Haunting the halls

Just in time for Halloween comes an article from ALIA on the five most haunted libraries
Number one is the Marsh's Library in Dublin, Ireland, it was founded in 1701 by Archbishop Narcissus Marsh. Marsh's Library was actually the first Public Library in Ireland.

Many have reported seeing the creator of the Library, Marsh himself roaming around the library. He is known to like moving the books around and then the next day it's all back in order. He has somewhat of a sense of humour it seems. Some also say that he is searching for a letter and that is why he still roams but he could also be a nosy ghost and making sure his library is in good condition.

The entrance to Marsh's Library

The Templo de la Compania de Jesus, Morelia

Second is the Morelia Public Library in Michoacan, Mexico is known for it's history, beauty, and ghosts! The library dates back from the 17th century when it was built as a church for the adjoining Palacio Clavijero, and known as the Temple of the Company of Jesus. In 1930 after being used for many functions it was made into a library.

According to reports a nun dressed in blue that dates back from the 16th century has been haunting the library for many years. Also even members of the library have said that they get a paralysed feeling and they felt like a strange unknown presence was around them.

At number 3 is Rammerscales House is located in Dumfries in Scotland. It's a 18th century Georgian house that has an impressive library with Jacobite relics, books, and 20th century paintings, sculptures, and tapestries.But this 18th century home didn't lose it's former owner, James Mounsey who likes to spend his time in the library. He must be a frightening ghost because legend has it that two people in World War II were spending a night in Rammerscales and were so frightened by the ghost of Mounsey that they decided to sleep in the stables.

Rammerscales

Fourth is our own State Library of Victoria in Melbourne. The library established in 1854, holds over 2 million books, it has historical diaries, the armor of Ned Kelly, and impressive history but it has it's ghosts too! One ghost in particular is a deceased librarian who likes to hang out in the child's books. Maybe she remembers reading to the child. Another ghost is an unknown gentleman who likes to roam the library halls. Security guards have seen strange things on the stairs like glowing balls.

The State Library at night - spookier

And finally at 5 is The British Library the national library of the United Kingdom and it has wide range of things for any researcher out there. It indeed seems to a very impressive place and a must-see place for any librarian fanatic before they depart. Speaking of departing some don't ever want to depart of the place but do we really blame them? According to the Sunday Times, in an 1996 article they reported of workmen who were remodeling the library said that they saw a man in 18th century clothing weeping. Not sure why the ghostly man was weeping but maybe he didn't much care for the changes. All joking aside it is a known fact that ghosts don't like change and that's when a lot of activity starts happening when someone is remodeling a home or a public building.

The modern facade of the British Library

Abandoned beauty

The link to The 23 most beautiful abandoned places in the world was forwarded to me the other day with the comment that I'd probaby seen them all.
Well the answer was only some. There are a number of variations of the list, including the longer 33 most beautiful abandoned places in the world (interestingly they rank them differently). I'll comment on that one as I'm a sucker for abandonments (I notice even Neil Gaiman Tumblr'ed the list).

Number one on the list is - 'The Christ of the Abyss' at San Fruttuoso in Italy, a 2.5m submerged bronze statue in the Mediterranean Sea off San Fruttuoso.

Christ of the Abyss - an awesome underwater statute

Second was one I'd blogged the town of 'Kolmanskop' in the Namib Desert.

Third was the abandoned 'Dome home' in southwest Florida. It was built in 1981 at Cape Romano on a remote strip of land only accessible by boat. The home is the subject of a long standing redevelopment dispute.

at Cape Romano

My pic of the Ayrfield

Fourth - the one place I've actually visited for real (twice) the wreck of the 'SS Ayrfield in Homebush Bay' in Sydney.


Number 5 is an abandoned Wonderland amusement park outside Beijing in China, and like Number 33. the other theme park - 'Nara Dreamland' in Japan.

The Wonderland Amusement Park

Sixth is a beautiful little 'Fishing hut' on a lake in Germany. It strongly reminds me of the shingle boatshed on Crater Lake in Tasmania.
 

A tranquil fishing spot

Next at 7 is the last house on 'Holland Island' in Chesapeake Bay, as it was in 2010, later winter storms took their toll and the house was destroyed in 2011. Holland Island was once 3-5 miles long with 60 houses, but as the land sank, water levels rose and erosion set in, the houses collapsed and vanished.

