An advertisement appeared in a daily paper in 1927 requiring girls for training at Warren Road Infirmary. Ellen (Elizabeth) Flemming applied and was accepted, here is her account:
“The first year was hard work, we were up against the rough assistant nurses who ruled the roost but they soon left once it became a training school. We had a small maternity unit of about five beds where I saw my first baby born and I was terrified. The midwife was middle aged and a real Sarah Gamp style! She did not explain anything. She just leered and said, ‘what about getting married nurse?’ Horrible woman and hard as nails. I remember saying ‘No, I am never going to get married’ as I mopped up the dirty sheets in the sluice and wiped my eyes with the corner of my apron. Goodness, what changes then, but what an experience those years provided. It took some doing but turned out some excellent nurses with the character and courage of Florence Nightingale.”
(Extract from Millennium Memories)