Old Bridge of Don Academy, Aberdeen

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nickso

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Here we have the old BOD academy.

Went to school here in the 70's and have fond memories of it. The building was originally the main school for the BOD area and as the area went huge after the 70's oil boom it was largely redundant as two new academies (Bridge of Don and Oldmachar) and several primaries (Glashieburn, Forehill, Middle Park, Greenbrae etc) were built in brand new estates nearby. I only went there as a child because my new school, Glashieburn primary, was not finished in time for the new term. Used to have to walk down to the unfinished one, get on a bus and drive the 5 minutes down the road to the old one. I forget how long that went on for but I'm guessing only a few months, at any rate that was around 1978.....ish.

Once it was redundant as a school it was later used by Aberdeen College as a pheripheral centre, possibly in conjunction with the Gordon Barracks across the road which is still used by the college to this day, mainly for musical studies. I can't remember what the school was used for but a friend remembers doing an exam there and he did some form of media thing early on so it fits in. An ex-girlfriend also did media studies there for a few years in the 90's.

Late 90's I think they gave it up and it closed for good. Since then it has been the obvious target for dodgers but has survived pretty well until a couple of months ago when it was set on fire in the west side. The council have obviously decided it is now to much of a risk and have started demolishing it. I initially though they would only knock down the fire damaged part but after they started taking the slates off the roof last month i knew the whole lot was coming down and that was going to be the end of an era in BOD.

There is a fair bit of activity during the day so I went in at night, alone. Problem with that is I was shitting myself and didn't hang about long enough to explore fully and couldn't take any outside shots. If the mods are happy enough to leave the thread open for a while I will take day shots of it as it slowly gets destroyed.

Enough waffling.........

On fire.
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Firemen move in, took a good five hours to put out.
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beastie that is doing the damage.
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Half demolished west wing.

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Up the stairs to the first floor.

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Slates have been off for a few weeks now so plenty of water damage.

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Water damage here looks more like the windows ahve been letting it in.

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Signage on first floor.

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Library....no bookshelves strangely.

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Back down stairs near front door.

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signage downstairs

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Gym hall, I remember climbing on the bars as a kid in gym class.

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Changing rooms.

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Anyone know the book?

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Corridor back to the west side.

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Random rooms

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Well that's all for now. Like I say if I get a chance I will take some more outside pics in the day to give you an idea of the size of the place. Sadly the creepy gardeners shed out the back was knocked down some time ago........was the stuff of legend when I was five. :)


Hope you enjoyed.
 
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Thanks, went up to day for a looky and found they have managed to completely remove the west wing now. The first 8 pics of the west wing no longer exist!. :(
 
So here we have part two of BOD Academy.

Slightly better light and certainly better time. I wanted to get as much as i possibly could this time as the demolition is moving on at a fair pace, I doubt there will be much left in a few weeks. The beastie is moving ominously close to the almost pristine condition gym hall. :(

The only place I didn't see apart from the roof space, which I'm not bothered about, was the plant room. I have been in there a long time ago with no camera but I can't remember how to get into it now. There were only two internal locked doors which I couldn't open, one of which I suspect is the way down to the basement. Perhaps later in this buildings adventure I will get in. :)

Compare these pics with the first two pics of the building on fire and you will see what has already disappeared. The refectory, theatre (which was set on fire) and the north west finger that I was in a few days ago have already gone.

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Some general outside shots to give you sense of whats what.

Beastie moving toward gym hall

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between gym hall and north east wing.

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north east wing

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east side of north east wing.

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windows on south side.

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front door.

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That's a huge number of photos for a report, we recommend you post 15-20 of the best.
 
I counted 138 photos!

If you want more guidance on what to post you can [ame="http://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/showthread.php?t=16286"]read this..[/ame].
 
yes that was excessive :lol: , inside has been done so a few pics of outside.
 
could you explain why there are 9 blank posts please. they just say edited.
 
Good work, I recall this place sat boarded up beside the roundabout for years and years … it's quite grim and austere looking. Hope you manage to cover it all before Lawries flatten it… or the dodgers finish the job!
 
From the paperwork I saw it's been empty since 1999. I have most of inside now, won't be going back. Gym hall is half down today.

Thanks for the tidy Foxylady.
 
Went there a fair few times over the years, hoping for a way in. Never did get inside, really wanted to see what it was like. Really good photos! Damn firebugs! Ruining it for everyone! :(
 
Drive past this every day on the way to work. As of last Thursday there is nothing left
 

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