Where we used to drink a glass or two
Remember how we laughed away the hours
And think of all the great things we would do
Those were the days my friend
We thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance forever and a day
We'd live the life we choose
We'd fight and never lose
For we were young and sure to have our way
This was a firm favourite of my generation
Mary Hopkins 1968!!!! Was it really that long ago?
We'd join loudly in with the chorus, the song
defined how we felt in those heady, rebellious
years when anything was possible.
Continuing with the nostalgia, I decided to
revisit my old London haunts. Ever since I
can remember, I wanted to be a nurse, so.....
I left the provinces behind me and headed to the
big city of London where I lived for 4 years while
taking my nursing training at Kings College Hospital
and then Croydon Technical College, Surrey.
Last week I headed back to my old hospital!
This building has not changed at all since those days.
I still remember walking through the main entrance here,
for my interview. As soon as I walked in, I felt I'd come home!
I didn't feel nervous, I just knew nursing was for me.
The elevator was still in the same place.
Of course we weren't allowed to use it!
Some of the ward names were familiar, but there
were a lot of new ones. I headed up to the first ward
I ever worked on: Victoria and Albert ward, male
medical. Now I do remember being nervous on
my first day!
It sure has changed, it used to be an old Victorian
Nightingale ward,
Princess Elizabeth Ward where I did my first Paediatric
rotation- I still remember some of my patients.....
As we were a teaching hospital, we tended to have the
sickest of the sick. I still remember my first paediatric
death......
And a stained glass window to commemorate all the
nurses who had trained at Kings.......
when we graduated - I still have mine even though it's
blackened with age! It was made of solid silver!
My tutor was Carolyn Moos - her name is at the very end.
She must have lived to a ripe old age as she seemed old
when I was a student!
The Emergency Department - I hated my rotation there!
Times have changed..... it's my favourite place now!
Additions going on there too. The skyline of London
is full of cranes with lots of construction going on.
bigger now withlots of new buildings.......
Across the road, the Maudsley Hospital, a world renowned
psychiatric hospital. They're quite famous and lots of interesting
research is carried on there. As a student nurse I
volunteered for some of their studies - non-invasive of course!
The pay was good and augmented the pittance we received
as student nurses.
They've expanded too, lots of new buildings........
in youth, no one appears to be able to cope anymore. A sign of the
times.....
And no visit to Kings would be complete without a
visit to my old neighbourhood........
And Georgian homes.....
Walking up Camberwell Grove, that's a girls school
on the right.....
lived in Camberwell!
with some sandblasting!
This is where I lived for several years. My bedroom was the
one upstairs on the left. I shared the house with three other
nurses and our landlord, Dr.White, had his surgery in the
basement. We often had break-ins downstairs- people
looking for drugs. Angie, who had the big downstairs
room,would often hear them but was too scared to do
anything in the middle of the night.
We had great times here, lots of studying - and partying!
We'd make our party beer in a plastic garbage bin in the
bathroom and supplement it with very cheap Spanish plonk!
And, if we felt a bit peckish, we would head down to this
joint:
The Greek restaurant down the road. It's still there!!
I'll have to go back for a meal one day. We enjoyed
going there as food was good, cheap and we could bring
our own wine.
And, if we felt truly repentant, we could always visit
St. Giles Church .....
Those were the days my friend.......
And I consider myself very fortunate....
And, to lighten the tone and give you a laugh.....
Staff Nurse!! Thank God we don't have to wear those
hats or starched collars anymore!!!
Talk soon
Zoe
