It seemed a lovely day for a road trip.... damp, drizzly and grey when we set off from sunny wallsend.... but a two hour game of 'yellow car' later and we arrived in East Fortune in glorious winter sunshine!

Never been here before, but our guide had, so we set off into what looks at first glance like an old army base, explained once i had a look into the place...

East Fortune Airfield was built in 1915 as part of a network to protect Britain from German Zeppelin airship attack during the First World War.
The airfield was a base for both fighter aircraft to destroy the Zeppelins, and British airships which operated in a coastal defence role.
In 1922, a number of buildings and a portion of land were given over to create the East Fortune Hospital. This acted as a tuberculosis sanatorium for the whole of the south east of Scotland.
For the duration of World War II, the airfield was brought back into service, primarily as a training base and the hospital patients were transferred to Bangour Hospital in West Lothian. I can’t imagine it being much fun convalescing on the outskirts of an airfield, can you?!
After the War the hospital was re-instated, but by 1956 the number of tuberculosis patients began to decrease and the hospital changed its function to house mentally handicapped children, with similarly diagnosed adults being admitted 3 years later.

The hospital finally closed in 1997 and the remaining patients were transferred to Roodlands Hospital. It has stood derelict ever since. Possibly due to its fairly rural location it has stayed realitivly intact over the years, with little damage other than rot and damp.

Enjoy the pics!































**mudlark**