Research for Abandoned Places

The Abandoned Arthurian Theme Park of Camelot

(All images by True British Metal (see photostream, cc-nc-sa-4.0)

Set around the enduring legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, Camelot Theme Park near Chorley in Lancashire opened amid great excitement in 1983. But when the 2013 summer season rolled around, the gates of Camelot remained firmly closed. Dogged by financial woes and falling attendance in its latter years, the park now stands abandoned, a haunting relic of school holidays past.

The abandoned 140-acre site stands amid an area known as Martin Mere, a vast marsh which, prior to being drained in 1692 by Thomas Fleetwood of Bank Hall, Bretherton, was the largest body of fresh water in England.

Local lore holds that Sir Lancelot’s parents, King Ban of Benwick and his queen, Elaine, fled to Lancashire from their enemies in France. But when the infant Lancelot was momentarily set down on the banks of Martin Mere, he was abducted by the Lady of the Lake (presumably the same one who gave the sword Excalibur to Arthur Pendragon), who raised him as her own.

When Lancelot later ventured to King Arthur‘s court, he was knighted ‘Sir Lancelot of the Lake’. Martin Mere, meanwhile, has been known locally as the ‘Lost Lake of Sir Lancelot’ for centuries.

So it seemed like the ideal location for the ’80s theme park Camelot. But after a series of operators, including The Grenada Group and Prime Resorts Ltd, and declining numbers as the years progressed, the theme park was in receivership by February 2009.

Later purchased by Carlisle-based construction company Story Group and leased to Knight’s Leisure, Camelot struggled on for several more seasons before closing for good in November 2012.

Several rides were removed prior to Camelot’s closure for issues relating to their age, reliability and decreasing popularity. Other attractions were sold to parks in the UK and abroad.

The Camelot site is reportedly set to be redeveloped for housing, though a variety of rusting rides remain at the abandoned theme park, their giant twisting ruins looming above the tree-line.

The decaying survivors include a pirate galleon, the Mad Monastery, a jousting tournament arena and the once-popular ‘Knightmare’ roller coaster, which was originally built in Japan for another now-defunct park.

- See more at: http://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/2014/05/camelot-abandoned-theme-park-king-arthur-lancashire/#sthash.HH1aD2Dh.dpuf

PHOTOGRAPHERS DISCOVER THE HIDDEN ART OF ABANDONED URBAN DECAY

Tramping around in an empty abandoned building may not make sense to the average person. As a matter of fact it really seems downright crazy. What on earth could be interesting about fallen plaster and collapsing floors?   If you think it might seem a bit ludicrous or even dangerous to enter these long forgotten locations you are right. However what a new generation of explorers has found here is nothing short of magical and it’s getting ready to explode onto the main stream art and television market.

Across the country and around the world talented shutterbugs have unlocked the secrets of a treasure trove of imagery. Rotten, moldy, and overgrown seems to have a certain appeal to many. These high definition images now grace the walls of many offices and homes and don’t come cheap. Galleries are scrambling to meet the needs of this new generation of creators drawing massive waves of attention online and customers are lining up to be the first to have one of these exclusive prints hanging on their walls.

Some are in love with the history that this art represents; others are into the visuals created when Mother Nature begins to take back what was once hers. No matter what your point of view is this new industry is landing hard and spreading like wildfire across the world. The interesting part is that this has come from a place no one would have ever expected. From abandoned houses, shuttered insane asylums, and a vast array of locations these new age artists have developed a market and created a brand new genre of art.

Museums and galleries have always been portrayed as places where dusty old pieces of art hang in silence out of touch and out of style. History has shown that although the classics are of importance to our past the public longs for something relative to their generation. Flowers, sponge paints and sleepy black and white photography that is supposed project a mood upon us just does not cut it for a younger generation or even the baby boomers for that fact. I love Rembrandt, but would never want one hanging in my modern décor living room full of game gear and flat screen televisions. The strange fact that we might want buy a framed piece that was never intended to be art in the first place is one of the biggest reasons this new style is becoming widely popular.

