Where do I start with Whitchurch. 4 visits, 3 sleepovers, 2 run-ins with the dogs, one day stuck in the city centre accused of being a vagrant. Fun times and lots of great memories.
Visit 1 in April with prettyvacant71, @jsp77 and our friend Lady Pandora back in the good old days when security were active and the cameras worked etc. but we had a nice long relaxing day undisturbed inside.
Visit 2 in April happened after myself and pv71 bumped into @Salmon and @clebby in the X-ray room at another hospital. We ended up going along to Whitchurch with them and got them inside. Myself and pv71 stayed the night and woke up to a dog in our faces, all because another explorer had been spotted on camera climbing the fence at 5.30am. Despite discovering us asleep and leaving us be, they picked him up quickly and he decided to be a true gent and make our whereabouts known to the lovely lady with little puppy dog, resulting in myself and prettyvagrant71 being taken down town, so cheers for that ya fucking grass!
Visit 3 in September I stayed the night alone and was joined by @Grom and one of his mates who I’d met before and @mookster plus a couple of his mates, great to meet you both. Mookster and his mates missed all the drama and had a nice chilled day. I got Grom and his mate out after spotting what I though was security inside, and after deciding to stay behind alone I was quickly collared by that stranger and his two big hounds. Luckily he was a lovely chap and after chatting for 20 mins or so I was on my way.
Visit 4 in October with pv71 and @jsp77, my flatmate and her best mate came along for the ride too. That was the weekend the hole in the fence got repaired, a ridiculous amount of security were inside the fence with a dog, and things got a little bit more difficult again. Great fun! We bumped into @CookieRaider. I forgot everyone else’s screen names but it was great to meet you all. Somehow we all got in and out unseen. Good times!
So yeah, lots of great memories with friends that I will laugh about for a long long time! Glad I got to see it before the summer holidays when the kids got in. And I am really happy I got to see (I think) pretty much the whole place.
Some history:
Formerly the Cardiff City Mental Hospital, Whitchurch Asylum. Built in 1908, cost £350,000, and took ten years to build. It was built as a fully self contained institute, with a power house, water tower and farm.
During WW2 part of the hospital was used as a military hospital, treating US, UK and German military personnel. The hospital retained 200 beds for public use which enabled the early treatment of PTSD of military patients.
In the early 2000's a programme was put into place, which was to eventually phase out the current and aging building, and fully replace services, as the hospital was becoming unfit for purpose for the time.
Plans for residential developments on the site had originally been brought up in the mind 90's, and provisionally agreed in 2001. In 2012, the planning permission for this scheme as renewed of another 4 years, which brings us to 2016, when the last remaining services in the hospital left and were relocated, and the hospital scheduled to be "dismantled" and redeveloped.
April:
September:
April:
September:
Visit 1 in April with prettyvacant71, @jsp77 and our friend Lady Pandora back in the good old days when security were active and the cameras worked etc. but we had a nice long relaxing day undisturbed inside.
Visit 2 in April happened after myself and pv71 bumped into @Salmon and @clebby in the X-ray room at another hospital. We ended up going along to Whitchurch with them and got them inside. Myself and pv71 stayed the night and woke up to a dog in our faces, all because another explorer had been spotted on camera climbing the fence at 5.30am. Despite discovering us asleep and leaving us be, they picked him up quickly and he decided to be a true gent and make our whereabouts known to the lovely lady with little puppy dog, resulting in myself and prettyvagrant71 being taken down town, so cheers for that ya fucking grass!
Visit 3 in September I stayed the night alone and was joined by @Grom and one of his mates who I’d met before and @mookster plus a couple of his mates, great to meet you both. Mookster and his mates missed all the drama and had a nice chilled day. I got Grom and his mate out after spotting what I though was security inside, and after deciding to stay behind alone I was quickly collared by that stranger and his two big hounds. Luckily he was a lovely chap and after chatting for 20 mins or so I was on my way.
Visit 4 in October with pv71 and @jsp77, my flatmate and her best mate came along for the ride too. That was the weekend the hole in the fence got repaired, a ridiculous amount of security were inside the fence with a dog, and things got a little bit more difficult again. Great fun! We bumped into @CookieRaider. I forgot everyone else’s screen names but it was great to meet you all. Somehow we all got in and out unseen. Good times!
So yeah, lots of great memories with friends that I will laugh about for a long long time! Glad I got to see it before the summer holidays when the kids got in. And I am really happy I got to see (I think) pretty much the whole place.
Some history:
Formerly the Cardiff City Mental Hospital, Whitchurch Asylum. Built in 1908, cost £350,000, and took ten years to build. It was built as a fully self contained institute, with a power house, water tower and farm.
During WW2 part of the hospital was used as a military hospital, treating US, UK and German military personnel. The hospital retained 200 beds for public use which enabled the early treatment of PTSD of military patients.
In the early 2000's a programme was put into place, which was to eventually phase out the current and aging building, and fully replace services, as the hospital was becoming unfit for purpose for the time.
Plans for residential developments on the site had originally been brought up in the mind 90's, and provisionally agreed in 2001. In 2012, the planning permission for this scheme as renewed of another 4 years, which brings us to 2016, when the last remaining services in the hospital left and were relocated, and the hospital scheduled to be "dismantled" and redeveloped.
April:
September:
April:
September:
All those visits were worth the effort
