This year, 2020, has another marker on it other than that created by Covid-19. For it’s also the 200th anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth. Thus, the WHO (the World Health Organisation) has designated 2020 as the first ever year of the nurse and the midwife. Cause enough for celebration on its own then. And it makes a good excuse to talk again about healthcare history and Swindon – it being a story not that well told. Still. And when it is told it tends not to be accurate.
‘It was 60 years ago that the National Health Service came into the world and its birthplace was a small hospital in Swindon.’
They go on to state that, back in 1871, staff from the GWR aided by a donation of £1k from Daniel Gooch, set up the GWR Medical Fund Hospital on Milton Rd in Swindon.
This is not entirely correct. For a start the Medical Fund Hospital was on Emlyn Square/Faringdon Rd – the building that is now Central Community Centre. And the first seeds were sown as early as 1845. The Milton Road facilities came much later – as you’ll see as you read on.
1845 and the need for medical provision became paramount
I’ve written at length about this uber-important aspect of Swindon’s history in my first book, Secret Swindon. For obvious reasons I’m not sharing the whole thing!
But what follows are a few extracts to illustrate how Swindon and its Medical Fund Society became the crucible, the blueprint even, of the NHS.
‘Railway growth was now at its height. The uniform housing of the Railway Village was underway. But it couldn’t keep pace with the influx of workers arriving to the developing town.
With only basic sanitation, contagious diseases became rife. This then was no time to be poor. Not in an era with no NHS and in a town hit by TB. This medical help came from the Medical Fund Society set up by, and run with, extensive assistance from the Mechanics’ Institution.
Now here’s another important thing to note: the GWR Medical Fund Society was neither a GWR company initiative nor GWR company policy. The workforce started it, the workforce paid for it and the workforce ran it via elected officers. The GWR supported it of course. After all, why wouldn’t they? It cost them nothing and freed them of all responsibility for caring for their workforce.’
1847–1947: A Century of Medical Provision from the GWR Medical Fund Society
*It wouldn’t be true to say the Nye Bevan came to Swindon, saw the MFS and went: ‘Oh, that’s a good idea. I’d never have thought of that.’
For a start, his home town of Tredegar, in Wales, had a medical fund society. The Tredegar Medical Aid Society, though, was newer. It was founded in 1890 by the merger of several existing local benevolent societies. Thus Bevan was no stranger to the idea before he came to Swindon.
What made Swindon’s MFS so special was its length, its breadth and its scope. The Swindon model took a modern and holistic healthcare approach symbolised by the dispensary and baths at Milton Road. But that came later as we’ll see.
From cradle to grave
How familiar is that phrase now? It’s an expression indelibly associated with the NHS. Yet Swindon can lay claim to offering that level of care decades before Britain got its NHS.
The GWR Medical Fund Society gave an inclusive health service for 101 years before the NHS came into being.
There’s a thought to digest!
The Medical Fund Society gave healthcare ahead of its time. So much so that, when Nye Bevan visited Swindon to see the health provision the MFS provided, he famously commented:
‘There it was. A complete health service in Swindon. All we had to do was expand it to the whole country.’
Milton Road Baths – aka The Health Hydro
The notion of the NHS
Even before WWII was won, the notion of a national health service had been mooted. In 1945, a parliamentary white paper had sketched out the plan. Yet, as Graham Carter wrote in the now-sadly-defunct Swindon Heritage magazine, records unearthed at the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre reveal involvement by the committee of the GWR Medical Fund.
February 1946 saw the convening of an English and Welsh Medical Alliances conference with Swindon chosen to host in the building we now call the Health Hydro.
It appears that representatives from that famous medical journal The Lancet were in attendance, if the mention of the Swindon’s health service in the May 1946 edition is anything to go by.
Outlining the town’s services and facilities, it focused on the dispensary and the baths, rather than the cottage hospital, because they better fitted new ideas about the importance of wellbeing and prevention.
In Swindon it found something special, something unique:
‘it will be seen that the society provides for its members’ needs from cradle to grave’; in the words of a distinguished medical visitor, ‘The Medical Fund Society is the only current example in this country of an attempt to provide a comprehensive health service for its beneficiaries.’
A timeline of the Medical Fund Society
This is a whole section in Secret Swindon detailing the MFS timeline. For reasons of brevity – a few key points:
Autumn 1847: Gooch writes a beseeching letter to the directors of the GWR expressing the need for medical assistance. In December 1847 men of the GWR form a medical society. In Secret Swindon there’s an image of an extract from that letter.
