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
AN ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM: HOTEL WITH A TWIST

These uninvited guests ELEPHANTLY make their annual trip through the reception of this welcoming lodge .

SPECTACULAR AURORA BOREALIS

A SPECTRUM of colours fills the sky during this spectacular and natural display of light .

BURSTING FIREWORKS

BURSTING colours of reds, pinks and purples give the illusion of a collection of stunning flowers .

BOY, 6, ALMOST BLIND AFTER ONE-IN-MILLION ALLERGIC REACTION

A six-year-old boy has been left almost blind after a one-in-a-million allergic reaction to antibiotics .

BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHS BROUGHT TO LIFE

BREATHING life back into old photographs, these black and white images are transformed by colour .

SINGLE WOMAN GRANTED NHS IVF HAS BABY AFTER 3 MISCARRIAGES

A single woman, who was granted IVF funding on the NHS, finally has a baby after suffering three miscarriages .

HUNGRY CHAMELEON CATCHES DINNER

EXPERTLY camouflaged, this clever panther chameleon knows how to catch its prey by surprise .

SNOW HITS BIRMINGHAM

More weather chaos is heading our way, with ice and snow already hitting areas across Birmingham .

PLAYFUL DOLPHINS SHOW OFF THEIR AQUA AEROBIC SKILLS

These beautiful photographs show how these playful pods of dolphins make their own fun by gliding, flipping and spinning through the air whilst enjoying the sun on their backs .

ADORABLE HARVEST MOUSE CLIMBS DANDELION

Surveying its surroundings, a tiny harvest mouse climbs the stem of a dandelion .

KINGFISHERS DIVE FOR THEIR DINNER

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

WOMAN NEARLY DIED AFTER PNEUMONIA TURNED INTO SEPSIS – HER LUNGS COLLAPSED AND HER LIPS TURNED BLUE

A woman has revealed how she almost died after she developed sepsis from a cold .