There is a term used in the urbex community "A tour bus location".
It simply means every man and his dog has visited the place, claiming " to have found the location". I normally shun these types of places and hunt for more obscure, new locations. However........
......Curiosity killed the cat.
"Got in St Joseph’s Orphanage" was an early morning iMessage i received from
Together with explanatory notes and a handy little map of how to get in!!!!
Well it was on my route up north, only a light detour, what the hell thought I ! So a couple of weeks later I arrived.
This is a secondary entrance added 5 years after the original construction.
Oh Woe is me! both potential entry points had been resealed, devastated, heart broken, inconsolable.
Pissed off!
So it is a short walk about to get some externals for a memorable fail post.
Dilema
Sausage, beans and cheese slice, 2 for £1
Steakbake slice 2 for £1.59
Yes I was challenged by two of the Uk's finest purveyors of pies; opposite each other on the high street.
Walking on spying another potential entry point, nope! Well this is no fucking good. around the corner I goes. and another corner and a narrow alley and a corner, Fuck me it is like being in Hampton Court maze.
I got an erection
C'mon
LETS MOOCH
This is the original entrance to the 1872 orphanage
Dangerous building: Step into the void, the darkness with me, hold my hand if you are fearful.
First impressions, this is pretty sketchy, floors caved in, dark, and dingy.
The orphanage was opened in 1872, a local benefactor, Maria Holland, providing the funds for construction. It was designed to provide accommodation and schooling for up to 60 young girls at a time; under the tutelage and care of The Sisters of Charity of Our Lady Mother of Mercy.
Two nuns in the shower
Nun 1: "Where's the soap?"
Nun 2: " Yes it does, doesn't it"
There wasn't much treasure to be found, but the gothic architecture was to be admired.
I guess sooner or later i would come across something pertaining to religion
Even though someone is a slag, the ornate altar decoration is in wonderful condition.
Dry your eyes mate
I know you want to make her see how much this pain hurts
But you've got to walk away now, it's over
The orphanage was in three sections, a section for the girls, the upper floors living accommodation for the nuns and for visitors.
In 1905, the orphanage inhabitants, moved to new premises, and the building was used solely as a hospital, staffed by the nursing nuns.
A general stumble around these areas I guess.
Up and up we go ancient stairs ornately carved, built to last
I have never understood the logic of storing big lumps of detritus on upper floors, think of all the unnecessary manual handling, let alone the increased fire loading. ( right wind your neck in Mr. Health and Safety).
When I got to the roof space, I was not alone! A feral cat, not interested in coming to me no matter how gently I purred , it hissed and ran off.
Now that has to be the best game of Buckaroo ever, no way through there, and I was lost in the maze of corridors and levels, time to try and retrace my steps.
I am not sure I did, but eventually arrived at the hospital part of the building, this was something I wanted to see.
(The mortuary which was Numero Uno on the list, I couldn't find, but I would have been disappointed as the slab and Christ on the Cross, had been destroyed by mindless vandals, pseudo explorers who get a kick out of posting their destructive actions on Goontube).
The operating theatres
Mount Street Hospital as it became known once the Orphanage closed was equipped with its first operating theatre in 1910
The autoclaves themselves again needlessly bashed about.
Side rooms suitably equipped with easy clean porcelain sinks and drainers, easier to swill the blood away.
Leaving the blood and guts behind.
In WW1 it housed and treated wounded soldiers of the British and Belgian armies
In WW2 it was used to care for sailors of the Dutch and Belgian Navies
A new wing was opened in 1958 by Princess Marina the Duchess of Kent
A different feel to this annexe,
Yes, the chavs have visited, I wonder why poor old Tony is being abused.
Why? who the fuck eats shit like this in the first place, never mind in some long abandoned building.
Which reminds me sausage cheese and beans pasty 2 of them, wins every time.
Yummy Scrummy
In my tummy
Dry Your Eyes lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Pgm Ltd.