The old Northern General Hospital

[hillsbro 32]

Hi. It was Sister Green on ward 16. Remember Sr Russ on ward 17 very well. She used to let us eat left over meals hidden away in the pantry!!!

Yes - Sister Green, a lovely person. There was also the rather eccentric auxiliary on 16, Miss Shand (who lived to the ripe old age of 92) and a feisty cleaner, Mrs Duke. The orderly on 17, Mrs Spencer, was a big, buxom Jamaican whom everyone loved - she was the life and soul of the ward. Herbert Pratt (charge nurse, 6B) didn't bother to hide meals in the pantry - he used to order his favourite meal and enjoy it in his office... Edited December 6, 2011 by hillsbro

[hillsbro 32]

Do you remember Nurse Drabble (male)? Is Dr. Bruce Smith still around I wonder? Thanks for the picture. Don't remember anyone in it, but a lovely picture all the same

I don't think I knew a Drabble; male nurses were "thin on the ground" but the names Midgley (S.E.N.), David Parr (charge nurse) and Roger Freer (staff nurse) spring to mind, though there weren't many in 1971-72. At Christmas 1971 I got dressed up as Santa Claus in a well-padded red coat (nowadays I wouldn't need so much padding) and cotton-wool beard and gave presents to the kids with a Ho! Ho! Ho!..

[Daven 10]

Hi jennybongo - I was a student nurse at the Northern General in the early 1970s. The hospital is so much bigger now that whenever I go there I get lost. When I was there, the children's wards were in the upper part of the grounds. As far as I can tell from the "multimap" aerial view the two single-storey buildings are still there, now surrounded by newer buildings but I don't know what they are used for now. Ward 16 was for children between the ages of about 1 and 10, and Ward 17 had a 10-cubicle nursery for babies, and also took 10 to 16 year-olds. I spent three months on Ward 17 and a month on nights mostly on Ward 16. There would obviously have been staff changes by the late 1970s but when I was there, Sister Russ was in charge of Ward 17. Maria Russ [1927-1988] was a large, tough, no-nonsense Yugoslav who ran the ward with efficient discipline and certainly knew her stuff - one of the best sisters I ever worked for. Dr Heggarty was the paediatrician whom we saw most of - an excellent doctor. Here is a photo, taken with Ward 17 behind the group - I am easy to spot! I am standing behind our tutor, Mary Peddle - a wonderful, warm-hearted person, if somewhat scatterbrained...

 

Sister Russ openly encouraged nurses to eat any left over food at mealtimes - rumour had it that as a young woman in war torn Yugoslavia she and her family were near starvation and so she couldn't bare to see any food being thrown away.

I too remember back to the childrens wards in the late 1970's but with less fondness - I remember the cockroaches and mice that used to run around the wards at night !

[hillsbro 32]

Hi Daven - I never saw any mice but the place was certainly overrun with cockroaches; I must have accounted for quite a few while on night duty. Sister Russ would occasionally tell us about her wartime experiences, and once when her sister Anna was visiting from Austria she spent a day on the ward. I remember the two of them were chatting in German until they realised I could understand - then they switched to Serbo-Croat!

[Kadogo 10]

Hi willybite - yes, I seem to remember some of the older nurses telling me about a Dr Blaco Yates but clearly it was before my time at the N.G.H. It's nice to have your good opinion of the staff there, Nigel. I also had a short stay there in 2004 and I thought the staff were excellent.

 

I believe that a Blaco Yates, spelling, was Chairman of Sheffield United in the 60's ?

[Kadogo 10]

I believe that a Blaco Yates, spelling, was Chairman of Sheffield United in the 60's ?

 

I am pretty sure that it was Doctor H W Blacow Yates, and he was either Chairman, or a director, of SUFC.

[hillsbro 32]

Hi Carruthers - after a bit of Googling I found several references to a Dr H. Blacow Yates who was a senior consultant surgeon in Sheffield, and was also Chairman of Sheffield United. See here for an obituary (scroll down to the second page).

[xfox3x 10]

I remember a few names from the 70s

David Parr 5A. He had a sister who was a staff nurse.

Herbert Pratt 6B

Sr Callear 6A

Sr Baines 9A

Sr Coverdale 12

FO'G and Annie ? and the dog he used to take all over

Miss Bronks

Phil and Janet Norcliffe

The terrible trio of Sr Hole, Sr Danks and Sr ? in A&E

Mr Lunt who used to leave his patients in tears he could be so nasty

What was the name of the C/N on 4A (? Mick Fines)...he was nice

Edited December 6, 2011 by xfox3x

[hillsbro 32]

...David Parr 5A. He had a sister who was a staff nurse....

This was Dorothy Parr - in the photo that I linked in post #2 she is second from the right in the front row. David and Dorothy's parents ran a nursing home in Bakewell. Francis J.P. "FOG" O'Gorman was a senior surgeon - he lived in one of the "cottages" adjacent to Herries Road. Norma Bronks was an assistant matron - her brother was a psychiatrist at the Royal Hospital and Whiteley Wood Clinic. Mick Fiennes was night superintendent in the early 1970s; he had previously worked at Middlewood Hospital, and also had a flat in one of the cottages. Memories!

[xfox3x 10]

This was Dorothy Parr - in the photo that I linked in post #2 she is second from the right in the front row. David and Dorothy's parents ran a nursing home in Bakewell. Francis J.P. "FOG" O'Gorman was a senior surgeon - he lived in one of the "cottages" adjacent to Herries Road. Norma Bronks was an assistant matron - her brother was a psychiatrist at the Royal Hospital and Whiteley Wood Clinic. Mick Fiennes was night superintendent in the early 1970s; he had previously worked at Middlewood Hospital, and also had a flat in one of the cottages. Memories!

 

I remember nursing Miss Bronks brother.

Mick Fiennes and David Parr were like a comedy duo when they got together.

My first ward was 5A in Oct 72 and Mick was a C/N on 4A by then. He asked me what the 'J' on my badge stood for and I told him it was 'Jemima' so he called me 'Jemmy' for the rest of my days there....even after he found out it was a lie lol.

Loved my time at NGH - it was like a little village where you knew most of the people.

Now it looks like a sprawling metropolis!

[stevie1957 10]

Some years ago, I went to the 'superintendants' house, from the days when it was the workshouse. I was amazed, it is abeautiful!! Sweeping staircase, all very elegant. When you think of how the people lived in the workhouse............................... the contrast is unbelievable.

My grand dad spent some time in that workhouse. One of the people in charge used to bark orders at everyone. He did it to my grand dad one day, so he let the pigs loose and drove them off the grounds.

[hillsbro 32]

...My first ward was 5A in Oct 72 and Mick was a C/N on 4A by then...

Yes - I just re-worked the chronology and I was two years out - I was there 1969-70. So Dorothy Parr would have been a staff nurse by mid-1972. The NGH was indeed like a village and there was much camaraderie. Due to the "Salmon Report", changes were taking place and Matron Jobling was about to be replaced by a "principal nursing officer" (who had previously been one of her assistants - so the fur would have been flying there...). One of the busiest wards was 9A with Sister Suter in charge, and Sister Ford on 8A was a dear friend of mine. The principal tutor was Laura Revitt; she and Mary Peddle shared a flat at Crosspool and I occasionally saw them at Fulwood Church. Mary died aged 81 in 1997 but I think Laura (a member of the Revitt farming family of Rivelin) is still going strong at 95.