Only a short distance
away along the same road as the Malvernbury Care Home, is the Malvern
Pre-School Nursery. The building is in a superb condition throughout and
has clearly not been penetrated by the dastardly denizens of "The
Sea of Moronity" as yet. It does
not appear to have been empty all that long and there are a lot of bits
and pieces still left lying around, not least in the kitchen area where
coffee mugs sit on the draining board, washed up after the last brews had
been finished. The bay windows at the front of the house - which is the
down hill elevation - have been decorated with hand painted murals; sea
creatures in one room, teddy bears in another, and the walls all the way
up alongside the beautiful main staircase to the first floor have been
painted with animals, both domestic and from the wild African savannah.
We have not been able
to find out much in the way of history for this place though clearly it
was not a purpose built nursery, but a converted Victorian or Edwardian
stone built house, grand and imposing like so many others in Malvern, and
particularly in keeping with those on this particular road. As with the
Care Home the Nursery too is set down below the level of the road, but
there is no clear view from the front down the hill over towards the old
and picturesque Malvern College this time because the gardens and grounds
are bordered by mature trees. The privacy here during it's occupation as a
residential house must have been wonderful as the nearest neighbour is the
adjacent college away to the rear right as you stand looking towards the
front elevation. Of course this would mean that only during weekdays would
there be anyone anywhere about, and presumably during holidays and at
weekends silence would reign supreme, much as it did on the day we
visited, for now the college building stands empty and there is little in
the way of passing traffic up and down the road above the property.
We entered the
building after a short wander around the exterior and explored the first
two rooms at the front of the house - both had clearly been reception
rooms during the period of residential occupancy, but had last seen use as
children's play rooms. Through another door and we found ourselves in the
hall with the magnificent staircase in front of us. The first floor had
been used for a variety of purposes during the time that the house was a
children's nursery, including administration - there was what appears to
have been an office up here. beyond there was a large bathroom with a row
of coat pegs at junior height.
The top floor is accessed by
a further staircase and appears to have been occupied by the caretaker as
there is a completely self contained suite of rooms up there, with a fire
escape down a vertical ladder through the floor/ceiling into one of the
rooms below.
After exploring both
of the upper floors we descended to the ground floor once again and
discovered a piano in really good condition, guarded by a small and rather
bellicose looking toy owl! From the ground floor we descended to the
cellars and found another piano but this time it was a very different
story, for the damp and humid atmosphere down there has caused the
woodwork to bloom with white mould and to swell to the point where it is
actually near impossible to get the keys to depress sufficiently to sound
a note. Needless to say it is beyond repair now. It was clear that the
cellars were also used for classrooms, if you can call them such in a
pre-school nursery, for we found a charming portrait left behind of "Roy",
presumably one of the carers, painted by "Alexander"
who I imagine from the style of his artwork was one of the children.
What is planned for
the Nursery now we do not know but something needs to be done with this
building fast - at the moment the inevitable processes of decay have
barely begun, but they will soon enough, especially if the chavs and metal
farmers find a way in. There is little damp on the ground floor and above
but in the cellars one room is so damp and mouldy the air is fetid and
hard to breath. And woodwork down here won't last for long if that paino
is anything to go by...
Click
on
the
panoramic photograph above to open up an
interactive panorama
in
a new window...
The yard and front elevation of
the nursery...
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In the cellars for the first time...
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The sign on the wall says where
to go!
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As
a residential property
this was a reception
room, but it was a playrooms when it became a nursery...
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Hand painted bee murals on the
windows...
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The second playroom has a teddy
bear theme... |
The back wall is also painted
with teddy bears... |
This teddy looks like he's going
flying!
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A different theme in this room -
sea life... |
A dolphin looks out across the
gardens...
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Seahorses...
|
The coat hooks
are labelled with the names of the children who last used them...
|
Click
on
the
panoramic photograph above to open up an
interactive panorama
in
a new window...
First sight of the hall and the
main staircase... |
Straight up to the roof skylight
through the staircase...
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Animals were skilfully painted on
the staircase walls...
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A duck and ducklings... |
Badgers,
pheasants and a hare...
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Together with deer... |
The hand painted
animals go all the way up the staircase... |
T taking M taking...
|
T!
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Beautifully ornate balustrades,
Edwardian or Victorian? |
An archway has been bricked up
and a doorway fitted.... |
Stair porn!
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Only the dust on
the cabinet shows this is an abandoned building... |
Teaching aids for
the children are littered about all over the place including the
floor... |
The drive approaches the gardens at
the front of the building from the road...
|
This area appears to have been an
office...
|
Admin trays... |
This has the look of an art
room... |
Looking down to the yard at the side
of the house...
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A sewing machine in perfect
working order... |
A separate block possibly for PE...
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Nativity Play -
the children's faces have been obscured for privacy reasons... |
The yard at the back is brightly
painted...
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The orange bathroom...
|
This
building has much the same
Marie Celeste feel about it
as the nearby Care Home... |
The blue bathroom with conveniences
at Junior
height...
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A shameless self portrait!
|
Up in the attic now...
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M exploring...
|
Part
of a self contained area possibly for the caretaker... |
Flaking plaster, evidence of the
onset of decay...
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A fire escape to the floor below
through the ceiling...
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On our way back down... |
...and further down still to the
ground floor again...
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The kitchens...
|
Clean coffee mugs wait for the
next brew break... |
A pile of clean crockery is
stacked in the corridor... |
Couldn't resist it!
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In search of the lost chord... |
A bit out of tune but
not in bad nick at all considering! |
Oyoy!!!
|
D'you want a face full of beak
pal???
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The smelly room, purpose unknown!
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Clearly this
cellar room was used by the children because of the coat hooks... |
A book stand?
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Roy must have been a carer?
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Another washroom, but normal sink
height...
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The boiler room...
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The Nursery safe... |
Damp plays havoc with pianos...... |
Back outside once more... |
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