Mid Wales Hospital, nr Talgarth, Wales

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Lightbuoy

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Severalls Hospital
Mid Wales Hospital (formally known as The Brecon and Radnor Joint Asylum), nr. Talgarth, Wales
-WARNING!!! -EXTREMELY PICTURE HEAVY -VIEWING THIS THREAD MAY CAUSE YOUR COMPUTER TO SELF DESTRUCT!!! =;o)

Built -1900
Opened -1903
Closed -1980's / 1990's

Hello again everyone! :)

After taking over me Old's computer for the evening, here's me 2nd report from the weekend visit to Wales, which will probably be my last ever personal "road trip" (apart from the DP meet of course!).
Anyway, I digress -on with the report!!!

So, having had a successful visit to Denbigh the previous day, Dystopia, ImmortalOwl and me headed down to Mid Wales Hospital, just outside the pretty town of Talgarth. Before I go any further, again, I must thank ImmortalOwl for his invaluable directions and for showing us a way into the Hospital (which, I must say, was pretty easy when you know how!) :mrgreen:
So, under the cover of the last hour of darkness before dawn, we were in!
To be honest, I didn't have a clue where we should be heading (as this Hospital is layed out in the "compact arrow" floor plan, and all the crazy angles threw me off and it took me an hour or two to get me bearings). But the ever dependable ImmortalOwl was there, and expertly guided us through the twists and turns until we found a good place to wait for the sun to come up. We refrained from using the flash on our cameras, so the first few pics are a little fuzzy due to my "can't be bothered to buy even a cheapo tripod, so I'll just try to hold it steady" style of picture taking! :eek:
As it got lighter and lighter, the first thing that struck me was the general condition of this place. Okay, there was the odd areas of damp, and some stripping out had taken place at some point, but it has to be the best kept place I've visited. You had to look long and hard to find a broken pane of glass in the many tall and narrow windows. In fact, where the place had damage, it seemed to be caused mostly by natural decay. Thanks to ImmortalOwl, we got to see just about all the accessable areas (I say accessable as conversion works have started in some of the outbuildings and the Administration Building and Chapel are sealed tight and have pretty real looking cctv cameras all around them). The strangest thing was going to open a door, and finding it locked. I'm guessing this is a sign that the local chavs / chavettes and vandals of other descriptions have yet to discover this place (and let's hope it stays this way). We came tantalising close to an old upright piano in one of the Wards, only to discover that on our side of the door, there was no door knob!:neutral:
After seeing some of the original cells / seclusion rooms, we headed to the gem of this place -the Recreation / Main Hall. Wow, it's absolutely stunning, and virtually untouched, save for some of the parkey flooring taken up and carefully stacked in neat piles. Interestingly for me, I noticed that the floor underneath is concrete, so perhaps this has kept the Hall safe from the fire vandals, and will continue to do so. At this point, it's probably a good time to make you aware that the former Nurses's Residence, just located to one side of the Main Hall, has been converted into private housing, so please respect these people, and is probably best if you don't get noticed by any of these new residents, as they will probably take more notice / offence than your everyday Mr / Mrs Security. Once again, we would have had no idea if it hadn't been for ImmortalOwl's knowledge -or should I say "eagle eyes"!! :lol:
So, we took many pics of the Hall, before getting up higher to view it from the ever dependable Projection Box position. Disappointingly, there was no access open to get up above the Hall's roof (sealed up tight, so there went one possible way of getting panoramic views of the Hospital buildings). We did also look at the water tower (which is a later open metal tower type), but the bottom sections of ladder are no longer there :cry:
Whilst wandering around the Wards, the angular layout reminded me of Rauceby, from seeing Simon's pics.
We continued around the main buildings, coming across the Hospital Musuem, which contained an array of lethal looking contraptions and instruments of torture!!!!!:eek: Parts of the corridor system have been demolished, opening up the Courtyards. I'm guessing this is because they weren't considered worthy of retention, and will make it easier to gain access when they start to convert the main buildings. Also, I reckon that these areas will make nice communal gardens :) Looking outside, I noticed old hoop-top railings which encircled the Asylum buildings. My guess is that this is the original perimeter fencing, marking the edge of the Airing Courts? Nice to see that they are still here. The ones at Severalls were taken down in the 1960's. Think they were called "ha-ha's", although, I personally can't see the funny side! ;)
Right, so after a rather lenghtly intro, here are the pics of my visit.

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Is this yours Barney?!!!;)
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Yup, you've guessed it -just a few more to follow!!:mrgreen:
 
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Yet more pics.......................

