Old library

I went to a meeting at work today in the 'old library'. It's a fascinating part of the hospital that dates back many years to when doctors ruled the wards, and smoked their pipes over glasses of sherry at the end of a working day.

The hospital was opened in 1839 and was built to accomodate the large number of serious injuries that occurred during the construction of the Great Western Railway. The first patient treated at the hospital was George Earley, a railway worker aged 15. He had sustained a severe compound fracture of the upper arm which required amputation at the shoulder.

The hospital was also famous for treating Douglas Bader following his disastrous flying accident at the Woodley aerodrome in 1931. Bader's exploits are heroically portrayed by Kenneth More in 'Reach for the Sky', (one of my favourite films). The front of the hospital can actually be seen fleetingly in the film.

The old library accomodates hundreds of old tomes and these 'Lancet' journals date back to the mid/early 1800s. If I had time to glance through them I'm sure I'd find recommendations for cocaine drops for toothache, morphine to sooth fractious children, and a cure for 'dropsy'. How times have changed...