Page 23 | Things that are utterly bloody fascinating

ElizabethBest · 2023-03-06T14:24:28+00:00

Let's hear it please - I love a good wikipedia rabbit hole. I'll start - [[https://www.willardsuitcases.com/ The Willard Suitcases]]. Over 400 suitcases of possessions were found in an attic at the Willard Insane Asylum belong to patients who had died whilst inpatients so never left. The New York State Museum started a project to document the cases and their contents, and you can learn all about it and see the cases on their website.

MyMarmite · 09/03/2023 14:34

Verv · 07/03/2023 13:38

I am an Urbexer, or at least was for a long time before work/life took over and I don't get time anymore.
Here's some of my shots - www.flickr.com/photos/120082695@N07/

The Willard suitcases are fascinating, you see a lot of discarded belongings in asylums.
OP (and others) might enjoy Ward 81 by Mary Ellen Mark who documented some female psych inmates. Her photos are wonderful.

Some of my favoured wormholes -

Kensington Avenue, Philadelphia - Its regularly documented by this guy and I find it horrific and fascinating in equal measure -

kensingtonblues.com

Chernobyl and Pripyat

Pennhurst Asylum (as was not as its current "haunted attraction" bollocks which I find disrespectful in the extreme)

Anything paranormal (love the mumsnet threads on the topic) and Im from Enfield so the poltergeist was always of interest.

That Kensington Avenue is fascinating and horrifying, you're right.

Almahart · 09/03/2023 14:39

Agree, I just watched the whole thing. Couldn't believe it.

Verv · 09/03/2023 14:42

mamaandbabas · 08/03/2023 22:03

Totally love looking at photos of abandoned St Peter's Semenairy in Scotland. Wonderful example of modern architecture.

I dont know if youve seen this video, from Hinterland - nva.org.uk/artwork/hinterland/

It's an amazing building. Pure brutalism.

Verv · 09/03/2023 14:51

Timingiseverythingcoll · 09/03/2023 09:15

@Verv Your photos are very good. What on earth is Gaviscon farm?!?! You have a great set of unusual images. What’s the story behind those particular abandoned homes? There is no evidence anyone packed anything up at all…

The ‘Rose’ picture thing- I remember seeing oldies hanging these odd wall picture/ornaments in their homes in the 80s.

I liked the abandoned train. The ring box … just left there like that?? I’d love to know who these people were!

in case anyone else wants to look: the link again.
www.flickr.com/photos/120082695@N07/

It was an abandoned farm in Scotland. Empty bottles of Gaviscon everywhere so I nicknamed it as I never used "real" place names.
From what I could work out it belonged to a couple and he was a cattle farmer, lots of auction receipts and notebooks. I think his wife died and then he lived there, in disarray, until he passed as well. It was a really sad place. Demolished now I believe.

samsswampy · 09/03/2023 14:57

I’ve always been interested in abandoned places like Spinalonga the leper colony island near Crete and Famagusta that Victoria Hislop wrote about

lieselotte · 09/03/2023 14:57

I am also fascinated by the language Friesian - it is the closest language to English and spoken in the Netherlands and a different type in northern Germany. You can learn it on Futurelearn.

I also came across a course for Sorb which is spoken in Eastern areas of Germany. You can learn anything on the internet!

Battytwatty · 09/03/2023 15:14

Britinme · 07/03/2023 16:10
A really interesting book about the pre-war period in Germany is Erik Larsen's "Into the Garden of Beasts". Fascinating.

Thanks for the recommendation, I have just downloaded this on my kindle.

WigsNGowns · 09/03/2023 15:17

@lieselotte

Lifts that can go horizontally and move around on track things that shift like railway points. I don't like the look of this at all.

SinnerBoy · 09/03/2023 15:37

samsswampy · Today 14:57

I’ve always been interested in abandoned places like Spinalonga the leper colony island near Crete...

Oh, we went there a few years ago, we loved it, DD was very bored, aged 6. She also didn't like Knossos!

SinnerBoy · 09/03/2023 15:38

lieselotte · Today 14:57

I also came across a course for Sorb which is spoken in Eastern areas of Germany. You can learn anything on the internet!

And - get this! - some of it's even true!

dephlogisticated · 09/03/2023 15:55

Halfeatentoast · 06/03/2023 17:37

The English language and how it changes over time. There's a guy on YouTube called Simon Roper who discusses these things and I find it fascinating. My favourite is when the same thing is read out but changed to fit different eras or places in the UK.

I'm a Simon Roper fan too, isn't he awesome, such a fascinating subject and he's just so likeable!

samsswampy · 09/03/2023 16:55

@SinnerBoy we went to Knossos and Spinalonga when DCs were younger but would like to go back now they are older and would be more interested also not so distracted

BittenontheBum · 09/03/2023 16:57

Another vote for classics please @mumsnettowers 🙏

SinnerBoy · 09/03/2023 17:02

samsswampy · Today 16:55

we went to Knossos and Spinalonga when DCs were younger but would like to go back now they are older and would be more interested also not so distracted

I'd like to go again, not least because when we went, my wife refused to get up and leave early, (2 hour drive) insisted on having a 90 minute lunch before going in and then wouldn't have our daughter at all during the visit, as it was her dream place to see.

