Treasured memories

Miss Mary Dodd wrote to us all the way from Plymouth following our piece about Fulford Maternity Hospital.

"I joined the staff as midwifery matron in May 1961. I know just what Sister Willey felt like when she went there, because coming from the West Country I felt as if I had come to a foreign land and a foreign language," she wrote.

"I shall never forget the first time I was able to take a really close look at the hospital. It was a collection of mostly wooden huts linked by a roof.

"There was polished dark brown lino on all the floors, enamel pails for bins, and very basic equipment everywhere.

"The central ante-natal clinic was a huge shock. Not much more than a large room in a building in Duncombe Place. The room was divided in two by a curtain to give some degree of privacy.

"But, and this was very important, there was a good friendly feeling all round, and I was given a warm, generous welcome."

Great strides were made in the 1960s as equipment was upgraded, says Miss Dodd. Better training was introduced and Fulford became one of the first five hospitals to offer a complete one year training in place of the two-part training for student midwives.

Staff at Fulford formed "one big family, but not too big. We all knew each other, we had great respect for each other, we relied on each other.

"All this is a far cry from the hospitals of today, but I think we can say that we did the best we could at the time with what was available to us.

"The old building at Fulford has gone but its spirit lives on. I should know, because 15 of my Christmas greetings came from our Fulford Family."

In his letter Colin Carr, of Huntington, recalled his time at the Yorkshire Printing Works (YPW), William Stevens Ltd, on Hull Road. Today the building is a supermarket.

Mr Carr was apprenticed there from 1958 to 1963 as a letterpress machineman.

"There were a few characters who worked there that you just don't get now," he writes.

"I remember especially the social occasions such as the annual chapel trip (Wayzgoose) usually to Scarborough or Bridlington. And on the last day before the Christmas holiday most of us went across the road to the Beeswing at dinnertime for a drink.

"On our return to work the boss, Mr Donbavond, would be standing by the clocking-in machine to witness how late back some of us were."

The building was previously used as a tram shed, and German prisoners were there during the First World War.

Mr Carr writes that the YPW "printed Army orders for Northern Command for many years and, during the Second World War, an armed soldier stood guard by the machine while they were being printed to make sure no unauthorised person read them".

Together with another former employee he is considering hosting a reunion of ex-YPW staff. If you are interested in taking part, please contact Mr Carr on (01904) 763194.

Next, one of our regular mysteries. A photograph of two men taken some time during the Second World War was dropped in.

We are told the men were probably on the roof of instrument makers Cooke, Troughton and Simms. The man pictured on the right is Fred Jeffrey. But who is he with?

Fred's daughter Mrs Joan Williams of Bruton, Somerset, would love to know. Any ideas to me at the Evening Press, 76-86 Walmgate, York YO1 9YN.

Finally for now, Carole Tucker (ne Marshall) writes from Highgate in London following our piece on the heritage you want to save.

"I was particularly interested in the description of the Haxby Memorial Hall, because it was my first school.

"I shall never cease to be grateful for the great start it gave me. I went on to Queen Anne's Grammar School - and then on to Manchester University.

"I was born in 1944 and was a pupil in the 'old school' before it moved to the Ralph Butterfield site...

"The headmaster when I first went to school was a marvellous man called Mr Hurdus. He taught me to play chess and we went on nature walks, the memories of which I treasure to this day."

Updated: 11:28 Monday, April 05, 2004