Tales of the Urban Explorer: Birkdale School for Hearing Impaired Children
It was mid-afternoon when we arrived at 'Birkdale School for Hearing Impaired Children', and gazed across the vast barren landscape and our ultimate target.
‘Every bastard and his dog is going to see us if we go in that way’, I said to @dizzydiscovery in dismay.
It was true but it was the easy way in, the others all having massive walls or thick hedges that scrape on your balls, face, or other sticky-out bits.
Throwing caution to the wind and without wearing fake hi-visibility vests, we boldly walked across the fields and encountered no dickheads shouting, ‘OYYYYY’ or anything else.
By the time we approached this massive building that looked suspiciously like a 200-foot giant had taken a bite out of one end, I cautiously looked back and spotted some bloke with hands-on-hips glowering at us in the distance.
‘Fuck him’, I thought. He was a good 300 yards away and appeared not to want to do anything else than stare.
We quickly started looking for a way in having been warned by another explorer that it was sealed up tight.
There are plans to renovate it which as usual have come to nothing. The article describes it as ‘arson hit’ which is commonplace.
Compared to some locations it’s a relatively newer building being erected in 1904 and closed in 2003.
The front looked pretty well sealed with those white painted corrugated iron sheets that often get pulled away.
This was an outhouse and quite open and so we stepped in to see what marvels awaited.
None as you can see and we had to vault through that window to find even more nothingness.
Scrambling around the back was fun and very close to some detached houses. I'm sure they don't think it's fun to have this creaking behemoth next to their prestigious properties. This is an affluent area.
The tipoff was quite correct and the local council has done an admirable job of sealing it up.
The outhouses don’t count and were generally full of fresh air that was not so fresh.
This overgrown cellar entrance looked promising but was sealed, thwarted again.
The wandering giant I mentioned did provide some respite and climbing up a hill of dirt, mud and shit revealed an entrance.
So this was the swimming pool for the deaf; very nice and colorful. Boris is not too popular around here I see.
The other exit in the far corner could have been our way into the main building. However, it was full of natural greenery, debris, and masonry.
I was trying to reach the door in the far corner but didn't get past the fallen carpets. Disappointed I backtracked to the pool and exited.
Getting in via this angle would have meant quite a lot of climbing and dropping down walls.
What is in those lockers? They were too far away to check.
I was about to go through here before @dizzydiscovery pulled me up and said something like, 'are you fucking crazy, look what's above your head'.
Always the more sensible one, I took his advice. I have to admit there is a few tons of shit up there ready to fall and decapitate me.
We will be returning to Birkdale School for Hearing Impaired Children at a later date. There is an inside report here from 2015 if you can’t wait.
Tagging @raj808 as he specifically asked me to for any Merseyside explores.
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Bit like a philosophy of life :0)
The young punks at least have Boris nailed!!
Glad you didn't end up with a pile of bricks on your head!
I was not going to give up, if I could have just shuffled through there without breathing.... 😀
A tough nut to crack eh 😉 The council must have got their wizards in...
ha ha, that is an understatement. Even before he powered up to full fledged dick-tator status he was universally reviled in Liverpool for his comments about scousers. Anyway, nuff of my figurative Boris bashing... I'm glad I've never run into the prick because the figurative would quickly turn into the literal 😂
Nice pics as always slobberchops
I cant recall him being 'racist' (is that the right word) to Scousers? Is this the Hillsborough thing again, that's all I could find. A little further afield for you.., I'm sure we will be back in Liverpool someday. We spotted a few while travelling close to the centre area.
He's just a tory-ist toward scousers. Most of them hate that various socialist/unionist Liverpudlian politicians in the 60's 70's and 80's defied them at every turn. They also hate that we're a labour stronghold.
That is one of Boris' classic statements aimed at Liverpool. Ironically he'd probably say I'm 'playing the victim' complaining, but I, and most Scousers I know, are far from 'victim mentality'. Regardless of all that, Thatcher's Tory government strangled Liverpool through 'managed decline' in the 80's when I was growing up, keeping Liverpool in poverty and then holding the city up as an example of Labour council mismanagement because of the poverty they had created. IMO Boris is just a waste of space incompetent. I'm a socialist, but I recognize that there are some people in the Tory party who are trying to better the country within the mindset to which they prescribe. But Boris is just an upper class knobjockey 😂
ha ha, I'm holding myself back on the offensive language here. If I met him, it wouldn't be Queensbury rules 😉
Very interesting. That looks like some pretty awesome graffiti in the pool there. I don't think you always get that kind of quality from your average vandal. Probably best that you avoided some of the spots in this one. It looks pretty dangerous.
You could say that, it was more like a building site at that end!
You were taking your chances with some of that. It does look beaten up and has had plenty of visitors leaving their mark. What's the betting it just decays further?
Take care.
It would need to be renovated as it's Grade II listed. Always the sticky point, and that's why these are so common.
What are the grades of listings in the UK? Stateside, we have a national register of historic places and whatnot.
Looks like one hell of an interesting building. Too bad you couldn't get further in. I wonder sometimes whether the remodeling plans are worthwhile. On the one hand, old buildings often have good bones, and the architecture can't really be replicated with modern techniques. On the other hand, updating to meet modern codes for occupancy is usually a bitch and a half.
We will go back and likely get in next time. It's all about timing and whether you are lucky or not. This one is worth the re-visit looking at that other report I linked in.
Whenever I see the decay that occurs after a mere decade, it just reminds me that if anything the Fallout games underplay the crumbling and collapse.
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I really wanted you to find a way in! That looked promising and all, very upscale looking in my opinion, right until they ruined it by spreading Boris all over.
I hope to see what is inside in a further post. I am not going to peek inside for the spoiler alert.
It might be summer by the time we get back over to the Liverpool area, it's not so close and I'm collecting locations meanwhile as we are not allowed to go out right now.
What a coincidence , I have worked at a school/hospital for hearing impaired childeren. some years ago. Only the building is still in use :)
It doesn't look unlike the one in question,besides the intact windows and yours not falling apart!
That’s a nice big old pile of bricks, I hope you get in next time ! The building looks sound enough.
Tell dizzy “if he’s not living on the edge he is taking up too much space “!
I thought you might have been here already. Nice, large and creepy inside.. it's right up your street!
@dizzydiscovery hasn't seen this yet. He's having severe UX withdrawal symptoms.
I shall have to do it along with pine tops and a couple of remote time capsules farms I have just north of looneypool
Yes I love creepy
Oh! Is he taking up more sedate past times?
This reminds a bit of the game 'Thief'... Was it that one? My memory is a bit hazy! It would have perfect if you came at night!
The outside (last photo) doesn't look as run down as the inside. Nice exploration!
The other report tells me it's quite the wreck inside, but still you might find things decades old. It's all about the buzz.