Early in April I took a vacation out to London with my mother and brother, Rob. The tourist stuff was alright but I was really looking forward to Colindale. Thankfully the city’s underground was easy to navigate and we had no problems finding it – directly next to the Colindale station!

My brother and I walked the grounds of the partially active hospital, not planning on getting inside. Cars dotted the grounds, making an entry seem impossible. We walked into a small recessed area of the building and my brother found us a way in. I was really excited, because I was pretty sure he wasn’t comfortable with going inside

We walked down a hallway into a small lobby with a wide staircase to the second floor. We turned into another hallway with a sign that said “Physiotherapy” and an arrow pointing towards a severely water-damaged area. We turned back towards the way we came in and continued in the other direction. Several small wheelchairs littered the center of a hallway, each one labeled with a name and a date, all from 2000. We went into a large dayroom with a ceiling-high stack of metal beds, chairs and desks.

Continuing down the hall we came upon several large doorways leading to the same place, all marked “Trust Headquarters”. I believe that area was the main part of the building, the part with the “clock tower”. We then turned back, and checked out just a few more things before we left. The rain was coming down hard, and we wanted to catch a break in the storm to get back to the underground station still dry.

A British friend of my mother’s told her that it was a hospital for “The Tibs”, or Tuberculosis.

That short trip was the best part of my week long vacation to London, I may even return next year.

~Keti Fallout