Launch of book"The Children of Craig-y-nos" in the Glass Conservatory, Craig-y-nos Castle
Michael Jones, son of the boilerman at Craig-y-nos, grew up under the shadow of the castle.
He contacted me recently:
“Hello Ann
I've been re-reading your book and find it even more moving and stirring of the emotions than ever. Perhaps I was too young to know what Craigynos was all about, other than it was an
acutely infectious place, from which you kept away.
Girls on the balcony- early 1950s
The medical treatment seemed very harsh, almost cruel, but it was considered the right thing at the time. I never knew that the children were out in the open all night with snow on the beds - it seems horrendous! Fortunately there were a number of success stories. . What I cannot understand is the regime at the hospital, where most of your correspondents recall deprivation, over-zealous punishment, mental and physical abuse, insufficient education, and strict curbs on visitors, akin to being institutionalized. Yet when the lucky ones returned home they were lost, out
of step, and missed their fellow patients greatly.
The bonfire nights
were very, very good. The local children were allowed in, under
strict supervision, probably on the strength of Dad, Glynne Jones, being the
hospital engineer. The display was spectacular and you will probably
remember the girls on the balconies calling down to us and dropping
sweets. Once a firework ignited the whole box and all the fireworks went
off together! I think Edgar Davies was quite badly hurt by this. After
the show we would run down the terraces to see if we could retrieve any
unexploded fireworks.
I was occasionally allowed in
to the boiler room end of the hospital to see all the gleaming machinery, which
Dad looked after. Once I accidentally turned a large switch and
practically all the hospital went black!
On some of my bad bouts of
bronchitis, I remember Dr Williams arranging for a new treatment - injections
in the bum! Whether this was streptomycin, I don't know.”
Michael sent me another email with some more of his memories:
"My wife bought me your book after seeing The One Show. I've started
reading it and have been fascinated and, I suppose, shocked.
My father, Glynne Jones, was the Hospital Engineer from 1947 until
1960. My mother, Margaret, worked as a nurse in Ward 4 over about
the same period. As far as I can remember (only a youngster
then) they never said much about hospital life. I certainly was never
aware of the regime there, as related by your correspondents. We lived in
a hospital house, called "The Villa" from which the hospital could be
clearly seen and we could just hear the sounds of children on the balconies and
the chiming of that wonderful clock.
I knew of the risk of infection and to keep well away from hospital
premises but, as was to be expected, the local boys would sneak into the
grounds to see now near we could get without being seen, just for the
excitement. We were allowed in, officially, to see the annual Guy Fawkes
bonfire and fireworks display. This was very good but we were warned to
keep well away from the wards and not to touch any of the sweets and notes
dropped down to us by the young girls on the balconies above. Other
occasions when I was allowed in was to attend Sunday Mass being said for the
staff who were Catholic - the nearest Catholic Church was in Ystradgynlais, 7
miles away.
I suffered from bouts of bronchitis then and I remember being taken in
to be examined by Dr Williams. There was always the worry that it might
have been TB but, luckily, I was alright. The stigma attached to TB
did come home to me when, after a routine mass chest X-ray at the grammar
school in Ystradgynlais in the early 1950s, a shadow was detected and I was
given a letter for my parents to bring me back for a second examination.
The reaction from my classmates was immediate and no-one would sit next to me
on the school bus! I was cold-shouldered but it turned out that the X-ray
had discovered for the first time that I was dextro-cardiac, something which
proved of interest to doctors ever since.
I moved away to the north of England and have only just returned (2010) to
live near Monmouth. Congratulations on what you have achieved, I wish I'd
known about the project before. "
Thank you Michael for your contribution.
"The Children of Craig-y-nos" by Ann Shaw and Carole Reeves available from Amazon online, price £9.99p.
