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THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — www.findonvillage.com created by Valerie Martin, contains scenes from her home village of Findon, West Sussex, U.K.
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A NURSE REMEMBERS
Copyright Valerie Martin 2004
This is an extract from "West Sussex — Within Living Memory" a publication by the West Sussex Federation of Women's Institutes in 1993....the memories of Findon's nurse, Nurse Joan Day. The photograph above shows Joan in costume for the Findon School Centenary in July 1983.
She arrived in the village on 20th September 1935 (by complete coincidence this was her birthday too) and took up her position as Queen's District Nurse. Those were the days of few cars and she travelled the district on her bike. Her mother came to be with her in the Nurse's Cottage and they decided they would stay during the winter and then in the spring of 1936 move to another district.
| When I came to Findon in September 1935 a nursing association was in existence and had been for a number of years run by a very efficient voluntary committee. If you belonged to that association you paid an annual subscription of four shillings and sixpence a year and this entitled you to all nursing services. If you required midwifery you paid an extra £2 for a first baby and £1.10s for subsequent ones. We nurses visited mostly for a fortnight and mothers never got up for ten days, the only rest some mothers had until the next confinement. We never had any trouble with deliveries, tough weather and social conditions made things difficult sometimes. I remember going to a confinement high up on the downs, putting my car around the back of the house. All was well early in the morning when it was time to send for the doctor, so I lent my car to the husband; the doctor arrived, the baby was born. I packed up and went to get the car: no car in sight. I went back to the house and said "Where's the car?" All look astonished. What had happened was the brakes had not been put on securely, the car went rocking down into the road below, through a hedge and down again in to the farm yard, the car still upright. This is not the end of the story. I had in the back seat of the car a box of classical gramophone records belonging to a gentleman friend; they now looked like liquorice allsorts — end of romance! For me the procuring of a gas and air machine ws the highlight of the 1940s. It made a wonderful contribution for the relief of pain for the home confinement of mothers — a real landmark, as was the prescribing of antibiotics and all the immunisation for diphtheria, whooping cough, measles, polio and scarlet fever. The new National Health Service was just starting to make headway. Terminal illnesses were a great problem; no hospices in those days, but care for them we did, sometimes three visits a day and always a late evening visit. Heroin and morphia were our main standby. Families were more available to give help in those days and, what's more, willing to do so; no problem of the one child only to take over the burden of caring for the elderly. When I came in 1935 the school had about 90 pupils. The yearly school medical inspection was always a source of worry to me; lots of children had warts. I remember the doctor saying to me, "Get rid of the warts by my next visit". This was done and on the next visit he congratulated me on the success of the treatment. However, I didn't inform him that I sent the children down to a lady in the village who was a very successful wart charmer; I rested on my laurels! The head inspections were another source of worry. At the beginning of each term I descended on the school and sorted the children out. I hated the job as much as the children did. I believe this practice has now been given up.
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Here are some comments from my loyal band of followers on this website who lived in Findon in those days —
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27th September 2002. Valerie -
I assume the article by a Findon nurse was written by
wonderful nurse Day.
During my time in the village she patched me up on several occasions, one broken nose, a sprained ankle, and a badly cut foot. She lived very near (possible next door) to my aunt who had a bungalow called Stone Croft, and further down the road was the village police house. Stone Croft had a large conservatory built on the south side, and this was the centre of activity for colossal amounts of jam making and preserving of anything edible. At the back was a large field which I believe became Homewood, here chickens roamed at will and it was great fun looking for their eggs which were sold in my aunts green grocers near the Black Horse. Also parked in the field was a single decker bus which my uncle had converted into a mobile home, now that was a super place to play.
Tony.
Tony Hammond, East Preston, West Sussex.
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28th September 2002. Valerie I remember cows grazing in the field he mentions. They belonged to Mr. Duke who was a tenant of Findon Farm where the Willows is now. They could be seen wandering down Horsham Road twice a day on their way in to be milked. Part of the farm was a riding school run by Miss Janette Hurren, daughter of the manager of Bentalls in Worthing. My sister and I learned to ride there. The police house at that time was the home of Sergeant
Griffin whose daughters were keen horse riders. One of the
rides was up past the green towards Cissbury where there was a nice canter
up "Douglas` field. In those days I knew nothing about the Foxdown story
but I do remember building rubble under the fir trees at the top. Pam Stepney, North End, Findon, West Sussex.
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| 15th February 2006 Valerie |
Continue if you would like to read My First Day in Findon.
THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — was launched by Valerie Martin in January 1999 and will grow to be a historical record of life in Findon, West Sussex, U.K.
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E-mail: valeriemartin@findonvillage.com |
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