WELSH HOTEL ONCE HOME TO WWI SOLDIERS NOW LIES ABANDONED

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.

Other great stories
BASHFUL ORANGUTAN

A young orangutan comes over all shy as she hides her face behind a broken bucket .

KINGFISHERS DIVE FOR THEIR DINNER

THESE kingfishers prove no rod is needed as they go fishing for their dinner .

RECORD BREAKING WATERMELON

AN American accountant has grown the world's biggest MELON and smashed his way into the record books with his mammoth 350 .

KUNG-FU FROG IMITATES KARATE KID

Balanced on one leg, a frog assumes the crane kick martial arts stance made famous in the movie The Karate Kid .

CHERNOBYL - 28 YEARS ON

TOMORROW (Saturday) marks the 28th anniversary of the nuclear disaster that left the city of Chernobyl devastated .

GLOWWORMS LIGHT UP TOURIST TRAIL

IN a galaxy not so far away lies a magical display of lights that could be the latest image from NASA .

ROAD-KILL CUDDLY TOYS

With their guts spewing and eyes hanging out, these are the cuddly toys children might be reluctant to curl up to .

PHOTOGRAPHER CAPTURES UNIQUE PATTERNS OF THE HUMAN EYE

A Romanian photographer has captured the unique patterns of hundreds of human eyes in a series of striking macro shots .

SLOTH SANCTUARY

SNUGGLING up against their teddy bears, these baby sloths could easily be mistaken for one of the cuddly toys .

IDYLLIC ICELAND

With stunning scenery and otherworldly vistas, Iceland’s rural beauty is inescapable – especially for Hollywood .

PARROT RIDES ON THE TUBE

Pic By HotSpot Media - PARROT RIDES ON THE TUBE - THIS pretty boy could be forgiven for forgetting his Oyst-aaarrrgh-card .

ADORABLE PENGUINS HATCH AT UK ZOO

HOPPING onto the scales, these adorable baby Humboldt penguins are ready for their first weigh-in .