D
Dragon_Urbex
Guest
Guest
The same day I visited Fort Gilkicker, I paid Haslar a visit as well. For those of you that don't know, Haslar is a former Royal Naval Hospital in Gosport, Hampshire, directly opposite Portsmouth's dockyards. The hospital closed in 2009 after 256 years of operation. The new owners are currently redeveloping the site into a new "urban village" with retirement housing, new build seasfront flats and a "boutique hotel" (I hate that overly sugary terminology...!). Security is, as you would expect, bloody high. And it's an absolute mission to get anywhere near the buildings without being spotted!
The Explore:
We arrived at the seaside section of the place and made our way in without being spotted. The buildings we explored first were early 20th century wards, which I believe were psychiatric wards. Reason for this is because I read Haslar had a mental health section and these buildings were very similar to the old Victorian/Edwardian asylum style. They were rather interesting to explore, with plenty of peeling paint and interesting features left over. However, once we left that site, we got spotted by a security lady who was cycling around the place on a bicycle with a wicker basket on the front. She saw us and radioed in backup. My friend made a run for it across rubble and I just stayed put, not wanting to be speared by rebar jutting out of the rubble. The security guard who caught was a lovely fella - very friendly and level headed and actually gave me a lift back to the car park where my friend and I had parked after driving me around to the front of the building to photograph the pediment above the main entrance. The lady on the bike however... absolute jobsworth. Ranting to me and shouting over me how trespass was illegal and how she was going to call the police and have me put in prison. So I told her, and I quote, to "shut the bloody hell up and do your research on the law, you zealot". At that point I got my phone out and did a quick google and showed her how she was in the wrong with her threats. She shut up pretty damn quickly after that and made excuses about being needed elsewhere and cycled off. If she's reading this, I hope you've done your research on the law surrounding trespass! Enjoy the photos!
Last photo before being spotted is above. Now for a photo of the pediment which the guard very kindly took me to see.
Thanks for readin'!
The Explore:
We arrived at the seaside section of the place and made our way in without being spotted. The buildings we explored first were early 20th century wards, which I believe were psychiatric wards. Reason for this is because I read Haslar had a mental health section and these buildings were very similar to the old Victorian/Edwardian asylum style. They were rather interesting to explore, with plenty of peeling paint and interesting features left over. However, once we left that site, we got spotted by a security lady who was cycling around the place on a bicycle with a wicker basket on the front. She saw us and radioed in backup. My friend made a run for it across rubble and I just stayed put, not wanting to be speared by rebar jutting out of the rubble. The security guard who caught was a lovely fella - very friendly and level headed and actually gave me a lift back to the car park where my friend and I had parked after driving me around to the front of the building to photograph the pediment above the main entrance. The lady on the bike however... absolute jobsworth. Ranting to me and shouting over me how trespass was illegal and how she was going to call the police and have me put in prison. So I told her, and I quote, to "shut the bloody hell up and do your research on the law, you zealot". At that point I got my phone out and did a quick google and showed her how she was in the wrong with her threats. She shut up pretty damn quickly after that and made excuses about being needed elsewhere and cycled off. If she's reading this, I hope you've done your research on the law surrounding trespass! Enjoy the photos!
Last photo before being spotted is above. Now for a photo of the pediment which the guard very kindly took me to see.
Thanks for readin'!
