The Bridge Hotel, Sutton Bridge

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  • Опубліковано 19 вер 2016
  • A great building from the 'railway era' which could be seen for miles around. The hotel was a hub of the community and had a fantastic ballroom, restaurants and bedrooms which boasted running water and Dunlop mattresses. The telephone number was simply 222.
    Many people came by rail to stay at Sutton Bridge.
    The hotel from around 2000 was used by an employment agency called StaffSmart to house workers they had lured over to the UK from South Africa to work in the local canning factory which I believe was then called HLFoods (now Princes). People came from SA on the promise of hotel accommodation and didn't know until they got here that it meant inside the shell of the BRIDGE HOTEL on damp mattresses lined up in each room, including the Ballroom.
    After StaffSmart vacated the hotel, it stood empty with broken windows until it was bought and restored to a high standard with plush furnishings and chandeliers. It was so beautiful. However, the hotel rooms were pricey and without the rail trade of people heading to the village, people would be passing through and tended to stay in cheaper accommodation such as the Travelodge at Long Sutton. The hotel wasn't open for long before closing down and ownership passed through several hands whilst falling further into disrepair.
    In 2015, workmen were seen removing tiles from the roof and also floorboards (authorised or not?) They were removing the boards from beneath beds yet the beds and other furniture they didn't want remained in situ. I expect the hotel was stripped of these by salvage hunters/reclamation companies etc... I suppose the fate of the hotel was sealed then as it was reportedly going to be demolished. Demolition didn't happen though and thinking it may be imminent and we may not get another chance, my group of Urban Explorers accessed the hotel easily and without damage (as the building had been left unsecured) As with any URBEX, we respect where we are, do not take souvenirs or cause any damage whatsoever, and are there only to photograph the decay of wherever we are. With trepidation, we walked through the hotel capturing as many photos as possible but it was extremely dangerous due to the lack of floors.
    Upon getting into the roof where the tiles had been taken on the east side, the view was exhilarating. This can be seen on the video. I expect we were the very last people to savour that view because days later I heard the hotel was on fire and watched in horror as the building I loved was ravaged by fire.
    As the hotel was so devastated by fire, I expect the fire investigators couldn't pinpoint the cause and police have blamed arson due to the building not being secure and there was evidence of people having access to it.
    Yes of course people had access to it. Rear doors were open!! They had been for some time and I heard homeless were living in there, although there were no traces we could see, apart from the general trashing of the place but that may have been done by the salvage hunters who took the floorboards and roof tiles. I fully expect the true cause of the fire to have been electrical as power was still being fed into the building. We observed at least two lights switched on as was the main fusebox. We left them on as it wasn't our place to touch them, plus the worry of electrocution because of water damage from the lack of roof.
    After taking our photographs, we left the hotel exactly as we found it. It was a very sad sight but all we could do was document its demise.
    We didn't know when viewing the Bridge Hotel how soon it would be destroyed. I can't imagine the Bridge without the Bridge Hotel. It would've been protected if it had been a listed building. It could have become apartments. Instead the local council listed a red telephone box! Absolutely ridiculous as they won't vanish or be engulfed in flames. A red telephone box is just used as a gents toilet. If they'd listed the hotel then the owner would be liable for its upkeep.
    People don't value the things around them... the hotel, the shops etc... I doubt the hotel will ever rise again.
    Enjoy....

КОМЕНТАРІ • 33

  • @kevinopperman100
    @kevinopperman100 2 роки тому +2

    I am so sad. I was one of the South Africans that lived in the hotel for some time while working at QV Foods, Lynn Garden and HL Foods. I have many happy memories of the hotel and my time there. Thank you for the video.

    • @GenaFrog
      @GenaFrog  Рік тому

      Hi Kevin, Do you know Leon Pelser? He was also recruited in ZA to work at the canning factory in Sutton Bridge. He got in touch with me several years ago telling me of his time here.

    • @hanarafajova9318
      @hanarafajova9318 Рік тому

      I have one of the worst memories from working there in 2001. The place was an exemplary example of human trafficking as most of the people who worked in the surrounding factories and in the hotel itself were employed illegally and then threatened by the owner that he would report them to the immigration if they did not do what he asked them for. For some girls it meant having sex with him...the filthy, ugly and fat pig! A horrible person he was 😥

  • @albertomastriaoinni589
    @albertomastriaoinni589 2 роки тому +2

    Hi there am I'm Alberto seeing this again still upsets me as I used to stay there a good few times there me mate lives just up the road from it I used to go with me mate stay there and meet me other mate there used to really love it there and the bridge there to seeing it brought back the old memories and that there wouldn't mind knowing what is going on with it as it been knocked down and replaced built or just left as it is

  • @billycarter8073
    @billycarter8073 3 роки тому +2

    It was on fire again yesterday

  • @paulbird3235
    @paulbird3235 4 місяці тому

    So sad to see what once was a thriving businsse reduced to this, but I suppose it's a changing world and time changes everything.

