The Ninth Expedition

We didn't really have any idea what we were doing this day. We just went up there with the intention of finding something new. Around the back of the boiler house, there are two big fuel tanks. We went to have a look at them, and they weren't very interesting really. All around them the floor is covered in oil, so we kept back from them. However, we carried on up the back of the boiler house, and instead of coming out round the other side of the boiler room it carried on going.

Some steps led up the side of the bank, and once we had climbed them, we saw that a corridor came off the side of the boiler house and went right into the side of the bank. It must be an entrance to the tunnels. I climbed up on top to try to look into the boiler house, but broken glass made it too difficult.

After a quick look around the mortuary, trying the doors and windows, we went back down to the boiler house to find a way in. Ignoring the asbestos signs, we found that some of the boards over the windows were loose. After weighing up the pros and cons, I went in, using a fleece to cover my mouth as a poor way of stopping asbestos. The room the window was on was a little workshop with a load of pipe stuff everywhere, I wasn't hanging about though. Through the door was a low room with garage doors on it, a bit machine of some form and a big metal door like on a safe. It was open, but whatever was in the room was dark and smelly so I kept out. In the main bit of the boiler room, there were three massive boilers, circular with big fans on the front. Pipes and ducts hung off the ceiling everywhere. The place is remarkably un vandalised except for the windows that have been smashed. Off the side of this room is a slightly smaller room, with what I think are big heat exchangers and a condensor in a big pit of water. The heat exchangers are covered with big thick asbestos jackets, the only visible sign of the stuff. I can't be sure if the pipes weren't coated in it as well. Next to the heat exchangers, in the corner, loads of pipes dissappear into the tunnel entrance. You would have to crawl to get in, so I stayed out, and I didn't have a torch. On the way out I had a quick look at the dials and switches, but most of them were broken. The asbestos in there was undisturbed, but I still didn't want to be there much longer. I left by the same way I went it. We reckoned that it would be the best way into the tunnels if we could go and get some masks from somewhere.

We walked off round to the back of the hospital, and thought that we'd hop over the fence to go and have a look at some of the wards. They are all pretty much the same, but some of them are new and some original. Most of it was pretty secure and not vandalised. We did find one or two weird things. One of the ground floor wards had all the windows baricaded with upturned beds and other furniture. We took this as a sign of dwellers, as it is a way of marking out where they are and feeling a bit safer. We also found another way in, where a conservatory was smashed and a door inside was open, but we didn't go and have a look because it was very close to the dwellers. We also had a look by going up some of the fire escapes, but all the doors were secure. We climbed back over the fence and left.

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