A Nurse Remembers

The group met Irene Bentley when she took part in a fundraising walk in Manchester. We discovered that she had been a nurse at Ancoats Hospital before the establishment of the NHS in 1948. Irene had lots of memories of working at the Hospital and agreed to take part in a film that would become part of our ‘Creating Our Future Histories Project’. Irene was filmed in her own home and the film was shown at Halle St Peters in 2015. Unfortunately, although Irene did attend the event, she wasn’t feeling very well and didn’t see the film. However, her grandchildren and daughter were present and they did see it. Not long after this Irene had a fall from which she never recovered and this film is a tribute to her and all those who worked with her at Ancoats Hospital before the NHS. You will hear Irene mention LS Lowry who sketched his drawings in preparation for his famous painting ‘The Outpatient’s Hall’. As Irene said, everyone was so busy and the nurses knew Lowry wasn’t a patient so he just sat on one of the benches, placed his hat by his side and worked away with his drawings.