06 REG COLLETT summary

Start of DVC Pro Tape 1 of 1 – Start of VHS Tape 1 of 1
 
Early years
Reg was born in Battersea on 23 April 1912 and it appears that he was brought up mainly by his grandparents. Reg saw his father occasionally until his father moved from London to Newcastle to take up a job 1934.
 
First admission to hospital
Reg talks about his job with a newspaper firm and the circumstances prior to his admission to hospital. This appears to be due to the pressures of the changes in his workplace. Three months after leaving work, Reg saw his doctor who suggested a hospital stay.
 
Memories of grandparents and father
Reg cannot remember much about his grandmother apart from that she looked after him.
His granddad worked in the Post Office. His father was a fitter in the surgical trade, a
trade that had been passed on from his great grandfather. When his father lost his job in
London and moved to Newcastle for work, Reg only remembers visiting his father once.
 
Memories of school and first job
Reg went to Morden Road School where he got a couple of certificates which were called scrolls. He talks about learning Shakespeare, mental arithmetic and geometry. He left school at the age of fourteen and found a job as an Engineer. He talks about a funeral but it is not clear whose funeral it was.
 
Subsequent employment
Reg then talks about a job as a book and newspaper collector and messenger all around East and West London. But when another paper, Northern Irish took over the firm where he worked, he had to move to Fleet Street in June 1933. Nine months into the job his duties were changed and he had to say goodbye to his colleagues.
 
Moving from Horton Hospital to West Park Hospital
Reg talks about leaving Horton Hospital which he had entered in 1934 and being moved to West Park because of the outbreak of the second World war. When he went to hospital, he did not realise at the time that it would be for life. He was on Fortune ward (Horton hospital) at the time they were evacuated to West Park: one morning they were given new boots and a bundle of clothes and walked all the way there.
 
Working in hospital and ‘parole’
Reg joined the “Farm Party” on Ashley Farm towards the end of the War in 1944 until June 1948. (This is mentioned later in the interview as consisting of working different types of crops, for example planting potatoes and hoe and hand weaving.) He also undertook ‘dormitory work’ and received his Town parole in 1954. Reg was surprised to find himself spending his weekends ‘outside’ after 20 years.
 
 
 
Life in hospital and the arrival of television
The introduction of television in 1954 meant that many patients started to gather in the wards and Reg remembers watching the news in black and white for the first time. He describes life in hospital as talking to people and “learning and living as life came to you”. Although the wonder of TV took over, bedtime was stilling 8.30pm.
 
Religious beliefs
In 1971 Reg discovered religion and the Apocalypse and remembers hearing that the “decision”, i.e. the Second Coming, had been deferred. Although there was a church In the grounds, Reg followed his own religion – church attendance was optional.
 
Moving out of hospital
In 1982, a Doctor told Reg that he was getting too old for dormitory work and he was referred to a home for over 60s in October 1984. Reg reflects on the passage of time: he lost his town parole in 1986, he had already lost his farm work, and the (unpaid) dormitory work was now being taken way. The hospital was closing and he didn’t want to leave but he eventually ended up in Haven House where he lives now.
 
Hospital treatment
Reg did not wish to talk about his treatment in hospital, which he describes as “none too good” but he talks about being investigated for a possible operation on his stomach. Reg takes pills for diabetes. He remembers that the introduction of the National Health Service did not make a difference and the hospital was just the same with annual physical check-ups which he passed. He refers again to the possibility of having an operation but had pills from the general hospital instead where it appears he might have had inpatient stays. He does not elaborate on this.
 
More about events leading up to first admission
Talks instead about his work problems in 1926 before he went into hospital and of the possibility of making complaints through the television instead of the cinema. He appears to have taken an interest in the wireless in earlier years.
 
Social activities and more about religion
Reg remembers small dances in the early years and more people joined in over time. He did not like to dance, but preferred to read books and the newspaper. He also talks of getting messages from the spirits and thought there might not be a Second Coming after all which he discussed with the doctors and nurses.
 
Rehabilitation programme and changes in hospital regime since the war
In 1991 he kept going to the over 60s and then went to a rehabilitation ward where he learned to cook meals for himself. Reg reflects that he had not noticed the rationing of food during the war but the food in hospital had got better over the years. Also after the war, the hospital was “open door” again after being shut down during the war.
 
End of DVC Pro Tape 1 of 1 – End of VHS Tape 1 of 1
 
INTERVIEW ENDS