47 replies to this topic

[joe_m]

i started an urban exploration topic abit back. i will dig it out
some good stuff there

[joe_m]

Urban Exp. thread

[Dan]

Sad as it is to see any victorian brickwork go, the thing is that there are literally hundreds of these victorian asylums in the country and as you can see by comparing the photos of these two, they are all very much alike. They all have a big hall just like that for example. I've worked in many of them, the first show I worked on as a trainee had us in an asylum in Basingstoke for a few months as our main location. They are incredible complexes, they tended to have their own church, mortuary, crematorium (I wouldn't be too fond of that chimney if I were you Bean...) railway siding, farm and slaughterhouse, staff housing and everything they needed to be self sufficient. There was such a stigma attached to them, which was mainly a throwback to the earlier 17th and 18th century psychiatric institutions (where visitors could do things like pay a shilling to throw lemons to the lunatics and watch them eat, or pay to make them perform in general) that few wanted to go near the places so they had to be self reliant. Some I've worked at even had their own railway line directly to the huge victorian mega cemetries like Necropolis, such was the level of mortality among the patients and convicts. Yes they do have evidence that there were many padded cells and some do have the padding still in place but on the whole they just had large hospital wards like any other victorian hospital. The saddest aspect of them is the evidence of how through the NHS years there was essentially no improvement in the treatment of mental health and that people were still being treated for their various conditions in the same way as they would have been a hundred years before or in some cases worse.

Unfortunately converting these enormous structures to modern use really isn't cost effective. Even repairing them involves buying hundreds of special shaped bricks that were once commonly available but now have to be custom made at huge expense. These buildings are cold and damp and heating them costs a fortune, they come from a time when people expected to have to light a coal fire in every room every day and when lots of fresh cold air flowing in through vents was seen as beneficial. Even the wards in many were heated with coal fires, those that weren't were heated with terrible steam pipe systems. They have vast, enormously high roof structures that need thousands of slates and huge amounts of insulation, once you've repaired all the enormous rotting timbers. Behind the peeling paint these places look as though they are bullet proof but they really aren't. Those that have been kept up to date tend to look hideous, with modern cement and plaster patching keeping moisture in the original brickwork. With lots of surface mounted conduit for electrical and plumbing services. With badly and cheaply done repairs everywhere. The few that haven't been kept in use by health authorities are literally disolving, often with only the brickwork itself left intact and the timbers all collapsing. The cost of restoring either a rotten building or one that has been kept in use to its original condition is huge, the cost of converting it to modern standards in a way that doesn't simply remove all its charachter is even higher. Then the cost of maintaining them in that state afterwards is very high too. Maintenance today means wiping down the PVC windows every now and then, when these places were built it meant having a staff of dozens of painters, carpenters, plumbers and general tradesman in place to keep everything in order. Nobody wants to pay for that today.

[tuktuk]

im quite happy about them pulling that thing down

You miserable bleeder, you should go and stand on the very top of it whilst it gets demolished.

>

haha! stop being so childish if youde seen it lately then you wouldnt want it in youre area either.

[Jordie]

Interesting post Dan. Good read thanks.

and lol at tuktuk.

Rosco, did you get any pictures of the resturant? I would have loved to view inside that place, but needless to say Im glad its going. My view from my works window will be alot better without it

[joe_m]

Dan, enjoyed reading that, thanks mate!

[taffy1967]

im quite happy about them pulling that thing down

You miserable bleeder, you should go and stand on the very top of it whilst it gets demolished.

>

haha! stop being so childish if youde seen it lately then you wouldnt want it in youre area either.

I'm not being childish and use better grammar too as most of your reply is underlined in red on my Firefox dictionary checker.

Anyway if a building like that which had appeared in such an iconic film was under threat of demolition in my area, then I'd be out campaigning to have it saved and restored. Especially if I thought it was attracting people from all over the country to visit it like it was some kind of a shrine.

So it really saddens me that the people of Gateshead are either too ignorant or just plain thick to realise that fact?

Yes you're view of the area will change, but just seeing another Tesco's supermarket and yet another boring retail park is hardly an improvement and I hope it all goes tits up.

Either way one day you'll regret it, especially when people start asking where that car-park went.

Demolishing the 'Rocket' is also a short-sighted thing to do, especially if it could be saved. After all most of the well built (yes there were a few) 1960's tower blocks around London received grade II listing and a good example is Trellick Tower, which now has a waiting list of people wanting to move in. But then most of the apartments are privately owned now.

So without waffling on any more, many years ago they got rid of most of the 'Art Deco' buildings and now people are sorry. So I'm sure many will feel the same in the future when most of the 1950's/1960's & 1970's modernist buildings have gone, especially when most come from a time that brought us such wonders like the Mini car, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Concorde and the Mini Skirt etc, etc.

Okay so I'll probably get assassinated by Prince Charles and his boring architectural followers for having these views that seem almost forbidden these days? But I don't care because Britain would be a very boring looking place if every building looked like it was designed during the Tudor era and every housing estate consisted of houses that look like little boxes (which most do!).

