A grand 56-bedroom hotel, once heaving with injured soldiers during the First World War, now lies completely abandoned. Named The Rest, the Grade II listed building in Porthcawl, Wales was built as a convalescent hotel in the early 1860s. It was subsequently used as an auxiliary military hospital from 1915. Between World War I and II, the hospital provided care for more than 2,500 wounded soldiers from Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. The Rest, which sits on a clifftop overlooking Rest Bay, returned to civilian use as a convalescent hotel in 1946, before it closed in 2013. Photographer Shaun Ashford, 25, of Cardiff, Wales, visited the historic site and captured the Victorian building’s empty interiors.
The beds are consumed by moss instead of customers at this abandoned hotel .
LIKE A living balloon this baitball of sardines is ready to burst when threatened by a pointy nosed sailfish .
FISTS fly as two gorillas take each other on in a dramatic battle .
With the vivid red smoke billowing into the sky amid the misty sand dunes, these are the blissful views provided at the break of dawn at a volcano .
HUDDLED together on a branch, a pair of adorable Javan scops owls soak up the sun .
FROM COLOURFUL autumn leaves to living trees at first glance you might miss these people blended with nature .
DIPPING and diving their way through this bumpy journey, these giraffe's duck for cover as they dodge multiple cables and wires .
MOUTH OPEN wide, this little stoat appears to be in mid-song as he belts out a tune for his onlookers .
With their guts spewing and eyes hanging out, these are the cuddly toys children might be reluctant to curl up to .
A SERENE turquoise glow glimmers from underneath these powerful icebergs .
