Other Stuff
Bangers Belgique
Retro-cars, in an antique garage setup, set inside a disused mining building……what was there not to like?!
Adding in the medical room with x-rays and patient files, was the cherry on the cake.
Really liked this place. It was the perfect size, with the perfect amount of things to see to make for a very enjoyable visit. Interesting seeing the battery charging racks. Hidden in the basement section was a decent selection of old cars. One area had a heap of respirators….not sure what the story was here? A relic from the mining past or WW2 memorabilia?
Flytipper’s Paradise
I spotted this one on the news this week. Whilst there was general disgust at this industrial level of fly-tipping, I was quietly excited and dusting off my camera. It was a lovely combo of vibrant street paint and heaps of bizarre relics. The graf along the canal highlighted I was near on my walk to this place.There were a bunch of rather beaten up cars that I separated from by a maze of rivulets. I plan to go back with a better route of access or my wading boots to get a bit closer to them. Was a lovely Saturday afternoon stroll.
Flytipper’s Cars
A trip back to specifically look at the cars
Ashes In The Joyriders Quarry
A beautiful peaceful quarry littered with burnt out relics from joyriders antics. The whole place was one big fun track. All the time I was there, there was a drone of over revved engines, yet I never actually saw anyone – was very weird.
Meat, Fish & Dogs
Something different to dereliction and graffitti for a change. Had the pleasure of just wandering through the normal backstreets of Bangladesh. This was my morning routine for a few hours each day for a week and I always saw something new and interesting on every outing. Here I concentrate on the organic stuff. Did I feel voyeuristic takning these photos that may be less savoury for some? Yes, a little…but I was also constantly thinking about how food production is so sterile and hidden in the west. Here it is gritty and honest. The Bengalis are adorable and were very happy to let me take photos of their wares and skills. The chicken slaughterer/skinner was particularly talented at what he does. He deftly and swiftly put the chicken out of it’s misery and then skinned it with his bare hands. He managed this keeping his crisp tidy clothes completly blemish free throughout. Lord only knows what we would end up looking like if we tried it.
Arty Burnt Out Garden Centre
Dull structure but some nice art pieces
Summer Camp For The Miners Sons
A quick 10 minute stopover.
Interesting little burnt out place.
The church and gym were enough to make it worth getting the camera out of the bag.
Fascinating to compare it to old photos of the place in operation as well
Pickler’s Shed
Was visiting the old man and went to see his plot. I noticed a very overgrown strip with a rather ramshackle shed falling to bits. I asked, and it seemed the old man had died at Xmas and so it had all started going to seed.
I thought I’d have a poke around and found a back entrance behind the bushes into the shed.
I wasn’t really expecting these pickled items. Anyhow, these photos made a nice juxtaposition to the photos of gooseberry bushes, and apple trees.
Beachy Head Memorial Flowers
An interesting stroll
Tribute To The Dead Birds
There are a number of ingredients that make a good site to explore-
Decay
Peeling paint
Artifacts
Graffiti
Fire Damage
Mold and fungi
An old car or two
and finally – dead birds
These little critters are found in most of these places and come in various varieties and states of decay.
I remember one place having a large room full of the complete lifecycle of pigeons-completely mummified ones on the floor, some flapping around in the last throws of life and chicks high up in the rafters in nests. It was an incredible place.
Here are a few I have gathered over the years with a few mammals thrown in to break it up a bit.
Piscina Forestale
This lovely spot was in the middle of nowhere in Northern Italy. The deep end was exceedingly deep and was full of wildlife.
Really hard to get these shots looking good as there was so much texture going on in all directions.
Car Breaker’s Yard and Cottage
A grey miserable day and climb through neck high nettles and thorns revealed this lovely old antique cars, slowly disintegrating into the earth.
Dirty old office/cottage with squatter evidence at one end.
Croatian Hotels
This cluster of 6+ hotels sit not far from lovely Dubrovnik. Apparently targetted during the recent war, these were damaged beyond repair and now left to rot in their idyllic location. You can see bullet holes everywhere in the concrete masses. Despite being totally stripped bare, the size and desolation of these structures was quite something to walk around.
Abandoned Motor Yard
This was a very beautiful location, very scenic in itself but then peppered with old retro cars and vans.
The owner clearly lived on site and the caravans were full of family possessions. A funky little PC station probably has hard drives full of interesting things.
Time-Capsule Village Store
This one was fun, being right on the edge of the road in the centre of a Norfolk village.
It was odd peering out of the windows to see people getting ready for work in the houses 5m opposite.
This place felt rummaged but not robbed. The till with old money on it was interesting.
Der Party Bus
Just a little ride I spoyyed whilst gandering around Germany. I love these surprises.
Miscellaneous Decay
Just random oddments I found here and there
Beautiful Charleroi
This wonderful city was playground for me for 2 days.
Beautiful industry and decay on every street corner.
The place felt backwards….like a British northern city stuck int he 80’s.
Manky Inn
A damp smelly Inn on the side of a busy Road
Cars
Always a treat to find one of these old rust buckets in a derleict site. Can often be found as isolated treasures whilst on walks in less loved areas - the sort of place I enjoy spending my time.
EuroTrash
Just some random shots of European derelict, decaying and groggy buildings and locations I picked up on holidays, mixed with some mangey street life.
New York Sights
Just a few things I saw around this fab city including a few buildings I was too chicken to enter
General Urban Beauty
Not derelict, but urban
Beautiful Brentford
Most local grimey spot to me with a real city feel
Canalside Beauties
General destruction and city life along a nice part of the river
Another Burnt Out Garden Centre
How many of these are there around?!
Stumbled on this one whilst out looking at another site.
Looked nice, the charred wood against the lovely sunny day.
Bedfont Estate Under The Planes
This was the dump I spent my afternoon in today.
Bedfont Court Estate was built after world war 1 by middlesex county council. Each of the small houses were built with a small piece of land for farming.
In 2001, due to M25 widening, Heathrow T5, and the digging up of gravel, the area was emptied by compulsory purchase.
Today there is about 10 houses. Each are in a pretty bad state but still have old nicknacks and furniture inside.
The area is quite charming and feels rural, other than the heavy planes grinding overhead.
At the end of the estate sits Martinoil Ltd, a derelict oil disposal and recycling unit.
All pretty done in, but ticked my boxes of closeness and ease. And it was a nice mix of residential/industrial/farming.
I talked to a local on the way out. The last to leave was the granny in number 14. She was stubborn to the end. She was a fond musician despite the noise from the sky and it was in her house that I found the piano.
On the road outside the road of interest was this nice beaten up van.
Derelict Garden Centre III
These are becoming quite common these days