I Was Here In 1973 & 1974

A Memory of Farnham Royal.

Like the other contributors I was a patient at this fabulous rehab centre, in my case it was twice (1973 and 1974) in restoring a mangled left leg following a motorcycle accident (yet another "sorry mate, didn't see you" driver error).
I fondly remember the camaraderie of the 'inmates'. These were generally people severely damaged by accidents, burns, strokes, cancer. l and the occasional sports person or motor racing driver.
I lived here weekdays from Sunday evening to Friday evening for six months in total, playing snooker in the library most evening, or the occasional escape to the Green Man pub up the road.
I less fondly remember the pain 'inflicted' by the staff in trying to restore strength and mobility. They and the surgeons at High Wycombe General Hospital saved a leg that (by the medical assessment at the time) should have been amputated.
I still cherish one of the hardwood bowls I turned while spending many hours each day on the peddle-lathe. The pool was the high point of each day, not least because occasionally one of the fit young lady instructors would get in the pool to assist, and to an 18 year-old boy with limited access to the outside world, this brightened my day considerably :-)
With the help of this institution I made sufficient recovery to become a karate black belt in 1985.
I drove down the lane this evening and was saddened to see the building gone and with it the chance for others to reap the same benefits as I had. The facility has not been replaced locally and I very much doubt the money saved in closing this fine institution did anywhere near as much good as keeping it open would have done,