Ann Shaw, ex -patient ( 1950-54) was invited on to BBC Radio 4 :"Saturday Morning Live" last Saturday (October 16 ) to talk about her years in the sanatorium and how she came to re-connect with that past experience through this blog which eventually , with the help of medical historian Dr Carole Reeves, became the book"The Children of Craig-y-nos".
Monday, October 18, 2021
BBC Radio 4:" Saturday Morning Live"
Ann Shaw, ex -patient ( 1950-54) was invited on to BBC Radio 4 :"Saturday Morning Live" last Saturday (October 16 ) to talk about her years in the sanatorium and how she came to re-connect with that past experience through this blog which eventually , with the help of medical historian Dr Carole Reeves, became the book"The Children of Craig-y-nos".
Monday, September 27, 2021
Television : "Children of Craig-y-nos"
If you missed the recent documentary made by Wales ITV about the "Children of Craig-y-nos" this is the link.
Thursday, May 13, 2021
Daily life
Does anyone recognise a relative amongst these little girls?
Brian Griffiths' mothers collection
Here are more photos from Brian Griffiths in Swansea's collection which he found in his attic. They belonged to his mother, Phyllis, who worked as a sister at Craig-y-nos.
Tuesday, May 11, 2021
Found in the attic
Sister Griffiths (centre) with two members of staff
I never dreamt when I set out to write a book over a decade ago ago about a children’s TB sanatorium in the Welsh valleys (I spent four years as a child there) that I would still be getting people contacting me in search of their own missing family history.
But it still happens on a fairly regular basis. For the book “The Children of Craig-y-nos” is the only record in the world of life inside such an establishment. Thus it is a unique piece of Welsh social history.
This morning twenty photos dropped into my email box from Brian Griffiths, Swansea of his mother, a ward sister on the balcony with a young patient.
“ I was sorting out the attic and I came across this big box of photos,” said. Brian. “ I knew my mother worked in this hospital but I have very little knowledge of what her life was like.”
Tomorrow I will post the photos and the rest of the story. Meanwhile here is an original photo of the hospital which has not been changed i.e photoshopped.
Tuesday, August 01, 2017
Craig-y-nos film: "Hear Me Now"
It tells the stories of Pamela Hamer, Roy Harry, Roger Benyon and Ann Shaw.
Maria Craig, film director, with Ann Shaw |
Roger Benyon-early 1950's (inset with Ann Shaw in 2017) |
Launch of film "Hear Me Now" in the Macrobert Arts centre, Stirling University |
Thursday, March 02, 2017
Boys on the balcony- Craig-y-nos castle
Craig-y-nos Castle - ( 1940s ) boys on the balcony.
This iconic photo of boys on the balcony at Craig-y-nos in the 1940s has suddenly got a new lease of life- again!
Friday, March 04, 2016
Girl Guides at Craig-y-nos
I have had a request from Guiding Cymru asking if they could these photos of Girl Guides in Craig-y-nos in their forthcoming exhibition in the National Library, Aberystwth to celebrate the centenary of the Girl Guide movement.
Looking back on these photos I am struck by the sheer lack of Health and Safety at the time: imgine children building a fire and cooking on it in a hospital ward!
My own memories of the time the Girl Guides spent with us are positive. They were our only link with the outside world and I can still do the knots they taught us!
"The Children of Craig-y-nos" by Ann Shaw and Carole Reeves is available in paperback for £9.99p from Amazon
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
On the balcony of Craig-y-nos castle
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Graham Canning - 1948-1953
"The Children of Craig-y-nos" by Ann Shaw and Carole Reeves, published by the Wellcome Trust for the History of Medicine, price £9.99 is available from Amazon online.