Edited by taffy1967, 07 April 2009 - 12:57 PM.

[taffy1967]

Oh and here you go, here's the successful wonder that is Trellick Tower: -



It exists in Ladbroke Grove/Notting Hill, it was completed around 1972 and for a while had a terrible reputation for housing muggers, druggies and rapists. But it's fortunes changed when they installed 24 hour concierge and security cameras.

Plus kicking out all the scum helped, so now most apartments are privately owned and it costs an absolute fortune to live on the top floor.

Anyway many consider it to be an ugly brutalist concrete monstrosity. But I think it's a modernists futuristic looking wonder and when I showed my 10 year old son that picture he said 'wow, that looks really cool and I'd love to live at the top of that'.

So future generations will probably appreciate the 20th century modernist stuff, even if the miserable buggers of today can't?

Oh and here's a brand new high-rise apartment building that got built in the Cardiff city centre: -





There's now an even higher building standing right next door for student accommodation. So why can't Gateshead's 'Rocket' be saved and upgraded to this standard?







Here's 2 other tower blocks that got grade II listing: -

This one (Point Royal which stands in Bracknell) has appeared in at least 2 famous British movies that I can think of (i.e. 'I Start Counting' (1969) starring a very young Jenny Agutter (of The Railway Children fame) and 'The Offence' (1972) which starred Sean Connery who at that time proved there was far more to him than just James Bond): -



And Keeling House which stands in Bethnal Green and for years it was empty ex-council stock with the usual story of neglect and vandalism, before it got transformed into a private palace with 24 hour concierge like Trellick Tower: -

Edited by taffy1967, 07 April 2009 - 02:09 PM.

[tuktuk]

sozzzzz

youve already been told, its being taken down to improve the area.

its what the locals want, more shops and facilities... not a butt ugly slab of concrete, housing drug users and rapists.

how will we survive without it

[taffy1967]

Oh for those who are wondering what all the fuss is about, or have never seen or heard of the bleak and violent 1971 Michael Caine classic film 'Get Carter', here's a few tasters: -

The amazing movie trailer complete with the groovy gals in Mini Skirts at that discotheque. Plus of course the murder scene at the famous car-park (which is about to be demolished by an uncaring council and the local morons): -

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The train journey from Kings Cross to Newcastle with that amazing soundtrack, okay it's not the full movie version (which makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end and turns me cold because it's just so awesome!), but it's still pretty good: -

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More 'Get Carter' magic clips including the famously brutal car park scene: -

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Michael Caine thanking the people of Newcastle in 1971: -

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So RIP Trinity Car-Park 1969-2009






The 'best British film ever made'? Probably: -

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So it's clear that all the landmarks used will be very much missed. For more information: -

Get Carter Tour link

Edited by taffy1967, 07 April 2009 - 01:57 PM.

[taffy1967]

sozzzzz

youve already been told, its being taken down to improve the area.

its what the locals want, more shops and facilities... not a butt ugly slab of concrete, housing drug users and rapists.

how will we survive without it

Well they managed to make a success out of 'Trellick Tower' and that housed drug users and rapists for years and many call that a butt ugly slab of concrete and yet it's now it's a much loved building by all those who live there.

Okay so the car-park is going, but it doesn't stop us bemoaning it's loss?

[tuktuk]

no you can winge about it all you like, but how about having a bye bye car park forum to do it on. correct me if im wrong but this is the second topic youve raised the subject...

you obviously adore this structure, but not many people feel that way which is why the area will see change.

anyways back to the topic

nice pics bean the hospital myself and jordie visited was amazing. i told my grandparents about it and they were so keen to hear about it as one of their good friends were kept there due to mental issues. ive since found pics on another website of how it looked back in the day with people in it and its so wierd to think they were there...

im also not a person to believe in spirits or ghosts but some of the rooms had a 'feeling' about them... strange sensation

[joe_m]

anyone from doncaster or sheffeild know any good derra' buildings or building sites?
Facny meeting up and having a looks?

[taffy1967]

no you can winge about it all you like, but how about having a bye bye car park forum to do it on. correct me if im wrong but this is the second topic youve raised the subject...

you obviously adore this structure, but not many people feel that way which is why the area will see change.

I adore all post war modernist buildings, not just the 'Get Carter' car-park. But I'll be sorry when it's gone as I'll now have no real reason to ever visit Newcastle or Gateshead and so I won't bother ever.

Anyway, perhaps a moderator could move the posts about the Get Carter car-park to a thread all of it's own?

[minisandfords]

Interesting debate... been on 28DL and Derelict Places and looked at similar stuff to this.
Taffy have you looked at the history of the Tricorn Centre, Portsmouth? Similar type of thing- 1960s building- seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time but decayed a lot and ended up demolished.

However for a success story look at Park Hill flats in Sheffield- 1960 modernist, then derelict, now being updated by trendy Urban Splash.

Odd- I had no interest in architecture at all until I started looking at Urbex sites- now I find it fascinating.