After our trip to Normansfield, we still hadn't heard back from our contact, so we headed out to the Leybourne Grange Colony and started shooting a bit. Our contact called while we were inside, and after we figured out the 24 hour clock issue the offer to show us Cane Hill was still standing, and Leybourne Grange was pretty boring, so we returned to Coulsdon to try once more.
We met Law and Clayderman and quickly proceeded to try and get into Cane Hill while it was still quiet. Myself and two others had gotten on the other side of the fence and sprinted toward the main building... then I heard a deep, manic barking from the bushes just ahead of me. When I saw the guard dog leap out from behind some brush I stopped dead in my tracks; I knew if I tried to run it would be a lost cause. The others who were still on the outside perimeter darted off into the woods, and the three of us stood as still as statues as the dog did his job, circling around us and looking as mean and threatening as possible. I heard a man's voice say, "You're under arrest and you will be charged with trespassing and breaking and entering." I remember my thoughts shifting from being very nervous to pissed off. A moment later guard emerged from the bushes and said, "All right then, let's go," and led us and the dog back to a paddy wagon parked inside the fence perimeter. He locked the dog up, which was still frothing at the mouth and barking, and proceeded to unlock and swing open the gate. He moved back towards the tuck as we walked out of the fenced area and back to the foot path. We hadn't said a word to the guard yet, and he didn't seem to be following us... I looked at our guide walking next to me and asked, "Are we going to run?" I was ready to sprint into the woods now that the dog was locked away. He shook his head no, and we calmly walked into the woods, away from it all. The rest of our party popped up from behind trees and the ivy covered forest floor like a bunch of woodland creatures. I was still in shock; first I thought I was dog meat, then going to spend a night in jail, and now I'm home free! We shook it off and went back to the cars and tried for another place that was #2 on my list, the West Park Asylum.
We buzzed through the security checkpoint at West Park with a hand wave, but it looked like the guard wanted to talk to us... ah well. We parked and made our way to the fence, planning everything out, until someone from our group noticed something odd. "What's that?" she asked... it turned out to be a brand new 20 foot pole with anti-climb spikes and a rotating security camera on top. The feed was a wireless signal routed from a repeater mounted on the top of the water tower. "Holy shit, that's new" said our guides, staring at the piles of fresh earth around the base of the poles. Just our luck. We decided to walk around anyway, perhaps there was an easy way in... the buildings were vast and connected by many passages above ground, and pretty tight. We reached a section that looked like it was under demolition or abatement and a construction security guard there told us to leave, so we headed back to our cars, when low and behold was the guard from the gate and another man in a suit with a clipboard in the car. The suit asked us, "Who let you guys in here?" to which we pointed at the guard sitting next to him and replied, "Well, he did"... the guard hung his head in shame following a glaring look and something written down on the clipboard. All quite amusing despite the disappointments.
Our guides then suggested visiting a place with some neat stuff left behind; the idea of seeing equipment in one of these hospitals seemed much more interesting as almost all the places we've explored were pretty empty, so we headed to another psychiatric facility.
Just a quick hop over a wall and we were in; first we climbed into a plain, modern looking building that was separated from the main hospital a bit. A large room that was seemingly full of junk greeted us inside; upon closer inspection there were many very interesting artifacts that were of both daily life and medical in nature.
Afterwards, we proceeded to explore the theater building, which was quite hideous in decor, then tried for the administration block. It was pretty tight so we settled for exterior photos as a few patients wandered by and watched. The other buildings on campus looked more modern and empty, and the rain started to move in, which meant it was beer o'clock for everyone!