Huddersfield Old Infirmary.

A Memory of Huddersfield.

I did my nurse training in Huddersfield 1966 - 1969. As Huddersfield Royal Infirmary was not due for completion until after I started training, my nursing career began at Huddersfield Old Infirmary, situated in the Industrial Centre of town with its mill chimneys and soot - grimed buildings. Built in 1830 by Joseph Kay and opened in 1831, the hospital had impressive original sandstone columns identical to those on Huddersfield Railway Station. The hospital building looked very imposing with its large sash windows and and grand entrance modelled on a Greek temple. Stone steps led to the green double-doors with an ornate lamp above. The public car park in front of the hospital was overlooked by a large statue of King Edward Vll.
I can picture myself stood momentarily in the entrance of Ward 1, the male Orthopaedic and Surgical ward, shaking, sweating, heart beating fast. The ceiling was high, beds lined up either side of the nightingale ward. Sisters desk and a wooden medicine cabinet on wheels were in the centre if the ward. It was my first allocation as a student nurse. I was 18 years old, very shy and self conscious, overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle of doctors in their white coats and nurses in their smart uniforms rushing from patient to patient.
It was on ward 1 that I met a patient I will never forget. Colin Langford had sustained multiple injuries following a horrendous car accident, including fractured arm, ribs and pelvis and severe leg injury. He was only 17 years old. I often wonder what happened to him.
The hospital was becoming increasingly unfit for purpose, with terrible overcrowding in the wards and nurses and doctors working in poor conditions. I would have to work there until the new Huddersfield Royal Infirmary opened its doors. I could only imagine the new spacious, modern hospital with double the capacity of beds, and the very latest in surgical aids and techniques, five operating theatres, a maternity unit.
We moved from the old infirmary to the new Huddersfield Royal Infirmary at Lindley on September 22nd 1966. It was such a memorable day.

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