Photographer John Mooney of Boston is part of a group formed by Emmy Award winning Crush media to work on a project for television show based on this very subject. In the process his prints have garnered the attention of many and now a New England gallery showing is now in the works. His images evoke mystery, and awe, showing how places that are so dead can also be so very alive.  Along with several other very talented image makers John has been traveling the country in search on the latest beauty of decay to share with the world. We recently talked with John after he returned from photographing the decimated city of Pripyat inside the hot zone of Chernobyl in the Russian Ukraine.
“It was wide Variety of a wash of emotions. I guess I didn’t know how much it would affect me.  We made it into Central Square and from there we headed to the amusement park and on to the Olympic pool and the basketball courts.  Then we visited school #3 and also a day care. One word I can say is fallout. The horrors that these people went though is still present to this day.The images speak volumes for what happened there. I really didn’t realize how it would affect me as a new father. Spending my first father’s day there was a sobering experience. When we went into what was left of the daycare I found hand written letters from parents asking acceptance for children into the now destroyed child haven.As a new dad I have written these same letters for my own son. Imagining that happening to my family was heart breaking. It was a life changing experiences to see how people can be affected by the actions of others. It has certainly changed my point of view on life over all. I see the world differently now. I plan on doing some gallery shows of the images and sharing the stories of my trip. I think these are images that everyone should see.” – John Mooney

I don’t think there was better place in the world to do what I do. I think there is more of the world that should be documented in this manner and I will certainly continue this quest to share the history of these forgotten places through digital imagery.

John is one of many who are also on this same quest in recent years. The art of urban photography is gaining huge popularity thank to the internet. Hundreds of talented photographers with ten of thousands of fans post amazing pictures every week. As this digital imagery archive grows so does the level of skill in presenting these awesome images to the public. Some have found specific niches like underground tunnels or forgotten toys. Others choose to stick to shuttered asylums and forgotten homes. There seems to be to be no end to the undiscovered locations that are yielding this amazing art. Now as this art of the abandoned, created out of the echoes of past lives comes into the mainstream, those who are not of the adventure mindset (called armchair explorers) are fanning and supporting these unique perspectives on a stellar level.

Not only have these moving images been captured on high definition still images a small crew has also done the same on digital film with astounding results. Cinematographer Christina Therese and her partner Rusty Tagliareni are working with legendary producer Sunny Lake to bring it all to life in a TV series as fall.  The new series is in final development the now and the networked group will be allowing the public an inside look at their work with exhibitions planned in key cities on the east coast.  No matter what happens as the genre grows this new generation of artists in right on track for a huge success in the art  and television world.

A-E / Crush Media Solutions.
Randy Coltuer
Images by permission John Mooney

http://crushmediastudios.com/insights/photographers-discover-the-hidden-art-of-abandoned-urban-decay/

Andrew Moore

http://www.andrewlmoore.com/photography/detroit/

Brandon P. Davis

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2470148/Ohio-photographer-Brandon-P-Daviss-ghostly-pictures-urban-decay.html

10 Abandoned Buildings & Places Infiltrated by Urban Explorers

Urban exploration, also known as urbex, building infiltration and urban spelunking, is a movement that flies under the radar in a bid to investigate and photograph abandoned buildings and places, which often comprise the modern ruins of our recent industrial, military and civic past.  You can get to grips with the basic ideas in our brief introduction to urban exploration, while this article delves into ten of the most atmospheric, coveted, eerie and visually stunning types of abandoned place that urban explorers regularly infiltrate.

Hospitals, Asylums and Sanatoriums

(Images: howzey, cc-nc-nd-3.0)

Abandoned hospitals, asylums and sanatoriums are some of the most popular haunts of urban explorers due to their large scale, endless corridors and plethora of buildings.  But there’s a more sinister force that draws the daring from the relative safety of the world outside.  Officially places of treatment, asylums and sanatoriums in particular were characterised more by hopelessness and despair, with an eerie atmosphere that lingers long after the last patients left.  Above is theNorth Wales Hospital (Denbigh Asylum), complete with mortuary and autopsy table, which opened in 1848 and has been abandoned since 1995.

Amusement Parks

(Images: shibakouen hamutaro, reproduced with permission)

Abandoned amusement parks probably won’t enchant your kids, but they’re certain to thrill the average explorer out for some good old urban spelunking.  Whether or not you count urbex among your interests, there’s no denying that these twisted steel graveyards are mysterious places, where the silence is an eerie contrast to the sounds of fun and enjoyment that once echoed there.  The photographer told Urban Ghosts that this abandoned amusement park is in the Fukushima Prefecture of Japan, the area worst hit by the recent earthquake and nuclear disaster.

Factories and Power Stations

(Images: Ian Mansfield, cc-sa-3.0; Nachoman-au, cc-sa-3.0; Nate Robert, cc-3.0; Stefan Ray,cc-nc-sa-3.0)

Few buildings represent the transition from the manufacturing to information age as effectively as factories.  With their hulking forms blighting the urban landscape, many factories are now little more than relics in the post-industrial world.  Similarly, the shift to renewable and alternative energy sources has rendered many older power stations obsolete, ripe for urban exploration as well as industrial archeology.  But thanks to creative conversion and reuse, not all abandoned factories and power stations are eyesores.  

