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House of the Soldier's Widow, Urbex, Abandoned, Derelict
The House of the Soldier's Widow

Stealth like movement through the overgrown gardens in order to just to get to the house. Twisting brambles reaching out and grabbing at me as I made my way, beating them back with a heavy tripod. 

Inside the house was a plethora of vintage items from past decades belonging to those who once lived here yet I felt like I shouldnt be there, decaying and abandoned it may have been but inside here, there was an unnerving atmosphere, ghosts still present wishing me away. In all I stayed around an hour not wanting to hang around too long. 

A sad story lies behind this house making the title of the house only partially correct. The second husband of the lady outlived her and moved away leaving the house to fall into disrepair. After her first husband died - maybe the man in the large framed picture - in the war, the lady remarried keeping her mementoes of her first soldier husband. The lady then remarried and lived here with  her second husband and here they remained until she suddenly passed away around 17 years ago. Grief stricken, the husband vowed never to go upstairs agin, unable to confront the personal items and memories of his lost wife. He remained downstairs until 2009 when after illness he moved away and merely left the house and never returned. 

 

Inside, as mentioned are personal items dating back 100 years. Fashion magazines lay in a pile from the 1950's, grooming items from the same decade still intact. The whole house was like a step back into a time, a glimpse at war, a hint at high fashion in the 50's and a delve into the way a home may look before the chaos of modern times. It wouldn't be complete of course without the ubiquitous Singer sewing machine which stood proudly, still with its last cotton in place on the holder.

 

Nature had began to creep inside the cracked and brittle walls adding its own decor to the already rich surroundings. Natures army of interior designers busily reworking the interior and adding their own splash of texture and colour. Where nature meets the frozen, a contrast in time occurs. 

 

Thankfully this house remains hidden and will hopefully be rescued one day and lived in again. Maybe one day, the man who left, will return if only in spirit.

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