Leeds Girls High School aka St Matthew's Hospital

Urbex: Leeds Girls High School aka St Matthew’s Hospital, Leeds – January 2015

Founded in 1876 The now abandoned Leeds Girls High School is situated in Headingley Leeds and was originally built to cater for girls aged between 3-18 years old. Established at a time when female education was on the rise, the school was an independent, selective fee-based school aiming to offer a similar all-round education of the boys tradition, academic grammar schools. Split into three sections based upon age groups this report features the Senior School which housed the 11 to 18 year old pupils. In 2004 only four years before closure of the site, Leeds Girls High School or LGHS was he highest performing school in the Leeds area in terms of GCSE’s and A Levels.

Robert Fletchers & Sons Ltd Paper Mill - Paper rolling machine

Robert Fletchers & Sons Ltd Paper Mill, Greenfield, Oldham – January 2015 (Part 2 of 2)

As you progress through the factory you can see the process lin taking shape from the wood pulp coming in through the processing stages, bleaching and pressing and then eventually making it was to the more modern looking machinery for precision rolling, cutting and packaging before the huge roles of cigarette papers would leave the warehouse

Robert Fletchers & Sons Ltd Paper Mill - Pipes!

Robert Fletchers & Sons Ltd Paper Mill, Greenfield, Oldham – January 2015 (Part 1 of 2)

Robert Fletchers & Sons Ltd was a paper mill which specialised in the production of cigarette papers which were exported worldwide. The old factory and most of the contents now lay abandoned most of the equipment looks as if the workers just vanished with huge rolls of cigarette papers still hanging on rolls in the production process machines!

Ford Transit Van Factory

Urbex: Ford Transit Van Factory, Southampton – January 2015

The now abandoned Ford Transit Van Factory near Southampton has some real history to it. The Factory was initially built as a shadow factory in 1939 near to Southampton Airport and was originally used to produce aircraft parts. In particular the factory, during World War II made components for the Supermarine Spitfire and later was used to assemble the aircraft. As a result it was bombed on several occasions by the Nazi Luftwaffe…

A German Psychiatric Hospital - Wheelchair

Urbex: A German Psychiatric Hospital aka Psychiatrie V, Germany – November 2014

Very little information about this place. After more than a couple of fails and bails Bram thankfully saved our asses and pulled through with this location. A building within a large complex of other buildings some of which were live forming a big psychiatric hospital. The Building we explored was quite a modern addition to the site and this was both clear internally and externally…

Stairporn Courthouse

Urbex: Stairporn Courthouse aka The Maze of Stairs, Germany – November 2014

The place is a bit of a concrete maze inside but fortunately it didn’t take too much figuring out before we managed to locate the main attraction, the dominating staircases just inside the main entrance.. The building is clearly being worked on by contractors and having arrived at the spot pretty early before daylight, we had assumed we might struggle for lighting…

Villa Woodstock - The wooden clad dining room

Urbex: Health Resort aka Villa Woodstock, Germany – November 2014

This abandoned grand neo-renaissance styled Mansion was originally a residential dwelling but from the mid 1980’s became a care facility and later a retirement home for the elderly and was linked to the nearby church organisations. Villa Woodstock as this place is most commonly known, was apparently set for demolition before a private investor stepped in to repurpose the old building…

Moseley Road Baths - The abandoned Gala Pool

Permission: Moseley Road Baths, Birmingham – November 2014

Moseley Road Baths, located in Birmingham, opened in 1907 and still operates to this day. Very little has been done to alter the layout of the building which means that almost all the original features remain including the private wash baths or ‘slipper’ baths which date to the pre-war era. The building now benefits from Grade II* listed status and is one of only 3 remaining operational baths of its kind in the UK…

Selly Oak Hospital Morgue

Urbex: Selly Oak Hospital Morgue – November 2014

The first building on the site of Selly Oak Hospital was the old King’s Norton Union Workhouse which was built in around 1872 to consolidate existing services for 5 separate parishes. Originally the Hospital was built to accommodate 200 pauper inmates. In 1897 a separate infirmary opened at the site at a cost of £52,000 and was designed by Mr. Daniel Arkell. This infirmary was made to accommodate a further 250 patients and had basic facilities to cater for maternity care but there were no operating theatres or a mortuary at this point…