Room in an Asylum

[ekkl]

Hi. I took this picture last week on a visit to Hellingly Asylum. The building has been derelict for some time. (for some reason the picture has lost a lot of sharpness converting it through Lightroom and CS3)

Most of the buildings are intact, just the roofs in some of the corridoors have fallen in. There is mess everywhere, the local yobs have been in a completely smashed everything to bits, not one window remains and the weather obviously has taken it's toll.

It is still a beautifull place though and very eerie too.

I took this picture because when I walked past it I, did a double take and just stood there looking in, the table deliberately placed to look out of the window, looking for inspiration or wishing they were over that wall, who knows, that is what I find fascinating.

I wondered what the person was thinking when sitting at this table, writing or drawing or whatever they were doing there.

Just off to the right is another small window and a wall and you can just see the remains of the bed there.

It is a big old place and this room must have been a part of someones world be it in their mind and in real life, I do wonder a lot about what they were thinking in there.......

[fluffy penguin]

Re: Room in an Asylum

You know the photo on its own I did not find inspiring.
But
The naration you have given with it has suddenly brought to life
and given it a purpose.
And now I find I am strangley drawn to it.

well done. did you take any more photos of the place?

[ekkl]

Re: Room in an Asylum

Hi there. I took 79 pics in total.

I agree the picture is pretty uninspiring but knowing the story behind it, as you say, you look at it in a different light.

I find it pretty hard to describe how I felt when I first looked in the room, the picture hardly justifies that feeling.

[19ninety]

Re: Room in an Asylum

how easy is it to get in there, been looking into some place local to me but they are all behind 8' spikey fences cos in fairly populated areas.
I'm looking for some abandoned places to photograph as I found the eastern state pen in philadelphia a really inspiring place to be, sadly my P&S let me down in the image dept. so looking to find that feeling again from some places arpund the home counties.
If you can just walking hellingly then it'll be worth the couple of hour drive each way...

Or if anyone can suggest some abandoned/deralict hospitals/prisons/asylums/etc near to uxbridge/slough with easy access.
Would like to visit Normansfield Hospital in Teddington which is derelict if anyone know weather its simple to get into as when used to drive past for workthere was a huge blue wooden wall round the front (very nice modern housing behind too). Also Cane Hill and if anyone knows who to speak to to get a look round Battersy Power Station, well that'd be simply great! I think West Middlesex Asylum has ben pulled down now...?
As I mentioned I find these kinda places very inspiring and creative and fun to photograph.

P.S. I dont promote or encourge trespass or forcing entry etc, I'm simply looking for places where you can get to to photograph, nothing illegal!

[Pol]

Re: Room in an Asylum

how easy is it to get in there, been looking into some place local to me but they are all behind 8' spikey fences cos in fairly populated areas.
I'm looking for some abandoned places to photograph as I found the eastern state pen in philadelphia a really inspiring place to be, sadly my P&S let me down in the image dept. so looking to find that feeling again from some places arpund the home counties.
If you can just walking hellingly then it'll be worth the couple of hour drive each way...

Or if anyone can suggest some abandoned/deralict hospitals/prisons/asylums/etc near to uxbridge/slough with easy access.
Would like to visit Normansfield Hospital in Teddington which is derelict if anyone know weather its simple to get into as when used to drive past for workthere was a huge blue wooden wall round the front (very nice modern housing behind too). Also Cane Hill and if anyone knows who to speak to to get a look round Battersy Power Station, well that'd be simply great! I think West Middlesex Asylum has ben pulled down now...?
As I mentioned I find these kinda places very inspiring and creative and fun to photograph.

P.S. I dont promote or encourge trespass or forcing entry etc, I'm simply looking for places where you can get to to photograph, nothing illegal!

I don't think any of the abandoned places are open to the public and most, if not all of them, have some sort of security on site - but people can and do sometimes like to 'evade the security' so they can get some sort of record before the buildings are gone forever.

I won't go off into my rant about the watse of government and NHS funds just leaving these places to fall down (instead of using the land or building to generate income) but I will give you a couple of links to get you going. I have several somewhere - Good pics of the old West Middlesex Hospital, Shenley, Hellingly and several others if you spend some time following all the links...... so here goes with the first two

County Asylums

Abandoned Past (loads of links from this one).