  • @georginalarham1131
    @georginalarham1131 6 років тому +1

    Great to see one of my images being used again.

    • @GenaF
      @GenaF 3 роки тому

      Which one?

  • @GenaFrog
    @GenaFrog  Рік тому

    The Bridge Hotel has recently gone under the hammer at auction once again (November 2022). With a guide price of £80k-£100k it actually sold for well over the guide price at £181,000!
    We can only hope the buyer is wanting to keep the fabric of the old building and doesn't want to tear it down in favour of some new housing on the plot. It currently seems that new houses are being squeezed in every possible space between Long Sutton and West Lynn.
    I can't see the Bridge Hotel ever being viable as a hotel again (unless they have a really unique selling point) as there's the Boat House and the Anchor inn both selling Bed and Breakfast on the doorstep and then the Travel Lodge at Long Sutton and Premier Inn at West Lynn.
    Ideally the Bridge Hotel could be re rebuilt as offices, an indoor market for unique hand made items with separate rooms for each crafter to sell their products, a gym? I don't know, the possibilities are endless but it depends on the money available as there's a lot to do, firstly fixing the roof OR putting a giant scaffold up and over the building with plastic to waterproof it.
    I truly hope it can be rebuilt.

  • @albertomastriaoinni8421
    @albertomastriaoinni8421 4 роки тому +1

    Hi there am Alberto in shanklin how are all doing this hotel has made me sad to see it like this I used to stay there alot as Ms ex lived minutes away from it so so sad to see it really upsetting had great times there I would work on it and spent money on it to get it back to as it was

    • @GenaF
      @GenaF 3 роки тому

      As it was originally built when the railways ran through the area, it had a good customer base and then there were wild fowling men who would stay here too. Since the rails went and everyone got their own cars, people could get where they wanted to much quicker. I suppose that Sutton Bridge maybe lost some of its charm without the railway plus Travel Lodge motels were built at Long Sutton and at Pullover Roundabout at Kings Lynn. They were cheap and although charmless, they were mainly used by travelling salesmen, reps and other workers away from home whose company's paid for the cheapest accommodation, and the Bridge Hotel wasn't able to compete. In 2000 when I moved to the village, the hotel was semi derelict but that's when Staff Smart were using it for their South African employees who were working at HL Foods (canning factory) Mattresses took up every available piece of floor, crammed in the dark damp room which I could see into. Years later the hotel was restored to a high standard and with a Sunday Carvery, a bar and ballroom (just used for any dancing) high room prices but for some reason unknown to me, it suddenly closed and that's when it fell into its final state of disrepair. It was stripped of its copper and lead from the roof, thieves in broad daylight took floorboards and roof tiles; it was reported in the local paper that workmen were busy at the hotel and it was hoped it was going to be saved ! No chance as without roof tiles the hotel rotted away with water damage... and then came the fire! Sadly there's no use for a building of its size and that it's too badly wrecked.

  • @thefifagamer1218
    @thefifagamer1218 7 років тому +3

    I live down nenelands

  • @louisegeeves5110
    @louisegeeves5110 3 роки тому +1

    its cool bacuse i live in sutten brigh my hole inya life and im sad when it burt down :(

    • @albertomastriaoinni589
      @albertomastriaoinni589 2 роки тому +1

      Hi there am Alberto how are you doing so you have lived there all your life then me mate as far as I know still lives there in Tycho close i used to drive there and stay in the hotel its so sad seeing it like that the bloke that used to own it was Chris I believe back in 2007 2008

    • @daredevil1079
      @daredevil1079 2 роки тому +1

      How's the family who live opposite the bridge hotel

    • @GenaFrog
      @GenaFrog  Рік тому

      The schools in Sutton Bridge and Long Sutton aren't very good.

  • @ExplorerX
    @ExplorerX 6 років тому +1

    Is it still there by any chance?

  • @thelocalstoner4313
    @thelocalstoner4313 7 років тому +2

    I've been in there after it was burned

  • @littlealipali
    @littlealipali 2 місяці тому

    May 2024,two brothers have just purchased it. It is to become a home of multiple occupation. What hasn't been said is that I predict it will be housing illegal immigrants. This will not stop until we depose parliament and civil war will ensue in our country once again. Sad times