Tales of the Urban Explorer: High Elms Mental Hospital
What’s better than walking out of one mansion and straight into another?
A spectacular orgasm would be one thing or the initial rush of coming up on some dubious substance another, but seeing this monstrous hulking building lurking behind what looked like a solid fence was intriguing.
High Elms was until 2013 in use by the NHS as a rehabilitation centre for people with mental health issues. Since that time the site and building has been left vacant with the building falling into a poor state of repair.
We could hear some builders next door and so I had to unfasten my wad of disposable gags and attach one firmly to @anidiotexplores mouth lest he started his ritual singing.
This one was going to require stealth as we would need to sneak past whoever was making a racket in the adjoining property.
After some initial checking, @anidiotexplores climbed over a 12 fence and ushered me in through a much easier gap that neither of us had initially noticed.
We were on the grounds but that meant nothing. High Elms was not on the current TourBus which meant access was a complete unknown.
This mansion, or was it another ex-council building was big, too big for a family surely?
Scouting around the edges and trying to avoid some houses where potential Karen’s could see us, we quickly found an access point and entered with ease.
From the first seconds, I could see that High Elms was not another Brook House and I would have to be content with what has become my base quality of explores, that is derpy derps.
The paintwork was peeling badly and there were the frequent large holes in the floor I am so accustomed to.
Someone has shoved some curtains up the chimney. I never noticed at the time. There could have been used banknotes or several kilos of cocaine there worth thousands up there. Tut, I need to become more vigilant.
If this was a café then it was a small one. So High Elms was not an oversized manor house.
I think they may have been there for some time.
Sections of High Elms were significantly less damaged than others.
I was scared to even pick this up, never mind take a pull.
The banister is still attached, a sure sign of a vandal-free derp. You have to look at the positives.
If I took any notice of asbestos signs then I would have to stop exploring. It's everywhere and the trick is to not disturb the dust.
This is not what it appears to be and it took me a while to figure out just what had happened.
Look up...
.. and then look up a little farther. The damp must have been bad for this entire thing to collapse. It must have wakened the neighbours when it collapsed.
Edging around the fallen balcony I found what looked like an old bathroom that had seen better days but was very photogenic.
There’s always someone living in these old wrecks and this was no exception. Rummaging around his belongings I figured this squatter was not a native and liked history.
This area of the building was particularly treacherous. I needed the use of the COVID killer anti-bacterial liquid dispenser in the corner but that would have meant losing body parts.
The long and creepy corridor is not so creepy when you have a partner accompanying you.
I would say those are perfectly serviceable if they are your size.
Most of High Elms looked like this; I try and find sights that are more unusual than this one.
This one room was in much better condition than the parallel ones. It happened a few times during our visit.
Was it some kind of school, they look like shelves or desks.
As we climbed up to the top floor it was getting worse. Roof hemorrhages are a common sight to me, if it's raining outside you can get wet.
Do you think I kept out? Haha.. give me a break!
The stairs were miraculously solid albeit a little slippery and slimy at certain points.
This is where the balcony collapsed leaving a very neat hole. The surrounding area was deadly as you might expect.
Exiting High Elms we walked around to the front noticing the 'label' attached to the property. Until now we had little idea of what we were exploring.
I recently saw a GoonTuber post of High Elms which was successful but entailed an extremely dangerous climb for access.
The property is now off-limits unless you are extremely determined or an expert climber.
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'Tales of the Urban Explorer'
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I wonder why the squatters never choose the nice tidy rooms to make their home? Unless they do and it is them that make them manky!
It's not like they have little in the way of choices. As that post says.. this one was strange.. going from very derpy to almost liveable. That would have been where I parked. The windows were not even broken.
IT is a strange one. If I could find a bit that looked like a normal living space then damn, I would be in like Flynn!
That building looks like it would have been beautiful and impressive once upon a time x_x it's in a bit of a state now.
Please be careful around asbestos x_x (like you need to be told that XD)
How dare you malign asbestos, the modern miracle material approved and endorsed by THE SCIENCE (TM) over a century ago, and in common use until the 1970s.
Its the evolution of mankind! In the 50's... doctors advocated Camels... as you can see.
Just about everywhere I go there's asbestos. It's a peril of my dangerous activity.
One of the largest producers of asbestos in the world is Canada. It is of course banned in Canada, but they happily export it, mostly to Asia.
I remember decades ago government grants to homeowners to insulate their houses, the method used was to blow asbestos between the studs. Years later they gave out grants to remove that shit.
It's all banned here, I didn't know it was still being produced!
I left Canada in 2011 - now I find out they did close the last asbestos mines just that year. The union I belonged to had been fighting to close them, but I retired in 2005, so I didn't get the latest news about it. Good to know they came to their senses.
