BBC web-site

Here are some recent contributions to the BBC community web-site on Craig-y-nos:

Royden Stead from Clydach Near Abergavenny
I was at Craig y Nos for about 2 years from 1940 to 1942. I was 2 years old when I was admitted and my family lived too far away and couldn't afford to visit. My father made the journey as often as he could by pushbike!! Apparently I used to greet him with "I don't know my daddy". I remember feeling like a stranger when I eventually went home. Some years ago I met a lady who had been a nurse at the sanitorium, unfortunately I don't remember her name. She asked me if I was one of the poor children or the rich ones. I told her that I had been one of the poor ones! Her response was "Don't worry we tried to look after you and bring small presents for you".
Mon Sep 10 11:02:01 2007

Hilary Jones, Swansea
My Grandmother died of TB at Craig yr Nos around 1935. Annie Mary Lloyd.She had to be taken away from her 3 children who were only about 8,10,and 12 who never saw her again.She died after being there for about 3 years. She was only in her early 30s. It must have been hell for her.Does anybody have any information about her? Or photographs dating from this time.
Mon Sep 10 08:08:55 2007

Catherine Smith, Pontardawe
I recently had the pleasure to stay at craig y nos with some friends and family to take part in a ghost tour.It is such a beautiful castle with so much history but also sad for the children that died there. I would like to go back as I feel there is so much more history to this worth knowing. It was humbling reading these comments of people who were at the castle either working or residents.
Thu Sep 6 15:00:45 2007

Pamela Hamer, Swansea
I was in craig-y-nos from 1947 to 1950 on a plaster bed out on the balcony. Some nurses were lovely, the one I liked the best was aunty Maggy. Some were strict, and my parcels were opened and items removed. I remember having my nose held because I didnt like my medication. And my lovely hair cut off up to my ears I was very upset. I remember Dr Huppard She looked like a man and she asked my parents if she could adopt me. I was nervous when she came on her rounds. I remember my friends Shirley Osbourne and Joan Hubbard, I will never forget them. I couldnt wait to leave that hospital. But I was only a child at the time.
Thu Aug 30 09:15:33 2007

Jane Freeland, Southampton
I was a spinal TB patient for about 5 years (1943 to 1948), first briefly in Wales (my parents called it Cowbridge - it was near Cardiff), and then in Yorkshire, at the Marguerite Hepton Orthopedic Hospital at Thorp Arch, near Wetherby, Yorkshire, for the rest of the time. Eventually, surgical techniques and the magical streptomycin enabled me to recovery fully. I'm now 67, and like you I feel there's a story to be explored. Like you, too, I've found it almost impossible to find records of people involved. In the case of 'my' Yorkshire hospital even the building has vanished under new bui! lt houses. I was thrilled to hear that people at the Wellcome Trust are interested in your idea for a book, and sorry to read some of the negative reactions to your desire to approach the topic. It seems to me that those of us who survived lived through an important part of medical history - quite an achievement - and can help to highlight forgotten bits of it.
Mon Jul 23 17:10:17 2007