It was one summer day in July 1947, that I was driven with my parents from a hospital on the outskirts of Neath, to a children's hospital at St.Brides on the Pembrokeshire coast, having been diagnosed with the then dreaded disease tuberculosis, in my left hip. At the age of eleven and a half I was going to have to adjust to a lengthy stay in a sanatorium some eighty miles from my home town Port Talbot. The journey took us through three counties, two of which were new territory, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire. Driving along windy country roads, occasionally overlapped by cascades of overlapping trees, that provided archways along the route, The driving through new territory, and taking in the scenic panoramas on route, all helped to deflect the thoughts of a long seperation from the family once I had arrived at St.Brides.
As one leaves Haverfordwest towards the coast, one catches a glimpse of a majestic castle within a large estate overlooking the picturesque St.Brides Bay. This was St.Brides Castle, once the home of Hugh Edwards(sixth Baron) and his wife Catherin Pilkington, Lord and Lady Kensington. In 1920, the Kensington family decided to move to their smaller residence in Haverfordwest, and the castle and estate changed hands and was owned by The King Edward VII Welsh National Memorial Association, who in 1923 reopened the Castle as a children's hospital, that took on the name of its previous owner Kensington Hospital.
The wards were situated on the first, and ground floor of the hospital. The patients on the first floor had infections of the chest , lungs, and glands,whilst those on the ground floor were orthopediac cases, with bone infections of the knee
hip, or spine. The first floor was known as ward C and the ground floor ward B.
On the ground floor, were three wards in the main structure of the building,with an additional ward, resembling a greenhouse ,with a slanting glass roof and windows down one side. The first ward situated at the front part of the hospital housed the senior girls. Next to the Senior girls ward was the cot ward, which housed the very young patients up to seven years of age. Next to the cot ward was a boys ward from age seven to twelve years. From twelve years to seventeen , boys were then transferred to the ward at the rear of the hospital known as the balcony. Until my twelth birthday, I found myself with the seven to twelve year boys, in ward 13. Before the introduction of streptimycin in 1949, the main treatment for tuberculosis was plenty of rest and fresh air, and keeping the bone or joint still to prevent the tuberculosis spreading. Hip and spinal cases were placed on a frame. This was a metal structure made to the shape of ones body. This was then covered with stuffed leather , to make it comfortable to lie on. On
either side of the frame at chest level was a metal curved bar, and also this was repeated at hip level. Both legs were bandaged to the frame in a V position, and ones feet were supported by foot rests. Once I was measured, and the frame made, that was my position for some four years, apart form the occasional X-Ray.
At the head of the frame was a head rest. I felt sorry for the spine cases on frames as they were not allowed any pillows . having to be perfectly flat.Hip cases however were more fortunate as they were allowed one pillow. I mentioned earlier
that the senior boys were housed in the ward built on to the rear of the hospital known as the Balcony, a photo of the Balcony ward appears in the Kensington Hospital Picture Gallery .
I suppose with the advances in medical science and technology over the years
one can be forgiven for not realising that patients in the 2oth century were subjected to years of confinement in hospital for tuberculosis. Any long confinement is difficult for an adult, yet alone children. For the past three decades, I was involved in Hospital Radio in the North West, and talking to patients week after week, the main concerns were boredom, of a very long day.
I can honestly say that as far as Kensington Hospital was concerned, none of us knew the word boredom and here is why.
Kensington Hospital, was in my estimation unique, as through the period of
almost five years, in which I was a patient, I cannot remember the word boredom ever mentioned. This was mainly due to a unique Management team, backed by excellant staff on the wards. Our day commenced at around 06.30am, with a wash
and brush up before the day staff came on duty and our breakfast at 08.00am. After breakfast, our personal needs were seen to, and the beds made, and ward tidied by 0945am when morning school commenced. School staff consisted of four or five teachers, and a Head teacher Miss V.M.Hall. Each teacher had oversight of a number of wards, and Miss Hall had oversight of the senior girls, and senior boys.Morning school consisted of the three R's, and religous instruction. Lessons were to some degree elementary, and no exams were permitted as we had to be stress free. Morning school finished at 12noon, when we had a half an hour rest period before lunch at 12.30pm. Once lunch was over, the wards were tidied, and
afternoon school commenced at 2pm. We all looked forward to the afternoon session, doing handicrafts, making table mats,trays, baskets, and stools. To many of us on frames it was a great achievement, considering we were flat on our backs.
