Seaton Heights Hotel - Dec 08

[chelle]

Lovely

Once again the fox unearths a gem of a find........well done indeed,and great comprehensive shots too.Hows the developement doing on the old holiday camp?
Regards from Stu

 

[dave]

Nice pics and report there foxy i love the colours you've captured.

 

[Foxylady]

Thanks everyone for your nice comments.

BigLoada, I've been trying to find out when it was built but no luck so far. I've just been trolling through a load of council reports, which was quite interesting regarding proposals for the site, but no history. I'd hazard a guess at 60's/70's though, because of the style of the architecture.

Sausage, I love that feeling of being away from 'normal' life...it's like stepping through a door from one kind of reality to another for me. I must admit I was a bit shaky to begin with. Mind you, the 25-minute steep hill walk plus a fence climb and scrabbling through a hedge probably didn't help!

Stu, the holiday camp site has just been left as it was when they finished demolition. No signs of anything happening yet, but the regeneration plans still haven't been finalised and although Tesco own the site, they don't have planning permission to build their store there. Hahahahahaha! :evil:

Cheers

 

[Seahorse]

Nearly missed this one! Loving the way there's a kinda Stateside motel feel with some quirky English twists, in a rural setting.

Who's are the comms towers Foxy?

 

[Foxylady]

Nearly missed this one! Loving the way there's a kinda Stateside motel feel with some quirky English twists, in a rural setting.

Cheers, Seahorse. I know exactly what you mean. It's got a fantastic atmosphere too...very peaceful.

Who's are the comms towers Foxy?

I've no idea, unfortunately. I was trying to ascertain if the original bases were anything to do with the WW2 remains but I couldn't get close enough to tell properly or get any decent pics. I'll take another gander next time I'm up there and see if I can glean more info.

 

[borntobemild]

You still have foliage on the trees and shrubs down there. Doesn't it ever get cold?

 

[Foxylady]

You still have foliage on the trees and shrubs down there. Doesn't it ever get cold?

We had frost the other morning!!! And we sometimes get snow about 10 mins a year, but apart from that it's very mild compared to most places. The daffodils should be out soon.

 

[smileysal]

Ooooooh, so glad youve gone back here. I liked it the first time you went, and I like it more this time. Love how nature is reclaiming more and more of it. Love those curved footpaths, balcony's and ramps. And still love those stairs behind the curved glass.

Excellent pics Foxy, I really do like this place.

Cheers,

Sal

 

[Foxylady]

Thanks, Sal. It was great to get to see more of it. I made sure I had plenty of film with me this time!

 

[Dirus_Strictus]

One of the surprises was instead of just one large Anderson Shelter, there are two. And the other one was built into a hut. More about these and other buildings when I complete the research and post it up in the military forum.

From the apparent size of these relics, I would suggest that they were originally the small type Nissen 'shelter' rather than true Anderson Shelters. The lack of any earthworks or diggings is also a pointer to their original use.

In the early 1950s Clumber Park (in the Dukeries near Worksop) contained large numbers of these 'shelters'. They were all open ended and contained vast amounts of miscellaneous stores - eg glass winchesters full of foam additive, carbon tetrachloride based fire extinguisher fluid along with huge quantities of jerry cans, steel pickets and neat stacks of steel ammunition boxes etc. There were many more boxes stored in these shelters, but no indication as to what they held or why they were there.

So I think that the 'shelters' pictured were probably used to protect certain military stores from the weather, that is if they are in their original WW11 positions.

 

[Foxylady]

From the apparent size of these relics, I would suggest that they were originally the small type Nissen 'shelter' rather than true Anderson Shelters...So I think that the 'shelters' pictured were probably used to protect certain military stores from the weather, that is if they are in their original WW11 positions.

I wondered if they might have been small Nissen huts. Thanks for the info, Dirus...that's very helpful.

 

[Random]

Brilliant stuff, hard to believe it hasn't been chavved up. Even stuff in the middle of nowhere in Cumbria attracts Orcs.

 

[Foxylady]

Brilliant stuff, hard to believe it hasn't been chavved up. Even stuff in the middle of nowhere in Cumbria attracts Orcs.

Cheers, Random. Although there's not a lot for youngsters to do, there's very little in the way of graf or vandalism here. Not sure why that should be but it is a nice and comparatively safe area to live in. Thinking about it, maybe it's because most adults here aren't afraid to tell kids off if they're misbehaving, instead of going down the asbo route, and youngsters expect and respond to it.

 

[Lightbuoy]

I'd like to echo all the positive things said before. An excellent report and a facinating looking place. Seems rather odd yet strangely lkay to see a Hotel and WW2 buildings merged together

Thanks for sharing Foxy -enjoyed these pics a lot!

Lb:jimlad:

 

[Foxylady]

Cheers, Lb. I seem to be finding more connections with WW2 origins wherever I look lately. Even the old holiday camp was a POW camp during the war.

 

[orangeacid]

Lovely find! Especially like that patio and pool area

 

[Foxylady]

Thanks, orangeacid.

 

[King Al]

Good stuff foxy, looks like a really interesting place, do you know when its due to be destroyed? I would love to see it

 

[Foxylady]

... do you know when its due to be destroyed? I would love to see it

Hi Al,
There's no set date at the mo, AFAIK. Plans are still being put forward for a new holiday complex on site but there's still a long way to go due to the problems with the amount of buildings intended, adequate sewerage, light pollution, height of buildings, rare bats and other considerations. The last proposal is being considered by so many different departments and agencies that it could be some time yet. Having said that though, once put forward it could be like Racal or Warners and the bulldozers in before we know it.
I'll keep an eye out on the planning department and let you know if the proposal meets approval.

 

[holymole]

Nearly missed this one! Loving the way there's a kinda Stateside motel feel with some quirky English twists, in a rural setting.

Who's are the comms towers Foxy?

The comms towers belong to Orange and 3 according to current records............ great post Foxy!