Odds and Ends (Part 1)

As I was looking through my photos from earlier in the year I noticed that there were a few that hadn't been posted on the blog (I guess work and life got in the way) so I thought I'd upload a few in a general post.
First up, the ruins of Hollinshead Hall, near Tockholes, Lancashire. This was once a large manor house dating back to the 18th century, although there was a previous house there as early as the 14th century. In 1845 the hall was sold to Darwen mill owner Eccles Shorrock, but by the end of the century the buildings had fallen into a state of disrepair. 
Liverpool Corporation Works acquired the surrounding land and demolished the remains of the buildings. Much of the stonework from the hall was sued to build walls in the area as well as some cottages in Belmont Village. Today, the only complete structure is the Well House (pictured below)

 I visited on a very sunny day in late May and pretty much had the place to myself. It was rather like visiting Hadrian's Wall in terms of what remained. 

Next up is Shore Baptist Church in Cornholme. Again, I visited this alone and on another beautiful late May day. This church was founded in 1777. Extensions were built in 1833 and 1871. The boom of the cotton industry ensured an increasing congregation. On its centenary in 1877, there were 265 members and many children attending Sunday school. Sadly, by 1977 and the Bi-centennial, the building was deemed unsafe and services were conducted in the Sunday School building. It is a Grade II listed building but is now a shell of a church, with a collapsed roof , due to dry rot. These photos concentrate on the overgrown graveyard. 

Lastly,  this abandoned Grade II listed chapel, which I stumbled upon as I was driving past, on the outskirts of Blackburn one day in late June. Boarded up and for sale at £50,000. New Row Chapel, built in 1828.  Lancashire Parish online describes the building in detail.
  

"We are told that occupation took place within forty-two days from the cutting of the first sod. The site upon which the chapel was built together with land for burial purposes, were the gift of a Mr. G. W. Turner, who was a prosperous calico printer with a business in Stakes Hall, Mill Hill. He was also Member of Parliament for the Borough of Blackburn, and an inscription over the door of the chapel shows his initials. G. W. T. 1828. Outwardly the chapel had a barn like appearance as can be seen from the old photograph now on the wall of the chapel vestry. Every year prior to the Sunday School anniversary a coat of whitewash was applied to the outside walls. Inside the building was colour washed and the cheerlessness somewhat relieved by a big coal stove in the centre. Seating arrangements comprised backless forms arranged in winter as near to the stove as possible and the lighting was by means of tallow candles arranged round the room at convenient places by the congregation."

In the 1960s the outside walls were pebble-dashed, which is an usual feature for a church. It is difficult to find out when the church finally closed but it seems to still have been in use in 2009, when there was an article in the local press about the state of the overgrown graveyard. It is now securely locked and boarded up and for sale, with planning permission to turn it into a home. 

Not the best explores in terms of complete buildings which are accessible, but interesting nevertheless. 

Hell-Hole House

"Hell-Hole Farm" is hidden away in deep undergrowth in semi-rural Cheshire.

 This long-abandoned farmhouse was bought by what was then Cheshire County Council in 1975 so that a bypass could be built. The house has been left to rot and decay and in 2011 Cheshire East Council decided that the land could be used to create much-needed "affordable" housing. This plan hasn't materialized yet but the council seem to still be generally in favour of the idea. The average detached property currently sells for over £500,000, so I guess that affordable housing is needed.
In any case, Urban Spaceman and myself turned up to have a nosey. (Mr. Spaceman now being one of the "Cheshire Set" had passed this place several times before.) This was our "Plan B" after a failed attempt at getting anywhere near an old Cheshire Hospital. After scrambling through the undergrowth we came to the back of the property and found a wheel-less car parked up. Not the sort of vehicle one is accustomed to seeing in Cheshire. 

We found a half-open rickety door leading to a couple of ground floor rooms and some very unsafe stairs leading upstairs which was deemed not worth the risk. There was a yellowing newspaper on the floor, dated May 27th 1963 but not much else. 

We came out and climbed through the window pictured above to gain access to the main part of the house. Again, the rooms appeared to be quite completely trashed with dark, with boarded up windows, making photography quite tricky. 

Upstairs to four empty bedrooms and the remains of a bathroom. (Bathroom suite long-gone with the scavengers.)

Bedroom One (The Lilac Suite) 

Bedroom Two (with a unique "Skylight" feature!)

Bedroom Three (nice curtains!)

Bedroom Four and the Bathroom were just too dark to even bother photographing.

Back downstairs . . . 

No wonder nobody's bothered hoovering for some time!

Living room curtains (all the rage in the 1960s!)

 The hallway, nicely decorated with illiterate scrawl!

Remember how we accessed the building? Well we could have just gone round the front and walked straight in but that wouldn't be half as much fun!

 The house from the front.

This place is long past its best, as the council decide what to do with the site, which is really sad.

Despite the trashed state of the place it was O.K. as a "Plan B". I guess it will eventually be flattened and several box-like starter homes will be built. Or maybe Yaya Toure will use some of his £220,000 a week to build a Space-age "Eco-home?"

CSM Suiker Fabriek

On a recent trip to the Netherlands I decided to have a mooch around what was once the site of a sugar factory in Halfweg, which is halfway between Amsterdam and Haarlem. The sugar factory had been built in the 19th century and was run by CSM Suiker Fabriek from 1919 onwards. It closed in the 1990s but is undergoing a transformation into "Sugar City" with new offices opened in two space-age towers next to the abandoned site. There \re plans to transform the area further. It is just opposite the train station, so it's convenient for public transport. Towards the back of the site is the canal, which was obviously important in transporting sugar and materials. 

The day that I visited was awful in terms of weather. It had rained solidly all afternoon and my camera got soaked during the fifteen minutes or so that I was there. In fact, it took over 24 fours for my "weather-proof" Pentax to recover! There was a huge damp misty patch on the inside of the lens, which has thankfully, now dried out!

The usual broken windows.

You can see the two new towers behind the rusty old tower. 

I liked the contrast between the old and the new here. The new towers are lit up at night (often different colours) and are a real landmark in the area.

The really poor weather and the fact that there were people on site, deterred me from getting a batter look at the place.

I decided to edit some of the photographs into mono, as it suits the mood and feel of the day that I visited. 

Despite not getting full access and the dreadful weather, I quite enjoyed having a closer look at this site, which I've passed by on several trips to Holland.