Help needed - Memories of the Royal Infirmiry

[mbunting 10]

I am looking for information about the old Royal Infirmary, I know that there are some general threads but they do not tell me what I need to know.

 

I need to know if anyone remembers the Miners Welfare Block at the hospital and whether it went by any other name. I believe that it was named after my great great grandfather.

 

I am not going to name him here because it may influence the information or memories of people reading this. However, I would be very grateful for any information any one can give. I have no memory of the hospital as I was raised outside of sheffield but another of my relatives was a nurse there.

 

Also, does any one know of any good websites etc which may help me find out some more information about the layout and history of the hospital ?

 

Thank you in advance.

[johnpm 18]

Hi, My wife trained at the Royal Infirmary in the mid 1960's but can't remember a block being named after anyone. As far as she can recall the blocks were just named ENT etc etc.

I see that Sheffield Archives have all the Infirmary records of buildings, minute books etc so I suggest you contact them

[jomarch 12]

I worked at the Royal Infirmary from 1976 until 1979 when it closed (bo hoo)- I loved working there.

As with the previous post I don't recall any blocks having names. The wards were similarly numbered, rather than given names as at the Royal Hospital were wards had names like Pye-Smith, Edgar Allen etc- so could you be confusing the two hospitals.

The blocks at the Infrmary were- the Admin block, now the Norwich Union building- the surgical block (including A & E), now Tescos supermarket- the ENT block right at the back which was demolished - the round house (out-patients), which I'm not sure is still there or not- Centenary house (the nurses home, and still standing), and a block in the middle were pharmacy used to be- then the old medical block, the doctors mess, wards 2 and 11 which were built in the sixties and then knocked down.

The old gate house remains.

I wish you luck, and it would be good to hear from anyone else who has fond memories of the old Infirmary- they are worth preserving!

[hillsbro 32]

Being interested in local history I have a small file on the Royal Infirmary, but nothing of much interest apart from three early-1900s postcards - see: http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u219/twigmore/RoyalInfirmary.jpg

 

I also spent three months there in 1972, shortly after my motorcycling career had come to an abrupt end at a crossroads.... I cannot say which part of the Infirmary had been the Miners' Welfare block, but I do recall that one block, now demolished, at the back (near the "round house") was named after a Ronald Matthews.

 

The "round house" (which can be seen at the left side of the lower postcard view) is still there as it is a listed building, as are the Admin and Surgical blocks, as jomarch wrote. The hospital first opened in 1797 as the "Sheffield General Infirmary", and Centenary House was so called because it was built in 1897, at the time of the hospital's centenary, when it became known as the Sheffield Royal Infirmary.

[mbunting 10]

Am I getting two hospitals confused ? was there a royal hospital in sheffield as well as the royal infirmary ? it was definitely the miners welfare block.

 

thank you for the replies so far.

[Daven 10]

The Royal Hospital was on West Street - the Royal Infirmary was/is on Infirmary Road - two completely separate hospitals - both of which closed in ?1978 when the Royal Hallamshire Hospital opened its doors to in patients.

[sheff77cc 10]

Like another contributor, I worked at the Royal Infirmary until closure. The Miners Welfare Block was known by that name. I am unaware of it being named after a person

[mbunting 10]

Thank you for the replies. I do not know which of the two hospitals is was then. I was not aware that they both existed.

 

As far as I know, my relative was a miner who then became a sort of intermediary between the hospital and the miners and who arranged for treatment for the miners when necessary.

 

This would have been in the very early 1900's I would think though.

[smary 14]

The Round House was where you went for your outpatients appointments - I used to have my eyes tested there. Had my tonsils out there and we were laid on mattresses on the floor each child given a teddy for company - ice cream afterwards. Also went there for my chest problems - the consultant was Mr Chesterman (very appropriate) This was all in the 50's and 60's

[zeke 10]

The full title of the hospital on West Street was The Queen's Royal Hospital.

[Nancy21 10]

I trained at the Royal infirmary 1939 - 1940. The miners welfare block was the theatre block at the royal hospital on West Street.

[soft ayperth 11]

I was a patient at the Royal Infirmary in the mid 60s. I was on a dermatology ward. A lot of patients with psoriasis. I had a bad medicinal drug allergy that among other things, caused problems with my skin. In those days patients could smoke in the ward but not in bed. I remember one day I thought I'd sneak a cig in bed. Of course, I fell asleep. Was awaken by a nurse shaking me and yelling at me to get out of bed. The mattress had caught fire. In retrospect the scalding I got from the staff was amazingly mild. They should have thrown the book at me.