I'll post more if I can find some of the others. I think they may be on my old PC or laptop.

I have a feeling the old Battersea Power Station is being re-developed at the moment.

P.S ....... just found one more link on this PC

Abandoned Britain

Have fun but be careful not to get injured (or even caught and accused of trespassing)

Pol

[Pol]

Re: Room in an Asylum

<snipped>

Have fun but be careful not to get injured (or even caught and accused of trespassing)

Pol

You may also be interested in having a look at the "Subterranea Britannica" website. There's a lot of information about who to contact to visit sites as well as a mailing list for members. I'm not a member and haven't visited any of the sites but I've always been fascinated by the website content showing images and locations.

Here's the link to their sites index listings.

Pol

[19ninety]

Re: Room in an Asylum

I don't think any of the abandoned places are open to the public and most, if not all of them, have some sort of security on site - but people can and do sometimes like to 'evade the security' so they can get some sort of record before the buildings are gone forever.

I won't go off into my rant about the watse of government and NHS funds just leaving these places to fall down (instead of using the land or building to generate income) but I will give you a couple of links to get you going. I have several somewhere - Good pics of the old West Middlesex Hospital, Shenley, Hellingly and several others if you spend some time following all the links...... so here goes with the first two

County Asylums

Abandoned Past (loads of links from this one).

I'll post more if I can find some of the others. I think they may be on my old PC or laptop.

I have a feeling the old Battersea Power Station is being re-developed at the moment.

P.S ....... just found one more link on this PC

Abandoned Britain

Have fun but be careful not to get injured (or even caught and accused of trespassing)

Pol

Hi Pol, many thanks! I was doing some googling and have found loads of people doing this kind of thing, have been on abandondedpast website since about ten minutes after I posted until now.... I just hope the weather holds out, even since getting my new camera I've had blumin computer problems

The hardest thing now is locating the sites, the MOD places are not very well listed. Google Earth is a mighty tool though and have found a few fairly close places to go and hunt tomorrow.

[EDIT]

Thanks for the additional link!
Hope tomorrow I can add some interesting photos....

[ekkl]

Re: Room in an Asylum

Some good links there Pol!!

19ninety, you need to download this.. http://www.thetimechamber.co.uk/Expl...%20Asylums.kmz

Save it to your desktop. Then you simply double click on it and Google Earth will load with all old Hospitals and Asylums on it. Obviously you need Google Earth on your PC first!

As for Hellingly I simply walked up to the place across a field whilst looking for Hellingly Train Station, spent a few hours looking around and taking pictures then walked away again. Cane Hill in a few weeks, looking to do the same there and that place is in a lot better nick. I cant wait to go there and take some pictures.

[Pol]

Re: Room in an Asylum

......... if anyone knows who to speak to to get a look round Battersy Power Station, well that'd be simply great!

I found a link that has information about who to contact if you want to visit Battersea Power Station.

The link is HERE - and if you scroll down to the bottom of the page there's a line that says :-

To request a visit to Battersea Power Station, contact the current owners Real Estate Opportunities:

Real Estate Opportunities
188 Kirtling Street
Battersea
London SW8 5BP

Names and contact phone numbers are included below that address on the same web page.


Pol

[19ninety]

Re: Room in an Asylum

WOW, thats a whole load of green place marks on my GE now he he.

Hmm, DPNow Asylum outing....

Just waiting to get a registration activated by admin on one of those forums to ask where a couple of old bunkers are too. Hell heres some stories for you, when I was a kid I used tolive in Cornwall. I could cycle for 5 mins and be at the start of the United Mines area ( I guess you'd call it), which was a huge huge open waste land left behind by the many mines that used the two valleys for the varous processes involved in getting the minerals/ore etc at the end. Many of you may (but I doubt) remember Wheal Jane mine from the national news with its final closure in the 90's after which its shafts were left to flood.

