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St Gerards Hospital, Coleshill

Hiya,

I had a number of spells in St Gerards during the 50's & 60's, not the greatest of memories from what I recall. If it hadnt have been for some of the kind staff there it would have been much worse. Three names that I can remember are Sister Lazerian, nurse Bratia and Mr Innis, not sure about the spellings.

Hope this helps.

Kind regards have a good Christmas.

DSK










IngridMartin said:
Is there anyone out there who was a patient or was connected with the hospital in the late 50s or early 60s?
Click to expand...
 
Hi Ingrid,

I spent a long time at St Gerards, cannot remember exactly how long, I may have been about 8 as I remember my 10th Birthday there and was discharged just before my 11th birthday, also I remember that the TV was on nearly all day for the coronation of Elizabeth II that was shown from Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953.

The large doors onto the veranda were nearly always open only being closed in REALLY bad weather. Having been in plaster of paris for all the time I was there and confined to bed, I was eventually allowed out of bed, the plaster being taken off, the leg had withered and no movement in the knee, so I was fitted with a caliper, this gave me the freedom of walking in the grounds, where a small area was set out very nicely and a large statue was at the end.

The only person I can remember is a Sister Christina a rather large lady, my consultant was Mr Innes.

Kind regards.

Bob
 
Hi All,
Sadly St Gerards closed down about 13 years ago and the buildings are going to rack and ruin with some of the garden ornaments missing too. I worked there for a few years but in the 90's, some of my friends worked there before me though.
Sue
 
It is looking really awful isn't it Sue.
My husband was saying yesterday ,when we passed, that before long there will probably be retirement apartments there before long.They seem to be building
quite a few in Coleshill lately.
 
IngridMartin said:
Is there anyone out there who was a patient or was connected with the hospital in the late 50s or early 60s?
Click to expand...
I was a patient at the hospital in 1982 at the age of 13 years old,I was under Mr Piggot and had stapling of the left femur as I was born with one leg longer than the other!
I was a patient for 2 weeks and after my operation I had the best time ever as there was only myself and another teenage boy from coleshill (Steven Baker) and the 82 Espana world cup was on and the nurses allowed us to stay up to watch the games!!
I seem to recall a nurse Kerr?
They used to wheel me over to the physio dept most mornings until I could raise my leg off the bed to be discharged for a family wedding.
I have browsed a few photos of the hospital today and have seen the bath that I had to have a salt bath in on the morning of the operation,that was a blast from the past .
It was a great hospital and all of the nurses were superb,the nuns were a little more strict!!
 
Stuart, that name rings a bell, will e-mail my friend who worked there around that time and ask her, will post if I get any info.
Sue
 
i was a patient at st gerards.
i remember mr piggot he was great.nuns were more than strict!! the last time i was there was mid sixties, i wish i could remember the exact year.i had my photo taken with millicent martin the actress she came to visit.
i have been trying to get a copy from the mail but without the year it's impossible, could ayone help please.deb
 
Deb general consensus is 1966 or 67, may give you a better chance to find something. If my friends come up with more will post for you
Sue
 
thanks for the reply sue.
i get confused with the dates because i was in and out from the age of two which was 1962.
deb.
 
It hadn't changed much over the years I'm told,some of the wards had closed by the time I started in 1991,and when it finally closed there was only Hudson ward open full time.The pond was still there and had fish in it as well as the large statue.
Although I was only there for 5 years it holds lots of fond memories for me and the staff still have reunions as most of us stayed in touch when it closed. If you remember the nuns, Sister Beatrice is in Dawlish and Sister Maria, the physio, is at Selly Park convent, so close to home still.
Sue
 
