Following on from the previous post, the Devon Dive Centre sits on a spit of land on the western bank of the River Axe, along with the boat builders yard and a garage. Although on the Seaton town side of the river, this particular piece of land belongs to the village of Axmouth which is situated on the other side.
A shop for all kinds of diving accessories - including the filling of oxygen tanks - I haven't been able to find any other information about it; when it was built or closed down for instance, but it's an interesting abandoned site to have a brief wander around. Rather photogenic too, with its faded seaside charm of peeling paint and depictions of dolphins and waves.
When I had my website I added a huge rant about the so-called regeneration site encompassing the demolished, Racal Electronics, Blue Waters & Lyme Bay Holiday Camp sites. I won't do it all again, but well...maybe a bit of one!
If you're going to regenerate a seaside town to entice tourists and give the town a boost, would you demolish a thriving holiday village which had been showcased on TV holiday programmes, and replace it with a Tesco supermarket and a few houses? What on earth were they thinking!
Seaside towns offer that wonderful windswept, peely paint feel about them; old boats, crab pots and crumbling stone walls covered in wild flowers, boatyards, ramshackle tea shanties, a slower pace of life and appreciation of the seasons and the elements. And as one of the Gateway Towns to this World Heritage Site, a boring, generic area which can be seen in any other town is surely not what holidaymakers come for.
This, for me, is what living on the coast is about. It's a shame that this concern stopped trading. Seaton used to be quite a bustling little town with plenty of visitors making the streets full and crowded during the summer season. The odd thing is, that there is now a new Premier Inn in this area, which looks like three boxes stuck together instead of the lovely Art Deco building shown on the original artist's impression. Such a shame that the fab hotels along the seafront were demolished many years ago, replaced by blocks of flats.
Anyway, sorry about that rant. It went on far longer than I meant it to. Somebody stop me! ;)
Not accessible inside, the photos below were taken through windows (later boarded up on a further visit).
And lastly, a couple of photos of the rear, which I managed to take through the fencing.
Ramshackle and gloriously coastal, I hope you enjoyed the seaside dereliction. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment