Tone Vale Hospital was built in 1897 and closed in 1995. This is now pretty much totally converted into homes, and a few leisure services.
The main recreation hall is really the only derelict piece of interest left. Situated bang in the middle of the development, it contains a curious selection of junk – presumably from people now living in the converted parts…
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1983-1984
please spread the word about the up and coming blog spot for us
thankyou
ian
Hi Ian I was there from 1978 to 1981 ? if thats any help bud ? check out my storries above . Take care …x
come on any one else out there spread the ord amongst the people you know
ian
My aunt was a patient there in the 50,s she would never talk about it so it made my wonder what went on there. I have read the above comments and I am sat here in tears for you all. I can’t believe that there is not ONE of the staff on here saying sorry for what they did to you all.It is no wonder that it is so haunted even in the new homes. I will pray for you all and I am so sorry that you were treated in this way
mnay thanks susan,
there are a few people slot out there whom need to know it wasnt thier fault,kids are kids who are fluffed up by adults and thier camacity to throw thier kids into places like the unit.
i say this slightly pocking my neck out.
we are good people,all i needed was cuddles and love parent figures whom were never there for me.my role m0dels were sico workers and staff who didnt abbuse bu5 thet turned a blind eye,of whuc i come to the conclusion they are worse than the perpertrators,as the others knew better done better but never stopped the abuse,they just either didnt see it because they blanked it or they were to scared to say anything.
that place has been kept under wraps for far to long.
i am gettin towarrds the end of my 40s and can now believe i am ok and wasnt at fault,is has been a very painful abd emotional path to hurtle down without any support,
take care love to you all
ian
love to contact wendy bryant,lucy beynon,julie totteral-she loved thebay city rollers and thier tartan.
i assure you all details will be strictly be made confidential on the blog site,and a newcomer will have to post his intended action to join the club,and the ones already on the site will have to vet the application,to see if the applicant is rememberd or its just a nosey newspaper man or just a womble.YOU will vet the members.
any suggestions on how this should happen as it is all new to me.
bee happy and enjoy the lovely sunsets were are having
lots of love
ian m.
whom ever is responsible for removing the previous dodgy posts
thankyou.things like that are best not read.
thank you sir
ian
To all you wonderful merrifielders – my love to you all. You are true diamonds, mere coal, crushed under intense conditions the atoms harden to form diamonds, rare and precious and with a skilled hand these can shine and sparkle with such beauty. Their value is the same whether they are burried in a mountain or retreived and polished … protect yourselves, you are worth so much, dont be corrupted or exploited just know your value. There are those that will love your beauty most because they understand the intense conditions under which you were formed and they will love you just as much whether you shine and glitter or whether you remain burried in the mountain.
To all those their between 1990 and 1993 whom i may know – it was a privilege to be your friends, i am so sorry to have lost contact, my journey burried you all for a while but it burried me to. Any Green Bogey gang out there?? The head banging therapy sessions were my favorite (not part of the NHS prescribed treatment but invented by a few fab residents with a love of rock/metal music!) …
such a strange world to find yourself in at that age … there are memmories of horror that are recalled like being in ‘silent hill’ but also moments of intense support and value from those sharing the experience … it was like we had a radar for each other, we could tell when another was at breaking point and rallyed to protect.
I went back to visit after ten years to find the place turned into a housing estate, i was suprised at how upset i was, it was like finding someone had carpeted over a crime scene.
Much love to you all – forge ahead – live! I am looking forward to the blog spot being set up, see you there
c w xxx
Hello CW,
Your post caused me a sharp intake of breath – you are beautifully eloquent.
I believe that we know each other. I was also a member of the GBG, and had a love of metal and rock – I’ve turned all folk loving now though.
Please feel free email me on detectivecat33@googlemail.com (the same goes for anyone else who thinks they might know me.)
I will also see you, and everyone else, on the upcoming blog spot!
