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
GOING IN FOR THE GILL

NEVER mind being careful not to choke on your food, this mother bird has a bigger challenge on her hands, as her ravenous offspring impatiently launches its head down into her stomach .

FROZEN WATERFALLS

COURAGEOUS CLIMBERS scale frozen waterfalls in Canada, as the ice threatens to collapse beneath them .

SMILEY GECKO POSES FOR THE CAMERA

WITH A wide smile plastered across his face, this little gecko is ready for his close up .

STORM CHASER PHOTOGRAPHS STUNNING EXTREME WEATHER

These photographs of extreme weather capture storms furiously rolling across the sky above America .

ADORABLE PENGUINS HATCH AT UK ZOO

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

UNDERGROUND CHIC

Full of tired and busy commuters, these underground stations are rarely admired for their architecture or beauty .

HYENA HAS THE LAST LAUGH

This brave Hyena finally catches his pray among the thousands of flamingos, Lake Nakuru, Kenya - OUTNUMBERED among thousands of flamingos, this bold hyena is not put off from hunting for a morning snack .

REAL LIFE DOLLS HOUSE

Ever wished you could live in a house just like Barbie's? Canadian sculptor Heather Benning has created the life-size dollhouse of her dreams out a derelict building .

MYSTERY OF THE CROOKED COTTAGE

THIS is the fascinating abandoned house, complete with mystery portraits and homely items, that has been dubbed - crooked cottage .

WHITE TAILED EAGLES FIGHT FOR FOOD

The claws come out at meal time as a group of white tailed eagles brawl over road-kill .

WINKING SQUIRREL

BASKING in smug satisfaction, a confident squirrel gives a wink to the camera .

FIRST FEMALE JACKASS

FROM KISSING an alligator on the nose to walking over broken glass, this fearless daredevil is a real life female JACKASS .