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Hexham Relocation
By 1941 the threat from air raids and wartime pressures to accommodate additional adult patients forced the temporary relocation of the sanatorium to the Hexham Hydro. The Hydro was carefully selected by the PCHA and was an ideal location for the sanatorium having large lofty rooms with large windows as well as being in beautiful surroundings. In addition the Hydro had one particular building that displayed clear similarities to Stannington; the winter gardens. This was a large conservatory like structure that is still standing today and would have been ideal for allowing children to lay out in the sun. Unfortunately for at least some of the time the children were there wartime requirements appear to have led to most of the windows having to be blacked out and we believe the building was instead used as a boys' ward.
The one downside noted by members of staff was that the Hydro did not have the verandahs that were so common in Stannington and allowed bed bound children to be wheeled out into the fresh air and sunshine. Nor did it have the capacity that Stannington had and along with shortages of nurses and domestic staff numbers soon dwindled from 311 to 179 in 1945.
The Hexham Hydro had been known as the Tynedale Hydropathic Hotel and received many famous guests during its history including Ramsay MacDonald and Douglas Fairbanks. By 1941 the business was in decline and so the PCHA was able to purchase the building for use by the sanatorium. The Hexham Hydro was eventually sold by the PCHA to Northumberland County Council whereupon it became a teacher training college. The building now forms part of the Queen Elizabeth High School and the old walled garden has also been restored to its former glory by staff and students and is well looked after and used for the teaching of horticulture.
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