On 5th Jan I went on a recce to look at a recently closed building. Walking around to the rear I noticed a load of derelict chalets behind a fence. Realising that this was the former Warner's Holiday camp (subsequently sold & redeveloped into the Lyme Bay Holiday Village), I was intrigued as to why there were derelict chalets there.
Access is doable through part of the fence but I didn't feel up to scrambling through it right then, so I took some pics over the fence and walked further along the road to where there was a locked gate. I peered through and was surprised to find some of the old main buildings still there. I took some more photos through the gate (all the pics are in the Gallery).
Further down the road was the entrance to the new Lyme Bay site, so I went in to have a nose, and saw that there was a wall separating the new part from the old. Just then a guy came out of reception and asked if he could help me. I explained that I'm interested in taking photos of old & derelict buildings and that I hadn't realised before that half of the site had been abandoned.
He told me that when the site had been sold off, some 6 years ago, the original owners had kept half of it for redevelopment, which they never pursued, and that the local fire service have been using some of the chalets for fire practice.
I decided to play the 'upright citizen' (Ha!) and asked if it was possible to gain permission to go in and take photos. He told me the owners aren't local and if there's a way in I should just do it. So, a week later I clambered through the fence.
The chalets are arranged in a circle on quite a large piece of land, put there by the fire chappies by the look of it, as well as an old car. Some of them had certainly been burnt out, but not recently, as there are plenty of weeds and ivy growing all over them. I spent some time taking photos, the best of which I'll post in the Gallery as once d&p'd. Between the chalets are huge impenetrable clumps of brambles, so no easy way to get to the main buildings, but there appears to be an opening at the far end of the field. It'll be quite a trek, so I decided to leave that for another visit. Also, after spending some time there I found it had quite a depressing atmosphere.
After some research I recently found out that the site is in an area due for development, so will keep you posted with updates.
Flash earth link
Access is doable through part of the fence but I didn't feel up to scrambling through it right then, so I took some pics over the fence and walked further along the road to where there was a locked gate. I peered through and was surprised to find some of the old main buildings still there. I took some more photos through the gate (all the pics are in the Gallery).
Further down the road was the entrance to the new Lyme Bay site, so I went in to have a nose, and saw that there was a wall separating the new part from the old. Just then a guy came out of reception and asked if he could help me. I explained that I'm interested in taking photos of old & derelict buildings and that I hadn't realised before that half of the site had been abandoned.
He told me that when the site had been sold off, some 6 years ago, the original owners had kept half of it for redevelopment, which they never pursued, and that the local fire service have been using some of the chalets for fire practice.
I decided to play the 'upright citizen' (Ha!) and asked if it was possible to gain permission to go in and take photos. He told me the owners aren't local and if there's a way in I should just do it. So, a week later I clambered through the fence.
The chalets are arranged in a circle on quite a large piece of land, put there by the fire chappies by the look of it, as well as an old car. Some of them had certainly been burnt out, but not recently, as there are plenty of weeds and ivy growing all over them. I spent some time taking photos, the best of which I'll post in the Gallery as once d&p'd. Between the chalets are huge impenetrable clumps of brambles, so no easy way to get to the main buildings, but there appears to be an opening at the far end of the field. It'll be quite a trek, so I decided to leave that for another visit. Also, after spending some time there I found it had quite a depressing atmosphere.
After some research I recently found out that the site is in an area due for development, so will keep you posted with updates.
Flash earth link