Late 1850s: The society first subscribed to hospitals in order to get letters allowing patients to be sent to them from Swindon. St George’s, St Mary’s and the Bath hospital were the first three.
1872: The hospital, now Central Community Centre, on Faringdon Road, opened. The medical staff increased to two surgeons, Messrs Swinhoe and Howse, and two assistants.
The rules stated the hospital was for accidents only – not general diseases – and was to be free to all society members. Other servants of the GWR ‘shall be charged a fair and reasonable sum for their maintenance as may be decided by the committee’.
1892: A significant year:
It saw the opening of new consulting room, waiting halls, and a dispensary, along with two new swimming baths – one small and one large.
1899 saw the addition of new washing, Turkish and Russian baths.
The Turkish baths are still going strong and are the oldest extant of their kind in the world. This building, the HQ of the GWR Medical Fund Society, is on Milton Road. It’s now mostly known as the Health Hydro, though interchangeably as The Baths, Milton Road Baths or the Old Health Centre.
How it was paid for
Payment for this medical marvel came from subscription.
Much as we now pay our National Insurance from our wages, these servants of the GWR Co. had their subscriptions to the MFS deducted at source.
Swindon’s GWR Medical Fund Society then was a pioneering venture well ahead of its time. One that played a significant role on both local and national stages.
Thus, in the year that the NHS is 72 years old, Swindon’s precursor to it deserves as much celebration as is the NHS itself.
But in this post I want to talk about Mrs A’s Indian Gentleman by Dawood Ali McCallum. This book is set in Swindon, written by a chap that lives in Swindon and is even dedicated to Swindon.
And, with a central character that is my namesake – how could I not love it?
I heard about this book via this year’s Swindon Spring Festival – which of course, thanks to Covid-19, had to decamp as much of its output as it could to the virtual world.
Now, that’s clearly sad and terrible. But – on the other hand – it does mean that you can still watch and listen to the delightful Dawood Ali McAllum speaking to Matt Holland and talking about his book – described by him as ‘faction’. A mix of fiction and fact set in WWII.
I love the bit on Dawood’s talk where he describes how the book is dedicated to:
1. Swindon: a place which embraces, adopts, adapts and survives. 2. Swindon Central Library 3. Hachette, India 4. The Swindon Spring Festival
How could I not take him and his book to my heart?
Where the action is
I’m about halfway through the book now and I’m loving it. It’s a lovely read. It’s full of gentle humour and it’s so great reading street names and buildings and so on that we’re all familiar with.
Much of the action takes place Inside – and the Queen’s Tap, the GWR Railway Village and the Mechanics’ Institution loom large in the book. As does the GWR Park or Faringdon Road park – gratingly spelt Farringdon. I’m trying to let it go as I’m so enjoying the book. And I’m sure you will too.
Revolution Performing Arts Awarded £35,000 Covid19 Grant
Swindon Theatre Group Get Covid-19 Grant: Revolution Performing Arts – a company that provides classes to children and young people across Swindongets a grantfrom the Arts Council England’s Covid 19 Emergency Fund.
Founder, Fiona Da Silva-Adams said the money has been a life-saver for the organisation.
It’s currently offering its classes, one-to- one support and feedback online via Zoom and WhatsApp. It’s supporting around 350 young people aged 4 -18 years.
In addition, the team works with children in care and provides places free of charge to any young person affected by domestic abuse, referred by Swindon Women’s Aid. The aim is to provide an escape from the trauma of abuse. They also offer a family support morning to encourage autistic young people and their parents to experience the arts and network with each other.
Swindon Theatre Group Gets Covid-19 Grant – In shock
“When we knew lockdown was coming and that schools would close, I went into a state of shock. How would we survive this? Then we made a plan to go online and that’s what we’ve done. We got an initial premises grant which helped for a few weeks.
“This grant ensures that Revolution Performing Arts (RPA) can cover losses and remain a strong and viable company. With that there’s future delivery of performing arts twilight sessions for vulnerable young people. When I knew we’d got the funding, I cried and cried. It means so much.
“This now allows us to fund delivery of online sessions (a combination of live, pre-recorded and feedback). And provide a lifeline to young people during the pandemic.”
The birth of RPA
Fiona set up RPA in 2007 after a successful performing arts career which saw her study at the University of Middlesex and then return to Swindon to manage the Sixth Sense Theatre group – now known as Prime Theatre).
She struck out on her own under the original name of Drama Babes after having her children. The business has grown ever since and was later re-branded as RPA.
