Close community - "Auntie Maggie"

"Auntie Maggie" with Lil Lorraine Jones, on the balcony of Ward 2, 1952
(Is there anyone who can verify this? the photo was sent in by Anne Blake, niece of Lil Lorraine)

One of the reasons why “The Children of Craig-y-nos” project is possible is that the whole of the Swansea valley remains a very stable community.
Many of the people who were patients in the hospital, or had relatives who worked there are still around, or their descendants are, some 50 years on.

On Saturday I am going to be collecting material from Peter Gardener in Pontardawe , photographs as well as memorabilia belonging to “Auntie Maggie”, the auxiliary who was a surrogate mother to so many of the children in Craig-y-nos.

In my research I came across this email from Pamela Bowen (nee Hill):
“My uncle was going out with one of the nurses while I was there (whilst also having a girlfriend in Aberdare!) and she kept an eye on me though I can't remember her name; she had a brother Edgar who was a gardener there.”


And we know that Sandy Hansen’s mother, Olive Davies, got a job there in order to be close to her daughter.

(What happened to these two children? Well, Pamela trained as a teacher and Sandy became a nurse, now living in Canada.)