The memories of a Kendal hospital matron

KENDAL'S first voluntary hospital was built In 1870 at Ghyll Head by James Cropper in memory of his wife, Fanny.

Matron and two servants saw 79 patients in the first year.

Matron's word was law - no drunks or unruly patients.

Two signatures were needed to gain admission to the hospital.

When the Memorial Hospital closed down, first of all it was turned into a laundry then, during the war, an air aid precautions depot. Then it was used as an outpatients'.

In 1908, Westmorland County Hospital opened with 34 beds (94 by 1962).

Visiting regulations seemed to be stricter than they are now.

For example, I can remember 'only two to a bed', and 'don’t sit on the bed', things like that.

There is a lot to be said for these rules.

If you are feeling much better, you would love to have visitors - the more the merrier.

However, if you’ve got a headache or are feeling pretty awful, having still not quite recovered from your operation, the last thing you want is a stream of visitors knocking your bed as they go past, or chatting loudly to other visitors as well as the patient they had come to see.

Imagine a visitor who sits on the bed having just come from sitting on the lawn doing some gardening with their dirty shoes. There was something to be said for having a tighter rein on who came and who went.

There were one or two amusing incidents which happened in my early days as matron.

One day, a gentleman knocked on my door and asked if I would like to buy his pigeons to make pigeon pie.

I must admit to being rather startled and I said: “Could you wait a moment?"

And I nipped into the kitchen but the kitchen staff said yes, they did occasionally make pigeon pie for the patients. So I paid him 30 shillings out of my own pocket and he went away happy and the patients had pigeon pie.

Not long after that, a policeman knocked on the door and he said: "We’ve just caught a poacher, could you use some salmon?”

And the patients all had salmon.

www.kendaloralhistory.com