My first ever asylum and one I wish I visited more. It was virtually undamaged and had no security. You walk round in normal clothes and sandles if you saw fit.

West park boasted hundreds of features ranging from a dentistry, water tower, main hall, tunnels, salon, creche and lots more. And all this topped off with the odd feeling that you never knew who was going to walk round the corner as it was that much of a public attraction.

I first visited in late 2005. With Just Ben and Randommate01

We made a bit of a stupid error when we first arrived. We spent ages tackling a large barbed fence when we could have just walked round the corner and through a path. Oh well live and learn.

We started in the out buildings which appeared to have been used as wards with cheap dividers separting each cubicle. Most notable object in the area was a picture of a crying clown which I found rather odd in a hospital trying to make people better. From here we headed out into the courtyard having a quick sit down on the benchs to take in the views and silence of the area.

We then headed through a window into the laundry and kitchen area. I climbed into one of the cookers as a joke and randommate shut me in it to which I was not very happy. We headed left and into the main hall. Completly burnt with the roof being on the floor but in turn that made it very interesting. We looked underneath the stage and found that behind it were a series of tunnels. How could we refuse. Down we went and had a good look around finding little dens every now and then and monster white spiders which made us turn back.

From here we headed toward the dentistry. As we were going round the corner we bumped into two men which gave me a bit of a shock. After a bit of talking it turns out they were explorers too who went by the names Indy and Robsey and they introduced me to a little site known as 28dayslater. You might have heard of it :).

We said our goodbyes and headed into the dentists. A large red painted passage led into several room with eye testing equipment and sets of teeth casts!.

Back we went toward the salon and tower area. At this time we couldnt get up the tower due to the door being very secure so we headed into the salon. Lots of stuff still in situ such as the stylist chairs as well as loads of hair products and bits and bobs they would have used.

It was starting to get dark so we made our way back to the car passing another ward block with almost no floors. A quick scoot round admin and we left.

Pictures from these trips are now archived, but can still be seen here. Old Pics

West Park 2008

West Park, the first proper exploration site I ever did, and mainly due to one reason. It was the easiest. You could literally just waltz in and not have to worry about security or anything else as there wasn't any!. Bumping into fellow explorers was a daily occurrence and things were good. But sadly it didn't stay this way. Fences were erected around the site. Corridors and tunnels were breeze blocked and sealed, windows and doors nailed shut, on site security. Not to mention the high tech security system of cameras and infrared lazer beams around the outside. Had west park seen the last of the "good old days".

Well sadly yes but that didn't mean it couldn't be explored anymore its just a hell of a lot harder. The Riddlers showed that it could still be done, by reaching the padded cell and the main halls sections a few months ago. So I was contacted by Tank who thought it was worth a try.

Myself Tank and Gingerpot, set off in the pouring rain. Getting inside didnt take too long but by the time we found ourselves standing in the main hall we were soaked and covered in mud and gunk. Sadly when all the asbestos was removed from the site this included the projector room which was now bare. Due to security still being present we didn't spend too much time here, taking a few photos of the radio room and dentist chair before heading towards the main dentistry.

The long red bricked corridor was a sight for sore eyes in over a year since my last proper visit and with all the other work it hadnt changed a bit. The dentures and teeth were still everywhere and the optical testing block was still in place. We took a few photos before heading back to the kitchens and maintenance area.

Our next stop was in the salon but sadly the room had been ransacked. Everything was either on the floor or smashed into bits and there was no sign of the chairs anywhere. Shame.

After a brief visit to a few wards we headed onto our last stop, the padded cell, which in all my visits I had still not seen. Well when we finally arrived I could see why. It looked like a cupboard from the outside due to the two doors. We took a few photos and decided we had been here long enough, so we headed back to our exit.

All went smoothly until tank noticed a few doors which we had used were now barricaded and closed. We then heard two loud voices. We didn't wait to find out who they belonged too and headed down into the tunnels. We waited for a while before deciding the danger had passed and made a swift exit back to the car, job done.