Report - Coombe Park Manor, Whitchurch-on-Thames Jan 2018

[mookster]

Well the tourbus had to start somewhere right.

Normally I like to steer clear of these 'descend en masse' locations but sometimes these things just need to be done - and with myself being so local to it I didn't want to miss the boat like I did with Hook End.

So I boarded the tourbus and arrived just after 8am, and already there were about eight others inside (hi if you're reading this). Despite how many people there were, everyone was very conscientious towards others when taking shots, which was nice. Me and Trev spent maybe an hour and a half there which is all you really need, and were gone by 9.45 which was quite fortunate as at some point in the early afternoon a caretaker and a representative of the owner turned up and turfed people out.

The Estate was originally created by James Gardiner who acquired the property in 1865 on his return to England from the East Indies. The development of the property was based upon a large principal residence in the classic style and landscaped parkland laid out by the renowned Humphrey Repton. Charles Howard acquired the estate in 1898 and a stud complex was added to the property to support the Howard family interest of breeding and racing horses. The stud produced many high quality racehorses, in particular Willonyx, who won 5 principal races in the 1911 season. By 1920 the estate comprised 670 acres.

The property was used as a rest and recuperation centre for the United States Air Force during the Second
World War and had by that time been passed to Mrs Lillian Howard upon the death of Charles Howard. Following the war years because of the large capital cost of refurbishment, the main part of the house was demolished leaving the existing house.

The building was repossessed from it's owner in 2016 and has sat vacant since, but is currently on the market for many millions of pounds.

The gun was a plastic fake...don't fall for the clickbait.

Thanks for looking ​

 

[clebby]

Not being funny but why do people flock to these dumps? I can forgive it at places like that Brogyntynflynglynwyn Hall, but this one's not even remotely old fashioned or grand inside.

 

[mookster]

Not being funny but why do people flock to these dumps? I can forgive it at places like that Brogyntynflynglynwyn Hall, but this one's not even remotely old fashioned or grand inside.

Thing is people do like to explore stuff that you might not - just because you think it's a dump doesn't mean others do.

If it was any major distance away I wouldn't have bothered, but it's on my doorstep so why not.

 

[Camera Shy]

Fair play if you like this kind of place, might be a bit photogenic but really don't get the hype myself. If it looked like Berkyn manor or close then i'd say yeah but it's some some big gaff that's up for sale. You personally do all sorts of stuff so nothing to be ashamed of doing a tourbus every now and then. Defo on the youtube divs will love though

 

[clebby]

Thing is people do like to explore stuff that you might not - just because you think it's a dump doesn't mean others do.

If it was any major distance away I wouldn't have bothered, but it's on my doorstep so why not.

Looking back my comment probably sounded more confrontational than I intended. That said, I don't think anyone could describe this place as anything other than a dump, whether they like the place or not. I just wish the 10+ people you saw there would put the same amount of effort into finding new places

 

[Bertie Bollockbrains]

Is it going to be round 2 tomorrow?

 

[mookster]

Fair play if you like this kind of place, might be a bit photogenic but really don't get the hype myself. If it looked like Berkyn manor or close then i'd say yeah but it's some some big gaff that's up for sale. You personally do all sorts of stuff so nothing to be ashamed of doing a tourbus every now and then. Defo on the youtube divs will love though

The clickbait here practically writes itself - FOUND TANK.

It's a goon's wet dream in this place.

 

[Wevsky]

Well you went and got some decent day time pics which is more than can be said of the previous one,now to find the clickbait vids and have some fun

 

[Calamity Jane]

This was posted on fb. People wanted it on here. It was put on here, with name too. Then people moan re tour bus. Yes I agree new places are great when found. But even the new become old once 2/3 people go there. Its about the explore and seeing things for yourself. reports get put up to show others that the poster has got off their bottoms and explored and researched the place.

I dont condemn anyone for wanting to see a new place, there are multiples of reports here of places, and people never used to complain. Now it seems if a new place is posted, we want a name, but moan if a second, third report is put up. Tour bus maybe, but dont we advise newbies to use their brains and search the forum for an explore???

