Great Yarmouth: Crumbling Winter Gardens beauty snapped by photographers

Rachel Daniels, from Great Yarmouth Borough Council, and Sam Jinks, from arts organisation Freshly Greated, pose at the soon-to-be renovated Winter Gardens

Amateur photographers have been granted access to a decaying seaside landmark before major restoration takes place.

The Winter Gardens in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, has stood empty since 2008.

Snappers were invited to capture the "decaying beauty" of the iron and glass structure and peek behind the scaffolding in tours at the weekend.

Sam Jinks, from arts organisation Freshly Greated which put on the tours, said they allowed people to "get connected" with the project.

The Grade II* listed building, on the resort's South Beach Parade, will be transformed after £18m was allocated by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Great Yarmouth Borough Council.

Yvonne Pitt took part in one of the tours

Originally erected in Torquay, the building was transported and reassembled in Norfolk in 1904, reportedly without a single pane of glass breaking.

• 'It's the jewel in the crown of the seafront'

In 2018 it was named among the top 10 endangered buildings of the Victorian and Edwardian eras by the Victorian Society - and it is also named on Historic England's Heritage At Risk Register.

"We call it 'the people's palace' because people have such a connection to the space - they have so many memories of using it, and it's so important to them," said Rachel Daniels, partnership and engagement coordinator for the Winter Gardens project at Great Yarmouth Borough Council.

There is an ongoing consultation about how the new building will be used and what it should look like.

The Winter Gardens were installed in Great Yarmouth in 1904 but have stood empty since 2008

Victorian features of the Winter Gardens have been eroding over the years

June Spruce, 70, from nearby Cobholm, took part in a tour. She took photos of the original floor, having had memories of roller skating there many years ago.

"Looking at the architecture and thinking how wonderful it used to be when we were younger. Just spent so many hours skating and keeping out of trouble," she said.

Richard Pitt, who used to work at the Winter Gardens bar, was keen to get shots of the general architecture.

"You can still see the outlines on the floor where the bar used to be," he said.

Katherine Nicholls was struck by the "very mouldy door" of the toilets

Meanwhile, the toilets proved fascinating for Katherine Nicholls, 27, from Ormesby St Margaret.

"I just love the contrast between the intense mould at the bottom and the way it's gradually going, and the fact that it is permanently locked and says 'do not use' is quite fun," she said.

Mr Jinks said it was hoped some of the photographs taken would be used on the hoardings around the structure.