Our changing estate

I arrived from Nigeria as a trainee doctor in 1994. I was overwhelmed by the massive brick Victorian building with the fountain and elegant gardens. Where I had come from, mental health hospitals were not grand. This felt like a royal estate to me! But its grandness was edged with scariness. It was badly lit, and working on-call, I often had to walk the length of the hospital site in the dark, worrying that anything rustling in the undergrowth could be a human or animal attacker! Sometimes I’d walk past John Meyer ward, through Building 14 with its long, dark, winding corridors and blind corners, with the echoes of my footsteps amidst the silence. What a relief when I arrived back at the oncall residence safely and could shut the door behind me! Peju Raji

Springfield was so unique. You were in the heart of South London but go through the gates and you were in a different world.

Martin Nolan

In the 90s, I worked with an administrator who told me that she had grown up in Springfield Village. Her father had been the hospital postman. Back in the early 1900s the hospital was entirely self-sufficient with a bakery, chapel and farm including cows!

Anna Graham

Crash! During the 1989 construction at Barnes Hospital, a huge lump of ice hurtled through the roof of the new admin block, shattering the glass and dislodging tiles. It looked and smelled like frozen water from a chemical loo - dropped by a plane flying overhead. No one was hurt, fortunately!

Kathy Sheldon

Barnes Day Hospital had a ‘memory room’ for those with Alzheimer’s and dementia. There was a Singer sewing machine, old–fashioned iron and weighing scales, a mincer, a gas mask, an old biscuit tin, Carnation corn plasters, Andrews Liver Salts! These items brought back memories and helped people feel at ease.

Anonymous

There used to be a linen and sewing room for patients wanting curtains or repairs, and a clothes shop. We used to bring patients there to buy their clothes – it was like a small town.

Ray Downer

Comedian and former psychiatric nurse, Jo Brand, was guest of honour at a World Mental Health Day event at Sutton Hospital which highlighted the way art crosses cultural and language barriers. Jo cut a cake and unveiled artworks commissioned by the Trust to mark the opening of the refurbished reception area in the Chiltern Wing.

Anonymous

There was a plaque on a bench for a porter named Leo. His mum used to come and lay flowers there.

Bernadette McManus

There was a classic red telephone box, designed by the architect Giles Gilbert Scott in the 1920s, and a Royal Mail post box dating from the reign of King George VI in the garden of Fox Ward. Both were brought over to Springfield when the ward closed.

Anonymous

The main building was so old. Our offices were converted from wards where long stay patients stayed. They weren’t very nice, with a little window high up. Hot in the summer and cold and draughty in the winter. The new Storey building was a huge improvement because it was so new and fresh.

Joanne Simmons

As our buildings in Tolworth became vacant, we’ve welcomed some unexpected guests. The Transport Police and Met police have been using the vacant space for dog training and for confined spaces training for their squads. A useful opportunity to improve our working relationships with these police forces!

Darren Young

Legend has it that the cafeteria building’s colours - blue, green and brown - were to represent the sky, earth and soil, but were painted upside down - with the sky on the bottom!

Suresh Desai

When we created Phoenix Ward building and the Wandsworth Recovery Centre, one of the service users participated in all stages of the design. He would give nautical names to key players, including me as Admiral Ram and Gary as Captain Tub. He wrote a poem about going through stormy waters – to highlight that, despite the storm and tempest, we had come through together as friends. Peter Ramrayka

The case of the missing doors: The ornate Victorian doors of the 1840s building were stolen overnight. The story is that someone came in the night and said they were taking the doors away to clean and repair them, but never came back. Ray Downer

I complimented an acquaintance on their lovely doorknobs. “Thanks,” she said, “They’re actually from Springfield Asylum!” Anonymous

I remember there was a woman who would sit at the bottom of the staircase in the main building and sing with her beautiful voice. The high ceiling there made excellent acoustics .

Jane Healey

The old John Meyer Ward was one of the dreariest places I had ever worked. We suffered a high number of absconds from the garden. Where there was a will, there was a way! The new ward in 2009 was a breath of fresh air, with a massive secure courtyard for fresh air and recreation.

Janice Murray

I remember Stan the gardener took great pride in the garden, and patients would join him on work schemes. There was an indoor fountain and garden in the 1840 building. Stan saved the fountain for Ruby Ward, and it’s now in the Shaftesbury garden.

Matthew Willoughby

Do you remember the signs “Beware of flying balls” near the golf course? I used to pick them up every morning and kept a collection on my desk. A colleague would come and take the good ones.

Joanne Simmons

I was new to the Trust working in the nursing governance team. The woman I worked with said that she was sure she could hear water dripping somewhere. We couldn’t see anything and stopped worrying about it. Later that day she stepped out of the office for a moment, as a big part of the celling came crashing down on her desk!

Ian Higgins

We used to work with a nurse who had lived in Harewood House as a trainee nurse, then later on, when it was used as a ward, ended up working in her old home!

Andy Cohen

The fountain was the focal point for events like the summer parties that we loved that brought staff, patients and families together.

Melissa Heath

Our office on the first floor was very hot so we’d open the window. At first, I noticed my sandwich would be pulled apart or nibbled on. One day I saw the culprit – a squirrel we named Herbie. Before long he became my regular lunch date. In fact, anything in the office was up for grabs for Herbie, and we would all bring in treats for him! He found the kitchen and would knock over the breakfast cereals. If the window was closed, he’d stay on the ledge looking at you. He became part of the family. Rose Nkrumah-adusei

Do you remember the owls that used to hang out on the roof of Building 15?

Andy Cohen

The Nightingale School, which was our neighbour, had a farm. One day a pig escaped into our site, and our administrator, who lived in a rural area, couldn’t believe she had just come from the country to the big city to chase a pig around!

Andy Cohen

In 1909, a chicken run with 20 chickens was introduced to the Barnes site. The hens produced 2,000 eggs in the first year.

Kathy Sheldon

I walked into a plant room one day in the basement of the main building and confronted a large badger. It won’t surprise you that one of us left very quickly - on two legs!

Paul Jones

A number of feral cats took up residence in the basement of the main Springfield building. A Springfield branch of the Cats Protection League was formed to safeguard their welfare. Kittens were found homes with cat-loving staff members and the adult cats were taken to a local vet to be neutered.

Anonymous

We had a pigeon take over our meeting room - everyone was in quite a flap... I’m sorry. Yes - there was great concern the pigeon had laid an egg.

David Moore

We used to have horses on site – one evening the on-call nurse had a call for help – to deliver a colt! (The nurse recommended they call a vet.)

Suresh Desai