By Alex Jones
A LONG-ABANDONED Welsh cottage is a melancholic reminder of what life was like fifty years ago.
Remarkable photos of a forgotten house buried deep in rural Wales show a charming stone cottage being slowly reclaimed by nature. Inside the property is a time capsule of mid-20th century fashions – including a turquoise green bathroom suite, peeling brown and orange patterned wallpaper, and a fascinating array of trinkets and oddities that are sure to spark memories of a visit to your grandparent’s house.
Urban explorer and photographer The Elusive, who prefers to remain anonymous, stumbled across the dilapidated property by mistake whilst trekking the Denbigh Moors in North Wales.
After investigating a little used track The Elusive was stunned to find a compact detached cottage, after expecting to find some long forgotten farm buildings. The house had clearly been empty for some time, and the photographer was mystified by the ‘sad and stale’ home.
“I don’t normally do that many residential properties but as I stumbled on this one, I thought it would be rude not to take a look around,” the urban explorer explains.
“The front door was locked so I walked around the back of the property and the back door was open. I stepped in and I was suddenly inside a rural time capsule, with every room sporting a different décor and various states of decay. The piano was incredibly mouldy I suspect that this place has been either abandoned for a very long time or the last person living here led a very impoverished existence – which is more common than we like to think.”
The Elusive typically photographs large scale industrial and commercial properties and was enchanted by the intimacy of capturing somebody’s home.
“They just don’t make tiles and wallpaper like that anymore,” the explorer continued.
“And a mint green bathroom suite – not many of those left nowadays! It has definitely been a good while since the place was modernised but personally I love the retro look. It seems only the spiders that have enjoyed it for a while though.
“I just felt a little sad as I often do in these places, you never really know the reasons behind why a place falls into disrepair like this and as you walk around, you can’t stop yourself from wondering what took place here.
“It’s the same for most people I show the photos to – most people think the images are sad and many ask if it felt eerie. It didn’t really, just a bit sad and stale.”