Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Colney Hatch Lunatic Assylum



This kinda thing interests me...
I heard mention of this place recently on the BBC and searched for some photos. It is an old mental hospital, build in the late 1840's and I used to live near it for a while many years ago. I never got close to it, and I regret that, the only views of it I had were from the gates. I read on it a bit; it was an impressive building, and apparentlyfor the most part, self sufficient. Apparently it was a "pauper lunatic assylum", which in itself is scary. Counties at that time were in charge of the assylums, and if a certain poor person was bothering the wealthier of the county, it was a relatively easy procedure to have them put into the assylum. For the most if you went into there you never came out. Ever. They had their own cemetry on the grounds. There are reports of a lot of cruelty in there, but that seems to standard procedure for places of that kind in that era. There was no emphasis on rehabilitation, just containment.
The crime of bearing a child outside of wedlock apparently could also land you in there.
An anomoly was the alleged "secret pathway", I have only heard of this from stories of people in the area, and have seen no written evidence. There is a nearby train station, New Southgate, and apparently the wealthier and noble, who had "lunatic" family members used this pathway to get the "patients" to the hospital without embarrassement. This contradicts the "pauper assylum" description, but who knows?
The place sports the largest corridor in Britian. Strangely (or maybe not), the entire complex is now a luxury housing complex, and the old church has been turned into a gym. I wonder do any of the former residents wander the halls at night?
I really regret not having got in there somehow with a camera and seen what it looked like before it had all been changed. Mind you that was pre-digital days, and anyway I didnt have any money then.

Friday, March 17, 2006

Happy St Patricks Day!!!

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

And a possum behind our house




I thought these fellas only came out at night. This guy is obviously timid and harmless. Was in our back yard this afternoon.

Sunday, March 12, 2006

A bird in front of our house



We seen this bird both yesterday and this morning; I got a chance to take a couple of pics today. From far away, as it was timid. I'd like to get closer. I think it is a female pheasant. If anyone knows for sure, let me know. It requires zooming in.

Saturday, March 04, 2006

Another one.

"she wants to have her cake and eat it too"

What is that all about? What use is a cake if ya cant eat it?? "I have my cake, look at it, woo woo!" Stupid phrase. What else can you do with a stupid cake but eat the silly thing?

Granted, given my less than sweet tooth, I would not even want to have my cake, as I certainly would not want to eat it, and I know many other people who might want to instead of me.