted to replace them at some stage. 37 acres with planning permission for 150k? If it wasn't for the demolition costs *I'd* tear your arm off!
> 
> If that the B&W shot of the narrow room with the single chair facing away from the window? If so then that was a throwaway snapshot with my G10 which turned out so grainy that there was nothing else for it but con convert it to mono. Wish I knew more about these places when I go to visit - ultimately I learn it all afterwards.
> 
> ...



Well it's got planning for mixed use but the locals would object to anything such as housing. Fact is the town is dying as a result of the closure of the place. It needs some sort of rebirth as a backpackers stop for the Brecons. There is also rumours that the chap who owns Chancefield house is interested (the white house down before the chapel). 

The padded cell shot was this one:






The window gives it away and also if you look on the door frame you will see the old padded cell fixings are still there/visable. The layout is almost identical on the male side, you'll find it's a side entrance one though.. there is no floor in it though, just the carpet so be careful if you do go back!


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## muppix (Feb 8, 2010)

tomarse said:


> Well it's got planning for mixed use but the locals would object to anything such as housing. Fact is the town is dying as a result of the closure of the place. It needs some sort of rebirth as a backpackers stop for the Brecons.



lol - some locals will object to anything, but beggars can't be choosers. Backpackers would work, but it's an awfully big site and the Brecons is already filled with hostels and B&Bs. Maybe something along the lines of a camping / caravan park? I daresay we'll eventually find out.



tomarse said:


> The padded cell shot was this one:



Aah, OK, now I understand. T'was virtually pitch black in there save for the bit of diffuse light making its way in through that high window, so it was either HDR or spend 15 minutes setting up some off-camera strobes. Think it worked out OK, but the downside was that I didn't get to see much of the detail until afterwards. Will keep an eye out if I ever go back.

Cheers for the heads-up!

m.


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## muppix (Apr 2, 2010)

Tripleoptics and I returned to the Mid Wales Hospital a couple of weeks back, mainly because I really liked one of my pictures from the previous visit and wanted to improve it, and because we didn't actually get to see the piano last time. (surely a first)

Within 45 minutes of arriving on site we had the money shots in the bag and it was only 08:30 - result! 

We decided to call it a day and head back to the car, where we met two gentlemen. A quick shake of hands and a chat later we were told a new effort is being made to secure as much as is feasible because there's been a change in receivership and efforts to sell the place are to resume in earnest. Could be just pub-talk, but figures of 40 mil were being bandied about.

Anyway, here's the pictures I came for. Both used 2 off-camera stobes on light stands, one gelled and umbrella'd.

m.

The Workshop





The Piano





As always, thanks for looking!


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## rossd001 (Apr 3, 2010)

Really good photos!!

Are you shooting them as HDR or are you using some post production to get the effect??

I went for my first vist yesterday, im just looking throught all my photos now.. I wanted to shoot HDR but I just never got the chance??

ROSS


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## muppix (Apr 3, 2010)

rossd001 said:


> Are you shooting them as HDR or are you using some post production to get the effect??



Thanks Ross! No effect there, just creative use of flash and a bit of adjustment in white balance. I don't really bother with HDR unless there is some really really intense contrast in the picture, which wasn't the case here.

m.


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## rossd001 (Apr 3, 2010)

Well even more credit due then for the ability to get that much detail out of a normal photo......

Good job mate..


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## UrbanX (Apr 9, 2010)

Wow, some really fantastic shots. Lighting and composition are just perfect. Makes it worthwhile carrying the heavy tripod if thihs is the result. Some really photogenic decay going on, shame it's so far from me!


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## muppix (Apr 9, 2010)

Hehe, cheers UrbanX!

Tripod is one thing, but it was the light stands and umbrellas that broke the camel's back. FWIW I can recommend this place if you fancy staying somewhere close to Talgarth so that you can get an early start, cheap as chips and great people to boot. Might make the trip a bit more feasible for you.

m.


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