Alan Evans
In this article Alan Evans reflects on his time living and growing up in the old Fairfield Hospital grounds.
"I moved to Fairfield Hospital from London in September 1971. My father undertook the role of fire prevention officer. We were given a tied cottage, 4 Estate Cottage, which was just off the road going down to Arlesey, near the orchards. At the side of the cottage the fields swept down to Arlesey, giving a panoramic view, but the wind howled up there in the winter months. Chicksands Airbase could be seen on the horizon.
"Our cottage was probably mid-Victorian, made of Arlesey white bricks and a slate roof. It had quaint windows and a front porch. There was a large front garden facing the row of lime trees on the road in front. The rear had a large yard with a garage and sheds. A lane ran from the road and up the side of the field, giving vehicle access to the rear of the cottage. Unfortunately the cottage has been demolished and there was just a bear strip of grass where our garden had once been.
Dr Edward Menzies
A very nice photo of Dr Edward Menzies, courtesy of his granddaughter, Melanie Peterson. He is seen here opening a fete at the Three Counties Hospital, date unknown but probably 1940’s:
Dr Laurence Otway Fuller
This information is courtesy of Eve Radford, the granddaughter of Dr Laurence Otway Fuller.
Dr Fuller was the medical superintendent at Three counties Asylum from 1910-
Dr Laurence Otway Fuller (M.R.C.S. Eng., L.R.C.P.Lond) was the Medical Superintendent at Three Counties Asylum and took up his position on 10th December 1910 after being chosen over 42 other applicants. He brought in many changes to the asylum, including cutting the free beer allowance. In its place, the staff were given a pay rise which made him popular as they wanted more money, The old brewery building was converted into a cheese making plant, and Dr Fullers wife Maud took on the job of cheese manufacturing with the help from trusted patients.
Edna Blows
This is the sad story of Edna Blows, Three Counties Hospital Nurse, who died at the hospital at the age of 20. The story is courtesy of Heather Thompson and Liam Cornes.
Edna was born on 17th August 1911 at 13 Cromwell Terrace, Queens Road, Royston. She lived there with her parents, Bertie and Florence Blows, until the birth of the the family's third child, Ronald Bertie Blows, in 1918. The Family then moved to Arlesey, where Bertie worked at the gasworks (they lived on site), and then at Waterloo Farm (they also lived on site). The family then moved to 2 House Lane, Arlesey. After a while the family moved again (for the last time) just down the road, to 48 House Lane.
In 1927 the young Edna met and started dating a young man from Arlesey. The relationship flourished and as love blossomed Edna found herself pregnant. Unfortunately, Edna’s partner did not want to know her or the unborn child. He refused to believe that the child was his.
As a young girl 'in the family way' she was ostracised by the village. Times and attitudes were very different in the 1920's - no council houses or state benefits then, shame and disgrace was poured upon poor Edna. This was very unfair, as the lad who made her pregnant was left to freely go about his daily business without any remorse or guilt.
Frank Mays
The amazing Mr Frank Mays, Three Counties Hospital nurse.
Mr Frank Mays is a local resident who started his working life at the Three Counties Hospital in 1938 and retired in 1973. He spent his whole working life at the hospital and is probably the last surviving Three Counties Hospital nurse of that era. This is his story.
Frank Mays was born on 23rd June 1915. He was born and lived on The Square in Henlow which has now long gone. Frank can recall many early memories of Henlow and it’s many characters in the early part of the last century.
He can tell fantastic stories of people who he remembers from his childhood and tell you about areas of Henlow that have now disappeared with the passing of time. His memory is so sharp that you would think he was talking about things that happened only a few weeks a go rather than decades ago. Times, dates, names, places, all flow as if these memories were installed in his mind only a short time ago.
George Fowler Jones
George Fowler Jones, architect of the Three Counties Asylum, was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, circa 1818. He studied under the architect William Wilkins who designed the National Gallery. Jones then worked for Sydney Smirke who sent him to York to work on the repairs to York Minster. Jones liked York so much he moved there in the early 1840s, and spent most of his working life there. Plans and elevations of Three Counties Asylum, dated 15th September 1856 give Jones's address as '4 New St., York'.
John and Helen Page
This is a collection of photo’s taken by John Page. He was training as a psychiatric nurse in 1963 and met his girlfriend, Helen, who was also training in the same profession. They later married.
You can see them in the picture below in the grounds of the nurses quarters:
Josefa Fernandez Alcaraz
This article is courtesy of Josefa Fernandez Alcaraz and Marilyn Starbuck.
Josefa Fernandez Alcaraz came to England in 1954 and learned nursing at the Three Counties Hospital. She studied and worked hard and eventually received her nursing certification. Josefa worked in the Female wards and lived in the women's dormitory on the second floor. She remembered there was a phone in the hallway, and bathrooms at each end. She also remembered the murder of nurse Veronica Ryan by Lyndon Nott in May 1958. She was working the night shift at the time of the murder.
