Clares Merchandise Handling Equipment was originally founded in 1966. From modest beginnings, the site grew to 250,000 square feet, giving it the capacity to produce high-quality products in large numbers. It use to employ around 250 people and had a £22 million turnover.

Cornwall County Asylum was founded in 1815 and opened in 1820 with accommodation for 102 patients.
By 1844 it had accommodation for 153 patients.
Cornwall County Asylum later became known as St Lawrence's Hospital under the National Health Service.

I think it closed in 2002.

West Sussex County Asylum/Graylingwell Hospital
Also know as Chichester asylum and Summersdale hospital.
founded in 1894 opened in 1897 and it closed in 2003.
It is a compact arrow plan layout and the architect was Sir Arthur Blomfield.

Developers have unveiled their formal plans to knock down most of the site and turn it into 750 new 'eco-homes' and a school and shops.
Historic buildings such as the water tower, the home of Black Beauty author Anna Sewell, the church and the farm buildings will be refurbished and reused.
But they want to knock the main hall down and build a new mixed-use community hall. Hopefully if they do end up with permission to develop the site they will keep the hall. It would be very sad to see it knocked down.

Good luck to the theatre and arts groups that are continuing to fight to save the hall.

The Royal Alexandra Hospital was built in 1881 but this was the not the first children's hospital. The first children's hospital was in Western Road in 1868, just a private house that had two or three beds in it. They then bought a old schoolhouse. The schoolhouse became too small so they knocked it down and in 1881 actually built the childrens hospital on Dyke Rd. The doctor who was behind a lot of the development was Dr Taaffe. Dr Taaffe wrote to their Royal Highnesses, the Prince and Princess of Wales, to come and officially open the Royal Alexandra Hospital, which they did on 21st July, 1881. The hospital finally closed in 2007.

The Elysium Cinema opened on 11th April 1914. It was a single screen cinema and had 900 seats. It closed as a cinema in 1960.
It was then used as a bingo hall that closed around 1994.

This was my second visit to the Paris Catacombs. After my last visit it had left me wanting to see more of the around 200 miles of underground tunnel complex.
Riddled with history from way back in its quarry days where the stone was used to build Paris's cathedrals.
To the bones in the Ossuary when the grave yards became full in Paris they relocated the bones to the catacombs between 1786 and 1860 it is said that 5 to 6 million skeletons were moved to the catacombs.
Of course this is only a tiny bit of the appeal of the Catacombs it also offers world war history with bunkers and a fall out shelter.
Industrial with a underground brewery.
Culture of the Cataphiles who spend lots of time in the Catacombs and make and decorating rooms.
I think this is why the Catacombs appeals to me so much it is a whole world down there under the busy streets of Paris.

West Park Hospital was opened in 1923. The complete hospital was anticipated to hold approximately 2,000 patients of mixed class.
I think the main hospital closed around 2005. There is still some buildings being used on the site.

This was my fourth visit and i seen lots things i had missed on my previous visits.

Well I thought it was about time i checked out Mid Wales and as i was in the area i went and had a look for a few hrs.
I was impressed it was a bit bigger than it looked when i first got there.

Mid Wales Hospital opened on the 18th of February 1903 and closed on the 7th of April 2000.
The layout is Compact arrow plan and the Architects were John Giles, Albert Edward Gough and Trollope, of London.

Cwm coke works opened in 1958 and
closed in 2002. There was also a Colliery called Cwm Colliery which closed in 1986.

Since the works closed it has fell victim to arson and scrap metal theft. And as a result security are very active.

It was such a nice afternoon and the blue sky made it perfect for the outside shots.

RNAS Portland was an air station of the Royal Navy from 1917.

The site was first built in 1917 as HMS Serepta, within the confines of Portland Harbour as a seaplane base; the aircraft operating from the base's slipways. In 1919, No. 241 Squadron RAF (formed from RNAS flights operating there in 1918) was disbanded and aviation operations ceased.

In 1946, Hoverfly R-4Bs moved in and the base's playing fields were taken over as a landing ground and became the site of the modern heliport. 815 Naval Air Squadron flew its 12 Whirlwinds in from RNAS Eglinton on 14 April 1959 and the station was formally commissioned as HMS Osprey on 24 April 1959.

The base was gradually improved over the years, with the addition of a (short) main runway and landing spots. It has been the home of the small ships' flight Wasp, Wessex and Lynx fleet and at one point, the slipway was used by hovercraft.

Went to have a look at Kingston Mill with Root and Rooks. The place was very striped but glad we got to see it as it looks like they have started pulling parts of it down.

Visited Box again today this time concentrating on going to see some of the MOD links to Spring quarry. First stop was Cathedrel for a quick photo then i cut across to to B12 and went and said hello to the robots. After a few photos i went down A Passage down to Windy Tunnel. When i got to the end i turned around and went up Old Kent Road on to B Passage and made my way down to the Red Door. I then made my way over to the Shafts and up to Cliftworks Passage up to the water tank and then out of the back door.

