:: GussetBLOG ::

:: Monday, June 01, 2009 ::

Exploring Gwent

Hafodyrynys colliery’s "unique washery slurry tower"



More info @ Forlorn Britain

Navigation Colliery Buildings, Crumlin



More info @ Crumlin colliery transformation now 'unlikely'

Labels: Urban Decay, Urban Exploring

:: Dan 1.6.09 [Arc] [1 comments] ::
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A couple of weeks ago five Second Look photography group members decided to spend our Saturday afternoon poking around the former Barrow Gurney Mental Hospital on the outskirts of Bristol. It was shut down in 2006 after being declared the dirtiest hospital in the UK. One of our number gave us a quick Health & Safety briefing as we trudged out way there, "Don't lick anything," he said. That was it.

The site is partially demolished and is guarded by a very big dog. And there's asbestos around. And lots of broken glass and unsafe floors. Don't go there unless you're stupid.

We've got some great shots and as a bonus a female passenger in a passing car flashed her breasts at us as we made our way back to civilisation. All in all it was a fairly surreal afternoon.

My photo set is here.
Many others have been there before and you can chart the sites decline through these links. In no particular order:
County Asylums
Derelicte
Whatever's Left
UrbEx Forums
Silver Stealth
28 Days Later [Many threads]

Labels: Photography, Urban Decay, Urban Exploring

:: Dan 23.5.09 [Arc] [1 comments] ::
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Detroit’s Beautiful, Horrible Decline by Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre


Detroit’s main train station, opened in 1913 has not been used since 1988.

Labels: Photography, Urban Decay, Urban Exploring

:: Dan 13.3.09 [Arc] [0 comments] ::
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Wed 17th December, Stokes Croft, Bristol



This will be my first proper photo exhibition (ie more than one shot! I've got 56 in there I think) so I'm really excited about this. I'll also be DJing my favourite ominous film scores as well as some of Gusset's lesser heard soundtrack work after Manufactured Landscapes to close the night. Can't wait!

Labels: Bristol, Electronic Music, Gigs, Photography, Urban Decay, Urban Exploring

:: Dan 9.12.08 [Arc] [0 comments] ::
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"Tollgate House is a now derelict 19 story building in the centre of Bristol"
A little out of date. It's been demolished and replaced now, but these photos are great. Shame they are so small.



I think the green carpet could catch on you know.

Labels: Bristol, Photography, Urban Decay, Urban Exploring

:: Dan 4.9.08 [Arc] [0 comments] ::
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New Urban Exploring shots from a disused kennel on Flickr


Disused Kennels 11 Dogs Eye View
Originally uploaded by gusset.



Disused Kennels 02
Originally uploaded by gusset.

Labels: Flickr, Urban Decay, Urban Exploring

:: Dan 12.5.08 [Arc] [0 comments] ::
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wildwalk 02
Originally uploaded by gusset.


There is a passage in John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids where he decribes how quickly London was taken over by plant life once the human population had moved out. It seemed a little over the top to me when I first read it. Until I saw this. The closed down Wildwalk building in the centre of Bristol is still full of thriving plant life despite not being cared for. And in places it has broken through the façade to the outside, so it can hang it's branches in the sun and rain again. The building is being eaten alive from the inside. Unfortunaely it looks like it's going to be reopened (as an aquarium) so we're not going to be able to chart nature's conquest over it as I would like to see. Maybe in a few years we'll see it being torn apart from the inside by a giant squid. I look foward to that.

Labels: Bristol, Ecology, Environment, Urban Decay

:: Dan 15.4.08 [Arc] [0 comments] ::
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