#43: Photograph a derelict or abandoned building

Why it’s on the list: I keep an online diary now and then and I saw some pictures ages ago that someone had taken in an abandoned warehouse. They were fab, and I’d love to do something similar myself.

How/when I’ll judge this task to be completed: When I have located a suitable building,  taken some photos and added them to my Flickr account.

First attempt:

When we were on holiday in Wales in the summer, my boyfriend Steve mentioned that he went to Tenby when he was a kid and visited a zoon on an island. We didn’t actually make it to Tenby – too many tourists, nowhere to park – but the idea of a zoo island intrigued me. The only island we could spot on the map was Caldey Island and we were pretty sure it wasn’t there, but we couldn’t work out where it might have been. To be honest I thought he had maybe dreamed it up! When we got back I Googled it and lo and behold, yes there was an island on the beach at Tenby, St Catherines – it was originally a fort and during the 70s it did have a zoo on it! Intrepid photographers have even been to the site and photographed the inside of the building, and you can find out all about it here.

Anyway, we went to Pembrokeshire for a few days over Xmas and spent a day in Tenby, which is rather lovely when it’s not full of holidaymakers! We spotted the zoo island and waited for the tide to go out to attempt our explorations ….. but actually, given that we are two fat unathletic people, we wussed out and decided against either shimmying over the fences or climbing the rock face. So Zoo Island will remain undiscovered by me, and the challenge continues; I just hope I can find somewhere a bit easier to tackle! We did climb up the dozen or so seaweed-covered, weather worn steps to the first gate though!

Our first view of Zoo Island
The steps, only accessible at low tide

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