Masters of Decay

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Exploring since 2021

• Abandoned railways
• Industrial Factories and machinery
• Caves and Mine Adits
• WW2 forts and Bunkers
• Underground Tunnels & ruins
• Hotels and Hospitals

Out and about exploring WW2 relics, we found this bunker in a field overlooking Wembury near Plymouth at Worswell. Not s...
18/06/2026

Out and about exploring WW2 relics, we found this bunker in a field overlooking Wembury near Plymouth at Worswell. Not sure what its purpose was but it appears to have housed some sort of generator in one room and possible ammo storage in the other, with a ladder going up to the roof via a hatch.

A bit of a hike getting here but worth travelling and documenting whatever it was, does anyone here know what it might be?

Something a little different… an abandoned house built using two integrated former Metropolitan railway carriages from t...
14/06/2026

Something a little different… an abandoned house built using two integrated former Metropolitan railway carriages from the 1900s. An absolute shame someone has decided to trash the place but the coaches themselves appear to still be in good condition probably due to having a roof built over them, their bogies long since removed. Been derelict for a while now and sits not too far from an active mainline.

Shaugh Bridge Halt - the Plym Valley Line part 2Opened in 1907 not far from Shaugh Prior this small somewhat isolated st...
09/06/2026

Shaugh Bridge Halt - the Plym Valley Line part 2

Opened in 1907 not far from Shaugh Prior this small somewhat isolated station was mostly used by visitors to nearby Dewerstone Rock. In 1962 along with the rest of the branch line, the station closed in December that year. Today the bridge and platform still exist as part of the trail.

Shaugh Tunnel - the Plym Valley Line (1859-1962) a railway tunnel with its own mine adit.Built not too far from Yelverto...
06/06/2026

Shaugh Tunnel - the Plym Valley Line (1859-1962) a railway tunnel with its own mine adit.

Built not too far from Yelverton in 1856 and completed in 1859 by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The tunnel spans 422 yards or 300 metres long and has a notable curve to it. The railway line closed at the end of 1962 and became fully closed by 1964.

Today it is open to the public as a 35 mile cycling route connecting Marshmills with Yelverton with the Plym Valley Railway operating as far as Plymbridge woods.

Two notable features to this tunnel include a raised Leat bridge over the south portal. Towards the other end of the tunnel is a mine adit that spans quite a long distance (potentially 300+ metres) but gets narrower the further you go and is flooded.

Overall a really great explore and not often you get the chance to have something like this open to the public.

An evening venture out to Rippon Tors old rifle range on Dartmoor built during World War 2 in 1942.When WW2 began in 193...
28/05/2026

An evening venture out to Rippon Tors old rifle range on Dartmoor built during World War 2 in 1942.

When WW2 began in 1939 a lot of the land on Dartmoor were being used for military training, most notably artillery firing. As part of the training facilities, a new rifle range was built near Rippon Tor and was completed in 1942. After the war in 1948 the range was authorised to continue operating for the use of local units of the Territorial Army. The range closed in 1977 as an implementation of the recommendations of the Nugent Committee.

The rifle range features a notable 55 meter long brick reinforced stop butt which is 9.2 meters tall and is supported by 29 brick buttresses on the north side. A concrete/brick markers gallery which still has some of the metal mechanisms that once raised and lowered its target pattern frames, connected to this structure is the now demolished target store and workshop.

Down by the entrance is a former concrete troop shelter and toilet block as well as 6 earthwork firing points which are set roughly 92 metres apart to the east. A brick structure which houses four galvanised storage tanks sits near the butts. A vintage Ford 550 digger has been sitting near the brick structure since 2019.

Overall a nice little exploration, was nice to get back on Dartmoor again to document our local history.

A sneak peek into this old mine adit, somewhere we intend to revisit and properly document soon.
27/05/2026

A sneak peek into this old mine adit, somewhere we intend to revisit and properly document soon.

Palmerston forts surround Plymouth and were all built to protect the local naval bases on the channel coast from French ...
23/05/2026

Palmerston forts surround Plymouth and were all built to protect the local naval bases on the channel coast from French invasion during the 1850s and 1860s.

The largest fort, named Tregantle, conpleted in 1865, was specifically designed to be much larger than the rest of the forts and was armed with 35 large guns (mainly RBL 7 inch guns and 32 pounder SBBL guns)

The fort included a large oval shaped barracks accommodation block known as the “keep” which we will post separately, with its own network of underground rooms and tunnels. The fort was vacated after WW1 ended but was being used by 1938 just before WW2 broke out.

It became a scheduled monument in 1968 and listed in 1987, today half of the site is still in use with the remainder left disused.

With special thanks to Matt for showing us around.

A look inside Devon’s derelict 19th century Paper MillThe area has a long history of paper making dating back to the lat...
21/05/2026

A look inside Devon’s derelict 19th century Paper Mill

The area has a long history of paper making dating back to the late 1700s and Stowford Mill was producing paper by 1787. In the 1860s it had doubled in size with new buildings built - the ones that still stand today, employed 300 workers which were a large percentage of the town’s population around this period.

It was sold around 1910 to a new owner which saw its decline and an accidental fire in 1914, the site was once again sold in 1923 to a bigger company which put the mill back in order. Paper production peaked at the turn of the 21st century however it was declining by the 2010s subsequently producing its last reels of paper by 2014, it closed soon after.

Much of the land has been redeveloped into housing and the 1862 building still stands albeit partially demolished and stripped, despite there still being a fair bit of stuff left behind in some rooms.

The branch line connecting Kingsbridge with South Brent opened in 1893, ran roughly 12 miles and features a long straigh...
18/05/2026

The branch line connecting Kingsbridge with South Brent opened in 1893, ran roughly 12 miles and features a long straight railway tunnel known as Sorley Tunnel which is 625 yards or 530 meters long, (one of the longest disused railway tunnels in Devon). The line closed to traffic on September 14th 1963 with the track ripped up soon after.

At some point the tunnel was being used as a haunted attraction by a nearby farm but hasn’t been used for a very long time.

We haven’t covered a railway tunnel for a while so it was good to get back inside one.

Part Two of a trip around Whitsand bay looking for remnants from World War II. An interesting structure near a farm alo...
14/05/2026

Part Two of a trip around Whitsand bay looking for remnants from World War II. An interesting structure near a farm along B3247, looks like an old lookout post with the remains of a nissan hut, couldn’t get anywhere near it though as the ground was boggy and I went knee high in muckspread. And three brick/concrete garages near Whitsand Bay Fort, I think these would’ve housed military vehicles as they’re identical in size and feature two “parking” spaces along a concrete road.

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