It’s testament to the sheer size of Cane Hill that this area is usually totally missed.
(I only stumbled onto it during my first explorations by sheer accident. Now, walking
up the road, it's the first large building seen.)
This was the nurses' home, replacing or supplementing the accommodation quarters to the north
of the hospital. Behind it, and shielded by its bulk, is the smaller staff hostel. Inside can be
found empty rooms, toilets filled with concrete, a fun little gym and various plant rooms.
Many of the windows are open with the curtains flapping in the breeze. Like the main hospital site,
vandalism is apparent, but limited. For example, why are some windows smashed with multiple panes damaged,
and others left untouched? (There are some more impressive examples of selective damage at the hospital itself.)
Some vandals have amused themselves by draping the fire hoses out of the windows. It does give the
place an extra feel of abandonment.
Like other explorers, I press on. The hospital itself is far too impressive to waste time here.
And I have to respect the sign to the left: No entry!
2009: The modern nurses’ home wasn’t architecturally inspiring but did offer great views across the
valley from its roof.
I did venture inside on one occasion when I visited the hospital with Andrew and others. But the batteries on my
camera refused to work and so I never wrote up the trip. (I believe it was my fifth visit to the hospital site, a missed opportunity
chronologically placed between "Grand Tour" and the unadventurous "Orientation"). But this is where my knowledge of the interior's state and
composition came from.