Margaret Alston
These fantastic photos were submitted by Nev and his mum Margaret (Margot) Alston. Margot was a nurse at the hospital in the 1950s.
The following is a short paragraph from Margot about of her hospital memories.
"I was first in occupational therapy in the main building, but because I was under the age of 21 I could not work on the wards. I used to have to take the patients back to their wards, and lock each door as I went through.
"There was a railway line that used to run right into the boiler house (that is where I used to put my bicycle whilst in the main building). The entrance was then at the back and only altered to the front in later years, but I cannot remember when.
Mary Di Marco
Mary Di Marco lived at the Three Counties Hospital, from the age of three months, in 1950 up until the hospital closed down in 1999. Credit goes to Mary for sharing her story complemented and her wonderful photographs. This is Mary's story in her own words.
"Fairfield was my home. I grew up and lived in the grounds from the age of three months in 1950. I worked there, and met my husband there. We then lived in two more hospital houses. I held my five year old son's funeral at the Roman Catholic chapel in the hospital.
"When I was a child the hospital was still self-sufficient. I have many memories of the farm. In fact my father started work as a cattleman, and after the farm finished he worked in the Engineers Dept.
"I remember lots of the old farm workers, drivers, blacksmith, fireman, security man, cooks, etc, and have a few old photos including a Christmas one of all the children living in the hospital grounds in the 1960s, at a Christmas party. I worked in the nurses' home kitchen, the dry cleaners and finally as a nursing assistant. I worked in the last ward to close, B6, and did the last ever night shift before the hospital finally closed.
Mike O’Donovan
Pat Davey
The picture above is courtesy of Pat who also provided this memoire:
"I worked at Fairfield Hospital for three years from 1965 to 1968. I left when I was 20 to start a family. When I first started at such a young age the lodge was around the other side of the building. During my time there it moved to the front of the building, just left of the main entrance (as you're looking at the front of the building). I worked on the hospital telephone switchboard.
Richard Knight
This article is courtesy of Richard Knight, the developer of the original Three Counties Asylum website.
“'Give over boy, you'll send me up the Fairfield's you keep going on,' said mum whilst I was doing one of my best teenage strops. Up the Fairfield's was one of many local terms for the old Arlesey Asylum. The loony bin, the bin, the nuthouse, the big house, the 'sylum', the Dodd - there were many more I dare say.
"As a boy I grew up on a diet of Hammer Horror films and Aurora monster plastic assembly models, with all this in mind the view of the asylum from my landing window set the scene for my imagination to run wild. At night, when it was lit up, I could see parts of the old building illuminated against the night sky. It appeared very spooky. Sometimes late at night, or in the early hours of the morning, a siren would pierce the dark night sky and fly straight into my bedroom window causing me to wake with a jolt. One of them must have got out!
"As I lay in bed listening to the siren screaming like a possessed banshee, I would have visions of one of the poor demented souls breaking out of his padded cell and making his way across the fields with the cold wind and rain pelting him back. He struggles to get out of his straight-jacket, his bare bleeding feet clogged with thick mud to slow his progress. His eyes wide and wild like a rabid animal, his mad screams muffled by his frothing mouth. Scary stuff! Of course this was all childhood imagination and I've later learned that siren was the fire alarm, or was it?
Teresa Trinder
This is Teresa Trinder's brief story in her own words, along with her collection of photos.
"I feel like I worked my way up through the ranks! I started at Fairfield in my early 20s in 1984 as a domestic in the evening, then during the day. It was my introduction to people with mental heath problems and was an eye opener!!!
"At this time The social club was the 'in' place to be, and where all the staff met to unwind. Some unwound more than others!!!
Anyway I then decided to give the assistant bar steward job a go, which I did for four years and really enjoyed. However when the decision to close Fairfield came, the social club was the first casualty and it closed in about 1992 I think.
"Well I really needed a job and at the time the only thing going was in the hospital laundry. That was the worst job I've had in my life!!! Purely by chance, a charge nurse from one of the wards wandered through the laundry one day and I jokingly said, 'Giz a job.' Well before I knew it I was working as a nursing assistant in the rehabilitation ward. To my amazement I loved it and I felt that I had found something that I was good at. I loved the whole atmosphere and really enjoyed working with people and making a difference. I stayed there until the hospital finally closed and then I moved out to one of the purpose built units in Hitchin, with the patients.
Three Counties Asylum Fire brigade
Fire was a constant threat at the Three Counties Asylum. There was such an abundance of naked flames from open fires, chimneys, gas lights, gas cookers and personal smoking that risk of fire was high. The asylum was built in such a rural location that it had to be prepared to fight its own fires at a moment's notice. There were no fully skilled professional firemen employed at the asylum, the fire brigade was made up from non-