The 2 storey 19th century house on Holland Island

The eighth one is on 'The Kerry Way' a walking path between Sneem and Kenmare in Ireland, a walk I'd love to undertake.

The emerald green of The Kerry Way

Number 9 was the devastated 'Pripyat' in the Ukraine, again I had a blog post with one of Niki Feijen's images 

At 10th place is the 15th century St.George's Abbey, it was a Benedictine monastery in St. Georgen im Schwarzwald in the southern Black Forest in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

The facade of St George's

Number 11 was 'Kalavantin Durg' near Panvel in India. Fort Muranjan or Prabalgad or Kalavantin Durg is a fort located at an elevation of 2300 feet in the Sahyadri mountains. There are rock cut steps which lead trekkers to the top of the fort.

The pinnacle fort, and the steps leading to the top

 At  number 12 are the remains of the 'Pegasus' at McMurdo Sound in Antarctica. The 'Pegasus' C121J Constellation damaged beyond repair landing at Williams Field, McMurdo Sound, Antarctica in 1970. The aircraft, with 80 on board, was flying from Christchurch. After making 6 low passes it attempted to land in zero visibility, winds gusting to 40 mph in a snowstorm and in 90-degree crosswinds. The starboard wing was torn off and the tail unit broken. There were only slight injuries to 5 on board. The ice runway is now called Pegasus. It is also another of my pins.

The half buried Pegasus

Unfortunately at 13 is the now famous 'Angkor Wat' in Cambodia, the largest religious monument in the world. The temple was built by the Khmer King in the early 12th century. Sacked in 1431 and abandoned in 1432, Angkor was forgotten for centuries. Rediscovered by French explorers in 1860, a restoration process has continued to the present day.

Number 14, are the 'Maunsell Sea Forts'. Designed by Guy Maunsell they were small fortified towers built during WWII to defend allied shipping around the Thames and Mersey estuaries. They were decommissioned in the late 1950s. Red Sands was used as a pirate radio station in the 60s.

Red Sands fort in the Thames estuary, off the north coast of Kent

The fifteenth is Bodiam Castle in East Sussex. Bodiam is a 14th-century moated castle near Robertsbridge in England. It was built in 1385 by Sir Dalyngrigge, a former knight of Edward III, to defend against French invasion during the Hundred Years War. Possession passed through several generations of Dalyngrigges, until their line became extinct. At the English Civil War it was in Royalist hands, and was subsequently dismantled, and left as a ruin until 1829, when it was restored. It has been owned by the National Trust since 1925.

The medieval Bodiam Castle

Coming in at 16, is 'Częstochowa' Poland’s abandoned train depot.

On the Net, most people are just copying the above image & commenting on its touched-up/surreal looking features. Częstochowa is a working station, with carriages moth-balled on this siding, see below

from Google's street view

I recently pinned number 17 - the sunken 76-foot Brazilian yacht the 'Mar Sem Fin' (Endless Sea) which sank off the coast of Antarctica, likely due to ice compression in 2012.

 The seventeenth is an abandoned and derelict rum distillery in Barbados.

Nineteen has to be my all-time favourite abandonment - 'Michigan Central Station' in Detroit. See my post and photos.

20 was unexpected - the 'Bobsleigh Track' of the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo. It survived the war, but not the elements.

The twenty-first entry is 'Craco' in Italy. The medieval town was built on a defensive position on a hillside in the Basilicata region. The danger posed by earthquakes and landslides caused Old Craco to be abandoned in the 1960s.

 At 22 is a 'Russian military rocket factory' it made space launch vehicles and missile launchers. The Reshetnev Company still construct spacecraft and satellite systems.

The 23rd is an amazing, beautiful abandonment - The 'Abandoned Mill' from 1866 in Sorrento, Campania, Italy. A mill has existed in the Valley of the Mills since the beginning of the '900's used for grinding wheat. Attached to the mill, a sawmill furnished chaff to the Sorrentine cabinet makers, and a public wash-house used by the women. The creation of Tasso Square, since 1866, determined the isolation of the mill area from the sea, provoking a sharp rise in the humidity, which made the area unbearable and determined its progressive abandonment. 

