It saddens me to see Hellingly Hospital in its present state. I’ve been a freelance writer for almost 30 years, but back in the mid 60’s I was a student nurse there. I regard it as the best years of my life. Back then David Rice was the Medical Superintendent and Alistair Milne his deputy. If I recall correctly, Milne lived in the big house at the bottom of the drive. The main hall brought back memories. They used to show films there for the patients. Needless to say, the staff also attended. The first film I saw in there was, “It’s A Mad, Mad, World.” Which I thought was rather appropriate. The patients loved it. In fact a number asked to be discharged saying they were perfectly normal. Their consultants then had to convince them that the real world wasn’t like that. Then there was Paula Gosling, a registrar. She lived in a flat at Amberstone Hospital with five cats. I remember when I was a third year student on H1, which was the acute admission ward. This farmer was admitted on a Mental Health Section and the admission papers described how he’d drowned some cats. Gosling was duty doctor and when she did the physical exam she rammed four fingers up his arse! One more and he’d have been fisted! Although she used a whole tube of KY Jelly, I don’t it was to ease his discomfort. I think she was scared she’d get hard hand stuck up there. That, she told us afterwards, will teach him not to kill cats! Yes, those were the days. The time of the World’s Biggest Turd and the Vicar’s penis.
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Posted 9 August 2007, 17:20 From Mike Knowles
It saddens me to see Hellingly Hospital in its present state. I’ve been a freelance writer for almost 30 years, but back in the mid 60’s I was a student nurse there. I regard it as the best years of my life. Back then David Rice was the Medical Superintendent and Alistair Milne his deputy. If I recall correctly, Milne lived in the big house at the bottom of the drive. The main hall brought back memories. They used to show films there for the patients. Needless to say, the staff also attended. The first film I saw in there was, “It’s A Mad, Mad, World.” Which I thought was rather appropriate. The patients loved it. In fact a number asked to be discharged saying they were perfectly normal. Their consultants then had to convince them that the real world wasn’t like that. Then there was Paula Gosling, a registrar. She lived in a flat at Amberstone Hospital with five cats. I remember when I was a third year student on H1, which was the acute admission ward. This farmer was admitted on a Mental Health Section and the admission papers described how he’d drowned some cats. Gosling was duty doctor and when she did the physical exam she rammed four fingers up his arse! One more and he’d have been fisted! Although she used a whole tube of KY Jelly, I don’t it was to ease his discomfort. I think she was scared she’d get hard hand stuck up there. That, she told us afterwards, will teach him not to kill cats! Yes, those were the days. The time of the World’s Biggest Turd and the Vicar’s penis.