Abandoned Village Hall

A little while ago I dragged the tree surgeon on a massive frollick towards the Shropshire border. It was a nostalgic journey for me as I grew up in the area, and we had a vastly different agenda to what we ended up doing, but upon discovery of a run-down community hall in a teeny Shropshire / Powys village the name of which escapes me, we decided that an excursion was in order!
There was a lot of loitering involved, not so much in trying to find a way in. That was obvious! But in trying to figure out if the place was abandoned.

You'd think it would be fairly obvious but this year I have investigated six houses that look abandoned, only to find that the owners have just let the upkeep slip a little. I'm always very embarassed and apologetic when this happens, and it's taught me to be a lot more cautious. But in this case the smashed windows, the cobwebs and the wreckage strewn everywhere was a dead giveaway, upon examination. All we needed after that was to get in.

Remember,  I do NOT disclose locations. I do not force entry, vandalize, or steal.
Trespass without forced entry is a civil offence rather than a criminal one, which isn't worth acting on unless one causes damage, steals, has ill intent, etc. I simply photograph and leave everything as I find it. 

Amongst the clutter we noticed a stage at the far end of the hall, but on the opposite wall was a bricked up doorway.

The building was cluttered with artefacts, most of which was junk, but a lot of which probably has some value. Including, according to the tree surgeon, the inner components of the fire exit light above the doorway. Curiously the outer shell of it was on the floor some considerable distance away, as if someone had removed it but not taken the more valuable components.

There were a few smaller rooms, including a kitchen.

Amongst the clutter in the main hall there were some curiosities.

I've never seen a cone-shaped fire extinguisher before. There were two here, the label of which states it was manufactured in 1959. I'm not going to presume this place has been abandoned since then, but this is still very telling. Surely with modern day obsession with health and safety, this would have been replaced by modern products if the place was still being used in my lifetime.

A samurai in a suitcase.

Some kind of space display.

There was a birdsnest on top of this, just visible.

Anyway, while exploring this place, the floor almost collapsed beneath my feet. Indeed my entire foot vanished down a hole. Needless to say it gave me a shock! I mean in all my years of exploring I can probably count on my fingers how many accidents I've actually had! I'm sure I could count on my toes too if they weren't imbedded in the floor of this hall...
And yet there didn't seem to be an accessible cellar, so where would I have fallen to?

There was another interesting aspect of the place- upper floors without stairs.

I mean how am I supposed to get to this door above a door??? Ordinarily I could easily scramble up there. but I was actually pretty shaky with adrenaline, having almost fallen through the floor.

Fortunately there was a ladder in the place. It was delightfully rickety.

Upstairs was a pretty odd sight. There was a teeny room with a mattress in it.

It was an interesting thought that someone could live here without being disturbed, just by pulling the ladder up behind them. Was someone actually living here? There was a bike in the hall... although with the doors barricaded and the means of entry being so slim, I imagine keeping a bike in here is probably more trouble than its worth. But the mattress room was interesting.

There was also an awesome lamp!

I'm really not sure what to make of this place. It's small in comparison to other places I've explored, but with the ornaments and antiques everywhere it's a treasure chest for the right person. And with undisturbable bedroom facilities, it's a squatters dream!
Should I ever end up homeless, I might just head out to this place and set up camp!

Anyway as you can tell, this place is shrouded in mystery to me. I've never seen vintage fire extinguishers before! Surely this place has been gathering dust for some time. So if anyone recognises it and knows anything about it, please get in touch.
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Thanks for reading! Stay awesome!