St. Ann's Hospital Morgue, London

History

In 1898 work began on the western part of the site to replace the wooden huts with permanent brick buildings, at an estimated cost of £126,850. In 1899 a laundry was built for £10,251 and equipped for £4,550.

The new buildings consisted of an administration block (in front of the laundry block), staff quarters, a house for the Steward, a porter's lodge, a receiving and discharge room and a dispensary. Four ward blocks - two for patients with diphtheria and two for those with enteric fever - were built at the southwest part of the site and a mortuary on the southeast part.

By the beginning of the 20th century the Hospital had 548 beds.

During WW1 it became Base Hospital No 1 for the American Expeditionary Force. The unit had been organised in Denver, Colorado, in April 1917 and equipped by the Denver Red Cross Chapter at a cost of US$78,000. It had arrived in England on 17th July 1918 and took over the Hospital on 1st August 1918. The Medical Superintendent was retained by the United States military authorities, but the medical staff were all members of Denver University. The nurses (some 100) were all graduates of Colorado State University. In addition, there were 150 corpsmen from the best families in Denver who acted as orderlies for the wards and kitchens, ambulance drivers and office clerks. The nurses, apart from the ward sisters, were all of one grade and wore grey linen dresses with wide turnover collars and white aprons without a waistband. 

The Hospital was decommissioned in March 1919. During the period of its occupancy, some 3,976 patients were treated - 2,351 surgically and 1,625 medically.

In 1930, following the abolition of MAB, the LCC took over control of the Hospital and replaced the remaining wooden huts with brick buildings.

In 1948 the Hospital joined the NHS under the administration of the Tottenham Hospital Management Committee, part of the North East Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board.

In 1951 it was renamed St Ann's General Hospital. It had 756 beds and became a general hospital, also treating patients with chest disorders and infectious diseases.

In 1984 the Hospital had 320 beds for acute, infectious disease and chest patients.

The Hospital is still operational and many of the 1901 buildings survive. However, the site is poorly utilised; some 20% of buildings are empty and some only in partial use. Built as a fever hospital, the buildings are spread out, with patients having to navigate over a wide area.

With an annual site maintenance cost of about £7.5m, the future of the Hospital is currently under discussion.

Source:

https://www.28dayslater.co.uk/threads/st-anns-hospital-morgue-tottenham-london-july-2015.98014/

Esoteric Eric

Motte-Cordonnier Brewery, Armentieres, France

History

A former brewery built in the 1920's currently being redeveloped for housing.

Esoteric Eric

Pump House, France

History

A derelict pump house/ hydro-electric plant utilising water from a canal in the Conde-sur-Marne commune.

Esoteric Eric

 

Chateau Marianne, France

War Planes, France

History

Lockheed Neptune SP-2H

These American-built turboprop aircraft were in service between 1945 and 1984, and were designed as a maritime patrol and anti-submarine (ASW) aircraft. They were used extensively during the Cold War, where they were paired with destroyer warships in “Hunter-Killer” teams to track and annihilate Soviet submarines. The belly-mounted radar enabled detection of submarines as they surfaced, even across large distances. They were also fitted with Magnetic Anomaly Detectors, which could also aid in submarine detection. Sonar buoys could be launched from the rear of the plane, to tag the last-know location of a submarine so the destroyer warships could zero in on the target.

At the end of World War II some aircraft were retrofitted with jet-assisted takeoff (JATO) rocket boosters to enable deployment from aircraft carriers. They were fitted with compact “Little Boy” nuclear bombs, to increase the US Navy nuclear strike capability at this critical time. The aircraft could not land on aircraft carriers so would have to find a friendly airbase, or ditch in the sea next to the Navy fleet.

Source:

https://www.obsidianurbexphotography.com/military/war-planes/

Esoteric Eric

Le Manoir Scavenger, France

Stora Enso, Corbehem, France

History

The origins of the industrial site in Corbeham in northern France date back to 1920 when the Béghin family founded a candy factory. The factory developed and diversified its product range when various market opportunities became available. One of these markets, paper making, proved to be the most successful and the sites paper mill expanded rapidly, employing around 2,000 people in the 1960s.

The mill saw heavy investment and was expanded in the late 1980s when the Paper Machine no. 5 was built, along with numerous new buildings for processing wood pulp, water treatment and other associated processes.

In 1992 the site was sold to Stora Enso, who ceased all other production at the site to concentrate solely on the production of paper, retaining three paper making machines. Two of the three paper machines were taken out of service in 2006, and laid off 398 of the 751 employees.

In 2003 the site’s ageing power plants were decommissioned and replaced with a new gas-fired steam production facility. From that point all electricity used was imported from the National Grid, while control of the substation was retained by the power plant.

By 2012 the mill was struggling to secure the contracts necessary to sustain production. The PM5 paper machine was only being used to produce a little over 250,000 tons of paper, vastly under its 330,000 ton capacity, and operated at a loss if production was below 285,000 tons. The mill finally closed in 2015 after owners tried to sell the mill but failed to secure a buyer.

Much of the site has now been demolished.

Source:

https://www.bcd-urbex.com/stora-enso-corbehem/

Esoteric Eric