Stamford Military Hospital

Last September we visited Dunham Massey, a National Trust property bordering the Bridgewater Canal. This year they have turned parts of it back to the sort of place it would have been when it served as an auxiliary military hospital during the latter stages of the 1st World War, as part of the centenary events.

One of the sitting rooms had become a ward.

From beneath the pillow a recording was playing of a wounded serviceman speaking of his injuries, and some of his words were printed on the pillow.

The bed set up for a leg injury reminded my best beloved of arrangements, when she was a nurse in Belfast, of (typically) motorbike accident victims.

Electric shock treatment was somewhat rudimentary.

There was a recreation room with facilities for games and music, and an old gramophone playing 78s of "It's a long way to Tipperary" and other delights.

Children were invited to try their hand at winding bandages.

We felt it portrayed well one or two aspects of the war, and did so in an educational and unsentimental way. It succeeded well particularly because it was so focussed on one aspect – a large country house given over to serving as a hospital for this period.