Pool Parc Asylum - October 2014

Following on from Denbigh Asylum, we popped into Pool Parc Asylum as it was just round the corner - sadly a flying visit and like a muppet I left my tripod in the car.

This particular facility was in fact an overspill for Denbigh Asylum for around 80 "guests". Built in the 1820s as a private manor house, the hospital took over the building in 1937 and closed its doors in 1990.

A very darkened building welcomes you, with stairs to die for, pretty much all windows are boarded up so, you need a tripod and a good torch for a bit of light painting.







Proper spooky, Scooby Doo style, it was at this point Urban Spaceman brought to my attention some trapped birds in flight in the building, they weren't, the place was full of bats !!



Bats, lack of tripods, floors starting to squish, we left.





3/10 and full of bats (may have been a 6 with a tripod, a 7 or 8 without the bats).
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Denbigh Asylum - October 2014

The locals call it Denbigh Mental, some call it Denbigh Asylum, it had the official title of North Wales Hospital and it now sits rotting in development hell.



Grade II listed, built in 1848, the hospital closed in sections between 1991 and 2002.

Over the years this place has become almost mythical in exploring circles, with over excitable security, a very angry old man with a large dog, tales of ghosts and mysterious "things" appearing in photos - then add to that the Most Haunted TV crew taking up residency for a week with a show called "Village of the Damned".  This went down like a lead balloon with the locals as detailed in this article from the Telegraph.

I had done some aerial shots late 2013 and Denbigh Asylum was on my list for an explore for years, I had just never managed to get round to doing it and so myself and Spaceman thought we would take the overdue trip down to North Wales. We phoned Fruit Loaf McCheese with his cutting repy of  "Point me at the asylum, a phrase I think of often", it should be explained that the Fruit Loaf McCheese is not an explorer normally by choice but he agreed none the less.

 

Denbigh Mental had a lot to live up to....

 

But sadly it didn't.

Asylums normally have an eerie feel, when you wander you wonder what went on within its walls, this atmosphere was no longer present at Denbigh Asylum, its walls no longer talk or hint at what misery the building had witnessed.

Sadly we saw no ghosts, dogs, angry old men or maniac security but we did spot the recent fire damage which in the scale of things is minor compared to the rotten floors, collapsed corridors and the general hanging on for dear life state of the place.

 





Strangely, despite being closed since 2002, on stairwells you could smell that hospital smell of Idoform permeating out of the building.





 

 

Time for a few more externals before we left.







Well past its derp past date, we left this sorry place sadly disappointed as this once grand building clings on for dear life. A sad end to a sad building looms ever closer.

Whilst I've never understood why anyone would want to live in a disused asylum or hospital for that matter, hopefully some property developer (with money to spend) will step in and save whats left soon before it's to late.

2/10

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Whittingham Asylum - The End, from the air - June 2014

The end is nigh....

An overdue flight out and first base was, well that's the next post, but we moved swiftly over Preston to the monster asylum that is Whittingham Asylum - or was.

Once upon a time we jumped over the fence, then another time we took a potter round in the plane.

Anyway, if anyone doesn't know the bulldozers are in. The end of Whittingham Asylum is weeks away.

We flew back.



 













Not a lot to say really, perhaps going, going, nearly gone ???

Return to Whittingham Asylum - by air

On route to the Lake District, December 2012 we flew over Whittingham Asylum, I thought I had finally got this place out of my system with my previous fly over and my little explore inside of Whittingham's infamous, now long derelict, grounds and buildings.

I bolted upright in my harness and started to snap away with the camera as we flew along at 120mph towards our true destination of the Eskdale and Borrowdale valleys.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





The full collection of all my shots of Whittingham Asylum can be found on my Flickr

- Finally please don't steal my photographs, please ask.

Whittingham Asylum - June 2012

Having previously flown over Whittingham Asylum I decided to have mooch, so Urban Spaceman and myself decided to brave the bank holiday traffic.

Here's a bit of info


Whittingham Hospital, whose grounds adjoin the village of Goosnargh, grew to be the largest mental hospital in the country, and pioneered the use of electroencephalograms (EEGs). During its time it had its own church, farms, railway, telephone exchange, post office, reservoirs, gas works, brewery, orchestra, brass band, ballroom and butchers.

In 1866, the three Lancashire lunatic asylums at Prestwich, Rainhill and Lancaster were deemed to be full. The building of Whittingham Asylum began in 1869, originally to accommodate 1000 patients. It was built from brick made from clay dug on site from a pit which later became a fish pond.

The hospital officially opened on 1 April 1873. The large site included an Anglican church, a Catholic chapel, a recreation hall (also used as a ballroom) and several farms. The site closed in 1995 and now sits slowly rotting in development hell.

Welcome to the asylum !!!!





The whole place is overgrown, slowly rotting, trees growning from chimneys, bushes swallowing whole buildings - buzzing with bees.

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This place was so peaceful, I think any return visit will involve a macro lens as the insects and butterflies are everywhere. The variety of birds was amazing, rabbits everywhere and I even had a field mouse run over my foot.

****we went back !!!! ****