Hey folks. Been a bit quiet recently, my apologies. But - I finally have a car again! So I have been quite busy! 
After working lots of extra hours saving up to get another motor I promised my other half I would take her to explore somewhere a bit different. After a drunken weekend down in Devon with some friends we decided to have a pit stop here on the way home. Got a bit of a backlog of stuff to share now, but after reading a comment about how badly this place had been done over recently I thought I should get the finger out. Still working silly hours to run the motor but before our road trip up north in a few days I will get this lot shared.
Some very brief history:
In 2010 this nursing home was subject to the full wrath of the law when an immigration raid took place and 13 arrests were made. The place was immediately shut down and residents moved into emergency care elsewhere. Other arrests were made on suspicion of neglect and theft. Nobody ever returned and the site has been empty ever since.
The explore:
After driving back and forth looking for the location we parked up about a mile away because I was dying to stretch my legs a bit. As we got closer we could see houses nearby so decided to take an off road route. We scrambled up the hillside though the trees and as we came out to the clearing we were blown away by the size of the place - it is massive! I kept thinking I could hear people in the distance ahead of us but on the way up but as we got closer I knew my mind wasn't playing tricks on me - I was hearing voices! We stopped in our tracks poised to make a quick exit, and then we relaxed when a group of 4 young guys appeared as they were leaving. They froze in their tracks so I smiled and waved! We walked past each other and said hello. I think they were just as relieved as we were!
We had 2 other places lined up for our road trip, but we didn't have time in the end so we were happy to have made it to this one. I was amazed to see lights still on and electrical stuff on standby! The building is absolutely beautiful and it's sad to see it empty - I can think of far worse places to see out your later years! As we made our way inside we knew we wouldn't see the whole place, it was very close to sunset and we still had a long drive home and we didn't fancy being here in the dark. I really enjoyed this visit, it was the most silent place I have been to in a long time. I will be very sad when the trashed pics appear.
Anyway… I will try not to repeat what has already been shared…
The externals:
The seemingly endless corridors:
A few other rooms:
The usual chair shenanigans:
Random bits and bobs:
Dead plants:
Before becoming a brewer I worked with cheese, therefore I have a (cautious) fascination with everything fungus and mould related...
And a few other shots:
And as that old saying goes... One door opens...
Another one gets smashed open by a bunch of fuckwits...
I will be very sad to see this place descend into the usual scumbag man made rot. I am so glad I got to see it before that happens. This place really got to me. I have been in a few places that churn up emotions with whoever I am with, or just freak them out. I am generally pretty level headed but I felt a bit sad here. The stories of neglect were rivaled by the happy pictures of the residents.
Either way I just loved the silence and tranquility. It reminded me of why I first started exploring.
Anyway, that is probably my lot for just now. Got some other bits to upload but I'm off to Scotland to see my folks and for my little sisters wedding. I promised some new stuff when I joined, managed to get 2 up without a car but I have some in the pipeline from Scotland and some Surrey gems that don't appear to have been touched yet.
Thanks for looking!
After working lots of extra hours saving up to get another motor I promised my other half I would take her to explore somewhere a bit different. After a drunken weekend down in Devon with some friends we decided to have a pit stop here on the way home. Got a bit of a backlog of stuff to share now, but after reading a comment about how badly this place had been done over recently I thought I should get the finger out. Still working silly hours to run the motor but before our road trip up north in a few days I will get this lot shared.Some very brief history:
In 2010 this nursing home was subject to the full wrath of the law when an immigration raid took place and 13 arrests were made. The place was immediately shut down and residents moved into emergency care elsewhere. Other arrests were made on suspicion of neglect and theft. Nobody ever returned and the site has been empty ever since.
The explore:
After driving back and forth looking for the location we parked up about a mile away because I was dying to stretch my legs a bit. As we got closer we could see houses nearby so decided to take an off road route. We scrambled up the hillside though the trees and as we came out to the clearing we were blown away by the size of the place - it is massive! I kept thinking I could hear people in the distance ahead of us but on the way up but as we got closer I knew my mind wasn't playing tricks on me - I was hearing voices! We stopped in our tracks poised to make a quick exit, and then we relaxed when a group of 4 young guys appeared as they were leaving. They froze in their tracks so I smiled and waved! We walked past each other and said hello. I think they were just as relieved as we were!
We had 2 other places lined up for our road trip, but we didn't have time in the end so we were happy to have made it to this one. I was amazed to see lights still on and electrical stuff on standby! The building is absolutely beautiful and it's sad to see it empty - I can think of far worse places to see out your later years! As we made our way inside we knew we wouldn't see the whole place, it was very close to sunset and we still had a long drive home and we didn't fancy being here in the dark. I really enjoyed this visit, it was the most silent place I have been to in a long time. I will be very sad when the trashed pics appear.
Anyway… I will try not to repeat what has already been shared…
The externals:
The seemingly endless corridors:
A few other rooms:
The usual chair shenanigans:
Random bits and bobs:
Dead plants:
Before becoming a brewer I worked with cheese, therefore I have a (cautious) fascination with everything fungus and mould related...
And a few other shots:
And as that old saying goes... One door opens...
Another one gets smashed open by a bunch of fuckwits...
I will be very sad to see this place descend into the usual scumbag man made rot. I am so glad I got to see it before that happens. This place really got to me. I have been in a few places that churn up emotions with whoever I am with, or just freak them out. I am generally pretty level headed but I felt a bit sad here. The stories of neglect were rivaled by the happy pictures of the residents.
Either way I just loved the silence and tranquility. It reminded me of why I first started exploring.
Anyway, that is probably my lot for just now. Got some other bits to upload but I'm off to Scotland to see my folks and for my little sisters wedding. I promised some new stuff when I joined, managed to get 2 up without a car but I have some in the pipeline from Scotland and some Surrey gems that don't appear to have been touched yet.
Thanks for looking!
