Animum fortuna sequatur - Fortune follows the spirited

Et quod possitis est optimus - Be the best that you can be

Plantsbrook School - formerly Riland-Bedford High School

The photographic exploration of the secondary academy school in Sutton Coldfield prior to its imminent demolition in 2017.

The original Riland-Bedford building, named after the prominent local Riland and Bedford families, was constructed in 1939 on land where Holland House in Upper Holland Road once stood. The site was used and developed by American soldiers during the second world war and was temporarily named Holland Road Barracks.

Riland-Bedford High School for Boys and the Riland-Bedford High School for Girls were opened in 1946 in and the building's symmetry providing exactly the same facilities in two joined symmetrical buildings.

In 1986 the school was renamed as Plantsbrook School after a stream that flows through Sutton Coldfield and passes the school.

The school relocated to a new building on the same site which opened in September 2017.

Wednesday 19 July 2017, marked the last official school day in the original school building before it was demolished over the following weeks.

Over this period Richard was grated access to photograph the site recording the memories and scares of the building before they were reduced to rubble. The resulting body of work is a haunting, nostalgic exploration of vacated classrooms, still gym halls and silent corridors.