Anyway, they even changed the name of the one-company town of the largest mine:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/21/world/americas/asbestos-quebec-canadian-town.html
https://twitter.com/BrynRogers/status/1445291991936471040
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Seems like that night was a bit scary
looks natural when viewed in the morning, what a beautiful photo
Impressive pictures! Nice job.
Amazing! The deterioration in some -or most as you show- of the rooms make for these beautifully aged shots.
Thoroughly enjoyed going through this one!
I think I like the bathroom one best, it captures all the colours well.
Wow what an adventure through that ginormous place and isn't it amazing just how much it went to shit in 7 years...
It took a while to get around it. The long corridor section was not so bad. The dangerous part was the large house on the left.
Yeah I can imagine cause I'm sure you eyeballs are richocheting from one side of your peripherals to the other not only looking out for holes and great shots too, but a stack of other sharps, sharps and other sharps...😬
fuck me the tramps round your way are well educated , art and history of Sicily. where have all the grot mags gone!!!
One day I might find a tramp inside.., well I have once.. but that got burned down a few weeks later.
tramps and kids, should not be allowed matches
What a trash hole! I am glad you were able to get access and take a poke around though. Looks like there were a lot of perils to avoid on this one. Lucky you made it out alive!
Hehe, they are all a challenge @bozz. I wish I could take you along on one.. you would love the ride.
This was really an ecstatic view.
Your story about the old mansion has captured me! I hope there will be a continuation.
And you're right: you have to be an experienced climber to walk in such places!
There won't be a continuation of this.., it's on to the next. I have plenty more left in the bag.
No doubt! Good luck exploring abandoned objects!
Superb post 😊
I live in Edinburgh, I do a bit of urban exploration, here and when I visit a friend in Berlin.
Chuffed to stumble across this little community. Keep up the good work!
Ooo.. exploring in Scotland where there are no trespass laws.., it sounds great but you could still get some angry bastard chasing you down the road I suppose. I would love to do some up where you are.. or in the next city long.. where that @meesterboom hails from.
Please use the community if you do any UX posts. I can see your stuff is quality.. just what we need!
it's a crazy place, hahaha
Or maybe the squatter didn't want the downdraft to make the room cold?
It's not a bad point!
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It looks completely different from outside
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It looks very creepy. Not to sound all woo-woo, but I wonder whether the energy in some of these old places ever gives you the chills? On a more scientific note, do you worry about mildew and mold affecting the air that you breathe? Honestly, since you are not there that long, it should not be too bad, really. I just worry. Also, I sometimes get creeped out in old places, especially old mental hospitals where you know people probably really suffered since we don't have a great historical track record of being kind to the mentally ill.
I was the casting assistant for a motion picture once that was set in an old mental hospital here. Our buildings are very young by comparison since this province (Alberta, Canada) was only founded in 1905. It gave me the creeps anyhow!
I have am about as receptive to the underworld as red brick. It's an asset in the game I suppose. I rarely feel anything at all. Coming up is a visit to some flats where a murder occurred.. again nothing! Even standing in the very room.
That's very good. I don't even know whether I believe in the "underworld," as you put it, but I still get weird feelings in older places. My scientific mind chalks it up to residual energy, whatever that means. Maybe (probably?) it is just an overly vivid imagination on my part?
A lick of polish and those boots will be as good as new!
The High Elms looks really big. I think most of this building is exposed to rain, that could be why almost everywhere is dampy.
I think someone might have fallen down in photo 16-17 😁 or itself collapsed due to rain and dump.
From the outside, even I want to call this place, home sweet home!
It has got such nice lines, windows, and doors throughout the place. For only 7 years, it went from chirpy to derp-y, without even stopping. I agree with you on that flue to the fireplace. Just what did the old dude stick up there? Probably all of his worldly possessions or that was his rendition of a homemade draftdoggie. :) Maybe your scholarly vagabond did sleep in the clean rooms, probably even cleaned them, and stows his stuff up the chimney? To keep it safe?
The place was really a wreck! What causes all the little pieces of plaster and drywall to crumble away like that besides water? or no roof? I have to admit, I hadn't even given asbestos a thought and I am surprised you don't wear a respirator on some of these places you wander into. Wander is being used instead of scaling tall heights after leaping in a single bound. Or crawling over a spiked fence that is likely to make you a soprano. Yikes.
You guys live the life.
Also, you go into some pretty cool places. No paperwork or anything in this place? Now that is surprising.
Besides Mr Indian, or wherever he originated from.., it was disappointingly sparse on paperwork. I try and find some if possible as it leads to clues on who lived there and what happened to them.
This one has plans for a flat conversion, but how long that might take is anyones guess.