Wartime Hospital at Beckett's Park

UPDATE - website for published book Stories from the War Hospital is at www.firstworldwarhospital.co.uk

Thanks to all those who have been in touch offering (and requesting) information. We are now realising that a separate website for our project on the 2nd Northern General Hospital at Beckett's Park during the Great War 1914 - 1918 would be a good idea, so one should appear online in the next couple of weeks, if all goes well. The URL will be put on the blog. The original press release  from when we started can be found if you simply scroll down a little.

There are so many names of people who were there, particularly members of the RAMC (Royal Army Medical Corps). We are hoping that there are plenty of searchers trawling the web for information on their ancestor, who might have been a nurse, or a wounded soldier, or...  so if we put plenty of names online, along with a few photos, we'll get results.

In the meantime, here are just a couple of photos which might bring results:

1) The cigarette case. An articial limb race so many years before the Paralympics! Do you know anything about either Douglas Longmate or CQMS (Company Quartermaster Sergeant) G W Browning? Below is a photo of an engraved silver cigarette case sent to us by a retired antiques dealer who wants to give it to any descendants we find:

2) The Irish Nurse. The granddaughter of a Red Cross Nurse who served at Beckett's Park between 7 August 1917 and 31 March 1919 sent us this photo from Ireland. It is of Mary (Polly) Dunne. She had two sisters, Kitty and Josephine, all of whom came from a small rural community and trained in England (St Alban's) as nurses. Do you know anything about nurses from Ireland in the Great War generally?

Contact us by email at headingleyhospital@gmail.com

And thanks for the feature in the Yorkshire Post, Chris Bond - 

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/features/horror-humour-and-humanity-the-untold-stories-of-a-hospital-in-wartime-1-5383600

Congratulations to Sharon Olds

Congratulations to Sharon Olds, who was awarded the £15,000 prize for her collection, Stag's Leap, at the T S Eliot Prize Ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall in London a few days ago. She was shortlisted before - in 2009. Two thousand poetry enthusiasts were in the audience.

 Poet Laureate and Chair of the Judges, Carol Ann Duffy, said: "It was a really strong shortlist, with so much talent and grace, and it was particularly strong in women. We were particularly pleased to have six fantastic books by women." Carcanet is delighted that two of its most long-standing authors were shortlisted among such talented writers. See the Carcanet blog here.

LitFest gets Co-operative support

On Tuesday 15 January, Sheila Chapman, Chair of Headingley LitFest committee, accompanied by Sally Bavage, LitFest Fundraiser, was pleased and proud to accept a cheque from local Co-operative Community Fund representatives Jean and Ken Martin.  The money, which comes from members’ donations of all or part of their share of the profits, has been voted to us to support our first Youth Fringe day, on Saturday 29 June at the Heart Centre in Headingley.

Taking receipt of the cheque at our local friendly Co-op store on Cardigan Road,  Sheila acknowledged the opportunity this will give LitFest to pilot activities for young people in our community, with the programme decided upon by young people themselves.  Watch out for more details of the programme in the coming weeks.

Roger McGough at Headingley LitFest

The Wartime Hospital at Beckett's Park

UPDATE - website for published book - www.firstworldwarhospital.co.uk

Headingley LitFest has been awarded a substantial grant by the Heritage Lottery Fund for a project in 2013/2014 based on the military hospital which was at Beckett’s Park, Headingley, during the First World War.

The project will come to a climax in time for the seventh annual LitFest in March 2014 with the production of an illustrated publication and a dramatic performance based on its contents.

On Your Marks - audience responses

Here's the feedback for the event on 27 November:

Written comments after performance:

I never realised that sport could be so exciting! The young dancers in the section ‘Dancing on Together’ were an explosion of energy that took my breath away.

I also enjoyed the presentation by Palm where poetry and prose was sensitively presented, sometimes giving food for thought with a new take on sporting activity.

Really enjoyed this evening. Quality performances but with a touch of the personal too.

Fantastic. More please.

Excellent  well done everyone.

Great for its sustained intensity!

Very good and impressive performances by the group.

Enjoyed most of it –especially the choreographed movement.

Really, Really Really uplifting - very entertaining!

A great evening’s entertainment!

What an evening! I didn’t think anything sporty could be that entertaining.

Great level of performances and humour.

A grippingly entertaining performance- each different part was well-rehearsed, thoughtful and full of imagination.

Superb.

Very entertaining if a little loud.

A very enjoyable varied programme. Not a dull moment.

Many thanks to all those who have worked for this absolutely wonderful event.  Great work! Keep it up.

An excellent evening - superb performance by all. Can we have more of these events please? Well done to all organisers.

What an entertaining and interesting evening.

Comments by email:

Just wanted to say how much I enjoyed last night’s eclectic and very entertaining programme.                         I think I experienced nearly every emotion: which has to be a good test of an evening’s entertainment.

The Phoenix Dance piece was beautifully choreographed and Leeds Met MA Performance students’ performance was witty and clever.  A great evening.

Really good, high quality performances from all the performers.

Letter in Yorkshire Evening Post  30 November:

  

Dear Sir,

The great thing about Leeds is that it produces quality. Leeds United scored once on Tuesday evening November 27^th at Elland Road but also a second time at St Chad’s Parish Hall in Headingley where nine young dancers from Phoenix Dance Theatre wearing Leeds United shirts gave a performance of ‘Score’ that would have made Neil Warnock proud. Along with their colleagues spirited performance of ‘Dancing with Rhinos’ the evening of sport and art with the title ‘On Your Marks’ got off to a rousing start. From the young to the slightly more mature we were royally entertained by Palm Ensemble, students and staff from the performing arts programme of Leeds Metropolitan University whose mixture of wit, poetry and song and professionalism has been recognised at festivals across Europe. There were also guest singers, John Kilburn, Maria Sandle and Phil Widger a local folk singer whose rendition of his own clever amusing work must surely require wider recognition. St. Chad would have been proud.

 I suspect so was Doug Sandle who had put so much effort not only into this event but also the one day conference on sport in art called Field of Vision at Headingley Carnegie Stadium. Accompanying that event is a splendid exhibition of ceramic sculptures of footballers, rugby players and athletes by Mandy Long displayed in the stadium café until December 6^th. Yorkshire has so much to be proud of in this Olympic Year. I think I will have to pop down to the café to see if I can find an appropriate memento.

Yours sincerely

Jeffrey Sherwin (Dr)