A.Bird
x
Hi Ian can you let me know when your website will be up and running and let me know how to join etc. I had a e mail from dma a while back but havent heard no more, cheers mate. Regards Chris..
i am having dificulties in finding out how to set up a blog site without spending a mint on software.anyone have any info please elucidate for me
thankyou
ian
Have emailed you, Ian
x
merryfields survivors
you will ave to email me for the address
that is the site i have set up folks.
tizzz freee and confidential.
i am off now to do some work on OUR site.
hugs to you all out there
ian
merryfields survivors
you will ave to email me at imottram@aol.com for the address
that is the site i have set up folks.
tizzz freee and confidential.
i am off now to do some work on OUR site.
hugs to you all out there
ian
i have had a go at putting the site address here but the auto system here blocks it as a link….
phew
ian
i have set it up and i aint got a clue on how to run the thing if anyone has any ideas please email me.
thanks people
love and hugs and my heart felt support to you all
ian
with the help of others the site is looking promising.
ian
Someone somewhere must have a photograph of the Merrifield building as it was back in the 70′s. Perhaps it could be put on this site.
david email me and i send you a link to a specific site for merryfields.
ian
I have tried for a while to find a picture of the merrifield building but so far have not managed to. I was in there in 1990/1991, can remember some of the lads, chris, alvin, jame (cant recall their surnames) also remember a young lad who had been badly abused and didnt eat, cant recall has name but i think he was welsh.I wish everyone on here well, it wasnt a nice place to be and thats without seeing some of the horrors that some of you on here have, my heart really does go out to you. I do recall learning more about negative things which have later influenced my life. xx
Hi David and Christine. There are a some Merrifield pictures which I uploaded to Friends Reunited (on the Merrifield School section).
dma
please do you fancy puttin em on our website.
thanks
ian
Hi David I have a few photos of merryfields in the 70s as i was there, send me your e mail address and ill do my best to send to you. Regards chris.
Oops ? I did not read dma”s statement, they are the same ones that dma sent to me?? But still would be happy to send to you..
Hi dma, hope your well, drop us an e mail sometime bud ive lost your e mail address,, ..
Ian – thanks for setting it up, i’ve emailed you for details … Bird HELLOOOOO!!! i have emailed you too
… christine, i am very sure i know you too, i remember the welsh lad … see you on the blog site and we’ll chat – hugs to you all xx
thanks for getting a site like this good work i was at merrifield from 83 to 85 i remember certain happenings at the time there
sorry i forgot to mention where i was it was merrifield i used to get bullied & name calling because i was slow so they thought i had friends & enemies i do remember tony carter, tina anderson, the mackies, ect my teacher was avril, then bruce. then thomas. i now live in exeter about 7 years ago when i was at taunton on a day out i came across adam drew who was also there at the time he now lives in wellington we have always been good friends he also used to get bullied like me & name calling people judged us by the way we looked thumbs up for bob, paul shepherd. martin carpenter., carol. maggie. jerry mog. ect for keeping us out of harms way it could of been a lot more serious for us joe caddick was gay he used to get off by giving me a bath playing with himself & then ranking me off & getting me suck him off thank god hes gone does anybody remember the bedsit it was near the punishment room i think tony was there once well bye for now
hi again. i remember when i first arrived at merrifield mr mackie greeted me & introduced to barbara i cant remember her surname she help me to settle in & to unpack my luggage some of my luggage had to be locked in the spare store room i was told there were thieves about god knows who? the first few nights i couldnt sleep after all it was in a dorm there was always one or two who snored & kept me awake anyway on sat & sundays we were aloud to have a lie in which i liked i used to do that a lot after school lessons as well i got bored quite a lot as well right back to that gay pedo joe caddick i remember he had this shed just opposite the dining room where he did his woodwork he wanted to see me there i went there & then he said he had a big surprise for me he got his cock out he wanted me to suck it i said no he then got angry i got scared i had to he was a monster it makes me wonder what kind of childhood he had?? before i left merrifield i was in this work shop near tone vale for people who want to settle in work on the outside i had to lick envelopes, type writing, cooking, it was good fun with me was melanie, mandy, jason powell, kevin berry, lee patterson, adam drew, vincent pace, sammy, the staff with us was martin carpenter, another thing i remember is one time in the assembly we had after breakfast there was a incident of child abuse not with staff!!! but 2 pupils it happened in the school field grounds the fiend was trevor davies & the victim was lorraine foster he got sent away cant remember where? she stayed with her parents for a while does anyone out there remember all that?? get back to me at leesmith57@gmail.com thanks bye for now
thanks bird, for info but am having problems logging in at the moment it does my head in at times bloody computers tell me about it anyway for now this board will have to do anyone out there wanna chat?
