Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

Anyone know why the Ribble valley had so many asylums in one area , seem to remember they were originally built for the wounded after WW1 ( sure Retlaw will know the history about this). Just seems to be a lot of beds for one area considering there were other places as well , think there was also a place near Longridge as well (Wittingham sp?)

re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

Its because they could not afford to build them in Hyndburn but needed loads of spaces for Hyndburn residents :p :D

Its the same reason Chaigley Manor is in the Ribble Valley

re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

I always thought they were built by the big cities like Manchester and Salford

re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

A sixth County Asylum for Lancashire, at Whalley, was commenced in 1912, at an estimated cost of £375,000.
Whalley Asylum

re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

just been talking to the strange man next door and from what he knows Brockhall opened in 1913 and was originally built for drunkards, it opened up as just one building (which was to become the Admin block)

Langho Coloney was originally owned by Manchester and was for epileptics

Whittingham was a mental hospital too

and mi dad says that there was also one across from the Petre Arms at one time

re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

"The Lancashire Asylums Board was established in 1891, by the county council and all fifteen of the county boroughs. Ten years later the Lancashire Inebriates Acts Board was established, but the County Borough of Oldham did not participate. The Inebriates Acts Board built a reformatory at Brockhall (in the Ribble Valley, but its function gradually changed and by 1920 it was a certified institution for mental defectives. 1925 saw the dissolution of the Inebriates Acts Board and the Asylums Board became the Lancashire Mental Hospitals Board."
Index of Lunatic Asylums and Mental Hospitals

re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

its no wonder i'm off my head really, my dad worked at Brockhall, my mum did, my auntie did, 2 of my uncles and my dads cousin did

re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

Calderstones Hospital
Mitton Road, Whalley, Clitheroe, BB7 9PE
Opened 1915: by Lancashire Asylums Board, but used during world war one as Queen Mary's Military Hospital
Dual Pavilion
1921 Calderstones Certified Institution for Mental Defectives
Or Whalley Asylum (Mental Defectives)
Calderstones Hospital (by 1929 - 1993) In 1971 it had an average of 1,710 beds available and 1,631 resident patients.

Brockhall Hospital (See Lancashire Asylums Board) was approximately two miles from Calderstones Hospital in the Ribble Valley. It opened as The Lancashire Inebriate Reformatory in 1904. It became Brockhall Hospital for Mental Defectives in 1915, Brockhall Hospital for the Mentally Subnormal in 1959, and Brockhall Hospital for Mentally Handicapped People in 1974. In 1971 it had an average of 1,844 beds available and 1,800 resident patients. Steve Wright worked there as a nurse from 1981 until 1985. During that time there where still children at Brockhall and approximately 1000 people lived there in total. It became Brockhall Hospital for People with Learning Disabilities in 1991, but closed in 1992.
As Above

re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

Remember that up until 1974, Lancashire (administrative) County encompassed an awful lot of what is now Greater Manchester, Merseyside and the Southern Lakes; remember also there was no NHS at the time these facilities were established. Health management relied upon local hospital boards across the region which nevertheless followed national guidelines on the treatment of 'mental defectives'. the policy was to place these unfortunate individuals in what was then regarded as state of the art facilities in semi-rural environments outside the muck and grime of the major urban conurbations.

Having said that, I worked in Calderstones back in the summer of '78; It was just after the place hit headline news because some of it's female residents had been put on the pill, whether they liked it or not. I do recall that there were a number of older female residents - well into their 70's & '80's - who were only there because in the 1920's they had dared to have a child outside of wedlock. After all those years, they had become so institutionalised; it would have become a crime to let them out into the wider community.

re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

I still think my reply is the most accurate so far :D

re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

Whitingham is still there named Guild Lodge.

Re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

Greaves Hall on the road into Southport was a huge place

Re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

Thats why your as nutty as a fruit cake shaz:D in the nicest possible way of course;)

Re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

I actually served my time as a joiner near to Calderstones and actually worked with a number of male nurses who worked on their days of on our site, and before you start shut it Neil:D:p

Re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

It was also widely accepted that the fresh,countryside air was beneficial to mental illness.Ribble Valley was a very logical location in that respect,and i presume there was a "not in my back yard" mentality regarding such places.Broadmoor is in a similar rural location.

Re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

I worked part-time (evenings) at Calderstones as a male nurse (obviously) in 1967 +-
I can tell you a few horror stories about my time there - under the heading of '5 cc of paraldyhyde' the common medicinal dosage of the time administered in the 'upper / outer quadrant buttock! ( I was responsible for 'socking' it to the poor buggers - under superior instruction of course)
On a lighter note I really enjoyed the TATA pie and mushy peas served up at the 'Dog Inn' washed down with a pint of the best and a game of russian billiards (the table with the mushrooms on for the unninitiated) all this as a part of my journey back to brockhall from clayton c.1965.
The 'Dog' still going?
Martin

Re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

Did your overalls button up the back jay say lol

Re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

"The Dog Inn at Whalley" ?