Visited with Rooks.
London Road tunnel shelter was one of two shelters built in Portsmouth. I went to visit the London Road shelter.
It could officially hold 2,535 people, but Could be increased to double that in times of need.

Visited with Speed and Rooks.
This was our last site of our road trip and in my opinion the best site.
Even though it closed in 2001 there are still lights on some of the machinery is on and would start on the press of a button. We picked up a phone in the offices and it was still live The way that stuff has just been left is crazy. No attempt to salvage things like perfectly good looking forklift trucks.
I think thats why i liked it so much. That and the location right on the edge of the Peak Districts

Visited with Speed and Rooks.
It was starting to rain and i was getting tired after only getting about 1hrs sleep the night before. For a long time i have seen photos and said to myself i must get up there. We had a walk around for about a hour and then it was starting to get dark. The place is very trashed and has been raped for led the last few years. I did not enjoy this explore but i think there is a lot more to see and i will return on a nice summers day.

Info
North Wales Hospital
Denbigh Asylum
Date opened: 1848
Date closed: 1995
Layout:Tudorbethain

Visited with BenWRX Speed and Rooks.
I had seen a few reports but this place was better and bigger than i had imagined. Some of the front building have started to be demolished so i am not sure how long this place has left. Our visit was cut a bit short but we still had a good look around.

Info
Cheshire County Asylum
West Cheshire Hospital
Date opened: 25th August 1829
Date closed: 2005
Architects: William Cole Jr., of Chester
George Enoch Grayson & Edward Augustus Lyle Ould, of Liverpool
Henry Beswick, Surveyor to the County of Cheshire
Layout: Early Linear Corridor plan with Pavilion and Compact Arrow plan additions

Visited with Speed and Rooks.
This was our first site of the day. When we got there i was well impressed when i seen the building its gorgeous. I was going to get some photos from out side on the way out. But sadly we were in a bit of a rush. The bits we seen were mostly very stripped but the corridor and arches and other bits about the building made up for this.

Info
Lancaster Moor Hospital.
Date opened: 28th July 1816
Date closed: December 1999
Architects: Thomas Standen (1816)
AV Kershaw (1882)
Layout: Early Corridor plan
Alternative Names: Lancaster Asylum, Moor Hospital, Ridge Lea Hospital

The Royal Insurance Building, Dale Street, Liverpool, England was built between 1897-1903. The architect was J. Francis Doyle. It is a Grade II* listed building. The building's steel frame structure may have been the first such steel frame in the UK. It is finished with an Edwardian Baroque façade of granite and Portland stone, and an elaborate allegorical frieze by the sculptor C.J. Allen.

The first part of Battersea Power Station was built in 1939. Then in 1953 work started on a second, mirror-image station (B) which is built alongside the original A station. In 1975 Station A shut down and B later in 1983. In 1986 Planning approval was given for the for the Alton Towers owner to build a indoor theme park. By 1989 the plans had been axed and there have been lots of other failed plans for the site up to this day.

A very cold early and hung over start saw us dodging CCTV looking for access. Once inside one of the corridors we started to explore. When we got to the laundry area we stopped for a rest when we started to hear voices and a lot of banging. After about fifteen minutes holding on where we were hoping they would pass we decided to bale. I will have to get back at some point. Thanks guys for a good day. And thanks again Ridds for letting us crash as yours.

Visited with Fieldy, Rooks, Winchester, Speed, Sinnerman and Mushcan.
On the walk down to the power station something did not seem right i am sure the same empty bus went past us about 3 times . Any way we got in ok and spent a few hours there. It reminded me a bit of Pyestock just in better condition.

Visited Box today after work for a few hours. Decided to head north up to the Clift works area. Its funny how you lose track of time underground. I went in through the back door and made my way up to the water tank. Then turned right up Cliftworks passage past the iron door. Just after the rubbish shaft i turned right to have a look at some cranes then down to the Memorial Plaque.
Then it was time to head back.

This is my first bit of London high stuff. I was in Croydon and remembered seeing a few reports of this place so decided to give it a go. Thanks to Flat4 for looking up the location for me i get so lost in London. Visited with Willis.
Altitude 25 is a new residential building next to Croydon east station and stands at 269ft (26 floors) It was a bit windy up there but still well worth it.

My first stop of the day Longcross barracks. Its a bit bare but its good to see the overall condition of the place is good. A bit of a brown pants moment when a Chinook came over very low just as i was between buildings. I was so sure the it was goin to land i have never ran so fast in my life!

Cane Hill opened its doors in 1882 and at its peak held a maximum of 2000 patents. Closed its doors in 1991.