After school clubs
“We run after school clubs in many Swindon schools and often in non-school settings offering a range of activities from dance and drama to circus skills,” Fiona said.
“Young people often come to us to feel included, respected and celebrated. They strive to create excellent works of high artistic quality. They can do this because they feel safe to express themselves. These sessions will ensure they remain connected and included and safe.”
Fiona manages a team of 15 workshop leaders, some employed, some freelance and some volunteers. The grant, from Arts Council England via The National Lottery, allows her to keep working with them all as they deliver online workshops. This is valuable as subs have dwindled due to families being unable to afford the fees.
This isn’t the first time RPA have been in receipt of funding. In 2016, they received a smaller grant from Arts Council England in 2016 for an anti bullying film project in collaboration with Cre8 Studios.
Despite the fact that I’m less than fond of cooking, I don’t spend a lot of dosh on takeaways/brought in meals. Not as a rule. But with the Covid-19 lockdown situation curtailing any socialising, I’ve treated myself here and there. So, when the opportunity arose to try this Swindon super salad company I jumped at the chance.
What is Super Salad? Super Salad is a small new company that has created what might just be the healthiest single serving meal in the world. It’s a bold statement but with our salad consisting of between 50 and 65 different ingredients and 25+ Superfoods we believe this just might be true.
If you want something at home – and don’t feel like cooking – but want to be healthy these are definitely worth considering.
The two salads I ate were chock full of different ingredients – all finely chopped. It would have taken me hours to create something like that. It takes me all day to make a bloody quiche – snipping bacon and chopping onions and garlic. Pfft.
You can get an idea, from the image of the leaflet above, of the range that the company offers.
Talking of garlic, I topped both of the salads that I tried with garlic in olive oil, cubes of feta and a few vine ripened chopped tomatoes. And with that, each one was surprisingly filling! This is an important point – I do have quite an appetite (this why I’m not a size 10) so filling me up can be a challenge.
If I’m honest, I found the two that I had a bit on the bland side. That could be my palate – what with me being addicted to chilli olive oil. But anyway, that’s a minor negative soon sorted with a sprinkling of that Himalayan pink salt stuff – it doesn’t half give food a lift does that.
So what you get here is something that’s refreshing and filling. Uber nutritious and full of fibre. I think if you’re trying to lose weight but don’t want to forgo a takeaway treat, these salads are a good option and good value for money.
Dessert Salad
Swindon Super Salad also do a home-delivery fruit salad with which to finish off your super healthy meal.
I tend not to eat much fruit. I don’t personally consider fruit to be food for a start. And aside from that it mostly makes me fart and smell like dead people. Or so my daughter tells me.
However, eaten together with a piece of lemon drizzle cake brought to me by a friend, it was most enjoyable. Though I suppose the cake rather negated all the other healthfullness. Oh dear. How sad. It was was good though!
Simon Webb, is well-known as a maker of beautiful hand-turned writing implements that tell stories. He’s crafted pens from woods that include church pews, Isaac Newton’s apple tree, the mulberry tree at the Richard Jefferies museum, HMS Victory and more.
But it’s arguable that his drumstick pens beat it all.
In 2019, Simon had the great good fortune to get an invite to a charity event at Middlewick House – erstwhile home of Camilla Parker-Bowles – and now the home of Nick Mason of Pink Floyd fame.
Selling his fine pens at the charity event, Simon sold one to Nick himself. An email exchange followed as Nick needed a fine nib fitting to his pen. A service Simon happily provided.
Said Simon: ‘During our email conservation I offered to make something for his charity auction – perhaps from one his drumsticks.
At length, to my great delight, I received a pair of his drumsticks signed by the man himself.’
‘I’ve been working this project and am now proud to reveal the result’ added Simon. ‘I’ve made a rhodium and gold fountain pen and included the signed section of the drumstick in the presentation box with the pen.’
Drumstick Pens Beat It
It’s been a real thrill to do this and Nick has said he’s happy for me to use whatever is left of the wood for what I want. So I’m planning some cufflinks.
They’ll be available from me soon, complete with a certificate of authentication. See picture below showing a prototype where the hickory wood of the drumstick is surrounded by ebony in a sterling silver setting.
Prototype cufflink
An anecdote
Said Simon: I’d heard Nick on the radio early before I set up at the event. The presenter asked if he did any gardening. He replied that it was a standing joke that he was a ‘zero hours’ gardener.
So when my stand caught his eye and he wandered over to me, I shook hands with him and said it was great to meet another zero hours gardener.’