hi, I went to St Gerrards duing the early sixties, it wasn't a pleasant time, I was age 5 when I went in and escaped when I was age 8, I had a condition called Perthes disease [soft hip bone] I had both legs in plaster and a bar across them so I was confined to my bed. I remember many arguements between my parents and the Nuns, my mom says it was because we weren't catholic, all I remember is that they were very unpleasant, very strict and shouted alot.
They said one Christmas that I had to many presents and removed them from me and gave them to other children without telling my parents, I remember that arguement!!!
I was also told that if I misbehaved the Virgin Mary would find out, it scared me to bits, I carried with me this vision of the Virgin Mary by the pond at the Hospital with a willow shading her for many years. By chance I happened to drive pass the place last year and had flash backs about the place, I parked up and wondered around the back of the hospital and came across the statue by the pond and it was of Jesus? not the Virgin Mary. I had to smile to myself because I am a born again Christian and it was because I had a Vision of Jesus many years later, and there he was by the pond.
I don't remember many names, only one boy who had a TV fall on him, and one nun/sister called Iris or Avis who was told off for the the way she spoke to my mother.
Even though I remember the bad times more their were good and some happy memories, the entertainers who came over Christmas, the garden fate, and the visits once a week from my family.
steve
ps the only photo i have of me at the hospital
 

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Steve, I remember the garden fetes too, My great aunts were devout catholics and used to knit endlessly for the fete and we used to go each summer. The nuns used to frighten me then and I still held them in great respect when I went back to work there, with 2 children of my own!
Sue
 
hi steve.
i was in and out from 1962 onwards.i remember one xmas the nuns had taken us to santas grotto at lewises and when we got back they realised i had chicken pox so we had to be quarantined.i have chronic osteomyelitis of left femur and i was
in traction a lot of the time but the nuns still dragged me to church on a sunday.another time i fell out of bed i could hardley
move but they made me drag myself back into bed they were darlings lol.
on the brighter side i remember the fetes and other treats.i know it's not pc now but one time the black and white minstrels came but they didn't have time for their make up so had to come as themselves lol.
 
hi deb and sue
thank you for your reply, I also remember the black and white minstrels or a panto I remember my dad telling me who they were, I also remember seeing Bambi. The television was on all the time and we the one's confined to bed use to able to move our beds nearer to the TV which use to cause problems.
In my first post above I said the sister/nun name was Iris or Avis but I'm beginning to think it was sister Rhea or something similar.
Do you know whether its possible to enter the building and have a good look around, and whether there is any records on the place?
steve
 
hi steve.
i dont know if there is a way in,i passed by there last year and asked a workman if i could look around but he said no one was allowed,but i plan to try again.i have also been trying to find out how to get my hospital records but no luck so far.deb
 
Steve and Deb, you would have to arrange it through the Father Hudson Society, their head offices are on the same site and I am trying to remember the name of the man you need to contact can only remember his first name is Kevin, but am seeing a friend who will know his surnmae too, so will post it for you. If you do manage to go, I would love to come with you, I missed my last chance when my friends were there loading things for the Lourdes pilgrimage in May.
Sue
 
hi Sue
thank you for your reply I would love to go for a visit and it would be great to see you and Deb there,
Awaiting your reply
Steve
 
thanks for reply sue.
i would like to see whats happened to the old place.and it would be nice to meet
up.
deb.
 
The person you need to contact is Kevin McCaffrey, at The Father Hudson Society, Coventry Road Coleshill, he will decide whether or not visits are permitted, would love to hear how you get on!
Sue
 
hi deb i was aso there when millicent martin came i ave a couple of photos of myself and a couple of girls on my ward i think it was called the annex do you remember the nun who gave us cut out dolls and clothes
 
hi ann i do remember having the cut out dolls but not the nuns name,my bed was in front of the patio doors my memory is hazy but i think there was a piano by my bed.
 
hi ann there was one girl her name may have been fiona she was very thin and very weak but always cheerfull she spent all of her childhood there.one thing makes me smile the tv news said someone escaped from somewhere close by anyway it was a very stormy night and the patio doors flew open and the kids were under the bed clothes screaming that the escapee was
after us i'm 51 now but when i see a film with dark stormy nights i still think of that night <lol>
 
IngridMartin said:
Is there anyone out there who was a patient or was connected with the hospital in the late 50s or early 60s?
Click to expand...
I was a trainee nurse at St.Gerards early 1960's. Mother Catherine was in charge of the hospital. I remember Sr.Phillip, Sr.Beatrice ...can't put a name to the other nursing Sisters. Wards 7 & 8 were outside the hosp. way down a path & at 17 i was very scared alone on night duty. We lived in the nursing home and celebrities would visit ..The Rocking Berries was one band that i still have photo's. Nurses M.Gavaghan, B.Gavaghan, B.Dwyer, M.Wueschner.H.Casey, C.Dugan, A.Fahey.B.Cronin, P.Donohoe, A.Gallagher. Anyone out there that remembers any of the names ?
 
