Former hospital workers invited to reunion

There is the chance this weekend for people to swap their memories of working at an old hospital.

IF it were still open, the Three Counties Asylum which became Fairfield Hospital between Letchworth GC and Stotfold would have been 150 years old this year.

It closed a number of years ago and the old, once forbiddingly-imposing Victorian pile has been converted into homes and hundreds of houses built in the grounds.

But many people who worked there have fond memories of the hospital and tomorrow (Sunday) a reunion is being staged.

The event is being held in aid of Young Minds which is the country’s leading mental health charity for children and young adults.

The star of the day will be Frank Mays. At 95, he is the oldest surviving member of staff.

Frank started at the hospital in 1938 and worked there all his life. Not only was he a respected nurse, he was a fireman at the hospital and a first class cricket and bowls player.

He remembers the time a German bomber dropped its load of incendiary bombs over the hospital on March 15, 1941.

Then there was the time a German V1 flying bomb came over but luckily it dropped in the fields.

Sunday’s reunion at Stotfold Memorial Hall in Hallworth Drive begins at 10am.