I personally didnt go, thats not because I think its not worth it, its because I do infact want to find new places. But new places dont stay new do they!! As for grand or old. Maybe not old. But grand, I think there are some pretty ornate rooms there, inside swimming pool, external photos show it as pretty grand. I certainly dont live in such a place. So to me, it is pretty grand. Big drive, inside & outside pool. Big winding staircase. Large kitchen. Huge rooms. Worth a pretty penny.

JMO peeps.

So this gets a from me

 

[Speed]

Unfortunately the hobby has such a following of spongers nowerdays anything that goes online for all to see gets the same issue. Theres been some good stuff posted up in public in the last year or so that I've fancied a look at but unless you get there literally the next day chances are the masses will have decended and baited it up. Can't really blame people for going if that's what floats thier boat, you won't have it so easy next weekend, but really its awful for UE and utterly frustrating in general.

 

[Calamity Jane]

Unfortunately the hobby has such a following of spongers nowerdays anything that goes online for all to see gets the same issue. Theres been some good stuff posted up in public in the last year or so that I've fancied a look at but unless you get there literally the next day chances are the masses will have decended and baited it up. Can't really blame people for going if that's what floats thier boat, you won't have it so easy next weekend, but really its awful for UE and utterly frustrating in general.

Now that I agree with @Speed , I do like any explore, but my mission at the mo is to find a few new ones. Ive my eyes on two, maybe 3. But yep very good points there.

 

[mookster]

It's a double edged sword.

People want to see and explore new places, but hate it when the tourbus descends on them (and I include myself in that bracket). But when something new pops up that's a bit of alright and people know that it probably has a limited shelf-life like this one and everyone goes en masse to see it instead of gradually dropping in over the course of a year it's seen as bad by a lot of people (me included). From the outset it was obvious this location was going to be a revolving door the weekend after it was outed, much like Secession was in France and Flass up north - and we all know how screwed up that whole thing got.

I was going to go see this place at the weekend no matter what anyone else's plans were, I'd have much preferred it if it was just me and a buddy in there but we can't always have it how we like it. I've been in the same boat as you @Speed where I've seen a nice thing go up in public and want to see it, but before I get the chance it gets fucked over by the goon squads and tourbus and it's frustrating as hell sometimes but sadly it's the way this hobby is nowadays.

 

[Ojay]

This has and always will be a problem with walk in derps, and now we have all these new breed of facebook explorers and YouTube goons clinging onto coat tails looking for something to do at the weekend I can't see the situation getting any better.

At least places like these serve their purpose by keeping the above fuckwits from the 'better' places out there, leave them to it I say, better for the rest of us in the long run!

 

[Calamity Jane]

This has and always will be a problem with walk in derps, and now we have all these new breed of facebook explorers and YouTube goons clinging onto coat tails looking for something to do at the weekend I can't see the situation getting any better.

At least places like these serve their purpose by keeping the above fuckwits from the 'better' places out there, leave them to it I say, better for the rest of us in the long run!

I do like a good, ( What lies beneath explore ) just working on my lighting with a little help from some very nice regulars here whom I may go down and visit

 

[ScarlettRose]

Great pics. I see a lot of you went the same weekend it seems! It is what happens when a place is found and everyone wants to go see it. I don't see the issue. I know its nice to be the only ones there and it seems a 'tour bus' of people descend on a new place. But I guess if you guys had all gone different times and waited you will be like us and the place would have been demolished, bought and renovated or completely trashed and dangerous by the time you got there. Today we went to see an old school. The last time I saw someone there was last year. Pretty nice explore. Today however it was damp, wet, some bits burnt out and very dangerous in places. It is nice to see the natural decay of a place and it's super interesting to a keen photographer like myself and my partner. Unfortunately we cannot control what others post online like facebook and youtube. I agree it's nice when we have put the work into finding places ourselves but some of us don't have the luxury of driving around for hours/days on end to find somewhere. I personally do all the research for my partner and myself but are struggling to find places. I joined this site to get hints, tips, places to go visit and hopefully even people to join or join us. I explore because I want to see these places for myself and record a bit of history before it is completely destroyed and lost forever. If that means someone tells me where or I see online someone has posted about it and I go then so be it. We are all here for the same reason. We love to explore and record these pieces of history.