We take journeys everyday, whether it be the journey from your house into uni or the journey from your bed to the fridge. Each journey has unique experiences no matter how often it is repeated. Can you remember each detail? If someone were to describe that journey to you would you feel as though you were taking it? What about a journey you might never have been on?
Follow the instructions below to begin your journey of my favourite parts of the Drill Hall:
- Second Basement and Room upstairs – Imagine yourself walking up to a blue door. You open the door and you notice a cool breeze breathe onto your face. Looking down you see a dimly-lit staircase filled with cobwebs and dirt. On descending the stairs you notice a chlorine smell, reminiscent of swimming pools. As you get further down the stairs the smell shifts into a musty, old smell. Ahead of you are stacks of toilet rolls in dusty polythene wrap and old cardboard boxes. Beyond those, you notice three dark, brick passage ways. The middle passageway is slightly larger than the other two but only by a small margin. The lights switch on suddenly and you can see that these passageways stretch a significant way into the building. The lighting casts a yellow glow down the passages, and you notice the walls are made from cold ceramic tiles which shine slightly. You feel the cold breeze float around you as the lights on the Morris tubes suddenly turn off. You turn and head back up the staircase.
- Balcony – Now, imagine yourself staring down at the auditorium, through the old black curtains and film screen. The entire room before you is bathed in a blue glow but you, yourself are standing in partial darkness. There are all sorts of things strewn around your feet such as old curtains and paint tins. Looking ahead you notice several large, blue iron beams stretching across the room. You reach out and touch one of them. It feels cool and rough. You notice that a film has been paused on the screen below you and you can see the reverse of the image on the screen. Think back to when this area was used by the military and imagine the people standing up their watching the drills taking place in the main hall. Imagine looking over the edge and watching the soldiers performing their drills.
- Staircase – Imagine yourself standing at the foot of a staircase that curves to your right. The walls are a pale yellow, bathing in the soft glow of the ceiling light that flickers gently overhead. You look down, the carpet is a dark blue, worn with the footsteps of thousands of pairs of feet. You begin to notice a smell, a familiar smell. It reminds you of an old dusty bookshop or perhaps a church. As you look to the ceiling you see the cause of the smell, a large brown damp stain. You begin to walk up the stairs trailing your hand along the smooth wooden bannister, noticing how cool it feels to your touch. You note the echoing sound of your footsteps as you travel slowly upwards. You can hear sounds from the auditorium behind you but you don’t take notice because you are present in the stairwell.