St Joesphs Chapel

Another location from a recent road trip, this is St. Joesphs Chapel, part of Gartland House.

Known originally as Garpel House then Barr House before becoming Garthland House, the regal residence was acquired by the Macdowall family who came initially from Garthland in Wigtownshire and were descended from the Lords of Galloway. During the mid-1930s, Henry Macdowall sold it to the Mill Hill Foreign Missionary Society that was founded. Garthland House was renamed St Jospeh's College by the Society and, during its heyday, around 30 young men were students there.
A three-storey dormitory block was added in 1936 followed by a beautiful brick-red chapel in 1943. Both the sleeping quarters and the chapel can still be seen today although, like the house, they have fallen into disrepair and are but fragments of their former selves.
Despite its ruinous state, the chapel exudes a powerful aura, which conjures up visions of former days when it was used as a place of prayer and meditation for the trainee priests as well as by the people of Lochwinnoch who worshipped there until the construction of Our Lady of Fatima Church in the village in 1955.
Its most outstanding features were stained-glass windows, pink and black altar pieces, wooden pews and mosaic wall panels, exterior wall of the chapel. Portraying the majestic figure of St Joseph, the serene sculpture confronts visitors when they travel down the tree-lined avenue to the former college from the Largs Road.


Gartland Chapel, in the corner you can see the orphanage, its severely damaged and treacherous inside!



The Chapel itself is glorious!


There are several mini altars set off from the main chapel itself







The old organ lays in the middle of the floor.


The main altar


Stain-glass window


Main chapel cross


The main altar has small crosses engraved into the marble


Looking back to the entrance


We waited until darkness came to get some pretty nice shots of the altar



Tweety is a alcoholic!

Blairs Theatre

Been trying for almost 7 months to see this little Theatre in Aberdeenshire, on probably the 10th visit here, the door was open.  The Theatre is part of Blairs College / Seminary and has sat unused since the late 80's and surprisingly there is quite a lot of items left inside.

Luckily the theatre has been fairly well sealed, protecting it from the elements, however on this visit it was mighty cold inside!  From the outside the building does not look very promising, but the treasure lies within!  For being such a small theatre there is a real sense of drama inside.  The architecture inside is not of a grandeur style, a simplistic style with the red cloth seats and domed ceiling give it a excellent setting to explore!

It was re-modelled in 1827 by John Gall, under the supervision of Rev Gordon and John Menzies.  John Menzies was a very wealthy Catholic Laird who gifted the land for the college construction.  The Older Seminary is situated behind the very impressive new college which is partly used as a museum.

Blairs Theatre




Fire exit with a nasty rotten floor!


Theatre stalls




The Stage








Quite a few music accessories left behind.






No Seminary explore is complete without a picutre of the one they call their saviour!


Think the bottom one is pretty good!




Not a proper explore without a piano in the corner.


Loved this domed ceiling!

Hartwood Nurses Home - Oct 2012

In the early hours on a very wet, cold and miserable day myself and 2 friends found our way inside this impressive building.  It was still too dark to actually see with out torches, so effectively had to sit and wait for the beginnings of sunlight too appear.

The Category C listed Hartwood Hospital Nurses Home was designed by Glasgow Architect James Lochhead in 1926. It was designed to blend in with the 1890's Baronial style Hartwood Mental Hospital, located on the not far from this site.  Originally built as Nurses Accommodation for the Hartwood Nursing staff, it was finally opened in 1931.

In 1974, the Scottish Western Region's Hartwood School of Nursing was based here and trained the vast majority of nurses, who then initially practiced in the area.

It was latterly home to the Bell College of Technology School of Nursing and Midwifery. The building was officially vacated in 1996.

After hiding out on the 4th floor, this was our first view as the sun began to come up




A couple of the top floor corridors, they are massively long




Typical bedroom of the nurses


The stairs are some of the most impressive I've seen!




Ground Floor Corridor, this area was pretty much completely trashed, awesome!


I think this is one of the many classrooms


Another awesome set of stairs with the added bonus of dereliction!


I think this was once the Lounge / Sitting Area to the front of the building


The former Library


Main hall complete with mini stage


Couple shots of the front elevation, its was still heaving down with rain so this was the best I could do.


The impressive towers in the background.




The main stairs, epic in my eyes


My final shot before we left.


This building is massive in size, if only the weather was better and wasn't so tired after being up for over 30 hours I would have take more. We did head to the main building complex but a run in with a couple pikey scum then the security guard we were forced to make a retreat.