My upcoming addition, will be better, more varied and contain my other photographic interests including; landscape’s, nightscape’s, architecture in general, possibly car’s and several other subjects.

I will notify everybody here in a post with a link to my new blog prior to removing Melb UE.

I’d also like to take this moment to sincerely thank all of my current follower’s and hope that you all stick around for the future and follow me to my new blog.

Regards,
Matt.

Herald Sun, September 10, 2011.

A SQUATTER has been treated for smoke inhalation as fire crews battle a factory blaze in Yarraville. The fire, at the former Bradmill factory in Francis St, was reported at 6.20pm and took 30 minutes to bring under control.

A Metropolitan Fire Brigade spokesman said 14 trucks were sent to the blaze. He said there was asbestos in the roof of the building and firefighters were prepared for dangerous fumes. Paramedics treated a squatter at the scene for smoke inhalation. Bradmill was once Australia’s largest textile factory. The site is to be used for housing development.

Above article from the Herald Sun.

Additional article below by MFB.

When MFB firefighters arrived on scene they encountered problems gaining entry to the building and also had problems with the water supply in the area.

The fire in the 30m x 40m abandoned factory took thirty three minutes to bring under control and was knocked down very quickly once entry was gained.

The building is a known haunt for squatters but a thorough search found no one present and no injuries were reported.

Special Asbestos procedures were implemented as the corrugated roof is made of Asbestos/Cement sheeting.

An MFB web warning was issued for people in the immediate area regarding the acrid smoke that was issuing from the fire. The fire has been deemed suspicious and the Vicpol arson will investigate.

- Metropolitan Fire Brigade

The History.

The abattoir was first established as Gilbertsons Meat Processing plant in 1951, it was Victoria’s largest plant for the processing of meat. Originally the site consisted of a largely spread out factory complex including skinning sheds, stockyards, a railway siding and a quarry.

The large cream brick warehouse style building was constructed as offices around 1970, the site also included a Don Smallgoods shop frontage for the use of selling wholesale meats to the public.

Gilbertsons later became SBA Foods (A Japanese company). Due to a shortage of cattle, SBA Foods closed its doors at the Altona North site in 1999 and moved business to plants at both Longford in Tasmania and King Island.

The remaining buildings have been heritage listed by Victorian Heritage.

The Explore.

This was a group meet-up, organised by myself and a fellow explorer in order to meet more people in the Melbourne area with the same interest. The location itself was quite trashed hence my lack of interior photographs, but it was interesting nonetheless.

After meeting up we all jumped in our cars and headed to the location, walking through the gate we headed to the large imposing cream brick office block. The curtains (or lack thereof) flapped around in and out of the broken windows, stepping through the door and into the pitch black hallway it was near impossible to see your hand in front of your face, eyes adjusted and up to the upper levels.

The destruction and decay that had fallen over this place in the last 13 years had really taken its toll but the view from the rooftop was second to none.

The Photographs.

Trading Places.

The View.

Seep.

Impromptu Skatepark.

Coming Home.

Skinned.

Fragment.

Industria.

Group Shot (I’m the one in the Texaco tee (3rd in from the right)).

I’m sure avid fans of Mad Max will instantly recognize this. Originally constructed for storage of ammunition around the 1960’s as a part of the Point Wilson explosives magazine, the bunkers fell into disuse well before the first Mad Max movie was made in 1979.

The ammunition bunker which is the subject of this explore featured at the start of Mad Max with character ‘Roop’ sitting upon it and also later in the background when character ‘Goose’ takes a wild ride on his bike (As seen below). This bunker is one of four, three sit in a row approximately 100 metres apart (this bunker being the centre one) and the forth is within a bird sanctuary.

Mad Max screenshot with Goose – Note; the bunker to the right.

The Explore.

The long, straight, narrow road to the bunkers began to look more and more desolate the further I got down it, and with that began to look more and more like a scene from Mad Max. Continuing on past an intimidating bullet hole ridden sign that simply read ‘STOP – Authorised Personnel Only’ I finally made it to the bunkers. The exceedingly flat landscape made for strong freezing winds but also a stunningly huge sky and picturesque view of the You Yangs, and with not another person for miles it was a true feeling of serenity.

The Photographs.

Apocalypto.

