This was the 5th and final site of my mini-roadtrip and it turned a brilliant day into something absolutely extraordinary. This set is a combination of that visit and a visit I made on Sunday in the pouring rain.
We pulled up in the pub opposite and gathered our stuff to head in to what we thought was simply a big barn with some old cars in it. Going down the path it became apparent that everything was extremely overgrown and somewhere in the trees was also a house. But more on that later - we entered the barns and started taking photos of the cars, I was in my element as I love cars of this era so rattled off quite a few photos.
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And then we stepped into the house...and an amazing timewarp. One man's whole life is in this house, from his childhood in the late 40s-early 50s, through his marriage and ultimately his death a few years ago. Seemingly nothing got chucked out - while the downstairs was a bit of a sty, dark and stunk of tobacco smoke the upstairs was fairly ordered - one bedroom contained all his childhood toys, annuals, books, stamps, everything - and the other contained his more 'adult' stuff - suitcases, care products, shavers, and some choice films!
This place is truly amazing and sadly now that some numpty posted it across numerous other forums without my permission, doubtless soon the house will be stripped of it's personal contents by thieves, and light-fingered 'explorers' who call themselves urbexers but are really just thieves in disguise.
It is the most fascinating, poignant and in some ways saddest place I have ever had the opportunity to explore, and all from a little two up-two down cottage on an overgrown farm you wouldn't normally give a second glance at. However depressing the inevitable outcome is, I feel happy to have got a pretty comprehensive photographic record of one man's life and feel content with the knowledge that he won't be forgotten.
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So there it is...there are more pics in the Flickr sets.
Next time you drive past a small boarded up house and brush it off as 'nothing special' remember this.
