abandoned greenhouses - part 1

This old nursery looks like it has been abandoned for years, the walls have started to crumble, weeds have grown high, and the glass panes are long gone, leaving just the bare metal skeleton of the old greenhouses. They’re located in Bitton on the outskirts of Bristol, just visible from road in winter when the undergrowth has died down.

I’m drawn to these abandoned spaces, and knew I had to return to explore and take some photos. I’m also motivated by the fear that these spaces are never permanent, any day bulldozers could come in and flatten the whole site, I could wait too long to come back only to find a shiny new housing estate in it’s place.

These photos are actually from back in 2020, as you probably remember it was a strange old time, but it a perfect opportunity to get on my bike and ride out to these greenhouses to investigate. I knew it was worth it, as soon as before I had even entered the main area I stumbled on this derelict static caravan, that looked like it hasn’t been occupied in a long old time.

Exploring the site was pretty easy, there is a main gate that’s locked, but you can just walk into the field from the road and head directly over. I always get a bit nervous exploring places like this, I have this feeling that any moment someone is going to tell me to clear off, so I’m always on edge. When I see the lengths that some urban explorers go to get into abandoned spaces, this is so tame in comparison, but I still get that feeling of apprehension.

In my experience I’ve found that people do tend to get very suspicious when you are taking photos of things that aren’t obviously photogenic, and it can attract unwanted attention. Taking a photo of a sunset, fine. Taking a photo of a rusted out abandoned storage unit, instant suspicion. Another time I was taking a few photos of an abandoned old trading estate, , and this guy pulled over in his car and asked what I was up to, claiming he knew with the landlord. Which in turn made me suspicious, as I geniunely don’t understand why he would care, and then I thought, well what is this guy up to?

Anyway these greenhouses are in the middle of nowhere, and once you are in, no one would even know you are there unless you are up there climbing up on the roof.

I visited a couple of times, I made sure to head back during golden hour, as I knew that would look good (I think anything can look good shot at golden hour) and didn’t really think about it again for a couple years until I was looking back at some of the images taken around sunset. I’d started using more flash by then, and had an urge to return with the flash, and see what kind of results I can get. So please come back for part two, if that sounds interesting.