Considering the wreckage upstairs, this ground floor ward was in good repair. The glass was unbroken,
the mirrors were unsmashed, and we could still get a tune out of the baby grand piano.
A piano?!!!
More evidence that Lidgett/Lettsom wards were the "Fun! Fun! Fun!" wards of Cane Hill.
Pool table, funky lighting and piano - what more could you ask for.
I guess it was a little stupid, making Liggett/Lettsom ward the designated fun zone, with
the nurses all trying to sleep next door.
Interestingly this piano was mentioned on an old Usenet posting:
From: Scram (panther_modern@hushmail.com)
Subject: Re: Creeping Out A Best Friend
Newsgroups: alt.alien.vampire.flonk.flonk.flonk
Date: 2001-02-13 06:40:49 PST
Some frinds and I did a B/W photo shoot in an old mental hospital.
Called Cane Hill, it was originally used as an assylum for unmarried
mothers and fatherless children. It then became a home for the
criminally insane (specifically, the clinical term is 'Forensic Mental
Health Unit'). The shoot turned out some really good pics (although
twatty bollocks here managed to improperly load three of the films.
One night, the three of us got extremely stoned and runk and decided
to have a wander around the place....with no torch, no lights
whatsoever...other than the flash gun on my camera.
We'd previously found a room that held an old (mini) grand piano. Upon
our arrival, we rolled a load of doobies, broke out more Vodka (for
that is what we were drinking at the time) and played sombre tunes for
about 2 hours while exploring various areas (sporadically mooching off
to the tunes of a lone piano).
It was, without a doubt, an extremely memorable evening.
Fear not. The pool table, perched upstairs, is at the opposite end of the ward. When it goes, it's not going to smash
through the piano.
I think that is a slight pity. Imagine the surprise, horror and fear that a unsuspecting
rambler, walking around the perimeter (and hopefully freaked out by ‘hammer man’ who hangs
around the nurses’ accommodation next door) who hears the final creaks of the upstairs
joists giving way, the cracks of the pool table breaking free, and the final massive ‘doom chord’
of the baby grand as the pool table smashes through it.