Fails of the Urban Explorer: Clifton Fever Hospital
Given the photograph you see, one could believe the building has been lost in time and not seen for 50 years.
I would think the same too but nothing could be further from the truth.
Clifton Fever Hospital opened on the 20th June 1892 as an Isolation Hospital built to accommodate those who fell ill during the smallpox outbreak of 1892. This building was used for medical purposes throughout both wars and later used as some form of residential home.
It was closed in 2008 due to structural issues as well as the presence of overgrowing ivy in the roof.
It has been used more recently by some of these paranormal explorers in conjunction with spirit boxes. This is a somewhat controversial and experimental device that seeks out spirits and the dead.
The people living next door have been getting a little pissed off with frequent visitors, and so we approached ever so carefully leaving the car around half a mile away as to not attract their attention.
No sooner had we jumped over the stile than I heard a distant but persistent voice, 'Excuse me, excuse me' coming from the direction of the adjoining property.
An oldish bloke was hobbling up to the gate, he looked a little like an angry bullfrog, all red-faced and obviously pissed at us for invading his territory.
‘should I be aggressive or apologetic’ – that depends on what comes out of his mouth next.
'What do you think you are doing in there?', croaked bullfrog, and without giving me the chance to respond followed up with, 'you're about the 50th lot to go in there today'’
‘That many?’, I responded, with an air of genuine surprise. Clifton Fever Hospital is definitely on the Urbex radar but I wasn’t thinking so many visitors would be coming past today.
'We are just photographing the place, we won't be long and I promise we won't disturb you or make any unnecessary noise’, I assured him thinking this may diffuse the situation.
'It says private on the sign', he pointed angrily, 'don’t you understand what that means?'
Oh yes, I understand, … but decided to act dumb.
On getting no response he walked off muttering, ‘at least you are little more courteous than some of the others’.
Well, that went well. With bullfrog sated for the moment we now had free reign to explore…, I think.
Had he called the cops? I figured not and by the time they arrived, we would likely be finished anyway.
We spotted a caravan and a car wreck next to the house.
What was that car? I figured it may have been a Triumph Dolomite, the veritable boy racer of the '80s.
The caravan looked like it had been used to house animals, given the amount of straw inside and the bad smell.
We quickly left to focus on the main course. After vaulting the ancient metal fence we were on the grounds of an extremely overgrown mini-mansion.
A recent report states there is a way in, but it's not obvious. We looked around the house and noticed barred doors with new locks.
Walking all the way around failed to generate an obvious access point. Dizzy, who was accompanying me suggested where it may be and I think he's right.
Like the bloke in the other report, I won't explicitly state where it may be, only that it would take more acrobatics than either of us were willing to utilize.
The inside by all accounts is not as pretty as the outside, so we figured it was not a big deal. Better to keep your balls intact than have a few more dull images.
bullfrog seemed to inherit a dog that insisted on continually barking after 10 minutes or so. Dogs are the enemies of Urban Explorers and have ears far too sharp for my liking.
At one point I stepped on some broken glass only to be accosted with a chorus of distant musical barks and growls.
Whatever, bullfrog already knew we were here, so use the damn muzzle until we have gone, I say.
We spent around 20 minutes or so mulling around the outside of Clifton Fever Hospital. It is a very photogenic location, and there's no doubt the next lot of blokes may have been waiting to come by and piss off bullfrog. He does have a point.
We didn't see anyone else, was he was exaggerating a tad?
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Bloody barking dogs. I hate em!
It's not the first time, but at least bullfrog knew we were there. I'm sure it was his dog. They have scared me off several places in the past.
No wonder, you don't want to end up gnawed on!!
Wow, some great pics. And the story behind this is so interesting. And it only closed in 2008 ?? Wow, I would thought it closed decades before that as the condition has deteriorated
It has gone a little wild, hasn't it? I never felt we were going to get inside, but being in the area we had a look anyway.
It's not close to where I live so probably won't revisit it again.
Lovely, those vines reminds me of some old bridges I have been crossing where the nature almost seem to have claimed it back.
Yeah, when I was taking that shot with all the creepers I knew it was a good one. I haven't seen anything quite like this before!
@Slobberchops can I just ask, if you post into a community here on Hive does it also appear in the community on Steem or did you post the same post in the community on Steem? Cheers
I made to post this using peakd, but it wouldn't post, gave me an error and refused. In the end, I had to use hive.blog to get it on the blockchain. Meanwhile, I posted it via steempeak as well.
Until things have settled, I'm going to hoard my content up. It's too messy right now, and I am tempted to double-dip. I suppose that could be frowned upon by some?
As for Clifton, I suppose it's not far from your motherland. I did a mammoth session yesterday covering Halifax, Brighouse and Huddersfield. Talk about an industrial wasteland!
Ahh ok....no problem, go for it. You have substantial skin in the game mate!! Its all still very messy so use both!
And yes, the whole of Kirklees ( especially Huddersfield) and Bradford is a total shit hole of the highest magnitude!!
Great photos... Looks like a really fun place to explore. We used to have a bunch of historical grain mills here. They've been knocking them down one by one but I've been thinking about checking out the few remaining before they're all gone.
I wish you would, I would love to see more Urbex content on Hive.
Nice, shame you didn’t get in
I'm not 100% of the access point, but I think I know where it is. A little too much for me, and we had a load more visits planned that day. None of them too exciting.
That opening photo is really awesome! It's too bad this was more on the bust side for you, but I think all of the shots you got a really cool.
It was a great location, but I would hesitate to go back due to the neighbours. They were not happy to see us!
Haha! You are a rebel with a cause. Great pics, especially of the car. I think you made a wise decision, based on your pics, as it seems getting in requires some form of contortionism.
It's like being a little kid again. I was climbing up another one yesterday.. and then was aching like hell later. It was worth it though!
It does sound a little like garden-hopping, but still a great way to spend the day! Do you fill out your health and safety forms beforehand ;)
We looked at 10 places on Sunday. 5 fails and 5 we got inside. Not bad for a full day, though it's very tiring by the end of it. I have plenty of content now for a while and will need it.
Jesus, Allah, Budha...That's a busy day!
I know what you mean, and I'm looking forward to having the time to write again. Bring on the lockdown.
oh wow. nice pics dude! I think you handled the confrontation with "bullfrog" a lot better than i would have
An Isolation Hospital... how fitting
Now.. I hadn't really thought about it given recent events!
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