Well this was my second visit to Cane hill and the main reason for coming to London this weekend. After my first visit with Willis and Bubblehead i have been gagging to get back hear. I find Cane hill so photogenic i have to stop myself from taking a photo of every little thing. This time my aim was to try to see some of the areas we did not see last time. I did not stay too long but was pleased i got to see some of admin. When i was in this area i could hear footsteps so i snook off then quick marched away from that area.

Not to be confused with Clifton Rocks Railway!
Down below the Clifton Suspension Bridge in the Avon Gorge lies a old disused railway tunnel. Around 1940 Bristol City Council had it converted into a bombproof store for the city records.

Access was tricky and stupidly i forgot my wellies so i got very wet. Once i was inside there was a corridor running down the left with rooms off to the right. Each room had a upstairs that you could access by a metal ladder. At the end of the corridor was a safe door built in to the wall.

It looks like its been left well alone since they moved out but the water damage has taken its toll on the wood.

I had a little look at the underground magazins at Dean Hill Royal Naval Armament Depot today. I was a bit pissed off i could not get up to number 1 magazine which would have ocasionly temporarily housed nuclear materials.
Never mind.
Dean hill opened in 1941 for the storage, inspection and maintenance of naval armaments. The primary task of the depot was storage of munitions in a series of 24 underground magazines excavated in the chalk hillside.
Dean hill closed in 2004 and is now privately owned by a company offering workshops, offices and temperature and humidity controlled vaults cut into a chalk hillside. As a result of that most of the magazins that i looked at are now locked and have cctv.

isited with Bubblehead and one his work mates.
Stafford county asylum was founded in 1818 and later given the name St George's Hospital. It closed in 1995. On the same site there is a newer hospital also named St George's.

Not sure how much of the site we got to see. Some of the floors were in a very bad state. It looked like some of it was in the process of bein redeveloped with a new roof and windows.

Visited last night with Bubblehead. An amazing explore with lots of bits left around and the neon lights are still on in the cinema room which looks ace. The building is massive. I could not believe the size of one of the studios it was about the size of a sports hall. Lots of editing rooms with old kit that was left after the auctions . We spent hours in there and before we knew it was time to leave. Thanks for showing me around Bubblehead.

Had a bit of unfinished business at Cellophane. Since my first visit the chimney had been crying out to be climbed. This was my second attempt. The first time i did not have the kit i needed to get up where the first 2 ladders had been removed. It was a bit harder than i thought it was going to be on the way down so im glad i did not attempt it without the right kit.
It was a bit more windy than i expected forgetting how close it was to the sea. I also did not have much room up there so found it hard to get some angles.

Barrow mental hospital was completed in 1937 although it was requisitioned as a naval hospital in the Second World War, it reverted to its planned function in 1947.
It closed in the summer of 06. In December 2005 Barrow was branded the hospital dirtiest in the country when inspectors examined medical equipment, beds, sinks, bedpans and toilets in 98 hospitals.

Inspectors arrived at Barrow Hospital unannounced to find floors marked with cigarette burns, coffee cup stains on a table, walls with extensive graffiti, urine stains around a toilet, mildew and stains from bodily fluids on the bottom of a hoist chair.

Two of the hospital's three wards were closed and the services temporarily transferred to Southmead Hospital.

This is some photos of the Southside block.

I dont think i have seen a crane like this before so i went to have a look. It was a shame it was misty because on a clear day you would have a nice view of the Somerset levels.

I visited Ridge this afternoon as part of my plan to make the most of my time off work. I have been wanting to explore Ridge for ages. It was a nice little explore just how i imangend it. Lots and lots of old graffiti and not too much recent stuff apart from the odd '' MOD patrolled '' in red spray paint I found the guest book but could not sign it because the pens did not work.

Ridge was quarried up until 1914 when at the start of the First World War, Ridge was requisitioned by the War Department. They cleared out the waste stone and stacked it up in older parts of the workings and strengthened the roof so that ammunition could be stored in the mine.

During the build up to WW2 the War Department decided that there was a need for a large underground ammunitions store. It was decided that the required space could be obtained by converting four quarries, these four formed what was collectively known as the Central Ammunitions Depot Corsham. Ridge Quarry was acquired and put to use as one of these sub-depots. The three other sub-depots were Tunnel Quarry at Corsham, Eastlays Quarry at Gastard and Monkton Farleigh Mine.

Ridge Quarry was never converted to the same extent as the rest of the Central Ammunitions Depot Corsham so it became surplus soon after the war had finished. There is however evidence of Monkton-style corseting and strengthening work in the quarry but at an incomplete stage as the budget was never approved.

Something a bit different today. A bit of Glastonbury festival history.

