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
GIANT CANYON SWING

FORGET Thorpe Park this summer as this is a 50 mile-per-hour ride over the Colorado River CANYON .

LIFE ON THE LINE: SLUM LIES NEXT TO ACTIVE RAILWAY

Families in an Indian slum put their lives on the line by living on top of an ACTIVE railway track .

AN OTTER-ONE BITES THE DUST

Throwing a right hook as he launches onto his opponent with his gnarling teeth at the ready, this is the OTTER-LY ruthless showdown between two otters .

BABY WORKOUT

FROM a Kung-Fu professional to a mini incredible hulk, these are the babies you wouldn't want to mess with .

FIRE BREATHING FIAT 500

AN ITALIAN mechanic has created the world’s most ferocious mini-car .

LIQUID SCULPTURES

A BEAUTIFUL sight for the eyes and the imagination, these liquid sculptures take shape in many different colours and formations .

SEALED WITH A BUBBLE KISSED

MEET the underwater British seal who is so friendly he loves to grapple divers like a friendly puppy dog .

UNUSUAL ANIMAL FRIENDSHIP

SAT ON top of a Brazilian turtle’s head, this little ladybird looks content as he studies his environment from a new height .

PEEK-A-BOO FISH: BRIT SNAPPER MAKES RARE FIND

A Brit photographer has captured one of the world's most camera-shy species of fish - during a game of underwater peek-a-boo .

ABANDONED PLAZA HOTEL

The beds are consumed by moss instead of customers at this abandoned hotel .

SNEAKY OTTER

A young otter wades through a lake with his eyes set on an older rival’s fish .

ENDANGERED GORILLA BORN AT TWYCROSS ZOO

A proud gorilla mum welcomes her newborn baby western lowland gorilla, a critically endangered species .