I knew I was tempting fate when Smorgy (my fellow explorer) asked if the
"24 Hour Security Guard" signs were truthful. Of course, they weren’t. There was no security
and no dogs at Rauceby. And it was a cheerfully crisp Sunday morning. What could go wrong?
Practically everything.
We walked up the tree-lined path to the nurses’ home. It was secured well and there was no easy way in.
So what? There was the chapel and the main hospital for exploration fun!
Except that the car park was full of cars. And dogs. And blokes in fluorescent jackets. It was "Dog Training Day"
at Rauceby.
So, we decided to do a route around the hospital and avoid the dogs to the east. At this point,
we bumped into the cheerful security guard. She was jovial and told us to stay clear of the main buildings.
She didn’t mention the dogs, but we didn’t need telling.
Further exploration revealed the buildings to be very well secured. No chance of an easy infiltration.
We slowly returned to the east of the building. The dog trainers were still there, making the east hospital a difficult option. And a lone-dog walker eyed us suspiciously.
I decided to check out a villa building to the west of the hospital. Next thing we knew,
a bloke with keys appeared to let the dogs into the buildings. "They won’t attack you," he said happily.
We luncheoned in one of the shelters in the gardens. The security guard passed us again, singing
loudly out-of-tune whilst listening to her Walkman. It drowned out the howls of the dogs.
Did I mention the dogs?
We went home.
© Simon Cornwell 2002
