The Forgotten Hospital...
It seems in most areas, local general hospitals are closed down and later demolished to make room for so called “super hospitals”. The problem with that is when local councils don’t have the funds to actually follow through with the full project, it leaves this empty, decaying building just standing there, exposed to the elements.
Mountain Ash General Hospital was closed during late 2011 along with Aberdare General Hospital (now demolished) to make room for a Super Hospital. To start with, a local security firm were able to do a pretty decent job at keeping the building secure however it wasn’t too long until the funds ran out and the security team had to leave.
Since its closure, I’ve been to the former hospital several times, been lucky enough to meet with former staff and heard about some of the things they were able to offer at the site. The biggest was the local care, something that these so called super hospitals are unable to offer now.
So moving onto the visit…
It’s only a very short drive for me to pop into this location, after navigating the very complicated security fences… ok not really but still… I was in. Within moments, it dawned upon me that this was probably a very wasted journey. Still, the trip was made, it’s time to carry on.
When I first photographed this site, sure there was damage but windows were intact, floors were in one piece and things were still there to see such as the old hospital signs, machinery and lifts. This time, every window was either smashed or removed, roof slates gone, rain drops slowly dripping down causing a huge amount of internal structural damage.
It didn’t really matter though because no matter how bad the condition is, you can always pick up the vibe that used to be present throughout the hospital and its grounds. You could picture patients in the waiting room, on the wards and staff walking around doing their jobs. Maybe this is because I work within the industry during the day, I don’t know.
With only the noises from the rain drops coming through, the odd bang from ceilings coming down, it was time to pay a final visit to the former Mountain Ash General Hospital.
It seems in most areas, local general hospitals are closed down and later demolished to make room for so called “super hospitals”. The problem with that is when local councils don’t have the funds to actually follow through with the full project, it leaves this empty, decaying building just standing there, exposed to the elements.
Mountain Ash General Hospital was closed during late 2011 along with Aberdare General Hospital (now demolished) to make room for a Super Hospital. To start with, a local security firm were able to do a pretty decent job at keeping the building secure however it wasn’t too long until the funds ran out and the security team had to leave.
Since its closure, I’ve been to the former hospital several times, been lucky enough to meet with former staff and heard about some of the things they were able to offer at the site. The biggest was the local care, something that these so called super hospitals are unable to offer now.
So moving onto the visit…
It’s only a very short drive for me to pop into this location, after navigating the very complicated security fences… ok not really but still… I was in. Within moments, it dawned upon me that this was probably a very wasted journey. Still, the trip was made, it’s time to carry on.
When I first photographed this site, sure there was damage but windows were intact, floors were in one piece and things were still there to see such as the old hospital signs, machinery and lifts. This time, every window was either smashed or removed, roof slates gone, rain drops slowly dripping down causing a huge amount of internal structural damage.
It didn’t really matter though because no matter how bad the condition is, you can always pick up the vibe that used to be present throughout the hospital and its grounds. You could picture patients in the waiting room, on the wards and staff walking around doing their jobs. Maybe this is because I work within the industry during the day, I don’t know.
With only the noises from the rain drops coming through, the odd bang from ceilings coming down, it was time to pay a final visit to the former Mountain Ash General Hospital.