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.
A baby sperm whale assumed the role of a friendly giant when faced with two awestruck divers .
BEHIND the doors of this building, with its stacks of mattresses and discarded remains of wheelchairs, lies another victim of austerity cuts .
A US firefighter has battled osteoarthritis and four hip replacements to break the world paddleboarding record .
With the full moon looming behind him, this polar bear nestles down for the night .
BALANCING 30 metres above ground, these slackliners take the expression of living dangerously one step further, by tightrope walking NAKED .
TUGGING at his exhausted mum's ears, a beautiful baby orangutan refuses to settle for a nap as he begins a game of peek-a-boo .
A cheeky gorilla sticks her tongue out and plays up for the camera at Bronx Zoo .
FLOATING effortlessly on his back, this little otter laps up a rare glimmer of English spring sunshine .
A grand 56-bedroom hotel, once heaving with injured soldiers during the First World War, now lies completely abandoned .
WITHOUT A care in the world, this little snow monkey puts his feet up and settles in for a snooze .
USUALLY full to bursting, these London Underground stations stand silent and completely commuter free .