It was my idea to go and a dream destination for me, too!

kateandme · 09/03/2023 17:41

Embelline · 09/03/2023 13:02

I think it’s been mentioned but I’m fascinated by Everest and specifically the bodies that are there - how they are left, how much it costs to retrieve them, how they’re preserved in the ice. It’s so haunting.

Longshot but did you ever watch Made in Chelsea and know of spencer Matthews?his brother was youngest brit to climb it.
But 3 hours later he disappeared forever.
They got a message years later from someone believing they came across his body.
He has just released and made a documentary on going to get him!
Out this week if your interested

kateandme · 09/03/2023 17:48

SinnerBoy · 09/03/2023 17:02

samsswampy · Today 16:55

we went to Knossos and Spinalonga when DCs were younger but would like to go back now they are older and would be more interested also not so distracted

I'd like to go again, not least because when we went, my wife refused to get up and leave early, (2 hour drive) insisted on having a 90 minute lunch before going in and then wouldn't have our daughter at all during the visit, as it was her dream place to see.

It was my idea to go and a dream destination for me, too!

Do you like to read.
Have you heard of the author Victoria hislop,?

Victoria Hislop's book “The Island” is an atmospheric and moving novel based on a true story from Spinalonga.

SlightlyJaded · 09/03/2023 17:52

kateandme · 09/03/2023 17:48

Do you like to read.
Have you heard of the author Victoria hislop,?

Victoria Hislop's book “The Island” is an atmospheric and moving novel based on a true story from Spinalonga.

Show quote history

She has also written a book set in Famagusta -'The Sunrise'. Famagusta is the Ghost Town in Cyprus that was left frozen in time when Turkey invaded and the Cypriot people fled. I have been there and it's extraordinary. Car showrooms with immaculate (dust covered) cars from the 70s. Houses with the tables laid. And huge highrise hotels all along the coast just empty....

kateandme · 09/03/2023 18:00

SlightlyJaded · 09/03/2023 17:52

She has also written a book set in Famagusta -'The Sunrise'. Famagusta is the Ghost Town in Cyprus that was left frozen in time when Turkey invaded and the Cypriot people fled. I have been there and it's extraordinary. Car showrooms with immaculate (dust covered) cars from the 70s. Houses with the tables laid. And huge highrise hotels all along the coast just empty....

Show quote history

Oh wow great thankyou

Emotionalsupportviper · 09/03/2023 18:49

Embelline · 09/03/2023 14:31

I have to say, I think this is the best thread I’ve ever come across on mumsnet! So thank you OP.

i agree @mumsnettowers this should be in classics!

I agree!

so much to look into, to read and to learn about - I've taken more book titles, podcast details, holiday ideas etc than ever before.

Its wonderful.

Thank you so much for the inspiration @ElizabethBest - it's brilliant!

Emotionalsupportviper · 09/03/2023 19:12

SinnerBoy · 09/03/2023 10:08

Kucinghitam · Today 08:09

I'm always awestruck by the sheer size of the solar system and of space.

We had one bookmarked, showing the relative sizes of asteroids, moons, planets & stars etc, but OH seems to have deleted it; I hope our daughter doesn't twig on...

But this one is still bookmarked:

neal.fun/deep-sea/?fbclid=IwAR2J_fvXkbW3X8kaghZQIMtv4u1DcEturzidEec01K79kTHU7YFFkDD_5U0

That was breathtaking . . .

Emotionalsupportviper · 09/03/2023 19:13

Kucinghitam · 09/03/2023 10:16

That was an amazing scroll! I felt weirdly claustrophobic and anxious as I went deeper...

Show quote history

So did I!

When the window of the challenger submarime cracked I thought I was going to the sick - I felt really frightened.

Britinme · 09/03/2023 19:14

Me too!

DailyMaui · 09/03/2023 19:56

Verv · 09/03/2023 14:51

It was an abandoned farm in Scotland. Empty bottles of Gaviscon everywhere so I nicknamed it as I never used "real" place names.
From what I could work out it belonged to a couple and he was a cattle farmer, lots of auction receipts and notebooks. I think his wife died and then he lived there, in disarray, until he passed as well. It was a really sad place. Demolished now I believe.

Show quote history

your pictures are stunning - so evocative.

Was one of those buildings the old Spitalfields Fruit & Wool Exchange?

SinnerBoy · 09/03/2023 20:01

kateandme · Today 17:48

Do you like to read. Have you heard of the author Victoria hislop,?

I don't think I've heard of her, but it sounds interesting. I love historical novels.

dayswithaY · 09/03/2023 22:10

I’m fascinated by John and Jane Does. Some of their stories are incredible and it blows my mind that no one recognises these unidentified people who are found murdered with no way of knowing who they are.

There is a charity called The Doe Network in the US that uses their DNA to trace relatives.

Some of the most memorable Does are the Christmas Tree Lady, Lady of the Dunes - both recently identified, and David Glenn Lewis.

Forensic sculpture is amazing too. They examine the skull of the missing person and create a clay head with their features, hoping someone recognises them and they get their name back.