The finished products were often purchased by our families, or were sold at the annual garden fete, and the proceeds went to hospital funds. Afternoon school often concluded with a serial reading by Miss Hall with books like No Highway by
Neville Shute and Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stephenson, or a Record hour listening to our favourite songs on the wind up grammophone.
Looking back, I could imagine some people comparing our meal times with
perhaps scenes out of Oliver or that TV comedy Porridge. Some months ago whilst digesting some minutes of Kensington Hospital archives, there was a record of a family who took their son to the hospital for admission. It appears that word reached them after they returned home that, the children at the hospital were not
treated to bone china at meal times, but enamal plates and cups. The following day they came back to take him home. One wonders if they intended to deliver him to Kensington Palace, for had they run the catering at the hospital, their bill for replacing broken china, would eventually made the NHS bankrupt.With school over at 4pm and tea following at 5pm, the remainder of the day was ours. With no
television in the wards until coronation year, the radio was a great interest with radio shows like Take It From Here with Jimmy Edwards, and Welsh Rarebit. Sport was also a great favourite, with football and boxing, although the latter often created a problem with some title fights being broadcast at 9pm, and often
depended on who was on night duty. On one occasion I remember Sister Adams,the night Sister was asked if we could listen to a title fight with Bruce Woodcock, and Freddie Mills. With our request being refused, the following day
we discussed the best course for revenge. The staff office was in the main building
but relied on the Balcony ward for light and fresh air, so the window at the top was always ajar. One evening when Sister Adams arrived on duty, and was sat down at the desk by the window, reading the report, the patient in the bed next to the window catapulted two stink bombs over the gap in the window. A few minutes passed, and a patter of feet was heard coming down the corridor. On entering the ward, Sister Adams asked the obvious question but got no response. With fifteen
patients in the ward of which twelve were immobile, Sister Adams stripped every
bed, and asked the three up patients to remake them. We all considered she missed her vocation, and should have been sent to an army camp.
Winter evenings were helped along with a fortnightly films show. This took place in a large room on the ground floor known as the playroom. Those who were able sat on chairs or wheelchairs, whilst those of us on frames were placed on blankets or rugs on the floor. The show started with a documentary, then a feature film, and ended with a cartoon, and the chief projectionist was Charlie Weatherall, a one time patient, who eventually ended up on the hospital payroll.
Other entertainments took place in the playroom on the odd occasion, the Christmas Pantomime, when we discovered the hidden talents of some of the staff, and staff dances.
On November 5th. the Balcony boys got a grand stand view of the bonfire and firework display, and was quite a spectacle, we also enjoyed a slightly extended version of the display when we let Jackie Jumpers up the corridor when staff were going for their evening meal!.
Christmas is a difficult time for anyone seperated from their families, but was a time the children in Kensington Hospital looked forward to. Two or three weeks before Christmas any parcels were intercepted and held back, and placed in cloth bags, and were delivered to the bedsides overnight on Christmas Eve. Some patients went to sleep with one eye open, waiting for the oportunity to pounce on their bags to open their goodies.Thos with a bit more sense had an early night to
prepare for an early start on Christmas Day. On Christmas morning after breakfast and the wards tidied Matron did her rounds coming to every bed and wished each patient a Happy Christmas, and after Christmas dinner Father Christmas arrived with a present for each patient.
I have tried to put in a very large nutshell, how many children survived their
ordeal over a long term confinment, all due to a Management well organised, and the support of many excellant teams in the workforce.
In 2001 whilst visiting St.Brides to do some research for my book The Balcony
Boy, and meeting up with retired staff from the one time Kensington Hospital, one suggested it would be nice to have a Patient/Staff Reunion sometime. Returning home with that idea buzzing in my mind, the first ever Patient/Staff Reunion took
place in May 2002, some 50 years to the month in which I was discharged in 1952.
It was amazing on that day when fifty ex patients and staff arrived at St.Brides Castle, a memorable occasion made possible through the new owners of St.Brides
Castle, The Holiday Property Bond. Apart from a pause in 2003, the Reunion has
due to popularity become an annual event, and with many coming from as far as Kent and Windsor, our venue for the wek-end is The Fishguard Bay Hotel. With
the attendance of the Reunion on a steady decline, due to age, and mobility problems, it was decided that the long overdue recognition of Kensington Hospital
should take place, and on the 16th.May 2009 a Commemorative Plaque was unveiled by Mrs.L.Llewellyn Davies, the widow of Dr.Llewellyn Davies, the one time Chest Physician, and Medical Superintendant of Kensington Hospital.
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