cane hill | grand tour
13|07|02

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.