# Gateshead Borough Mental Asylum sep 2009



## tripod (Sep 25, 2009)

This place was fantastic , first opened as a pauper asylum in 1913 and changed to a mental hospital and army base duriing the war , now derelict since its closure in 1995. Spent 6 hours here and only covered half of it ! only disturbed by the odd dog walker ..






the corridors and stairs make amazing photos





snips the hairdressers was in a slight state 




































many more shots to come if you like these ....


----------



## jonney (Sep 25, 2009)

St.Mary's at Stannington, don't you just love this place. Nice to see some different photo's of it


----------



## Anthillmob74 (Sep 25, 2009)

what a lovely place. was it designed by the designer of west park? bits of it look so similar.


----------



## clebby (Sep 25, 2009)

West Park is William C Clifford-Smith, and St Marys is GT Hine. They're similar though... Hine also designed Hellingly. In fact, this place and Hellingly have exactly the same admin blocks.


----------



## lost (Sep 25, 2009)

Wow it's like being inside a virtual reality St. Mary's.


----------



## tripod (Sep 25, 2009)

*St Marys Asylum - More pics*

thanks for the comments , yes it was hine , he was the architect of literally dozens of asylums in the early to mid 1900s. This place is still well kept and unvandalised due to its remote location and well worth a visit.

heres some more of the best stuff !









































the hall still has the tell tale holes where people have attempted the run to the other side across the rotten floor ! lol , it has taken some ankles in its time











the underground tunnels were mint , despite the sewage and asbestos ...

still more to follow !


----------



## freebird (Sep 26, 2009)

Nice work! It's good to see the place. The HDR gives it such a surreal feel.


----------



## tripod (Sep 26, 2009)

*St Marys Asylum - Part 3 - last but not least !*

Saved the best bits till last !

HDR is loved and hated , but in this surrounding I think it is perfect !






bringing the garden home !







this mask should have given the game away when we got in this boiler room , took as a while to see the asbestos hanging from the walls , the mask was a nice momento of the day !






The inhabitants had a strange affection for locks and keys ???? even devoted a workshop to them !










the find of the day , and probably the hardest to get a shot of was the dental surgery 











and finally on a lighter note they seemed to like their celebrations here too 







thanks for looking and commenting on the shots ......


----------



## Krypton (Sep 26, 2009)

OOOOOOOOOOOOOh Keys !!!! I love keys!
Great pics as well. The HDR isnt OTT and adds to the effect of the place.

Jack


----------



## lost (Sep 26, 2009)

You found sewage in the tunnels?


----------



## mexico75 (Sep 26, 2009)

St Marys is a great site, looks like you got round most of it. What is it with dickheads and fake blood though Is that in the dentists?


----------



## tripod (Sep 26, 2009)

*St Marys*

Yeah know what you mean about the fake blood , still had to take a photo anyway ! , and thanks for the comments on the hdr , nice to see people appreciate it , heres one final shot that i should of included - the building itself ! 

And i think we missed a whole half of the buildings namely the female blocks , plus we never found the morgue ! so we will be returning ....


----------



## tripod (Sep 26, 2009)

*st marys*

yeah lost , it smelt like sewage anyway , and the blood was in the dentists ...


----------



## james.s (Sep 26, 2009)

Very nice work, well done!


----------



## plazzyman (Sep 26, 2009)

ooooooohhhhhhh !!peely paint heven  i lurrrvvve peeling paint ,the hdr is spot on not too much just enough to bring out the colour and detail, cracking shots and a cracking explore nice one
p.s.any one ask kernow if he left his gimp mask there lol (see his avatar)


----------



## Anthillmob74 (Sep 26, 2009)

cracking set of pics.


----------



## tripod (Sep 26, 2009)

*St Marys*

Ahh great comments people thx , seen as you like them so much heres another , this ones just plain weird , a man ( presumably one of the onsite painter having his picture took with a paint brush  . Fair reason to have him admitted I would of thought ...


----------



## borntobemild (Sep 26, 2009)

fantastic pics. Thought that last one was a self portrait for a moment 

I was born in Gateshead, and though I moved away when I was a kid, visited regularly. Never knew this place existed. Thanks for posting.


----------



## tripod (Sep 27, 2009)

*st marys*

Been working on this shot and thought i would post , hdr 5 exp , tone mapped , dodge and burn on the whole room and applied an eery colour cast ...

what you think ?


----------



## tripod (Sep 27, 2009)

*st marys*

HDR shot of my explorer friend !


----------



## oddity (Sep 27, 2009)

This place was my first proper explore and I always love to see new pics.
The HDR work is awesome, very subtle and the colours look amazing.


----------



## mookster (Sep 30, 2009)

don't usually like HDR but on those pics it looks just right, shame St Mary's is so far away otherwise I'd be there in an instant


----------



## vmlopes (Sep 30, 2009)

tripod said:


> HDR shot of my explorer friend !



HDR is good when its subtle this one is way OTT, your explorer friend is glowing....and looks like he has been photoshopped in


----------



## Lusker (Oct 4, 2009)

Really good picslove the HDRzzzzz
that location is SWEEET


----------



## Mr Sam (Oct 4, 2009)

the hall looks great

love the HDR of that stainless lift


----------



## tripod (Oct 4, 2009)

*Hdr*

Awwwww sorry vmlopes , the hdr is a little too much for u ..... UNLUCkY .....


----------



## Rooster (Oct 5, 2009)

*Great shots*

Love these. The HDR is fine in this context and it's quite subtle.

I was at St. Mary's today, my first visit. Being a total noob at this I tried to enter the site via the main gate, I did not realise the apparently derelict house there is the security point. Got shouted at by a guard so I went and had a polite conversation with him, asking where the public footpaths were. A jogger went past and up the main path onto the site. I asked why that bloke could go in and the guard said he was a local and it was ok.

