History
I am unsure of the history of the Staff Yard so I have given a history of the park instead. I am not sure on the age of the Staff Yard but I would guess it was built between the 30s-60s. Would love to hear what those who know their history would think. Ruskin Park opened on the 2nd of Febuary 1907 after the local residents campaigned for a new public park. It was designed Lt-Col JJ Sexby and was designed with an Old English Garden, oval duck pond, bandstand and a bowling green. All features except the bowling green remain. It was extended by an extra 12 acres in 1910 taking the total size of the park up to 36 acres.
During WW1 the park was used to train the Camberwell based 21st Battalion London Regiment.
In 1967 the park was used for Pink Floyd's first official photoshoot.
The Explore
I spotted the building walkin home through the park after going to a particularly crap car boot sale. I was much less fussed about the lack of finds since I was on the lookout for something to explore. Having found it I took a quick look around for easy entrances and decided to explore it another day. About a week later I decided to explore it. I went late in the afternoon but with the sun still up. The park was quite quiet and there was no sign of security at all.
The first easier entrance I had found proved to be harder than expected so I went for the second one. Hopping into the women's bathrooms I instantly regretted my choice of shoes.
The bathroom unsurprisingly was full of toilets. I was surprised to see a roll of loo paper still sitting there. I wonder how long thats been there.
At the end of the hall was a small room. Not much of note in it but I did like the vines creeping in through the vent at the top. A switch stated that there was power to the building but I didnt see any evidence of it. The odd angle of the photos was due to me standing on a desk in the hallway when taking the photos.
Since the bathroom did not connect to the main building I turned back and climbed back out to try my other entrance again.
I noticed a nice big shit while going for the second entrance. We've ticked off two bodily fluids now. I managed to get into the main yard. There were two buildings visible - a smaller shed and the main building.
First view of the main building. Sadly it was all sealed up.
I started with the smaller shed thing first. I was very surprised to see a Commodore Vic 20 in there. Sadly in bad condition but tempting to rescue it. I noticed that there is a newer wall in there that I didnt look over to see whats in the last part of the shed.
Since the main building is all sealed up I was only able to get a few photos of the interior through the cracks.
Since these were all taken through a crack with the camera flash they are not the best quality.
The orignal gates have a lovely matteress next to them.
Having got photos of everything i had access to I went back out and got some photos from outside.
You can see the mens bathroom from the outside. It looks like the public had access to the bathrooms but not the main yard.
Kit Used
I took all the photos on a Canon EOS 7D with a Sigma DC 17-70mm f2.8 lens and cleaned them all up using photoshop. I didnt bring a tripod to this explore but will make sure to bring one next time. I easily could have turned up the ISO to compensate for the darker interiors but that left my mind the second I got in. Overall a very chill first explore in London. I may go back if I find a way to get in but there are very few interesting features in the building.