Now that is a gorge!

 

Number 24. was the cooling tower of an abandoned power plant, there was no location given (guessing Belgium), but no I have never accessed a power plant (have only seen them in the distance). 


Looking somewhat similar at number 25 is the 'House of the Bulgarian Communist Party'. Only opened in 1981, the oval structure atop Mount Buzludzha has been left in a state of neglect since the fall of communism in 1989. Thieves have stolen the ceiling paneling, and graffitied the walls.

 

Yes, that is snow on the floor

 

  

Coming in at 26 is a photograph I've seen a few times, it's the abandoned city of 'Keelung' near the Zhongzeng district in Taiwan. 
It's a familiar story - these apartment buildings were constructed a a period of increasing demand for housing, but the company went bankrupt during construction in 1997. 
Nature was the winner, until in 2012 they were demolished for a planned series of luxury villas.

The 'Lawndale Theatre' in Chicago is number 27. It opened in 1927, when the over 2,000 seat theatre had an orchestra pit, vaudeville stage, pipe organ, and an adjoining apartment building. It closed in 1961, but the building with a cathedral style exterior reopened in 1964 as a church. It is now an ignominious storage space.

Now a less than grand function - the Lawndale Theatre

Number 28, the 'North Brother Island' is another of those abandoned places smack in the middle of a population. Saved by its island location in New York's East River, North Brother once housed a quarantine hospital (1885-1942), its most famous inmate - Typhoid Mary. It has been abandoned since the early 1960s, with nature reclaiming the crumbling structures. A short Vimeo video was shot on the island, or check out Twisted Sifter's blog post photos.

The still impressive Riverside Hospital on North Brother

Number 29 is an abandoned 'Blade Mill' in France. The water mills were used for sharpening newly fabricated blades (knives, scythes, sickles...), it is in the Valley of the Spinners near Thiers (known for its cutlery), Puy-de-Dome, in the Auvergne region of south-central France.

At 30 is the 'El Hotel del Salto' the atmospheric hotel building is located near Tequendama Falls, Bogotá River, Colombia. It was opened in 1924 and closed down in the 1990′s. Some say that the hotel was haunted (either by the ghosts of those pushed off the balcony during bar-room fights or by suicide victims who jump off the Tequendama Falls) and no one wanted to stay there. Others say that the river was very polluted, and this was the reason to shut down the hotel. It is on a cliff overlooking the magnificent 515' waterfall. 

A tree grows from the chimney in Luque

The thirty-first position is held by 'Asuncion, Paraguay' or at least the solitary chimney of an abandoned factory in Luque on the outskirts of Asuncion.

Number 32 is 'The Tunnel of Love' in the Ukraine. The still operational railway line is near the village of Klevan north-west of the city of Rivne in the Ukraine. The 2-3 mile long track was built for a steel mill/fibre-board factory, and as the trees encroached on the line the locomotives effectively trimmed the foliage to their outline. It is said that crossing the line while holding hands will make your wishes come true - if you are sincere in your love.

Like a repeating pattern - the Tunnel of Love

 And finally at 33 as mentioned at the other amusement park (number 5) is Nara Dreamland in Japan
The one that made the 23 list, but not the 33 was 'Hafodunos Hall' in Llangernyw, North Wales. This photograph is what I had chosen as the main image on my Abandoned Pinterest Board.

Hafodunos after the devastating fire

 The grand Gothic revival Hafodunos Hall was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott and built in 1861-66 for Sir Henry Robertson Sandbach, who's family sold it in the 1930s, it was requisitioned in the early 1940s by the Dinorben School for Girls which closed in 1969. An accountancy college were there in the 1970s. It was then converted into a nursing home until 1993 when it failed standards. The house fell into decline, and was purchased in 2001 with plans for a hotel and caravan park. In October 2004 an arsonist fire gutted the main house, again it fell into neglect (as seen in the photo). It was sold again in 2010 to be restored as a single dwelling.

Fire on record

No-one wishes natural disasters to descend upon anyone, but from amidst the Blue Mountains bushfires has come a Flickr Group dedicated to recording the events now and from the past. The Blue Mountains Bushfires is one way for the people in the region to post their photographs and for the rest of us to attempt to grasp the enormity of the situation.

