Memories of Symonds House (2)
Mrs. Sue Ripsher recalls memories of what it was like working at Linton Hospital, which is now Symonds House.
She started work at sixteen years of age working in the female sick ward, which is now Unit 2. Her duties were to wash the stainless steel bedpans, which had to shine. If any watermarks were left on them she had to re-do the lot, as the Matron was very strict. Most of the beds had metal cot-sides, which had to be scrubbed before the Nurse remade them. Many of the patients were Mental patients, who wore straight jackets, but still managed to escape from these.
All the floors were wooden and had to be scrubbed and polished, cleanliness was very high.
She recalls the layout of the building as it was then. The corridor in Unit 1 was the Nurses quarters. Unit 3 was the Sisters quarters. Unit 4 was the Duty room, situated so that they could see what was going on. The house at the front was the Matron and Masters house. Unit 7 was the male ward, and Unit 5 was called the flat, which was a mixed ward with Residents that were mobile and not desperately sick. The Matrons office was situated just in front of the kitchen, so that she could see everything. The boiler house was behind the kitchen and the drying room was behind the new laundry. Caxton ward was behind Unit 6 and so was the sewing room. The grounds have changed a lot over the years, to the left of the car park where Crabtree Croft is now, they used to house the pigs and a little further up was the vegetable gardens.
Susan recalls that there were three Boiler men that used to bring the hot coals over to the airing rooms in the old laundry and that the Residents would keep the fires going. The Residents of The Flat and Caxton ward worked the land and did odd jobs around the Hospital. The Ladies helped in the Laundry, ironing and washing.
The Day Centre as it is today was a Nursery and Unit 6 was a dining area. The Children slept in the corridor, which was a ward in Unit 6. The babies were in large metal cots in the Dining area of the Day Centre. The gardens just in front of the Day Centre doors were fenced off and the Children played in the gardens.
The staff entertained the Residents by putting on shows.
Susan's parents worked in the Hospital and she recalls that travelers 'Tramps' came from Kedington in Suffolk and from St. James at Saffron Walden and that they would arrive at the back gate as they were not allowed to enter the front. They were taken into a room just inside where they were stripped, de-loused, given a meal and a bed for the night, a meal in the morning, fresh clothes and sent on their way. The old clothes were burnt in the boiler house. Those that stayed worked on the land and did odd jobs around the Hospital.
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