Welcome to the Hidden Plymouth Blog

I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you for dropping by to view the blog, & hope it brings enjoyable reading & viewing, as much as we have enjoyed discovering, exploring & documenting the sites we have visited. The blog originally started back in 2008 but somewhat naively, I soon realised that I couldn't keep up with updates simply down to the fact that I would rather be out there in the field getting dirty with the camera not sat in the house on a computer! Coupled with a busy work schedule & changes in personal circumstance, well.... it just wasn't going to happen. Although  I did manage to keep updates via a Facebook group which has steadily grown & as of May 2012 has almost 900 followers which grew fully beyond my expectations.

So, roll forward 3 years since the Hidden Plymouth conception & here it is again, refreshed & with much, much more content to add. 2012 looks set to be a busy year with some changes taking place. Exhibitions forthcoming will be announced in the Summer & we have just confirmed our involvement for an exciting new photography project.....more on that at a later date. Amongst all that, getting wed to the other half of Hidden Plymouth is just around the corner, it's not everyday you meet your future fiance in a tunnel!




The aim is to provide an educational online resource with history & pictorial evidence of the sites before they are lost to modern development or simply the ravages of time. The blog will be an edited version of our findings just to keep you up to date with what's happening, but an in-depth website & book will be forthcoming featuring more pictures, detailed history & ongoing research into the people that built, occupied  & worked in such places. Featured will be railways, Napoleonic fortifications, World War I & II Defences, Cold War bunkers, tunnels, industrial & abandoned buildings, much of which is rapidly disappearing due to modern developments or subject to constant abuse from vandals.  With so many sites having such interesting history over the years, it's astonishing how many seem forgotten about & makes you think whether more should be done about preserving some before it's too late. The people who have the power in Plymouth have been noted as quoting "Plymouth looks forward, not back", which is a great motto for the City but at the cost of losing character by allowing heritage to disappear for good, surely not!


Countless effort & hours of research has gone into acquiring access to sites & we would like to thank all the people who have kindly allowed us permission to visit their land, places of work & homes. Each has helped us to build more of a history to each location along with their own stories & memories from the time they have been in occupancy. Other locations are not as easy though & fraught with danger including confined spaces, poisonous gases, asbestos, sudden drops, unstable buildings & if that wasn't enough there's always the chance of running into hostile people, & even worse, dirty needles discarded by a human generation hooked on the next fix, never a nice site to see. Although we will concentrate on the more "hidden" heritage, we will also feature the well known sites around the City from our own perspective.

With so many sites & limited time & manpower to document & research all of them, we always welcome contributions, be it from a site visit yourself in the past, photos of buildings lost to development or maybe personal memories of a particular location. Please feel free to get in touch with us via info@hiddenplymouth.co.uk or take a moment to leave a comment, feedback is always appreciated.





All images & content are Copyright Hidden Plymouth unless otherwise stated & should you wish to use any image, we kindly request you ask permission via contacting us at the above e-mail address. Failure to do so will result in sending our hunting dog, Foofoo, to come look for you who is highly trained as a hunter/gatherer with 15 years experience :)








Disclaimer

Many of the locations are inaccessible to the public, with some structures & buildings in dangerous conditions posing many risk factors. The authors of Hidden Plymouth do not condone trespass of any sort, & we always follow relevant health & safety guidelines during each visit. We will accept no responsibility whatsoever for persons who choose to ignore these warnings & visit the sites we have documented. With that said, let's waste no more time & wish you happy reading!


Hidden Plymouth