# Brecon And Radnor Asylum, Talgarth September 08



## silverstealth (Sep 4, 2008)

The Brecon and Radnor Joint Asylum, opened in 1903 becoming the Mid Wales Hospital Talgarth, in 1921. 

Originally called the Brecon and Radnor Joint Asylum on opening in 1903, the name was changed in 1921 to the Mid-Wales Hospital. Medical staff included a Chief Female Officer and a Head Male Attendant. There was also a farm, and service departments, which included a tailor, baker, shoe maker, printing shops, kitchen, laundry and church. There were also market gardens which consisted of about 8 acres. 

The first patients at the hospital were admissions mainly from the Brecon area but numbers also arrived from towns further afield such as Swansea and Shrewsbury. Although initially intended to cater for 352 patients, at one point at the end of 1925 there were 455, stretching the resources to the limit. Some of this overcrowding was attributed to World War One. 

In the early years the records reveal descriptions of mental illnesses such as dementia, epileptic insanity, delusional insanity, chronic mania, recurrent mania, alcoholic mania, melancholia. It was accepted that mania could be brought on variously by a number of causes, including of course, venereal disease and perhaps more unusually “disappointment in love”. 

In 1974 the Powys Health Authority came into being and assumed control, with matters changing again in 1993 with the formation of the Powys (NHS) Trust. The hospital was closed in 2000 with some facilities being combined with nearby Bronllys. 

THE MID WALES HOSPITAL SCANDAL 


THE DISPOSAL OF THE HOSPITAL 

The Mid Wales Hospital was sold in October 1999. It was closely related to the Welsh Office/Assembly as they were the official owners. For a number of years it was occupied and used by the local Health Authority as a mental health hospital. The sale seemed to have had all the hall marks of inside trading. 

It was sold to one of its former chief medical officers and his wife. Alun Michael MP, who was the Secretary of State for Wales and then the Assembly First Minister, was implicated with having a direct involvement with the disposal and sale to the successful purchasers. Although this was later refuted, it was found that all normal procedures , including sealed bids, inventories and district valuations were abandoned by the authorities involved with the disposal. The AGW investigation also uncovered what appeared to be a pay back scheme , whereby the Health Trust arranged a compensation payment of £128,000 to be paid to the new owners a few months after completion. 

This meant that a 43 acre site with 200,000 square feet of hospital buildings and floor space, plus 5 large family sized houses, a chapel , tennis court and cricket pitch, was bought for a cost of only £227,000 (two hundred and twenty seven thousand pounds ). 

The slate roof tiles alone have been valued at 2 million pounds. 

The site at the moment is undergoing great change with some demolition taking place soon. The owners are especially concerned about people visiting the place due to a group of people performing some form of ritual in the wards recently wearing horses and other animals heads.

I photographed lot of the buildings exteriors and was lucky enough to be allowed to photograph a section of the admin building.

http://midwalescountylunaticasylum.fotopic.net/












Wards e7 e8











The original Isolation Hospital











Chancefield House


----------



## silverstealth (Sep 4, 2008)

When the Asylum closed so did the town, there used to be 60 shops in Talgarth now there is an handful, most of the town folk worked at the hospital and now remain bitter at its closure.. Never mind the asylum the town is worth exploring alone..







































































£15 a night 






A late night reveller tryng to get home via one of many stops


----------



## freebird (Sep 5, 2008)

What a great place and great report, pity you couldn't get in to see any more of the asylum. Does that house front get hit by car transporters on a regular basis do you think!! :laugh: Maybe that fella on the wall is the driver! LOL


----------



## Mr Sam (Sep 5, 2008)

'the dont hit my house' sign is class but a bit disturbing


----------



## vanburen (Sep 5, 2008)

cracking stuff mate as always.....


----------



## Petzl (Sep 5, 2008)

Nice post and some good pics cheers!


----------



## silverstealth (Sep 5, 2008)

freebird said:


> What a great place and great report, pity you couldn't get in to see any more of the asylum. Does that house front get hit by car transporters on a regular basis do you think!! :laugh: Maybe that fella on the wall is the driver! LOL



I have pretty much seen it all in the past, this time I wanted to get a feel for the wards and layout plus admin.

Talgarth became prosperous because of the asylum and the tb sanitorium now bronnllys Hospital close by. 

Its a real ghost town all the night time pics were taken around 1030 ish. The car transporter sign is one of many curiosities that seem to have been there forever..


----------



## 20vturbo (Sep 5, 2008)

that last pic is excellent,and post was a great wee nosey into the town.


----------



## Flinders (Sep 6, 2008)

I grew up near there.
The house does get hit often. I've seen it with chunks of masonry missing.
They just put in a bypass though, so that house should be safe. It is on a very tight corner.
Several relatives worked at Mid Wales. I shoudl ask them for info really...


----------



## Lightbuoy (Sep 18, 2008)

Very, very good report and pics SS 
Thanks in particular for sharing the pics of inside Admin. It was sealed-up tight when I visited  Still -at least this should prevent it from getting trashed 

Lb:jimlad:


----------



## dogcoffee (Nov 7, 2008)

Chancefield House






Chancefield House circa 1985


----------



## sinnerman (Nov 7, 2008)

is that your photo of Chancefield if it is could i use a copy of it on my website about mid wales


----------



## dave (Nov 7, 2008)

Excellent report superb pics i loved those tiled floors too.


----------



## skittles (Nov 7, 2008)

love your photos specially the dog

maybe it was a blessing the place got sold so cheaply at least it wasn't left to vandals, thieves and arsonists like some many other places


----------



## redragon (Nov 11, 2008)

Brilliant to see inside of Admin - is that carpeted room in the hospital or Chancefield? If hosp any chance of explaining how admin rooms ae set out, look very interesting you were lucky!

Also, I love that 80s chancefield photo! do you have any more dogcoffee?

sinnerman, whats the website??


----------



## Captain-Slow (Nov 11, 2008)

Excellent report and pictures. You jammy so and so being allowed into admin 




redragon said:


> sinnerman, whats the website??



Its in his sig.


----------



## redragon (Nov 12, 2008)

thanks for that, great site. The information provided is excellent. I did start doing one myself a while back but have had no time to build it up as yet, so the half completed site is freewebs.com forward slash midwaleshospital. 
Another site relating to the hospital is by someone who obviously lives nearby bjt hates how it has been handled, if you search the old talgarth hospital in google, you should find a link with that name. Theres two good vvideos from a welsh consumer programme abut it.

Also if you need anymore info on the town please ask as i do live there when Im not in Cardiff. I can tell you that there a great plans to regenerate the town although these should have taken off properly prior to the clsure of the hospital. The delay n regeneration was partly to do with the wait for a bypass, which we now have so lets see what happens...


----------



## Bad wolf (Dec 28, 2008)

I have a frend that was an engineer at the hospital in the 80s. It was quite a place!. He has a lot of tales about talgarth hosp.


----------

