A previously popular shopping centre is now so overgrown and restricted from public view, locals can catch just glimpses of empty shop fronts.
Thousands used to flock the main public walkway on a Saturday afternoon, although now it's deserted.
Many people in the town of Ebbw Vale, Wales, are familiar with the story of the Festival Park shopping centre, Wales Live reports.
The site has a long history, having previously been chosen for the 1992 National Garden Festival, which attracted over two million people.
But ask people about it now, and you'll mostly hear tales of its demise.
61-year-old postman Tony Wertheim said: "It was sad it went, what happened to it.
"It was jobs, opportunities up there for people. To see it now...I still walk my dog up that way and to see it the way it is. The sooner they get something up there [the better].
"It was very popular. Don't get me wrong, it could have done with better shops up there, maybe, but it was a popular place. It was majority older people going up there, you had your places for a cup of coffee or whatever."
Once there were fairground attractions, plant exhibitions and the famous 'In the Nick of Time' opening mechanical clock on the site.
It also housed over 30 shops including SportsDirect, Julian Charles and Holland and Barrett.
Yet the shopping centre has been deserted for several years now, with its walkways empty, and overgrown, and shop fronts left idle.
Tony added: "They had a café up there and it was one of the best views in south Wales. On a day like today, you're looking down the valley, it was tremendous. It's just so sad really."
The sad state of Festival Park is in sharp contrast to its wild success of yesteryear, having formerly been chosen as the last British Garden Festival location in 1992, on the site of its former British Steel steel and tin works.
Part of a national initiative designed to bolster tourism in areas such as Blaenau Gwent, Prince Charles, Danni Minogue and Catherine Zeta Jones all attended its opening in 1992.
The festival ran for several months that year, and saw over two million visitors, and the site remained popular afterwards.
Locals recall a bustling shopping centre, family days out to visit the free children's play park as well as the fishing lake and owl sanctuary which still remains.
But over the years people say the shopping centre became quieter and by 2021, before it closed for good, SportsDirect was the only shop left.
There were previously about 30 shops at the site.
Attempts to revive the site include a proposed splash park, and rumoured hotel, which have fallen flat in recent years.
In August 2021, the Festival Park was sold, and reasons for its demise vary.
Some say a lack of bigger brands or major anchor tenants was a contributing factor, while others say online shopping and poverty in parts of the valleys also had an impact.
"If you had a Next or something... They did have an M&S but that went," Tony Wertheim said. "You could have done with a few more shops like that, the bigger brands. They had these little shops, rubbish shops really.
"I don't come into town much. If I tend to go anywhere I go to Abergavenny, because it's just such a nicer town. I grew up in Ebbw Vale and have been here all my life, but the town is not the same as it used to be. Years ago it was a brilliant place, but now there's so many charity shops, vape shops, the same sort of thing. I think a lot of the valley towns are the same."
"It was quite a nice place to visit," remembered Jayne Maddy, 57, who is sipping a coffee outside the local café with a friend. "In this town, you have shops but there's not a lot [that is] inviting here. On a nice sunny day you could go down there, take the children and you had the owl sanctuary and the park.
"There's nothing there now. Apart from walking the dog, I don't see anything inviting down there. I don't think they had the right shops. There was none of the everyday shops, it was your designer shops rather than the high street shops." Jayne's friend added that she didn't feel many of the shops at Festival Park were within the price range of people living in the area.
Kim Maguire, who owns KM Gifts and Accessories, is now based on Bethcar Street in Ebbw Vale town centre but was one of Festival Park's original tenants for over 20 years before moving to the shop's current home in 2020. She lamented the sad state of the site today, saying it was a shadow of its former self.
"It was a fabulous place to work. Really great community, excellent for shopping, great for days out. We had Supertubing and different leisure facilities there, a children's park that was free, cafes. The number of customers that come in now and say they miss it. Everybody up there knew everybody who worked there, it was a wonderful place.
"It ended up not working because they didn't have enough anchor tenants there, big names. The company that took it over decided that it wasn't going to be viable after Covid, because they didn't think retail was going to survive, basically."
But after years of false starts and uncertainty, the maligned attraction could face a better future.
Its new owners, Birmingham-based Mercia Real Estate Ltd, have unveiled plans to redevelop Festival Park into a mixed-use business centre which will include businesses, small storage and logistic operators.
The proposals were given the go-ahead by Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council last week with work set to begin later this year.
The site's main use as a shopping centre will be changed with work including demolition of a small number of the existing units and the use of the existing floor areas as a base for additional yard space, parking or roads and paths.
The shopping centre walkway will also be resurfaced to create an access road.
After the plans were approved Councillor John C Morgan, cabinet member for place and regeneration, said they would give Festival Park "a new lease of life" and added: "The development fits strategically with our Tech Valleys vision and addresses local need for further business units within the area.
"From an economic development perspective, we are keen to support business start-ups, support our local indigenous businesses and attract inward investment projects to the area. This development will act as a catalyst for future business and enable further job creation within the area."
