From hotel to eternity (Weekly Photo Challenge: Threshold)

Poor old pub, on its last legs.

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This grand old watering hole sits abandoned in the main street of Yass (New South Wales, Australia). It dominates Comur Street and is one of the oldest and largest buildings in the centre of town.

The last drink was poured around 2005. The poor old Commercial Hotel has sat idle since, a wry smile across its tooth-gapped facade. The chatter and din of merrymakers just a memory echoing faintly across the floor boards.

In its heyday it was one of 27 inns in Yass or nearby. It was the coaching stop for Cobb and Co. coaches connecting Yass to the railway that terminated at Gunning at the time, half an hour away, and to places further bush.

Although the pub sold in 2010 it has remained abandoned, slowly falling apart bit by bit, helped by some wanton vandals. The beautiful wrought iron has been broken panel by panel. Precious stained glass windows and door panels have been kicked in.

Last year, though, some effort to band-aid the decay was made. The downstairs doors and windows facing the street were painted with bright murals to celebrate the ‘Turning Wave Festival‘.

But as I was taking these photos on Sunday a passerby told me that the Commercial was going to be pulled down soon and a three storey building with shops and apartments built instead. History gone.

But a new beginning awaits!

So raise your glass to the poor old pub and ‘be on yer way home now’.  ♦

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Weekly Photo Challenge, ‘Threshold’

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2014/04/04/photo-challenge-threshold/

Photos taken 2 March 2014 with Fuji FinePix S2980

Commercial Hotel, established in the 1840s, cnr Comur and Lead Streets, Yass, New South Wales, Australia

For some photos of the interior of the pub see the real estate pages from May 2010.