The Stannington Sanatorium project has been continuing at a good pace. Our digitisation and redaction of the patient files is progressing quickly, and we have now completed repackaging them. Our project assistant is now focusing on some of the photographs we have in the collection, and is listing a 1920s photograph album we hope to be able to feature soon. In the meantime, still thinking of photographs, we thought we would share some from another set from our collection, featuring 1920s Stannington Sanatorium.
May Brown was a nurse at Stannington in the late 1920s, and left after her marriage in 1929. Her family have donated these photographs to the Northumberland Archives, which show a little of Stannington life in the 1920s.
 
The first, NRO 11036/1, shows two patients and some of the nurses at Stannington on the veranda, and is labelled as ‘May 1927’.
 
This photograph, NRO 11036/3, labelled Bessie J. Young, shows a nurse with a patient on the veranda.
 
NRO 11036/4 is labelled ‘This is our baby on my ward’. It is likely the ‘baby’ was the youngest patient on the ward, or perhaps a favourite patient of May’s.
 
Photograph NRO 11036/5 shows the Nurses photographed together. The matron in the centre of the picture is Miss Campbell, and May Brown is fourth from the left.
 
NRO 11036/6 shows a larger group of the Sisters and Nurses together. This time May is in the middle of the picture, 6th from the left in the back row.
 
NRO 11036/7 shows staff and patients gathered outside for a fun day. As it is labelled ‘August 1927’ it could be a sports day or a summer outing.
 
This last photograph, NRO 11036/9, shows the Nurses’ home at Stannington, where May would have lived during her time there. You can find out more about the Nurses’ home through our Online Exhibition tour by clicking on the Nurses’ home.
We hope to be able to bring you more photographs in the future, however if you would like to see more in the meantime have a look on our Voices of Stannington Sanatorium Flickr set.
Remember being here when I was 8 years old sent here when my mam had a breakdown sad to think it is now gone happy days here