The first Festival was held on the day after Jimi Hendrix died, over a two day period and before long “word had got around”. It was the Blues festival at the Bath & West Showground that had inspired Michael Eavis to begin a festival of his own although on a smaller scale.
Acts included: Marc Bolan, Keith Christmas, Stackridge, Al Stewart. Attendance: 1,500. Price: £1 including free milk from the farm.

Over the years the festival has become a huge success.

This year there was 137,500 tickets on sale. They were snapped up in just 1hour and 45 minutes

I thought people who had been to the festival and seen it on tv would like too see it 6 months on.
I was going to use some of my photos from this years festival to show the difference but sadly i cant find them.

Opened in 1882 and at its peak held a maximum of 2000 patents. Closed its doors in 1991.

I visited Cane Hill with Bubblehead and Willis. It was the first time at Cane Hill for all of us and my first Asylum explore. What an amazing place so much to explore and the buildings are amazing especially the chappell. I found myself trying to picture the place when it was open like its own little town realy. Any way here is a few of my pics.

The Bridgwater Cellophane plant was opened by British Cellophane in 1937 and acquired by UCB Films (now Innovia Films) in 1996. Part of the site is still in use but most is abandoned. Some of it looks like it has been abandoned for donkeys years. From what i have seen and read i would say some of the plant closed in 2002 but then most of it in 2005 with 250 people losing there jobs. The site is huge and there is some real Gems around the place. I did not get to see all of the site because i only had a few hrs time window.

When i got back from London last night it was 1.50 the first bus home was not untell 8 so i decided to go up. I seen this when i was on my way to meet Lilla last sunday and we did talk about it. This building is nice and easy scaffold starts in a out of view area. then u are exposed for about 1 ladder then you are behind nets. The scaffold is lit in places so i had to take care at the top not to cast my shadow too much. My cheap ass tripod snaped on me so i had to mend it with tape which did not work too well.

Met up with all the guys apart from OT at Waterloo . Got the eurostar to Paris and met OT. We got some food and a few bits from a shop then went down under about 12.30. Entry was easy but well hidden. Once we were all in a short walk through a bit of water to our first stop.

Farleigh Down tunnel is about 1 mile long and use to join Monkton Farleigh central ammunition depot to the railway.
Ammunition trains would unload onto gauge trucks and then go down the slope shaft into the loading area.
The ammunition would then be unloadid on the the conveyor and go up the tunnel to the Main West Corridor.

HMS Royal Arther use to be used as a Royal navy leadership school. It is very trashed but i love the way nature is taking over.

2nd site of the night the old Bristol and West building Lilla had done this one a few times so access was easy. Once up the about 17 floors we took a few pics off the roof then it was over the gap and on to the crane. I sware the gap from the building to the crane was bigger on the way back. Very good views from up here.

A bit of info.

GAMA (GLCM Alert and Maintenance Area) was a maximum security QRA (Quick Reaction Alert) area with 6 large above ground shelters in which fully operational cruisemissiles were stored.

These shelters were specially designed and constructed to protect the GLCM’s and crews against nuclear and conventional strikes. They were appx. 10m high, with a reinforced 2m thick concrete ceiling. Below was a massive titanium plate, appx. 3m of sand and a reinforced concrete plate. The whole thing was completely covered with tons of clay. Each shelter was equipped with 3 hydraulic nuclear blast proof doors at both ends to assure a quick entry or exit.

They could withstand the blast of any nuclear air explosion above the base or any full hit from a 2500lb conventional bomb.

Each shelter contained 2 LCC Launch Control Centers and 4 TEL Transporter Erector Launchers. Each unit was very mobile and supposed to leave the base in convoys to their secret preset dispersal sites. This would happen within minutes after the alert and the movement was via the local roads through the surrounding villages.

The last two weekends i have had to go to Weymouth so both times i popped over to Portland to have a look around. Last Saturday I visited High Angle Battery The rifle ranges. And this Saturday i visited East Wear Battery. There just seems to be more and more stuff too explore each time.

The High Angle Battery is a derelict fort built in 1892 on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England. The battery was built as part of Britain's Coastal Defences in 1892 and is located in a disused Portland Stone quarry at the northern end of the island.

East Wear Battery is a gun battery to the east of the Verne. The battery was built in the 1860s as a result of the Royal Commission to guard the new Portland harbour and Royal Navy institutions on the island. Five open batteries were built housing 20 9" and 10" RMLs. In 1900 they were replaced by 3 6" guns, and again by 2 9.2" by World War II.

Pyestock also known as The National Gas Turbine Establishment was used by the MOD as a aviation research center.

I went for my first time today i spent about 8 hrs in there. The place is amazing! So big so much to see and i dont think i even seen half of it!
I only had time to see
cell 3
cell 3 west
cell 4 and annex
No. 10 exhauster
Plant hosue and annex
New fitting shop
cell 1 & 2