The photostream of the Flickr group

The Group's banner image is of the Chateau Napier in Leura. The photograph was taken soon after the 1957 bushfire which destroyed large areas of the towns of Leura and Wentworth Falls (more than 150 properties were lost on the 3rd December). Although the Chateau ruins have since been demolished, the site remains undeveloped. The remains have a heritage listing and this has presented certain difficulties for potential developers.From a colour slide, dated Jan 5, 1958, the image is now part of the Local Studies collection of the Blue Mountains City Library.
 

Chateau Napier, Leura

Like the local Grampians bushfires in February, photographs play an important role in the description of and remembrance of major episodes and catastrophic events.

Our thoughts are with all those involved.

Island out of time

 

Cockatoo Island - the Alcatraz of Sydney

Cockatoo Island sits in the middle of Sydney Harbour, in sight of the Harbour Bridge, but is a world away from the city.  The island is 500m long, 360m wide, and covers 18 hectares. It consists of two parts – the Lower industrial area - where shipbuilding activities were carried out (two tunnels were driven through the centre of the island to facilitate this work), and the Upper plateau – which was originally the convict prison and later where draftsmen, pattern-makers & management worked and lived.

Storage caves and tunnels

The island has a long and illustrious history dating back to the first settlement of Sydney. In 1839 Governor Sir George Gipps chose the island as the site of a new penal establishment, to alleviate overcrowding on Norfolk Island. Convicts were put to work building prison barracks, a military guardhouse and official residences. 

Remains of the convict barracks on the plateau (500 prisoners in the cells)

It continued as a convict station until the 1850s. The convicts were transferred to the Darlinghurst Gaol on the mainland in 1869. Then in 1870, Cockatoo Island was used for an Industrial School for Girls and a reformatory. The ship, Vernon, was anchored nearby to train wayward and orphaned boys. From 1888 to 1908 it reverted back to a gaol due to prison overcrowding.

Convict Grain Silos - 20 were built 1839-42, only 13 now survive. Approximately 7m wide & 6m deep it had an opening in the ceiling. This one was excavated in the shipbuilding period.

The pontoon in Fitzroy Dock, built 1840-50s, it took convicts 11 years to excavate the dry dock

From 1850 the island has been associated with shipbuilding. The Fitzroy Dock and a workshop were built by convict prisoners to service Royal Navy and other ships. 

The caisson in Fitzroy Dock

The Sutherland Dock was built between 1880 and 1900 as shipbuilding and repair activities expanded. 
The dock is 210m long, 27m wide and 8m deep.

When completed in 1890, the Sutherland Dock was the largest single graving dock in the world and a fine example of late 19th century engineering. The two docks nearly bisect the island.

Crane on Sutherland Dock

The Timber Drying Store, built 1916-17 used for storage & seasoning of timber

WWII Air Raid Shelter, built in 1942 it was surmounted by a crane

In 1913, Cockatoo Island became the Commonwealth Naval Dockyard, and Australia’s first steel warship was constructed on the island. Following the Fall of Singapore in World War 2, it became the major shipbuilding and dockyard facility for the South West Pacific. 

Turbine Shop, built 1944-45 for assembling the massive propulsion engines, it was excavated from the sandstone escarpment

Heavy Machine Shop North, built 1898-1903 & extended in 1910-11

Following the end of the war, additional buildings are constructed for shipbuilding and repair, and the dockyards refitted the T-Class submarines and built the Navy destroyers, HMAS Voyager and HMAS Vampire. From the mid 1960s, the island's work included the servicing and refit of Oberon-Class submarines and the construction of HMAS Success. The dockyard closed in 1992, most of the machinery was sold off (nearly 50 cranes are left), and about 40 buildings and several wharves are demolished.

The office section of the Heavy Machine Shop North

The Sydney Harbour Federation Trust assumed control of the island in 2001 and embarked on major restoration works. After extensive remediation works, it was opened to the public for cultural activities in 2007. It is now the venue for art installations, concerts, sporting events, and for tourists. It is possible stay overnight on the island in the old residences or to camp out. The camping area was the plate yard where steel was cut and bent to space into the hulls.

Campers having jockey races in the luggage trolleys, beside the beam benders