This weekend was the Preston meet arranged by Bigjobs. Myself, Bigjobs, Scrappy, Katia, Idle Hands, Albino-jay, Paul2129 and two non members met up at a local cafe before we set off for our first location.
First on our agenda was a place close to my heart, it being one of my first explores back in 2009. St Joseph's Orphanage.
According to the Preston Guardian dated 21 September 1872,
Whilst it was fundamentally an orphanage, there some evidence that during the early 1950's, it was also used as a boarding school and parents could pay for their children to stay there.
St Joseph's Hospital
On a famous note, George Formby,a British comedy actor, singer-songwriter and comedian, born in 1904, died in St Joseph's hospital in 1961.
George, whilst visiting the parents of his fiancee in Penwortham had a heart attack and was rushed to Saint Joseph’s Hospital, on Mount Street. Although over the next 10 days Formby showed a few signs of recovery, while discussing marriage plans he relapsed and died on March 6, 1961. He was only 56. Formby was, at one time the UK’s number one film star and one of the highest paid actors.
The Hospital closed in the late 1986 and was bought by Mr Dave Gornall who converted it to and Old Peoples Nursing home before its final closure in 2003.
The property has been empty ever since, originally listed with the estate agents at 4.5 million pounds, the buildings are Grade II listed and form part of the Winckley Square
Conservation Area. The site has planning and listed building consent in place for the conversion of the existing buildings into 81 dwellings in a mix of apartments and town
houses. This includes the demolition of the 1930’s hospital block and its replacement with a new build element fronting onto Mount Street.
Anyway here's a few pics from the trip:
The chapel
Lower level windows have been sealed with concrete blocks.
you can however still get to the wards in the Nursing home, although it would appear that the ivy has taken up permanent residence.
We did think this may be the end of the trip however luck would have it we were able to visit the theatres and attic areas.
And the other little bits
Time for one last picture before it was time to go to our next location.
Despite the whole place being in a lot worse state than it was when I first visited, it was still a fun explore and although it took a bit of effort it was definitely worth it. Epic thumbs up
go to Bigjobs for arranging this and also for pulling us all out of that hole! That had to be the easiest exit strategy ever!
First on our agenda was a place close to my heart, it being one of my first explores back in 2009. St Joseph's Orphanage.
According to the Preston Guardian dated 21 September 1872,
Whilst it was fundamentally an orphanage, there some evidence that during the early 1950's, it was also used as a boarding school and parents could pay for their children to stay there.
St Joseph's Hospital
On a famous note, George Formby,a British comedy actor, singer-songwriter and comedian, born in 1904, died in St Joseph's hospital in 1961.
George, whilst visiting the parents of his fiancee in Penwortham had a heart attack and was rushed to Saint Joseph’s Hospital, on Mount Street. Although over the next 10 days Formby showed a few signs of recovery, while discussing marriage plans he relapsed and died on March 6, 1961. He was only 56. Formby was, at one time the UK’s number one film star and one of the highest paid actors.
The Hospital closed in the late 1986 and was bought by Mr Dave Gornall who converted it to and Old Peoples Nursing home before its final closure in 2003.
The property has been empty ever since, originally listed with the estate agents at 4.5 million pounds, the buildings are Grade II listed and form part of the Winckley Square
Conservation Area. The site has planning and listed building consent in place for the conversion of the existing buildings into 81 dwellings in a mix of apartments and town
houses. This includes the demolition of the 1930’s hospital block and its replacement with a new build element fronting onto Mount Street.
Anyway here's a few pics from the trip:
The chapel
Lower level windows have been sealed with concrete blocks.
you can however still get to the wards in the Nursing home, although it would appear that the ivy has taken up permanent residence.
We did think this may be the end of the trip however luck would have it we were able to visit the theatres and attic areas.
And the other little bits
Time for one last picture before it was time to go to our next location.
Despite the whole place being in a lot worse state than it was when I first visited, it was still a fun explore and although it took a bit of effort it was definitely worth it. Epic thumbs up
go to Bigjobs for arranging this and also for pulling us all out of that hole! That had to be the easiest exit strategy ever!
won't make that mistake again. Loving your shots 
