From a rusting Lancashire theme park to mysterious abandoned farmhouses, a captivating new photo book reveals the hypnotic ‘beauty’ of Britain’s abandoned places
- Photographer Simon Sugden gives abandoned places ‘a new lease of life’ in new book ‘Abandoned Britain’
- “The buildings appear desolate, but they are submerged [his] be appealing to the lens,” says the foreword
- We learn that he sometimes worked in buildings so dusty and bug-infested that he had to wear a respirator
advertisement
The intriguing qualities of decay and neglect are brought to light in these haunting photos.
They are by Yorkshire-based photographer Simon Sugden, who has studied derelict buildings across Britain and documented his finds in a new tome published by Amberley Books, entitled Abandoned Britain. While the buildings he conquered were left empty “to often gently decay and rot,” the editor notes, “there remains a ghostly presence of their former lives.”
The fascinating illustrated book offers an ‘evocative’ look at a multitude of forgotten places, from a waterless swimming pool in Merseyside to a rusting theme park in Lancashire, and from a disused but still fully furnished farmhouse in Yorkshire to a crowded ‘airplane graveyard’. with aircraft collected by a former Spitfire pilot.
Tim Sanders of the Royal Photographic Society wrote a foreword to the book, outlining some of the obstacles Simon faced in photographing such remote locations, noting that he sometimes got stuck in “bug-infested, dusty, with Guano polluted places “worked environments” where he had to wear a respirator.
But the effort bore fruit. Sanders adds, “I’m sure many of the buildings appear grim and crumbling at first glance, but under Simon’s lens they transform into striking and atmospheric images. Simon has breathed new life into these buildings in this book, preserving a tangible visual record for present and future generations.’
Scroll down for a sneak peek at 15 images of Simon’s photo adventure…
Simon, who captures the “unique beauty” of abandoned buildings and structures in the UK, spotted this waterless pool at an empty Merseyside spa
In the foreword, Sanders says of Simon’s work, “In short, Simon has breathed new life into these buildings in this book, preserving a tangible visual record for present and future generations.” Above is a disused university lecture hall that the photographer explored
A poignant shot of a bedroom in an empty East Yorkshire farmhouse – mysteriously left in a state that suggests the owners have suddenly left
The only thing Simon reveals about this eerie recording is that it was taken in an abandoned farmhouse in East Yorkshire
The Knightmare roller coaster at Camelot Theme Park in Chorley, Lancashire
Two wrecks of old boats in Fleetwood, a Lancashire seaside town
In this ‘superfluous’ Lancashire church, Simon found windows with broken glass missing and a Bible left with the ‘pages rolled up’.
This shot was taken at an “airplane graveyard” filled with planes “once collected by an old Spitfire pilot.”
An abandoned laboratory found by Simon in Liverpool. He said he “loved the view of the city beyond in the sunlight”
A black and white shot of a ‘redundant’ church in West Yorkshire
This image shows the “Gothic exterior of an abandoned hospital,” reveals Simon, whose work is described in the foreword as partly historical documentation, a record of “buildings undergoing irreversible change, if not total destruction.”
An empty pool with a slide at a disused sports center in Bradford, West Yorkshire
A view over the roof of an abandoned wool mill in West Yorkshire
Another shot of the abandoned wool mill in West Yorkshire. Simon says this photo is one of his favorites – it shows “looms caked between stains of paint from discarded spools”.
An old mangle used to squeeze water out of wet laundry rusts in an abandoned North Yorkshire cottage
Abandoned Britain by Simon Sugden is available from September 15th for £16.19 via amberley-books.com