Speaking to locals about the plans, there is a mixture of hope and apprehension about Festival Park's future.
"I don't think it's a very good idea," Kim said. "There are so many commercial properties that are empty in the area already, and changing that to a multi-use is not ideal because I just don't feel they will be filled, so it will be empty space.
"I would have thought it would be better to develop it into a leisure facility where you had a cinema, food outlets and things like that, and out of town shopping to be redeveloped there, like it was. Retail in the town is quite strong, you don't have many empty shops. Down by the college they built some new units, and they built other units there that haven't been filled yet. So why do we need more commercial premises?
"If they're not filling up what they've built as brand new... I mean it's going to cost a lot of money to redevelop that into more empty space."
Jo Thomas works a few doors down in Enigma gift shop.
She said Festival Park had actually benefitted the town centre in some respects.
"There's always been a bit of a conflict of interest, because when the garden centre closes down the town centre becomes busier," she said. "We never had a direct competitor down there, so we never saw a big increase after they shut.
"For us, [it shutting] made no difference to us, but a couple of the shops from there relocated in the town centre, so it has had some benefits because those shops are bringing their customers who might not have come to Ebbw Vale town before. I'm sure that's brought a bit of trade to the town. A couple of the shops that have come up like KM's were some of the better ones too.
"It was a really great place to take children, when my nephews and nieces were small we'd quite often go down. They had a beautiful garden centre down there so my mum loved that as well. Obviously it was always really good because there is a lot of parking down there, so you never had a problem. Which is the opposite with the town centre which is semi-pedestrianised, and people don't like the multi-storey car park - if you've ever been in there, you'll understand why."
"People will park across the back and stuff, you've got traffic wardens coming around. So that's the difference, people had a lot more flexibility [at Festival Park]. The shops down there were quaint, quirky, something a bit different which was really good as well. We haven't got any shoe or clothes shops in the town centre, whereas they used to have nice ones in the Festival Park. It was very family-friendly. You didn't just go there to go shopping, there was a lot happening down there.
"I don't know why it didn't work, because it was very successful for a long time. Online shopping has had an impact on the retail sector. I think everything new is a good thing for the area.
"It would have been such a waste of space, shops and properties. I don't think anybody is going to be saying that it's not a good thing for us."
Tony Wertheim said there were a lot of empty units in the area generally. "I deliver all around here and there are so many units empty. And they want to put more down there? A lot of the shops probably shut because of the rates, they weren't being helped out. Rates were so high and then one goes, and then another, and then it goes that way.
"You have a walk through there with the dogs and it's so hard to see it. All the shops are struggling. I was in Cardiff the other day and seeing some of the big shops closed there. If it's happening down there, what chance have these valley towns got?"
Anne Griffiths and her friend Julie Griffiths both miss Festival Park, but agree that a change of use was better than it being empty.
"Because there's not much in the valleys, it was just nice to go down there," Julie said. "People used to say the rates were really high. I think it was due to the running. Traders used to change shops. You'd go down one week and the shop you liked would be in a different premises.
"At least it's something going down there. It's shocking down there apparently. It was pleasant, they did things with children down there and the owl sanctuary. It's a shame because the garden centre was such a success."
"It was the worst thing that happened when they shut," Anne added "It was lovely. I used to go there every Saturday and you could just sit there and have a coffee.
"You can't buy anything now in town. You can't buy a pair of shoes. With all the houses, they'd want something here."
Jayne Maddy said the new development was "disappointing", adding: "It brought a bit of life to the town. It was an hour out, take the children down there. Now, there's nowhere local to go. Unless you have a car.
"The bus service there was stopped. With Blaenau Gwent having so much unemployment and poverty, that attraction wasn't within their price range. People would come from out of town for it, that's obviously stopped.
"I think it is a last throw of the dice. It's not an investment to the town. It's more trying to fill the empty spaces with probably out-of-town businesses, which might be cheaper for them to rent than in the cities."
Another resident Sue Llewellyn said she was "really disappointed" when the centre closed.
"It was lovely. I used to pop up there and have a wander around and a coffee. I was really disappointed when it went. We haven't got a lot of town, and it was somewhere nice to go and see somewhere different.
"There seemed to be a lot of people about, but I think the shops were quite expensive, for the area you know? It's a poor area. I think we need things like Primark, that would go a bomb around here. You've got to go to Cardiff or something if you want decent shops.
"I thought they were going to end up putting housing up there. They knocked the old school and college down, they're putting houses everywhere. It seems like all the houses they're building are selling. I don't know how with some of the prices, they're extortionate. I don't think it's the sort of place people want to move unless they're local."
In a statement after the plans were approved last week, Mercia Real Estate Ltd CEO Samuel Clark said: "The site is currently vacant and the application captures the opportunity to transform and repurpose the existing shopping mall.
"The focus will be on providing space for a mixture of businesses, trades and warehouse operators, but the proposals will allow a full range of employment generating activities to be considered. We are confident that the proposed new plans for Festival Park will be an attractive proposition to new and existing businesses."
Mercia Real Estate Ltd was contacted for further comment.