Oblivious.

Another bunker is visable in the distance.

Grounded.

Whitewash.

Spread.

Sanctuary.

Information from MyHome.com.au

Or visit Polaris3803.com.au

My View.

Going by the available renderings it would appear that very little or none of Asylums original buildings will be kept, which doesn’t seem right seeing as one or two (as far as I’m aware) definitely have a heritage listing. However it does say on the My Home site and as written above ‘the four unique apartment buildings are catering to all tastes and preferences.‘ which could lead you to believe that four of the original buildings will be kept, that could be a possibility and only time will tell.

The estate to be built doesn’t seem to be anything spectacular, just another typically modern, family orientated estate. It does seem to be in a way similar to the estate that was built on the land where Kew Childrens Cottages (Kew Asylum Idiot Ward) once stood. Which also consisted of several heritage listed buildings to which now only three remain.

The Portsea Quarantine Station was first established in 1852 with the first major buildings constructed in 1858 which consisted of five hospitals. The first two hospitals were built on a hill overlooking the bay and originally accommodated passengers that arrived with an illness or suspected infection whereas the three hospitals located beneath the hill housed the healthy arrivals. Later these hospitals were assigned a ‘class separation system’ (First class, second class and so on) whilst the fifth hospital became an isolation ward for confirmed sick or infectious patients.

In the early 20th century several more buildings were established onsite including a disinfecting and bathing complex (1900), passenger waiting room (1911), administration building (1916), ten influenza ‘huts’ (1919) and later, accommodation and training buildings for the army (1963).

In the early fifties the station had a double purpose with the army opening the Officer Cadet School (later becoming the School of Army Health) and also continued to be used for quarantine purposes up until 1979 . The School of Army Health came to a close in 1998 which opened the opportunity for the Station’s final working use – To house Kosovo refugees. The site was closed by 2003 and became a part of the Point Nepean National Park in 2009.

The Explore.

Much like Fort Nepean, the Quarantine Station is a part of the Point Nepean National Park and so it is open to the public, however the buildings have been left as they were when they closed and many of them are off-limits to the public.

Making my way down to the basin that the Station sits within, the dull ominous sky hung low overhead, stretching off into the distance making it hard to picture where the sky ended and bay begun. As I entered one of the hospital buildings the slightest noise was twice as loud once it echoed back, the firing off and echoing back of the camera shutter started to sound like a gunfight. Most of the ground level floors had had their walls removed, making the long upstairs hallways seem dark and unnerving.

Stepping back outside, the dull grey sky was somewhat welcomed and so I made my way to a higher altitude and onto the hospital upon the hill.

The Photographs.

Infrared.

Blue Room.

Effervescent.

Landing.

Discourage.

Bathing Complex.

Purification.

Bathed.

Boiler.

Compression.

The Passenger Waiting Room.

This was the hospital building that became the isolation ward.

Across The Way.

Room With A View.

These were two accommodation blocks added by the Army in the 1960′s.

Above The Bay.

Variation Of Styles.

Yarra Bend Lunatic Asylum (c.1848) Victoria’s first and only (At the time) Asylum committed to the treatment of the mentally ill or ‘imbeciles’ as they were more commonly referred, had become quickly overcrowded. At this time more patients than ever were being referred to gaols and stockades, forced to live with criminals and so it was decided another hospital was needed to be established to provide a better suited location to house those considered to be mentally ill.

After years of planning and site speculation, construction of Beechworth Lunatic Asylum (Later Mayday Hills Hospital) commenced in 1865. The hospital was established in an Italianate style on a reserved site of 201 acres overlooking the township of Beechworth.

In 1867 the Hospital had been completed, opened its doors and ran smoothly for many years. In 1951 a fire occurred within the male ward gutting that section of the building with an estimated damage cost of 500,000 pounds. No patients were injured or killed during the blaze; however one male staff member was injured after a fall whilst trying to rescue a patient. Those patients who had lost their rooms due to the fire were relocated to Mont Park, Ararat, Kew, Sunbury and Ballarat Asylums, the fire was discovered to be caused by an electrical fault.

Mayday Hills continued to run as a mental hospital until it succumbing to the strong move away from institutionalization in the mid nineties and finally closed its doors on June 30th 1995.

