Harperbury

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sneaker

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Hi all, went on a family day out (again) wednesday and drove past Harperbury, so sneaked in for a quick recce, having my kids with me i could'nt get up to much but took some pics of various boarded up buildings and the fence, taken from the only roads with access and without getting out of the car.

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The site was very busy with staff, patients and visitors but no sign of any security, just a couple of men with clipboards looking at some of the derelict buildings ( i wonder who they could be? ).
Another visit soon i think.



Also a couple of pics of the modern and ready to move in Shenley water tower flats !!!.

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sneaker :mrgreen:
 
Also a couple of pics of the modern and ready to move in Shenley water tower flats !!!.

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sneaker :mrgreen:

Hi Sneaker,

Thanks for posting the pictures, the tower is quite a landmark for some distance, isnt it? As a child, i remember it as a marker on the way back from holiday as it signified that we were nearing home as you can see it from the m25. They've done a reasonable job converting it, but the new windows have mutilated it a bit and the roof doesn't seem to sit right now. A number of locals are also unhappy that the clocks weren't repaired/replaced, as they had understood they would be.

This was taken before modernisation


Pete
 
Louis wain (the man who drew cats)was a patient(most famous) at Napsbury hospital.
This tower can be seen from Napsbury hospital.
On several of Louis Wains paintings from his hospital days, a tower can be seen in the distance.
One of the old wooden covered seating areas at Napsbury had a direct view of this tower, so i guess on a sunny day Louis Wain got some of his painting inspiration form this spot.
 
Hi Sneaker,

Thanks for posting the pictures, the tower is quite a landmark for some distance, isnt it? As a child, i remember it as a marker on the way back from holiday as it signified that we were nearing home as you can see it from the m25. They've done a reasonable job converting it, but the new windows have mutilated it a bit and the roof doesn't seem to sit right now. A number of locals are also unhappy that the clocks weren't repaired/replaced, as they had understood they would be.

This was taken before modernisation


Pete

Do you know what happened to the clocks?.

cheers:cry:
 
Do you know what happened to the clocks?

Presumably melted down or sold? Dweeb might know as i believe he may have been offered part of one.

Louis wain (the man who drew cats)was a patient(most famous) at Napsbury hospital.
This tower can be seen from Napsbury hospital.
On several of Louis Wains paintings from his hospital days, a tower can be seen in the distance.
One of the old wooden covered seating areas at Napsbury had a direct view of this tower, so i guess on a sunny day Louis Wain got some of his painting inspiration form this spot.

Do you have a link to one of the pictures anywhere? The only one of his paintings i have seen which depicts asylum buildings is "The Master of Cat College"/"The Botanist" which features the view towards the female wing of springfield hospital from a window in the male wing. His Napsbury work must be quite a bit later as he was at Springfield (1924-5), Bethlem (1925-30) and then Napsbury (1930-39). I believe he was accomodated in the male private villa at Napsbury, later the Education centre, and now converted to housing so it would be interesting to see what angle he would have painted the tower from.

Pete
 
I trained as a nurse at Harperbury in the mid 1970's.

In all, I was there from 1971 to 1982.

I visited the place a couple of years ago, after a break of over ten years & the change was a shock. Wards falling down, places in ruins.

Sadly, I ran a big Edwardian house, Harper House, at the Radlett end of Harper Lane, a unit for children. Which now seems to have been sold up. It's now behind electric gates, while the old Female 15 ward has taken on it's name.

Effectivly they have kept the name and lost the facilities!!!

There were some good times there and some bad times.

But I'm sad to see it go....

I was last in the area a couple of months ago, at the church at Shenleybury, when we buried my old Charge Nurse. But I couldn't face visiting Harperbury again.......
 
Sadly most of the outer buildings have been ripped apart by the pikeys/vandals and most of the site is in a right state now and mostly fenced off, there are still working departments but most are near the entrance to the hospital.
 
Security was always rubbish at Harperbury even when it was still running as a hospital. As long as you looked as if you knew what you were doing, no one challenged you. Although at night all wards were locked, for the occupants safety, rather than to prevent them escaping.

Has any one accessed the service tunnels that run underground, between the wards and other buildings bringing in power and heating etc?
 
I have not heard about anybody going into the access tunnels but because the hospital is still working, they must still be using them for water/heating/lighting still?.
 

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