Anyway, as a kid I spent much of my time exploring the many mining sites in the local area (my house was built from granite mined from Carn Marth and also excavated from Ting Tang Mine right behind the house, there was a open shaft no more then 200m from my garden) including the (ha, health & safety and the end of the dark age of the 80's - the good old days) arsnic works at Tresevean where there were miles of stone tunnes on the surface of the ground, I can only guess the tunnels carried the fumes from the 'works' up the hill to chimeny stacks. The entire area being Cornwall was riddled with old abandoned mines. There used to be a old quarry too near Tresevean which was used to make contrete before closing and being demolished in the late 90's (I will upload some photos of there later and link in, they are old and nor very good). There was also a old tunnel (addit) in the local woods which walked into a few times with DIY battery and bulb torch - only to have the life scared out of me when walked round a corner to be met by a chap with a torch and waterproofs - neadless to say I pooped my pants and ran like the wind - you see the area was popular with people studying mines & minerals - but thats the last thing to expect to see when you walk round the corner of a tunnel in near dark when already nervous!

In the united mines area there was a huge tunnel (probably the main point of excavation in the later years of United Mines) which was blocked up, someone has knocked a couple of block sout so you could get in, sadly I only got to go in there once and without a tourch, but I remember it was one hell of a tunnel easily 20' high and 30-40 wide with a concrete floor which slopped off steeply down hill out of sight... 15 years later when I got to go back, the whole areas been reclaimed and the massive gash in the side of the hill where the tunnel entrance was .... well you could never tell it was ever there before, sadly yet another part of Cornwall's history lost in the memories of time. Some engine houses are still standing adn I plan to back this summer to take some photos of what is left now of thes places I'm telling you about.
So yea really, I spent most of my tines as a kid hanging round places like this, and its grown on me, and only recently realised (when at the ESP in america) that its something I like to photograph.
I wish I had a camera many years ago before all the places I talk off were levelled and filled in. Memories are sad when you know you cant revisit the places where they were born - and so now I have a thing inside me that wants to capture memories in colour - between work and sleep!

[ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poldice[/ame]
[ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Mining_in_Cornwall[/ame]

http://www.cornish-mining.org.uk/story/enginehouse.htm

Thinking about it if any of you are visiting the area, I think you can still tour the Poldark Mine (open to public) near Helston and there a memorial pumping engine house in Pool near Cambourne thats runs purley for show. If you Google Earth 'Lower Goongumpas Lane, the two Valleys I mentioned are the dark areas above and below the text.

Oh well, that is a ramble and a half for no real reason, now what was I doing again...

[19ninety]

Re: Room in an Asylum

I found a link that has information about who to contact if you want to visit Battersea Power Station.

The link is HERE - and if you scroll down to the bottom of the page there's a line that says :-

To request a visit to Battersea Power Station, contact the current owners Real Estate Opportunities:

Real Estate Opportunities
188 Kirtling Street
Battersea
London SW8 5BP

Names and contact phone numbers are included below that address on the same web page.


Pol

Sir, very nice work there, will have to brush up on my skills a little and give them a call/email.
Thanks!

[Pol]

Re: Room in an Asylum

Sir, very nice work there, will have to brush up on my skills a little and give them a call/email.
Thanks!

My pleasure. I hope you manage to get to the places you want to photograph and I look forward to seeing some of the shots.

By the way -- I'm a girl, though there are those that might say 'Old tart' might be a more appropriate description of me.

Pol (aka Polly)

[19ninety]

Re: Room in an Asylum

Oh, ummm lol

[ekkl]

Re: Room in an Asylum

Hi. Did you get out and about today to take pics?

[19ninety]

Re: Room in an Asylum

Yea got a few yesterday up at RAF Finmere (long time abandoned) which is public access, wasnt much to see really as most of the buildings are gone, I got to see about half the area as it got dark, found some nice towers to try and shoot but by that time it was so dark in the woods that nothing really "photographic" came from them - plus I'm still learning how to set up the 400D to take long exposure images so they arent very 'polished'.
Will try to work on the images tonight and get a couple up for you too look at that are woth posting here. I have some just point & shoot images more for documentation purpouses, not really fit to clog up DPNow's server with. Happy to link to an urban exploration site where they are listed as long a its ok with admin - dont wanna be seen to be advertising or anything =)