Abandoned Uncovered

12/04/2019

Any takers?

Won't someone, anyone, buy Fort Montgomery?

16/01/2019

Mine!

31/10/2018

The draining of lakes at Blenheim Palace reveals a series of hidden rooms.

28/12/2017

Lurking up a long drive and nestled amidst the trees, this cottage sits empty with the faint whistle around the forest, the odd deer darting about and occasional car from the main road, your initial sense is that of peace and quiet.

But it is the overwhelming awarness of the double murder of a mother and daughter that took place a few years ago that really hits you with every step you take across the place!

Hence why harrowing is probably the best word I can use to describe the place. Listening online to the 999 call the daughter made to the Police really puts a chill down your spine, knowing her mother had just been shot and possibly killed, she went back to check and probably help her before being shot and murdered as well.

Frankly the whole place is a story of sadness and scandal, from animal welfare issues related to dog breeding, defrauding a terminally ill lady, to the murder. All of which the convicted man played his part in. The good news is that the sentence he received ensures he'll unlikely to ever see life on the outside again, his parole date is set for when he reaches the grand age of 112.

The future for the cottage? Redevelopment and the battle rages over planning! Whatever happens, the memories of what happened on those hallowed grounds won't be forgotten!

23/12/2017

EXPERIMENTATION WAS RAMPANT - Within the fences and walls of this 300 acre and 2,000 patient capacity mental asylum during the 1950's.

Psychiatrists were free to experiment with new treatments on patients seemingly at will, using practices now considered unsuitable such as frontal lobotomy. It is noted that women were often admitted by their own family, sometimes as the result of bearing illegitimate children or because they had been r***d. As they would not always (or were unable to) carry out daily tasks, they were considered to be insane and some were even subjected to ECT and lobotomy. Fortunately a change in management during the 1960s (and likely a change in social acceptance) saw reforms introduced including the creation of art and music therapy programs and the widespread use of drugs and medication which vastly improved the enviroment.

Inside, the complex was a maze of interlocking corridors connecting many rooms, making them easily accessible for doctors at any time. It was a a huge place which featured wards, offices, bedrooms and bathrooms, a laundry, a bakery, even two on-site farms to provide food, and even the equipment to produce electricity to power the entire complex - it was designed so that no-one would ever leave!

However as part of the change in approach to Psychiatric "Care in the Community", it along with many other Psychiatric Institutions closed it's doors in the 1990's. Largely abandoned for the next 15 plus years it fell into a serious state of disrepair but was a haven for ghost hunters and urban explorers alike. Little remains these days though, most of the site has been demolished and replaced with new housing and infrastructure.

21/12/2017

TOPLESS - Dilapidated and frankly a shell of it's former self.

Over the last 30 years of being vacant this Grade II listed building has had the heart ripped from it; as a result of people breaking in and stealing everything from the fireplace to the stair bannister, which coupled with a multitude of fires have arguably sealed it's fate as a ruin!

It lead a rich life until then though, perhaps most notably as a convalescent home for wounded American officers during WWI and in WWII as a hospital for the Royal Air Force.

Whilst there is hope moving forward, the future looks bleak, with many experts suggesting the structural damage is extensive and it may need to be rebuilt, but the society is fighting against that outcome; only time will write it's next chapter.

19/12/2017

MAN OVERBOARD - Mud, blood and stingers wacked for near an hour... BUT hallelujah, we got there guys and found the holy grail that was the sea fort entrance!

Built during the 1800's in a tense time across the continent with rumours swirling around that Europe was at war and that an invasion on British soil was imminent, the goverment reacted and set up a commission to look at the defences across the UK, and this was one they constructed!

Designed to garrison upto 100 people and equipped with a few guns that would make any enemy ship think twice, it was never used in anger but was considered a strong deterrent (along with many other defences built) which coupled with the inaction of the French, ensured no invasion was attempted!

It was later disarmed before WWI and used as an observation post during WWII. It now just sits, partially flooded with nature reclaiming it!

16/12/2017

THE UNDERGROUND COLD WAR SITES ON YOUR DOORSTEP - Dotted across the countryside are these unremarkable concrete structures with flaking green paint and rusty metal hatches.

The weathered concrete and steel is all that can be seen above ground of the small Royal Observer Corps (ROC) monitoring posts buried 6ft underground.

Until 21 years ago, they would have been on the front line in the event of a nuclear attack on the UK, providing a place for ROC volunteers to measure nuclear blast waves and radioactive fallout.

Between 1956 and 1965, the UK government ordered the construction of 1,563 monitoring posts at a distance of about 15 miles apart. Thirty-one larger HQ and control centres were also built.

All the sites were closed down when the ROC was stood down in 1991, as the Cold War came to end with the disintegration of the Soviet Union.

The vast majority of the monitoring posts have been demolished, left to fall into disrepair, or vandalised and then flooded with rainwater but some remain in remarkably good condition.

Fifty plus years after the Cuban Missile Crisis pushed the world to the brink of nuclear war there is growing interest in protecting relics from that time and many are closer to home than you might think.

14/12/2017

The page has ironically been 'abandoned', y'all still lurking?

07/11/2017

... still not finished! The former Lincoln county asylum. Unexpectedly just passed it so figured I'd have a quick nosey. I was up here years back and work was due to start back then. It's well underway now but there's lots to do.

16/10/2017

WHERE IT ALL STARTED - You always remember your first and this is where exploring started for me folks, so when I heard through the grapevine that it was accessible again, I was excited and knew this wasn't an opportunity I was going to pass up.

Armed with a DSLR this time round I took off under the cover of darkness, arriving an hour later and making a bee-line for the only access point; a largely backfilled entrance to the network. It's a tight squeeze but within minutes you drop down into the network and you're in, the whole complex is now your oyster!

Way back when it would've served thousands of local people during WWII on many a night whilst the raids above raged and bombs dropped; lined with three tier bunk beds, canteen facilities, toilets, a childrens recreation area, first aid post (including waiting room and section of isolation for segregation of cases of infectious diseases etc) it was rudimentary but practical.

15/10/2017

CODENAME... PADDOCK - One of the most secret of military installations built during World War II, built deep underground it was designed to act as a replacement for the Cabinet War Rooms in Whitehall had they been destroyed.

Now hidden away under a modern housing estate in North London; it's damp, dark, rusty but bloody awesome! In the long term the site probably needs to be stabilised to stop the rot, but I personally hope it is never restored, as its gently decaying state is really atmospheric, a complete contrast to the wax-work restoration of it's famous counterpart.