Report - Palace Hotel Grounds, Torquay, Autumn 2018

[Adzitude]

Good luck with that. It may happen on a very rare occasion but it's not worth them losing their job over if anything untoward happens whilst inside. The way to do it is contact the buildings owner or developer and see where that gets you.

Singapore owners (fragrance group) so really hard to get hold of But agreed, even if you gave them £50,i guess it's not worth their careers.

 

[Cortinalights]

Singapore owners (fragrance group) so really hard to get hold of But agreed, even if you gave them £50,i guess it's not worth their careers.

There must be a way, they owe it to people if they're gonna demolish it anyway, we will work summat out mmmmmmmmmm

 

[Adzitude]

There must be a way, they owe it to people if they're gonna demolish it anyway, we will work summat out mmmmmmmmmm

I wonder if these security guards see us and think we wanna mess the place up, if it's obvious we are just here to photo the place it might be different... They might not have even heard of urban exploration

 

[Giymo85]

I wonder if these security guards see us and think we wanna mess the place up, if it's obvious we are just here to photo the place it might be different... They might not have even heard of urban exploration

The security company involved here is of a relatively decent nature, not a tin pot operation. They know the rules by which they must abide and they know all about this scene. Their operators are sound too.

 

[Gasman]

Great photo's. Well done. I had the same experience as other explorers, as soon as i was on the grounds a guy appeared and asked us to leave. Nice chap really, very chatty. He said they have check points in the grounds and hotel that they have to get around to. Depending where he is and where you are, depends when he sees you I suppose. I offered him cash to let us in and explore but he wasn't having none of it. He knew all about the exploring scene and said it wasn't worth him losing his job over. Maybe it will change in time. He said it isn't being knocked down as yet

 

[Splorex]

Contact details for secca! Might be useful to anyone who can come up with a Plan 'C' !!

 

[Cortinalights]

Contact details for secca! Might be useful to anyone who can come up with a Plan 'C' !!

See it says they're patrolling it but I did notice that there were not any signs saying 'Keep Out' so I thought it was ok to go in

 

[Splorex]

See it says they're patrolling it but I did notice that there were not any signs saying 'Keep Out' so I thought it was ok to go in

You have a very good point there, Cortinalights, I just feel that it's such a rarity to find decent secca, it seems a shame to piss them off, especially when I've been clocked and still the guy had the time to chat, some of the stuff he was talking about included the diversity of people who have wanted to have a look around, a lot of which are not Urbexers but people who remember going there when it was open, I'm a bit of both, I learned to swim in their indoor pool during the late sixties when it looked like this...
(The second pic shows what it became)

 

[Splorex]

Haha not at all, thanks for filling the gaps, was going to go and have a look at the lower garden but there was someone walking around down there near that wooden bear so after doing the swimming pool we snuck of round the other side unnoticed, but your photo looks like it was taken around the same time as ours, maybe it was you we saw?! ::

Here is the link to Mystery Magical Monkey Man's 'splore, the video at the beginning isn't the Palace, however, some of you regular viewers may recognize it as Mountfield House, Musbury, Axminster! The Palace gallery is pretty good though, despite being on a typically naff local affairs website!

https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/gallery/inside-torquays-derelict-palace-hotel-1899677

 

[Splorex]

I know it seems a shame not to be able crack this one but, things could be a lot worse, if the Palace was a free-for-all it would most likely end up like the Edgcumbe Hotel in Newquay which rapidly went from this, https://www.28dayslater.co.uk/threads/edgcumbe-hotel-newquay-july-2015.97725/
to this, https://www.28dayslater.co.uk/threads/edgecumbe-hotel-newquay-cornwall-august-2018.114493/
not just a mess but also somewhere I wouldn't wanna go now due some rather nasty sounding junkie squatters that moved in...

 

[Rachelac1]

Some good shots there bud, surprised that you didn't pop up that lovely fountain though. Hope you don't mind me adding it in.

Grounds only I'm afraid because there was no access to the hotel itself for me but there's plenty of interesting stuff to see. I went to have a look because there's been a story in the local newspaper about how someone's been inside and taken creepy photos of things like a toy monkey hanging from a fireplace but when I went there the whole building was locked tight so it was just a quick look around the 19 acre grounds before being asked to leave by security. The hotel looks untouced so not sure how mystery monkey man did it. I have included one photo taken through the window to show what it looks like inside.

The pale green Palace Hotel now seems set for demolition which does seem a shame for such a vast building with so much history. It was built in 1841 as Bishopstowe, home to Bishop of Exeter Henry Phillpotts (yeah I don't know what he thought he was doing living in Torquay) before being extended into the 141 roomed Palace Hotel by George Hands in 1921. It became a wartime convelescence home in 1939, but that was ended with tragic consequences by a 1942 bombing raid which almost saw the hotel being demolished. Undoubtedly one of Torquay's big name hotels and it even hosted the Tory party conference in 1987. After being aquired by an investment company the hotel suddenly closed in July 2017 with an auction of every bed, plate and teaspoon taking place in November of that year.

I went there once about five years ago when I was in Torquay and had a drink in one of the vast lounges that ovelook the garden. I liked it there so feel quite sad to see it fading away like this.

Did you check out the two cottages? It had security when I went a few months ago, had to hide lol

 

[Cortinalights]

Did you check out the two cottages? It had security when I went a few months ago, had to hide lol

No! Yeah I had heard of them but I don't think I saw them, or are they up behind the tennis courts towards the road? In which case I don't think I realised they're part of it, well there's plenty of trees to hide in hey and it always adds to the fun, were you there recently?

 

[Cortinalights]

I know it seems a shame not to be able crack this one but, things could be a lot worse, if the Palace was a free-for-all it would most likely end up like the Edgcumbe Hotel in Newquay which rapidly went from this, https://www.28dayslater.co.uk/threads/edgcumbe-hotel-newquay-july-2015.97725/
to this, https://www.28dayslater.co.uk/threads/edgecumbe-hotel-newquay-cornwall-august-2018.114493/
not just a mess but also somewhere I wouldn't wanna go now due some rather nasty sounding junkie squatters that moved in...

I suppose if it's their home now they get pissed off with visitors taking photos all the time, but yeah know what you mean, would rather it was looked after in the hope we get a chance to have a look round one day rather than it gets completely trashed, there's not much fun walking round some of these old hotels where you're basically photographing a rubbish dump

 

[Splorex]

The final farewell!

 

[Robbie75]

Tragic to see the old place like this. The Palace was a family haunt as my aunt knew the Hands family. Winnie Hands lived opposite the hotel and we would visit her as kids. They were a wealthy family but Winnie was always very careful with her cash. She would send over to the hotel every morning for the papers as she was too mean to buy them. As a child I was fascinated by the face of her watch. It was made entirely of diamonds.

My aunt was a fire watcher during the war there. The roofs are flat and could be accessed by a little door (that was never locked) at the top of one of the central staircases.

The Palace was once the place to be. I have photographs of my aunt at grand occasions in ball gowns drinking cocktails and dancing to big bands.

Many happy memories of an amazing hotel. Towards the end it had faded but standards were always important. The gardens and golf course were always beautiful.