# My local ruins, a wet March day (pic heavy)



## hnmisty (Nov 22, 2010)

So, I have work to do, which means I am at my most easily distracted. 

I took these in March on a real p*sser of a day, I meant to post them months ago but never got round to it.

Fernhill
The first pics are of an abandoned village called Fernhill, it was built for the workers of the local paper mill. Amazingly (to me at least), the trees to be made into paper in this tiny corner of Somerset came all the way from Canada! (Maybe that's why they packed it in...) Apparently the water around abouts is very pure, so was ideal for making paper from. Not entirely sure when it was abandoned, some time in the 19th century I think. I am sure that when my parents first moved to the area 27 years ago that some of the buildings still had rooves on. Although judging by the state of them now, I have probably muddled up two places. There was also a big house near by, there is a little ornamental bridge near by and the remains of some ornamental walls. My mum and I will eventually get round to asking the landowner if we can have a poke around, we know who it is so they shouldn't say no.



















The story goes about this house that a girl killed herself by throwing herself out of one of the windows. In the '60s, a local historian was researching the house but couldn't find any photos of it. A local man who had worked there came forward and said he could remember what it looked like, he described it for someone to draw. A while later, a photo emerged...identical to what this chappy had described, down to the exact number of windows. 

Quarry workers cottages
The workers cottages next to the quarry. Quarrying stopped in 1977, after a couple of cavers found a magnificant cave and showed the quarry owner, but sadly by the time the order went through to stop quarrying the cave had been destroyed. Fairy caves is a part of a massive cave network, and if you know where to look you can still find some entrances to them  I think the local caving group (Cerberus Spelaeological Society) still have access, but I believe they wanted to block off your amateur caver going in and getting stuck. A few years ago, there were cavers being right pains in the @rses and trying to blast their way into the caves at various points in the wood. The cavers were using the cottages to crash in overnight, and the quarry owners got fed up in about in the late 80s and took the rooves off. 





As you do!













They have now put a big fence all around the quarry, but being an intrepid explorer I just climbed over (and was very glad it was a p*sser of a day and had my waterproof trousers on as my already ripped jeans gave a "rrrip!" oops. And then I noticed the neatly cut hole in the fence




They have now mended the hole but there is one further round out of sight. And someone had put a deer skeleton on the gate. One of our dogs found the leg, fur and all. She was very happy with her find...

This was a lime kiln last time I saw it 









Cottage
Thanks to the bloody SWT I got these photos after they'd got hold of it...used to ivy clad, rotting timbers and all. I guess its not derelict now, but I thought I would still put it in anyway.
This is the cottage in the woods, an elderly couple lived here and had just moved out when my parents moved here. Of course there are yobs everywhere...so that was the roof sentenced to death. A friend who lives on t'other side of the wood who is in his 50s and lived here all his life says when he was at the local primary school and they got sent on cross country runs through the wood, the lady used to invite them in for tea and biscuits!
The wood was bought by the Somerset Wildlife Trust 10-15 years ago, who seemed more concerned about getting people who let their dogs off to terrorise our sheep (we sometimes use a field about 100m from the main path through the woods and have found people's dogs cornering our sheep before, about to go in for the kill. Apparently, the SWT use some of the woods they own as dog poo sites, and have turned our wood into one of these grrr. (Yup, they hav e p*ssed us off), Anyway, they got some money from BIFFA so they decided to do up the cottage because it has bats in it. I thought bats weren't meant to be disturbed?! Anyway, its a load of b*llucks, the bats were perfectly happy in there before, doubt they'll be back now. They just had to spend the money and didn't think of doing something useful with it like restoring the very rare irrigation system used to get water to the fields. Amateurs. Pah. They did leave a gap in the fence I could get through, but clearly I was too cocky and they have now filled that in. Anyway, there's bars on the windows, just to make sure. B*stards. 
I did get a picture of it before, when it was actually a ruin (well, a picture of the picture on their sign about it)









(had to lift the dog back over the wall...:/)

This is one of the sluices in the river, just down river from this they used to make blades for tools, just a bit of wall left there.