Re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

aye - there were 4 pubs opposite to each other

Re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

No, but I'm sure your head does:thefinger

Re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

I've worked in several houses in the community in Tameside with ex calderstones and brockhall patients in the past ten years, many of them now sadly deceased. Here's some names;
Henry Birch, Brenton Owens, Ronnie Labert, Frances Sage, Charlie White, Percy Rolfe, Richard Gurney, Alan Jackson, Kenny Evans, Latour Henry, David Jackson, Clive Renshaw. the older chaps were very institutionalised obviously and struggled to adapt and probably missed the community on the wards.
I think now with private companies taking over most of the contracts to run community care houses things seem to be going backwards.

Re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

Can you remember the names martin, Whalley Arms, The Dog, De Lacey, can't think of the other to save my life and I served my time in Whalley too :confused:

Re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

sorry shoulda known ya were ex-calderstones.:D

Re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

mornin Jaysay
got me thinkin too
as you came down the brew from Gt Harwood into Whalley there were 2 pubs occupied adjacent corners as you came into the T junction, the one on the left I think was the Whalley Arms, the other?? - across the road - the Dog and a little further down almost opposite the bus station - de Lacey - ( around the corner was the Starlight Club? casino and revue bar?)
Last time I was in Whalley had steak pudding, chips and mushy peas form chippy next to Whalley arms -- scoffed them on a park bench:)
there was another pub (a bit bleak I recall) halfway up the hill leading out of Whalley going towards Langho - ??
It'll come to me - if it dont come to you first
cheers

Re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

Possibly, the Judge Walmsley, Martin?

Re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

it was the judge, was the other in centre the SWAN?

Re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

Wyn/Cash (win cash??)
spot on on both counts - now I can get on with my studies
tx for that
Martin

Re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

Na Wyn thats on the way out of Whalley up the hill towards Blackburn

Re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

Thats it Cashy the Swan, should have known a seasoned boozer like you (reformed:D) would have known:D

Re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

Cheeky git:D

Re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

Jaysay --------
the way to Blackburn is also the way to Langho cummin aat a Whalley - unless they,ve built a new road going in the opposite way:(

Re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

when ya get the hang of reading,ya will see wyn is correct.:D

Re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

Can't remember that club being the Starlight Club Martin, was the Ace Of Spades, Starlight was in Little Harwood Blackburn

Re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

Judge Walmsley was in Lango or just short

Re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

I'm only up to the Cat Sat On the Mat cashy give me time:D

Re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

you're right Jay - the ace of hearts - I mean spades-- there were some right goings on there in the 60's

Re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

Just short was in Billington, had workmates lived on pasterlands drive n was there local.:)

Re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

yes again, the Judge was further on - the one I'm talking about was literally 2 minutes walk over the bridge ( still going toward Langho AND Blackburn:)

Re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

Martin 2/3 mins walk oer the bridge is the "Judge" on right hand side goin towards Langho.:)

Re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

Well Billington's just short of Lango:D pasturlands cardboard jungle, Derek Barnes built them, seeing his handy work glad he failed in his attempts to by the Rovers:D

Re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

Oh, are you sure? Cashie
I don't suppose you could just nip down there quickly (you're only round corner) just to confirm?

Re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

no need used the pub quite frequently in years past.;)

Re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

yep them houses were crap built, many who lived yon used to think they were somebody,including me mates, i took great pleasure in reminding em they weren't.:D think they were built around 1960, as was 63 when i used to go down.

Re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

I started work down Whalley in 1963 cashy and they were still building on pasturlands then, sortley after he opened a new site in lango itself

Re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

yeh they were, twas early 63 when i started goin down yon, so they musta started before that, cos were quite a few finished n lived in then.:)

Re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

Just noticed this. Donald Vaughan and I got summer jobs at Calderstones, back in '66. The work was ... interesting. Got to lay out a corpse one time ... fun stuff. There were some weird, sadistic characters working there. As far as I remember, most of the money I earned went across the bars of all those pubs.

Re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

When I was a policeman, my most unusual case was at whittingham mental Hospital. I got a call over the radio -"any patrol to attend Whittingham Hospital - report of an escapee" When I got there, I discovered it was far mnore serious. Before escaping, a male patient had broken into the hospital's laundry and had raped two female laundry assitants.

The headlines in that night's Lancashire Evening Post read

'Nut Screws Washers and Bolts.'

On a serious note....there were also privately-run mental hospitals in the Ribble Valley (Billington-Brockhall )area. I think they were all there because there was plenty of land and the countryside was seen as suitable for inducing a calm mental attitude.

Re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

:rolleyes::rolleyes: Are you really sure you and Donald WORKED there Eric;)

Re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

That reminds me of the time this naked blond escapee from Calderstones came running through the building site followed by six male nurses, the last one carrying a bucket of sand, I asked what the bucket of sand was for, he shrugged his shoulders and said, its my handicap I caught her last month:D

Re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

Interesting information! Which Steve Wright worked there? Not the Radio One DJ?

Re: Calderstones, Brockhall , Langho Colony
 

you will probably find that most of the inmates - now escapees - are on the accy website - they go under various seudonymes?
check out the music section and I will reveal all