| Jean suggested that we visited a
deserted gold mining town called Bodie, the largest 'ghost' town in
California. It was a little way off the 395 which for my money, was one
of the best drives I have ever done. The snow capped Sierra mountains on
one side, the White Mountains on the other. Just set the cruise control
to 55 and away we go! |
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| Above is a 180 degree panorama of the
farmlands just over 'the hill' from Lake Tahoe. |
| During the second half of the 19th century,
Bodie was
a bustling gold mining town with a population of about 8000. It remained
in production until 1942 when mining was banned because of the war. |
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We arrived towards lunchtime after negotiating a very
long, very dusty road leading from the edge of nowhere to the middle of
nowhere. |
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The memorial tells us more about this uncannily quiet
time. In 1962 the state acquired the whole town
and has kept it in a state of 'arrested decay'. |
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The church interior is in reasonable shape despite
some serious vandalism years ago. |
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This is, I believe, a water closet, or Loo, or lavvy,
or restroom where subsidence has created a bizarre image! |
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The really spooky thing about Bodie were
the interiors which were just as they were when the last people moved
out decades ago.
I pressed the camera lens right up to
the windows with a wide angle lens and a long exposure to get these. |
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this room was needing a little T.L.C. in the wallpaper department! |
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This could have been a set from a period drama I lit
years ago for the BBC: The District Nurse! |
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Here a young girl peers in through the dirty
windows. |
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Here is the mine with apparent smoke coming
from the chimney.
It was just the way the clouds were! |
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