Open Air Trip On A Trolley To The Operating Theatre

A Memory of Orpington.

I'm not exactly sure what year I was an in-patient at Orpington Hospital, so 1957 or 1958 seems most likely. I was at Vine Road, Primary School, in the Juniors probably.
I had to have an operation on my Tonsils and Adenoids. To get to the Operating Theatre, I remember I was bundled up under blankets and with bedsocks on and pushed lying flat on a Trolley, from the Ward, into the open air, under a covered Verandah (There were no walls to the Verandah, I remember the fresh air was cold!!). The recommended soothing treatment Post Operation was Icecream and Jelly (took ages to set). No Fridges or Freezers in homes in the 1950's of course. So the Ice cream men, 2 that called on our Street: "Walls" for Ice Cream "Blocks" in a cardboard Box, or "Bricks", wrapped in a paper wrapper that you peeled off and stuck in a rectangular Wafer Cone, or "Rossi's", who did spearmint Blue coloured ice lollies with icecream in the middle. Happy days! I was always told that Orpington Hospital was built for Canadian Soldiers at the time of WW1. Mr Squirm who had a Sweet shop on Green-Street-Green Shops was Canadian I understood?