Parts of the Hospital remain open today, operating as a university and a spa retreat, however the rear half are exactly as they closed on that day in 1995.

The Explore.

Leaving at 6am we hit the road to endure the four hour drive to Beechworth, the headlights sliced through fog that endlessly lingered for a good two hours. As we finally rolled into Beechworth we were greeted by not only the extremely welcomed warm sun but the streets were awash with stalls, a stage and people; market day. We made use of it, had a bit of a look around, picked up some hot coffee and rolled up the hill onwards to the Asylum.

Getting out of the car was in complete comparison to that of the main streets below us, silence; only broken up by the sounds of leaves crushing under our feet and the persistent streaming of jets overhead. We split up, walking around the complex it became quite obvious to us both that there was unfortunately no way to proceed through the crumbling walls into the empty wards and halls.

Meeting back at the car we finished off our coffee and made the most of what we could before setting off for another look around town and the four hour drive home…

The Photographs.

Pick Me.

Golden Blue.

This was the only accessible room, best of my knowledge would put it as possibly being either a store room or an isolation room.

The porch of Olivene, one of the male cottage wards.

Although it looks promising, my arm was outstretched through a gap in a gate with camera in hand.

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.

Autumn Calling.

Last Known Surroundings.

Looking East Over Olivene.

Stonnington Council sought interim heritage protection from the State Government last December following resident pressure, but the Planning Minister’s delegates did not support the application. The council has since issued developers with a demolition permit, “given that council’s request for interim heritage protection was not supported,” said Stonnington chief executive Warren Roberts. Developers plan to replace the building and former car yard with a five-storey, 30-unit development. The council had refused the planning application at their December 20 meeting after VicRoads and council officers raised concerns about car access off High St.
The developers have appealed the decision at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal with the first hearing planned for yesterday.

Local campaigners have accused the council of overlooking the site’s heritage value in the past. It was never protected by heritage overlays nor officially listed on state books, despite previous council investigations. Part of the building has been used as office space by a car dealership, with its front yard occupied by the cars. It is understood the former car yard is the primary feature mentioned on council site records.

Campaigner Peter Nova said the council had neglected and allowed the building to fall into disrepair over years, hadn’t fought hard enough for interim heritage protection, and hadn’t kept concerned residents informed. “They are responsible for losing a very historical building,” Mr Nova said. “We were given a false sense that something was getting done. We were doomed from the beginning.”

NOON UPDATE: The historic house at 652 High St was gutted by fire last night in a blaze the Metropolitan Fire Brigade has labelled “suspicious”. Four units attended the blaze after it was reported at 10.30pm, Monday, April 11. Crews took an hour to bring it under control, with MFB personnel remaining at the site on Tuesday because of fears it might flare up again. MFB investigators determined the blaze had started at numerous points and has turned the matter over to police. No one was hurt in the incident.

Update, Sunday 24th April, 2011; Building has now been demolished.

- Photo taken by myself.

- Article by Liam Ryan, Stonnington Leader. Original article readable here.

Mintaro was built in 1882 and resembles a smaller version of Melbournes ‘Government House’. The grounds of the partly restored mansion were opened up for a clearance sale to dispose of what seemed to be a lifetime of collecting, this sale also provided the opportunity for a look at the property. Unfortunately the mansion itself was not accessible.

Whilst this wasn’t really an explore as such given that it was open up to the general public. I think it kind of fits in with the feeling of urban exploration.

(Please note that this is a privately owned and lived on property.)

The Photographs.

Neglect.

Glittering Blackness.

Thames.

Butchered.

Fading Blue.

Hillman.

Last Light.

Imposing Hope.

Time Stops.

Memorial.

Fractured.

Holding On.

Only Time Will Tell…

Forever More.

Catastrophe & The Cure.

Exhausted.

Cabin Fever.

Ground Up.

Original Gallery and historical information here.

I believe this was where a checkpoint once stood, it looked as if only staff cars could pass through as it was nowhere near wide enough to get a truck through.

Gone.

I was surprised to hear the croaking of frogs coming from the pit of water, it looked quite toxic.

Canopy.

Down & Out.

Unplugged.

Ingrown.

Plume.

The graffiti around the base of these tanks were the newest signs of vandalism.