no one to chat to? anyway i am now 40 coming upto 41 near end of month, b4 mf i was in kingston manor boys boarding school it was far better than mf now & then there was a cane across the butt that was it no medication or injections or time out rooms like mf there may of been somethong goin on behind closed doors that i dont know? i was there from 79 to 83 anyone out there who was at kingston manor if not excuse this, back to mf the best times for me there was christmas except for the fights, does anybody remember mr cook he was a night staff he was always sitting down in the dorm waiting for everybody to sleep sometimes i pretended i was asleep haha while i was at mf there were no coloured people about why i wonder?? cheers lee
Hi Lee. Yes, I remember Mr Cook. He used to be the leader of one of the day shifts (Mrs Mackie was the leader of the other one), but he ended up doing nights (other night staff were Mr Simons and, of course, Gerry Mogg).
By the way, for anyone who is intersted, I’ve just discovered that there used to be a unit similar to Merrifield in Colywyn Bay – it was called Gwynfa Unit. Anyway, the point is, there were various allegations of abuse at Gwynfa, and these were eventually taken seriously, even contributing to the Welsh Assembly carefully examining the whole issue of residential care for children. It would be good if the voices of ex-Merrifield kids could get a hearing in the same way.
yes i agree with you dma, its a mad mad world we live in they should bring back hanging or even the electric chair, now that will be shocking, haha
hi its me again, right who remembers rose the cook i always got on ok with her, & what about angela cant remember surname one of the staff,& also liz get back to me on that if anybody remembers contact me at leesmith57@gmail.com
here are 2 other ones i remember pupils-martin bradford he was very down to earth & didnt take any crap from nobody, the other one was shawn o’drisco he had a mind of a 5 year old at times he would be very loud & annoying other times he will cry like a baby, he had his thumb a lot in his mouth,
right ere i go again, tracey sommerhayes the sexiest girl there she had someone on the outside oh pity,she must of been about 13 at the time, she had a lovely figure no doubt about that, i had wet dreams of her, my fantasy girlfriend at the time
is it true that merrifield is now a place for criminal women according to what my mum said? is it bridgewater based now? i would love to know who is still about? thanks for anyone who has got any info
Hi Dma drop us an e-mail sometime bud so I can reply back as i have built new pc and lost your e-mail address, cheers, hope your well.. Regards chris..
Visitors to this forum may be interested to know that I have written a novel inspired by my own particular experience of Merrifield Children’s Unit in the 1970s. All the characters and situations described in the book are fictional (to protect identities, etc.), and the story takes place in another part of the country (although there is a direct reference to Merrifield at one point). Anyway, despite being ‘fictionalised’, I believe my book gives a fairly accurate impression of what the place was like.
The book is due out in August/September 2010 and it will be available from Amazon and most other online booksellers, or by order from local bookshops.
The details are as follows:
David Austin, Delivered Unto Lions, CheckPoint Press.
Was there from 1979 till about 1982.
Holy cow does this thread bring back memories! Names I’d long forgotten about like Andy Coles, Perl and Joe Caddick (shudder!)
Anyone remember one of the teaching staff called “Chris(tine) Hardman” she left to get married. Wonder what happened to her?
Bit short of time at the moment but will post more fully shortly