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With me super powers -I can see through solid walls!!!:mrgreen:
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Look -a fire hose still on it's reel!!!
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Almost there (I think)..................
 
More here (thanks for bearing with us!!!):).....................

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These lights remind me of the ones in Severalls (which I never saw:cry:)
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More still to come..................
 
Here's the final set!!!

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The converted and occupied former Nurses's Residence (Main Hall behind)
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And finally, a rather poignant discovery (though something like this should never be forgotten in my opinion), the grave of a Soldier from the Welsh Regiment, tucked away behing the Chapel. We did our best to clear away the overgrowth, and replace the now broken reef of poppies.....
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Hopefully someone more locally perhaps can get something done for the up-keep of this grave.

Well, that's just about it, except to say I've really enjoyed my times here on DP and, no doubt I'll pop by from time to time to say hello, though perhaps not as regularly as I have done up 'till now. Thanks to all those here on DP for always making UE fun and informative! Biggest thanks must surely go to the big 'K' (aka Krela, for keeping this Forum running, and the other Moderators too -thanks!!!:)

Lightbuoy :cool:

P.s. -look forwards to seeing those who are coming to the DP meet! :)
 
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Looks good, It seems more intact than I was led to belive. Lots of great old bits hidden away there. I'll have to go and take a look for myself in the near future.
 
Excellant report indeed.The pic of the enema kit is great and the blackboard with the date on it says it all.Congratulations on getting engaged and good luck for the future.Thanx for all your contributions here,they make a fine record of the past.
regards from Stu n Chelle
 
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I love the look of this place, it looks so unmodernised... Might have to pay it a visit too sometime.
 
Wow, what a gem of a find, m'dear, and superb pics as always. All that wood panelling, doors and shutters. Even an urbex mural with a ruin on! :D Brilliant stuff mate. No doubt I'll be looking through it again as there's so much to take in.
Just to repeat my pm, big fat congrats. Also, as Chelle & Stu said, you've made a huge contribution. Good luck for the future and don't forget us, y'hear? :lol:

Eileen :)
 
Super stuff, absolutly fantastic so many beautiful little features in that place I can't write them all but fantastic!! I simply must go to wales:)
 
This is quite positively the best report i have seen on this place. It looks incredibly interesting and surprisingly un-damaged, un-vandalised. I will definitely have to ask you more about it tomorrow.

Some great pictures too, i laughed when i saw the tag 'more sheep' :lol:
 
First of all, a huge congratulations on your engagement, hope you have a wonderful and happy life together. Good luck with everything and we'll look forward to you popping in every now and again. You've done some great reports whilst being on here, now we'll look forward to the 'legal' reports etc lol.

You've been busy with both these hospitals. Love all the panelling and the hall. Now it looks like they're doing a sympathetic conversion - thankfully. Too many are demolished and lost forever. At least most of the buildings are being kept.

Best of luck to you both for the future, and look forward to meeting you at the meet tomorrow.

Cheers,

:) Sal
 
congratulations!! i'm getting married next year too so can fully sympathise with the where-did-all-my-money-go scenario..

looks like you had a fantastic weekend - i really wish i'd been able to make it.

that pic with the made-up bed in the room with the air fresheners on the windowsill - was someone living there, do you think?

and i hope me and jimbo can still persuade you to come along on some more "local" explores??
 
Looks good, It seems more intact than I was led to belive. Lots of great old bits hidden away there. I'll have to go and take a look for myself in the near future.


Sure was nice to visit somewhere that hasn't been chavved! Yes, you should get yaself over there. Wouldn't leave it too long, because of the conversion work :) Also, as access is pretty easy, even simple-minded folk such as the chavs could find a way in and that day will be a real shame:(

Lb:cool:
 
Excellant report indeed.The pic of the enema kit is great and the blackboard with the date on it says it all.Congratulations on getting engaged and good luck for the future.Thanx for all your contributions here,they make a fine record of the past.
regards from Stu n Chelle

Hey Stu & Chelle -thanks very much :)
It's been a real blast on DP and I get great inspiration from other reports, for example the Pyestock reports.
All being well, see you at Severalls for my "last" visit ;)

Lb:cool:
 
I love the look of this place, it looks so unmodernised... Might have to pay it a visit too sometime.


Go for it while it's still doable! :)The style of Mid Wales reminds me of Rauceby. Some parts are sealed up tight though (no boards, just locked). Think these might be the parts to be converted first, if not already begun.

Lb:cool:
 
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