Ashwick GroveCame down in the 50s I think, after the war, when lots of country houses had reached the end of their lives. It was built at the end of the 18th century/start of the 19th century by John Billingsley, an agricultural pioneer and also a Wesleyan (I think), which is probably why he built his big house in such a weird place (against a rock face, at the bottom of a valley, tucked out of sight). I have a photo of it before it was knocked down in a local history book...which I couldn't find. 
Not many people find it, its on private property and the landowner decided to chop loads of trees down in about 2004, he wanted to build a fancy hotel and was trying to show off the fine view...not surprisingly, it was rejected, but all the felled trees were simply shoved over the edge so the path is blocked and you have to pick your way around.

The grotto (before the mess of the felled trees)









The house












































Sorry about the picture overload!


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## Mad Larkin (Nov 22, 2010)

looks like you had nice day out and a good old mooch around!! thanks for sharing


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## highcannons (Nov 22, 2010)

*cracking!*

well cool pictures, the site and woods look very good. And the pictures tell the story nicely. Thanks


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## muppet (Nov 22, 2010)

looks like a good explore good find thanks


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## Foxylady (Nov 23, 2010)

Great tour and write-up. Love seeing all the various remains...even lime kilns...great bonus.
Cheers for sharing that, H. Really enjoyed it.


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## hnmisty (Nov 24, 2010)

Thanks 
I was really sad to find the lime kiln like that, last time I went it still had walls...and actually looked like a lime kiln. I think I was last there about a yearago and it was looking forlorn but still standing. I wonder whether it all came down in one mighty heap.


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## oldscrote (Nov 24, 2010)

Cheers for all this matey I haven't been down there for years.The reason for the caves being gated is to protect the formations in what are Mendips most beautiful caves.The Cerberus had an access agreement with the landowner for many years and provided a leader system for visits to the caves.The new fence round the place seems to be a result of the climbers getting involved.

http://www.thebmc.co.uk/News.aspx?id=3802

Is the cottage in picture 7 at the entrance to the quarry and to the right of it.If so it's the original H.Q. of the Cerberus before they built their new one up the road at Larkshill.

Lovely to see Ashwick hall it doesn't seem to have got much worse since I last saw it about 15 years ago.


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## hnmisty (Nov 24, 2010)

Hi Oldscrote, the cottage is to the left of the quarry, if you are stood facing the quarry entrance from Limekiln lane, I've always been told that it was for the quarry workers but that after the quarry closed down, the cavres were using it for overnighters. 
When the fence first went up, there was a sign on the gate saying that the BMC were in negotiations to get access to the quarry. I think another reason was to keep climbers out, there were worries about people who didn't really know what they were doing going in and then getting into trouble. The quarry owners patched up the hole cut by the gate (smart, whoever decided to make it there...) but someone has neatly snipped through round the back out of view of the road. 

I think in the next couple of years so so a big section of wall might come down at Ashwick Grove, the ruins haven't changed so much but the trees have grown up and are leaning on a few bits of wall.


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## Dystopia (Nov 28, 2010)

That's one odd looking crapper! The dog pics are adorable.


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## hnmisty (Dec 5, 2010)

Thanks  I thought the loo was an excellent find!
One of the dogs, as of tomorrow or tonight will be RIP


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## oldscrote (Dec 6, 2010)

Hi H
sorry to hear about your dog, always a sad moment in ones life.


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## oldscrote (Dec 6, 2010)

The loo went by the wonderful name of Porta Potty we had one on a site I was working in 1985 which I guess dates it a bit.


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## hnmisty (Dec 6, 2010)

Thanks oldscrote.
We used to have a porta potty for camping lol. For a moment I thought you were going to say that you had one on site (ie the cottage) and that it was the same one  Don't think its been there since '85, I think its within a couple of years...which makes it even odder!


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## possessed (Jan 8, 2011)

*Nice report*

Those ruins look very cool, thanks for sharing


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## dobbo79 (Feb 20, 2011)

wow great pics )


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## silicosis (May 6, 2011)

i really enjoyed that. the write up couple with the pics had me pretty spellbound


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## Labb (May 6, 2011)

What a great ruin. And some great Labradors as well.


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