Hamill, I will ask my friends who were at St Gerards longer ago than myself.
Sister Beatrice is now in Dawlish, Devon but hoping to go back to Ireland and Sister Maria (physio) is at Selly Park Convent,a little confused and weak I understand.
Will post again if I find anything else out.
Sue
 
I'm the person who started this thread and I've been reading all the post with great interest. I was a patient on and off from 1957 to 1963. I spent time in Ward 1 (near The Terrace where the babies were) and also on Ward 8, down the ramp. Although I had polio in 1955 and had several operations to my foot, I basically enjoyed my time there although there were probably times when I hated it! Had lots of fun and laughter and made some very good friendships although I don't keep in touch with anyone except a nurse, Jean Donnelly from c. 1961! The nuns referred to were Sister Philip, Wards 1 and 2b(girls shortstay). Sister Kevan, Wards 3 & 4 (boys short stay), Sister Eta (we thought it was Sister Rita!) Wards 5 & 6 (boys, long stay) and Sister Brendan Wards 7 & 8 (girls Longstay). My surgeon was Mr Innes and there was Mr Allan and Mr Penrose. Theatre days on Ward 1 were very sombre affairs. Very quiet and you could see the figures of the surgeons and nurses dressed in white through the kitchen window!!! Mrs G was the cleaner on Wards 1 & 2 and she put the fear of God into us all. She always called me Ingram!!! Sister Aloyuishus (sp) was the Sister Tutor, Sister Veronica was head mistress, Sister Marianne was the teacher on Ward 8. Betty and Maud were the cleaners on Wards 7 & 8 and Henry Plumb, formerly Sir Henry Plumb and now Lord Plumb was the local farmer who used to deliver milk to the wards in person. He had a boy working with him called Terry! I remember the willow tree with the statue. I had my first kiss under that willow tree in 1962. There was a boy called Trevor Salter who was on Ward 5 and we used to write silly letters to each other. Once day, it was arranged we would meet. He hobbled across behind the trees on his crutches and I hobbled across in my leg plaster from the opposite direction of Ward 8. We duly did the deed but then I panicked and ran away! He was left standing there crutchless. What made it so bad was that nurses and patients were watching from the end window of Ward 8!!!! Other names that come to mind Nurses Nolan, Daley, Granahan, Fahey, latterly Salmon. Met up with Geraldine Hunt at a B&B which she runs in Grange over Sands last year! She nursed there in the mid 60's after I left. Other patients, Theresa Southam, Bridget Brierley, Ann Print, Jackie Clamp, Kay Spittlehouse, Denise Coleman, Sheila Andrews, Tessa Roberts and I remember the girl referred to as Fiona. She had cerebal palsy and was very disabled when I knew her. Some nurses used to smack her when she was about 4 dor 5 and say "You're a bold girl Fiona Walsh!" just because she had wet herself. She had no control over her bladder or bowels whatsoever. The creeps wouldn't get away with it now. I think it's called ABUSE???? She used to have terrible sores on her bottom as she was left in wet nappies for too long and they were never washed properly, but rinsed out!!! I remember Sister Mary (who was also in charge of the physiotherapy unit) used to relieve Sister Brenda when she went to early mass on a Sunday. She used to come round and smack us with crutches to wake us up........:(((( She would also yank at our hair and pull on our rollers which really hurt. There was a lovely one called Sister Rose, who was an absolute sweetie! Celebs who came while I was there were Russ Conway, Jimmie Clitheroe, Mark Wynter, Kaye Sisters, Margaret Lockwood, Mr Pastry, WHAT A MEMORY EH? I am now 65 and live in Colchester with my husband Jim. I lived in Swansea for over 30 years before that. Left Brum in 1969
 
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