PENYBANC, Clyne, Neath Port Talbot 2019
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Notes on PENYBANC, Clyne, Neath Port Talbot 2019
I saw this house whilst walking to another ruin half a mile away or so. The house is large, and I believe as originally built as two houses but at some point, judging by partitions inside, was lived in as one house. I reached the house by nipping beneath the railway bridge along the B4434 and alongside the railway line and through woodland. The house is strange in its location, elevated in the corner of field, the driveway long grown over, the sense of previous owners long passed. I have visited many ruins these last few decades but Penybanc (I believe is the name of the house but if it is indeed two properties surely it should have two names) did leave me feeling uneasy. It felt out of place, as if I returned tomorrow it would no longer be there. I confess it sounds ridiculous. I’ve rarely felt fearful at a ruin, mostly its fear of a falling beam, masonry or for trespassing or even pigeons or owls suddenly making their presence known. Penybanc felt odd for other reasons, the front room of the left side of the house had been boarded up so there was no access through the front doorway. Is that reason enough to feel spooked? No. The roof clung on loosely but the floors within were all rotten and missing. The two front doors had been place on the staircases, prohibiting access – surely to stop the sheep from climbing the stairs and hurting themselves but the fact that it also stopped me also spooked me (not that I’d have climbed the stairs, it was far too dangerous). And thus the house stands, a total mess within but seemingly in a relatively good condition on the outside.
Nonetheless for all my misgivings, a number of exposures were made of this un-Welsh looking house. The sheep watched unimpressed but neither did they run. Another house only a field away also stood much ruinous but I had used up all my film and thought, ‘next time’ (although quite often the ‘next time’ can take a couple of years).
I saw this house whilst walking to another ruin half a mile away or so. The house is large, and I believe as originally built as two houses but at some point, judging by partitions inside, was lived in as one house. I reached the house by nipping beneath the railway bridge along the B4434 and alongside the railway line and through woodland. The house is strange in its location, elevated in the corner of field, the driveway long grown over, the sense of previous owners long passed. I have visited many ruins these last few decades but Penybanc (I believe is the name of the house but if it is indeed two properties surely it should have two names) did leave me feeling uneasy. It felt out of place, as if I returned tomorrow it would no longer be there. I confess it sounds ridiculous. I’ve rarely felt fearful at a ruin, mostly its fear of a falling beam, masonry or for trespassing or even pigeons or owls suddenly making their presence known. Penybanc felt odd for other reasons, the front room of the left side of the house had been boarded up so there was no access through the front doorway. Is that reason enough to feel spooked? No. The roof clung on loosely but the floors within were all rotten and missing. The two front doors had been place on the staircases, prohibiting access – surely to stop the sheep from climbing the stairs and hurting themselves but the fact that it also stopped me also spooked me (not that I’d have climbed the stairs, it was far too dangerous). And thus the house stands, a total mess within but seemingly in a relatively good condition on the outside.
Nonetheless for all my misgivings, a number of exposures were made of this un-Welsh looking house. The sheep watched unimpressed but neither did they run. Another house only a field away also stood much ruinous but I had used up all my film and thought, ‘next time’ (although quite often the ‘next time’ can take a couple of years).
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