Subways and Sewers

(Images: cincinnati-transit.net; Paul Lowry, cc-3.0; Ben Geach, cc-nc-sa-3.0; X-Ben, cc-nc-sa-3.0)

The dark world beneath our city streets is a place that many will never get to see. But for the discerning urban explorer who has turned their attention inwards – or downwards – the subterranean landscape is a maze of winding underground tunnels, abandoned subway stations and beautifully engineered Victorian sewers.  The Cincinnati Subway (top) was never even finished, a potentially invaluable civic resource that’s been abandoned for more than 80 years.  Some, like New York’s City Hall station and Brighton Sewer, offer tours, while the Kingsway Tram Subway was recently the focus of an urban art exhibition.  

Schools

(Images: Andy McMurray, cc-sa-3.0; JJ Harrison, cc-sa-3.0; England, cc-nc-sa-3.0; howzey, cc-nc-nd-3.0)

School’s out!  At least it is with the above examples, including an abandoned boarding school for girls in England photographed by howzey.  Like many of the other abandoned places featured in this article, schools were full of life while educating hundreds and thousands of students  over the years, which makes them all the more mysterious when they fall silent.  Dusty books, empty lockers and desks carved with the initials of their former occupants are all of historical interest to urban explorers.  

Workhouses/Poorhouses

(Images: Justin Masterson, cc-nc-3.0)

The industrial boom of the Victorian era drove many rural folk to towns and cities where the streets were said to be “paved with gold”.  As city populations bulged to unsustainable proportions, many were forced to live in squalor.  Disease was everywhere and the poorest existed on a level of poverty in stark contrast to the economic success of the era.  Enter theworkhouse, or poorhouse as it’s referred to in America.  In Victorian Britain, poverty was attributed to a lack of effort and workhouses offered the impoverished a roof over their heads but also put them to work, sometimes subjecting them to physical punishment.  With such despair and hopelessness, it’s no wonder abandoned workhouses maintain an eerie atmosphere that draws urbexers.

Missile Silos

(Images: Charlie Phillips, cc-3.0; Eric Jusino, cc-3.0)

Urban explorers love abandoned missile silos, and strangely there are quite a few of them around.  Most have been decommissioned, some even converted into subterranean living spaces.  Once fiercely guarded and strictly off limits to the general public, their very presence was often unknown, which makes them fascinating historical venues to engage in some urban spelunking.  Found in abundance across western United States and the former Soviet Union,above is a Titan nuclear missile silo in Colorado.  Places like this are extremely hazardous and shouldn’t be entered without permission.

Theatres and Cinemas

(Images: Matthew High, cc-nc-3.0; KB35, cc-3.0; howzey, cc-nc-nd-3.0; Matt Lambros, all rights reserved)

Other fascinating urban exploration sites include abandoned cinemas and theatres.  They are evocative modern ruins that, when photographed, offer an important snapshot of our economic and social history, when home televisions weren’t yet common and a trip to the cinema or theatreoffered some relief from the often tough early 20th century conditions.  When TV and modern multiplexes rendered older cinemas redundant, even traditional American drive-ins,  such places took on an entirely different atmosphere in abandonment.

Military Bases

(Images: Gavin Clarke, cc-nc-sa-2.0; Andreas Mathiasson; Justin Masterson, cc-nc-3.0; Adam Lederer, cc-nc-sa-3.0)

Like missile silos, abandoned military bases are popular urbex venues in part due to the fact that they were off limits for so long.  To the aviation enthusiast, the only compensation for the closure of one’s beloved local airbase is the opportunity to go in and take a look around after so many years sitting on the other side of the fence.  But abandoned military bases often tell a more sinister hsitorical story, and an overgrown guard tower and vandalised statue of Lenin are ominous signs at the front gate.  Occasionally, forgotten aircraft remain parked in remote corners of some military sites.

Churches and Chapels

(Images: Christopher Titzer, cc-nc-nd-3.0; mym, cc-sa-3.0; Evelyn Simak, cc-sa-3.0; Alison Killilea, cc-nc-nd-3.0

The words “faith no more” spring to mind at the sad sight of an abandoned church.  Once joyful places of worship, the sermons have ended and the echoes of the organ have long since evaporated.  Reflecting increasingly secular modern societies, abandoned chapels and churches stand as little more than empty shells, often vandalised or even arsoned.  But to urban explorers, abandoned buildings like these are historically significant and in some cases magnificent.  It’s not all bad news though, as some previously derelict churches have been creatively converted for modern use.

- See more at: http://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/2011/03/spelunking-10-abandoned-buildings-places-urban-explorers-love-infiltrate/#sthash.LiE1mrF6.dpuf