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The old Middlewood Hospital history/records etc

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There were some sad stories there. I remember a woman who had been a fashion model before becoming ill. Apparently she had been jilted at the alter or something and her life literally fell apart.

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we used to live opposite the hospital in Stockarth lane my mum and sister both worked at the hospital my sister as a receptionist and telephonist and My mother as a nurse. My mother first worked for the Dentist there who's name was Mr Franklin. She later became an enrolled nurse and worked there for many years her name was Joan Dyson. I went to live in Australia and the rest of the family moved over here later on. My Mother only died 3 years ago two weeks short of her 90th birthday. I played football with a very successful team there until I went to Australia.She always spoke very fondly of the hospital and the people she worked with

 

My mum worked at mw with a Joan Dyson onward 15 and she was good pals with your mum sorry about your loss

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By coincidence I was invited to speak at a book reading event in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, where I live. With the theme of mental illness in mind, I chose a passage from my book about my experience in the 1960s as a patient in the Middlewood Hospital. A short excerpt:

 

"Known as the lunatic asylum, its fortress-like complex of Victorian-era brick buildings looked more like a prison than a hospital. Patients were known to have entered Middlewood and never come out again...It didn’t take me long after entering the ward to which I was assigned to realize that I was about to be incarcerated, not healed. A cavernous, rectangular shaped room containing three long rows of beds, all neatly made like one might find in a military camp. I was shown to my bed, but immediately told that I must not sit on it.

“No sittin on t'beds allowed,” growled the male orderly, who was decked out in his white tunic and slacks. “Ey you, gerroff that bed,” he barks to someone who has caught his eye resting his arse on that which is forbidden. So, among the beds, bedraggled specimens of humanity drag themselves around, their faces downcast to the floor, killing time. At the end of this dormitory, there is a small room with a few scattered, dilapidated old chairs that were losing stuffing from their cushioning. There is a snooker table in the middle of the room, but nobody is bothering to use it. The daily drill starts at 6 a.m. as the fluorescent overhead lighting is turned on and one of the orderlies screams “Gerrup. Line up for pills.” I have not been prescribed any pills because the medics are afraid that I might prove to be allergic to them. So, I am a patient under detention in the most horrible of surroundings without any drugs to numb the senses or heal the neurones. But I still have to get out of bed. Then make it, stand beside it, and have it checked over by the men in white to make sure every crease is in its proper place. “Tha can do a better job er foldin that top bedsheet. Do it o’er again.” And Good Morning to you, too, I think. .."

 

After a few days of this torturous environment, I had had enough... I asked to see the psychiatrist who was supposed to be caring for me. It was the one and only time I was to see the guy.

“I'm feelin much better now. Think I can go ome now,” I say to him.

“Are you sure?”

“Oh yes. This place has really helped me appreciate what I have out there,” I say to him, tongue planted firmly in cheek.

“Well, if you need any further help, don't hesitate to contact us, will you?”

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My mate Terry was admitted there when he was in his 20’s, he was a Rolls Royce aero engine draughtsman at their Chesterfield depot, but was transferred to Derby when it was closed, where he had to live in digs. He couldn’t hack iit and had a nervous breakdown, he was an Attercliffe lad who liked his home comforts. He jumped out of a top floor window at Middlewood, but survived, he later sneaked out and threw himself in front of a bus, however the driver managed to stop, he finally managed it by throwing himself in front of a truck, which did the trick.

 

I have no idea what Middlewood Hospital had to do with his death, I just cringe when I hear it mentioned.

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Does anyone remember a Valerie Lockett and Roy Knight who worked at the hospital in the 70s.

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Roy Knight was head porter in the 1980's

 

 

Does anyone remember a Valerie Lockett and Roy Knight who worked at the hospital in the 70s.

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Roy Knight was head porter in the 1980's

 

Hi there, did you work on portering and could you give me a clue as to who you are

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I worked on ward 41 in the early 80 jim king was charge nurse then

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I worked on ward 41 in the early 80 jim king was charge nurse then

 

Valerie worked in that ward in the 80s and can you remember when the fire brigade kept turning up because the alarm kept going off.:|happy days.

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Valerie worked in that ward in the 80s and can you remember when the fire brigade kept turning up because the alarm kept going off.:|happy days.
hi I remember a val on there also Loraine who was like me a housekeeper I think the val I remember was tall with short hair an auxcillery

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i saw a pationent jump under lorry on M/Wood Rd bottom gate to the Hospital the driver was from Lancs I had to go to court to say it wasnt is fault.

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Does any body remember Maureen williams worked there most probably up till closing 👍thanks 

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