I went and parked up in the village and circled round to the north and onto the site. Had a snoop around that big detached block at the north end but my jogger friend came back, saw me and immediately peeled off down towards the security office, doubtless to tell his chum. So I nicked off. But I'll be back! Maybe next week.


----------



## hellostuartharpe (Oct 5, 2009)

great images, did you have any toruble getting in?


----------



## the|td4 (Oct 6, 2009)

Heh...

Regarding your security issues, no comment... 

Ok so, anyway, I've been in here a few times over the years, always a great explore, etc.

HAS ANYONE NOTICED... 






That's what part of the flooded boiler room used to look like. Recently I notice there's been a large wooden board type jig constructed over the top of that thing, it's pretty low to the floor so you can't see underneath it. The water (water?) that used to boil up out of that thing has obviously been stopped because the flooded room are now dry and you can see the high water mark along the sides of the walls (especially in the workshop room with the lathe).

So, I never got a good explanation as to what that (the above) actually was. I always assumed it was some kind of drainage related affair, but after my last visit and seeing that it's been boarded over it sparked my interest again. 

Any thoughts?

Anyone?


----------



## Rooster (Oct 10, 2009)

Can anyone pinpoint for me where the morgue is please? ie looking at the site on Google maps satellite view or better stll a screen shot with big red X on it?


----------



## pixie (Oct 11, 2009)

thought there was a new asylum out there then, but no turns out its the lovely St Marys 

I think the pics would have been nicer left alone, the HDR isnt subtle its way overdone and kinda hurts the eyes, but as said its personal preference, me? i would prefer to have my retinas intact,


otherwise its a nice report


----------



## lilli (Oct 11, 2009)

The thing that is wrong with HDR in UE is the fact that most people look at the pics with a possible view to going there one day - HDR just spoils the whole perception of looking at a sites pictures to see "how it was that day".

.......... Esp this seemingly new invention that appears to affect 90% of new to derelict places - flickr transitional posters of over cooked to death HDR that makes your eyes bleed!


----------



## spacepunk (Oct 11, 2009)

Very nice, goooooddddd explore.


----------



## mexico75 (Oct 11, 2009)

the|td4 said:


> Heh...
> 
> Regarding your security issues, no comment...
> 
> ...



It's a bore hole, St Mary's pumped its own water from it.


----------



## the|td4 (Oct 12, 2009)

mexico75 said:


> It's a bore hole, St Mary's pumped its own water from it.



Ahhhh I wondered about that! I don't think I've ever seen one quite as big !! 

Thanks for the info mate!

Clearly the powers that be have divereted it somehow... What's the deal with the stone plaque on the water tanks outside the boiler houses, I took a pic last time but I've failed to upload it yet, that mentionned something about a water pipeline being connected to the site. I'll have to look into that somehow.

cheers!


----------



## mexico75 (Oct 12, 2009)

the|td4 said:


> Ahhhh I wondered about that! I don't think I've ever seen one quite as big !!
> 
> Thanks for the info mate!
> 
> ...



The bore hole was only used for domestic water supply, like the laundry and steam for the heating ect. The drinking water would of been of been taken from the mains eventually. The bore won't be as big as that hole there will be pipes and valves and stuff down there. We have one very similar to that at my work but it has a treatment works as well so you can drink it.


----------



## Rooster (Oct 12, 2009)

I was there again on Sunday. Had a good look in some of the outlying blocks. Couldn't see a way into that big three-story detached block, what was that, a barracks for the nurses or something? Some locals out walking saw me coming out with my camera and said I would get prosecuted for photographing the place. I asked if they weren't also trespassing. "Well, yes, technically we're all trespassing..." Cheeky gits. The locals seem to act as the eyes and ears of the security gadgie in return for unoffical permission to walk about the site. I even saw some blokes hunting with a hawk and beating the bushes to stir up birds. And I get wrong for taking photos!

Please, someone, whereabouts is the morgue? I just want to see that and I'm out.


----------



## mexico75 (Oct 12, 2009)

Rooster said:


> I was there again on Sunday. Had a good look in some of the outlying blocks. Couldn't see a way into that big three-story detached block, what was that, a barracks for the nurses or something? Some locals out walking saw me coming out with my camera and said I would get prosecuted for photographing the place. I asked if they weren't also trespassing. "Well, yes, technically we're all trespassing..." Cheeky gits. The locals seem to act as the eyes and ears of the security gadgie in return for unoffical permission to walk about the site. I even saw some blokes hunting with a hawk and beating the bushes to stir up birds. And I get wrong for taking photos!
> 
> Please, someone, whereabouts is the morgue? I just want to see that and I'm out.



Mate, get your pictures up in a report and people may be more willing to answer your question, for all we know we could tell you where it is and then find it tagged up and the slab smashed next time we go.


----------



## Rooster (Oct 13, 2009)

mexico75 said:


> Mate, get your pictures up in a report and people may be more willing to answer your question, for all we know we could tell you where it is and then find it tagged up and the slab smashed next time we go.



I've Just read the t&cs and I'm not allowed to ask stuff like this anyway! I'll put up a report when I've explored the main buildings.


----------



## klempner69 (Oct 13, 2009)

Top marks to you for effort Tripod...and you Krypton,you need therapy for your key fettish!


----------



## Runner (Oct 13, 2009)

I wondered what was underneath that great big board, we could hear it gurgling away - never put 2 and 2 together - doh!
thanks for posting that td4!


----------



## tripod (Oct 15, 2009)

*return to st marys*

Just been back to finish the job , got some mint shots will be uploading over next few days once converted , did have some trouble on way out but nothing that will put me off going back again lol ....


----------



## Locksley (Oct 15, 2009)

Stunning pictures!


----------

