Back in 1997 I was a 21 year old college student studying Art and Design at a well known college in the North of England.
As part of our studies, our year had to organize an exhibition, to demonstrate we had the practical skills and knowledge to do so in the real world. Eventually we managed to persuade the management of the local hospital, part of which was being converted into flats, to let us hold it in a part of the grounds used as an older persons day centre, which was scheduled for demolition, despite being less than 15 years old.
The building itself was a bright, light and airy design, square in shape, with four corridors, perhaps 15 metres long, connecting large rooms in each corner, 12 metres square, with a garden and pond in the middle. There were numerous rooms leading off each of the corridors, with a main entrance/exit facing the car park, which itself was surrounded by the older hospital, which was empty, work not having started on converting it to individual flats at this point.
Our exhibition took shape gradually and I spent a lot of time preparing the building to a professional standard of presentation. A number of strange events took place during the construction, which I will relay later.
During the removal of all the exhibits I was alone there one Sunday morning. I was quite sober and was unlike many others at the time, not into taking any sort of illicit drugs.
I was working on removing my own piece and was using a hammer to take apart a wooden frame. I was the only person in the building and the entrance door was locked from the inside. I was the only key holder. The windows were all secure- there was a checklist to complete prior to leaving.
All of a sudden, from my mid corridor room I heard the unmistakeable sound of a tea trolley being pushed along the lino of the corridor at a 90 degree angle to me, to my left. The end of the corridor, which had an unobstructed view along it's length was perhaps 5-6 metres from where I was stood.
I could hear cups rattling and the hushed voices of two women. I couldn't make out what was being said, but the noise was drawing closer , so I rushed to the large corner room, eager to see my first apparition.
As I ran through the corner room I saw, perhaps to my ultimate relief there were no ghostly nurses coming toward me. The noise had lasted 6-10 seconds, from the time I first heard it between hammering and to rushing to the top corridor.
Instinctively I ran to the window to see if anyone was passing outside with a trolley of any sort. There was no one to be seen- especially as this part of the hospital was out of use and over the weeks we had been there, no medical staff had been seen in the vicinity!
I then ran along the corridor, toward where the noise had been heard, into the far corner room. I looked toward the entrance and car park. Not a soul was to be seen. I then ran to the main entrance room and looked out round the other side of the building- again, no one was about. I half expected to see two nurses pushing a trolley along and it un nerved me when I saw none.
I think at this point, the shock wore off and I became rather rattled and left. I hadn't seen anyone or anything, nor did the temperature seem to change, although the building was always cold, despite it being mid year.
This isn't something I've made up- I later (bizarrely) went on to work in law enforcement, so I'm not prone to exaggeration and am always used to dealing with facts and interpreting evidence.
I only had one other experience in the building, whereby in similar circumstances I was alone and on visitor duty and I noticed that as I walked around a circuit of the building, perhaps a minute and a half, the doors to some of the individual toilets- one of which was very stiff- and all of them were on risers- would be open and closed and the lights would be switched on or off. Again there were no visitors in the building and no one else to play tricks- nor was there a breeze to shut/open a door or pull the cord to turn the light on or off.
I haven't speculated as to what these incidences might have been, but I tried to find a logical explanation for them at the time- I couldn't then and I still can't now, some 15 years on. A very down to earth Yorkshire lad, a good friend of mine had some even more disturbing experiences- if people are interested, then I'll relay these at a later date.
Andy Bailey
West Yorkshire
As part of our studies, our year had to organize an exhibition, to demonstrate we had the practical skills and knowledge to do so in the real world. Eventually we managed to persuade the management of the local hospital, part of which was being converted into flats, to let us hold it in a part of the grounds used as an older persons day centre, which was scheduled for demolition, despite being less than 15 years old.
The building itself was a bright, light and airy design, square in shape, with four corridors, perhaps 15 metres long, connecting large rooms in each corner, 12 metres square, with a garden and pond in the middle. There were numerous rooms leading off each of the corridors, with a main entrance/exit facing the car park, which itself was surrounded by the older hospital, which was empty, work not having started on converting it to individual flats at this point.
Our exhibition took shape gradually and I spent a lot of time preparing the building to a professional standard of presentation. A number of strange events took place during the construction, which I will relay later.
During the removal of all the exhibits I was alone there one Sunday morning. I was quite sober and was unlike many others at the time, not into taking any sort of illicit drugs.
I was working on removing my own piece and was using a hammer to take apart a wooden frame. I was the only person in the building and the entrance door was locked from the inside. I was the only key holder. The windows were all secure- there was a checklist to complete prior to leaving.
All of a sudden, from my mid corridor room I heard the unmistakeable sound of a tea trolley being pushed along the lino of the corridor at a 90 degree angle to me, to my left. The end of the corridor, which had an unobstructed view along it's length was perhaps 5-6 metres from where I was stood.
I could hear cups rattling and the hushed voices of two women. I couldn't make out what was being said, but the noise was drawing closer , so I rushed to the large corner room, eager to see my first apparition.
As I ran through the corner room I saw, perhaps to my ultimate relief there were no ghostly nurses coming toward me. The noise had lasted 6-10 seconds, from the time I first heard it between hammering and to rushing to the top corridor.
Instinctively I ran to the window to see if anyone was passing outside with a trolley of any sort. There was no one to be seen- especially as this part of the hospital was out of use and over the weeks we had been there, no medical staff had been seen in the vicinity!
I then ran along the corridor, toward where the noise had been heard, into the far corner room. I looked toward the entrance and car park. Not a soul was to be seen. I then ran to the main entrance room and looked out round the other side of the building- again, no one was about. I half expected to see two nurses pushing a trolley along and it un nerved me when I saw none.
I think at this point, the shock wore off and I became rather rattled and left. I hadn't seen anyone or anything, nor did the temperature seem to change, although the building was always cold, despite it being mid year.
This isn't something I've made up- I later (bizarrely) went on to work in law enforcement, so I'm not prone to exaggeration and am always used to dealing with facts and interpreting evidence.
I only had one other experience in the building, whereby in similar circumstances I was alone and on visitor duty and I noticed that as I walked around a circuit of the building, perhaps a minute and a half, the doors to some of the individual toilets- one of which was very stiff- and all of them were on risers- would be open and closed and the lights would be switched on or off. Again there were no visitors in the building and no one else to play tricks- nor was there a breeze to shut/open a door or pull the cord to turn the light on or off.
I haven't speculated as to what these incidences might have been, but I tried to find a logical explanation for them at the time- I couldn't then and I still can't now, some 15 years on. A very down to earth Yorkshire lad, a good friend of mine had some even more disturbing experiences- if people are interested, then I'll relay these at a later date.
Andy Bailey
West Yorkshire
