# Severalls Hospital Film -"The Final days" -teaser



## Lightbuoy (Feb 15, 2009)

*Severalls Hospital Film -"The Final days" -teaser*

A very good afternoon to you 

I mentioned a while back about a copy of a film which was kindly given to me. This film shows the final days of Severalls Hospital, early in 1997. It was shot by a Nurse who had worked at Severalls from the 1960's right up to closure. These final days & weeks were filled with mixed emotions, with sad farewells, to both fellow Staff Members, as well as goodbyes to the final Patients.

Whilst I still am struggling to convert the format for up-load, here's some stills from the film. Sorry about the poor quality :embarrassed: Hope that it gives a taster of the full film to follow 

Pics to follow.....(a slight technical hitch)


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## Lightbuoy (Feb 15, 2009)

Here's the snap shots from the Film.....

*Administration Building*


















*End of Admin Corridor*





*Yard between Central Stores & Kitchens*

*Corridors!*

















*Elim Day Hospital (on Former Female / Eastern Side)*













*General exterior views -note erection of "that" fence! *





























*Firs Villa with Chapel behind*





*Myland Court*













*Fernholme Villa*





*Tamarisk Villa during demo'*





Please respect the Nurses' copyright with these -thanks


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## Alir147 (Feb 15, 2009)

absolutely top stuff. Looking forward to the final production!


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## chelle (Feb 15, 2009)

*Cant wait..*

Look forward to seeing this lots..

regards from Stu


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## Sectionate (Feb 15, 2009)

holy moly, that is a brilliant find!


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## Lightbuoy (Feb 15, 2009)

Alir147 said:


> absolutely top stuff. Looking forward to the final production!



Thanks. The film might be a while yet, just trying to get me head around converting the format


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## Lightbuoy (Feb 15, 2009)

chelle said:


> Look forward to seeing this lots..
> 
> regards from Stu



Watch this space.....keep watching!


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## Lightbuoy (Feb 15, 2009)

Sectionate said:


> holy moly, that is a brilliant find!



Thanks. Full credit must go to the Nurse who had the foresight to do the filming as a lasting record


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## Black Shuck (Feb 15, 2009)

Thats a huge hospital L.B. nice work mate.


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## Flaxington (Feb 15, 2009)

this will be excellent - can't wait


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## UrbanX (Feb 15, 2009)

Sod slumdog squarepants or whatever it was called, this is my must see! It always makes me sigh wistfully when I see how shiny the floors were!


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## Lightbuoy (Feb 15, 2009)

norwich canary said:


> Thats a huge hospital L.B. nice work mate.



Ta buddy. It is rather large -plenty of floors to polish!


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## Lightbuoy (Feb 15, 2009)

Kirkbride said:


> this will be excellent - can't wait



Well, it is said that patients is a virtue!


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## Lightbuoy (Feb 15, 2009)

UrbanX said:


> .....It always makes me sigh wistfully when I see how shiny the floors were!



I did find an old tin of Day & Martin's floor polish in one of the corridors, if you've got a few years to spare?


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## Winchester (Feb 16, 2009)

Lightbuoy said:


> Here's the snap shots from the Film.....
> 
> *Administration Building*
> 
> ...














Great work LB, the stuff you've got from here is incredible.


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## Goldie87 (Feb 16, 2009)

Excellent, can't wait to see the film when its sorted. Its cool to see how well kept the place once was


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## clebby (Feb 16, 2009)

when will it be ready! 

but thats an absolutely brilliant find, top marks to you and the nurse!


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## King Al (Feb 16, 2009)

I'm itching to see this!!! how long is the film?


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## Lightbuoy (Feb 16, 2009)

Winchester said:


> Great work LB, the stuff you've got from here is incredible.



Liking the "then & now" -thanks for adding these photos


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## Lightbuoy (Feb 16, 2009)

Goldie87 said:


> Excellent, can't wait to see the film when its sorted. Its cool to see how well kept the place once was



Cheers Golds. Yeah, just cleaning the floors must have been like "painting the Forth Bridge"!


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## Lightbuoy (Feb 16, 2009)

clebby said:


> when will it be ready!
> 
> but thats an absolutely brilliant find, top marks to you and the nurse!



It's "in the pipeline" ol' boy. The Nurse is a mine of information. Also hoping to transcribe some of the interviews recorded. She had many, many stories to tell.
Ta for your comments


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## Lightbuoy (Feb 16, 2009)

King Al said:


> I'm itching to see this!!! how long is the film?



Woah there! 

The Film, once edited, should be a little under 1 hour in length.


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## MD (Feb 16, 2009)

great work LB 
look forward to seeing it


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## no1rich (Feb 16, 2009)

Excellent work LB. Looking forward to seeing the final result


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## Cane! (Feb 16, 2009)

I can't wait to see to see this!!!

What are you converting it from and into?


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## Richard Davies (Feb 16, 2009)

Lightbuoy said:


> Cheers Golds. Yeah, just cleaning the floors must have been like "painting the Forth Bridge"!



I remember reading the account of life at Fulbourn, which mentioned the floors were cleaned by the more able women as part of their occupation therapy.


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## Melvin Faust (Feb 16, 2009)

Used to be common practice to get psychiatric patients to do domestic duties during their stay in hospital. When I was a student nurse in the '80s they always had to wash and dry the dishes after meals (all the able patients would be on a rota for this). More stringent laws on food handling and safety has out a stop to this now

This film looks like its going to be superb. As a nurse I'm particularly interested in the asylum threads on the site. Even without the nursing background they are often the most fascinating and poignant threads here. The 'human element' shots of discarded notes and abandoned art therapy work I find particularly moving

Great work!


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## Lightbuoy (Feb 17, 2009)

Thanks for the comments. Interesting to hear about how the more able Patients were involved in certain jobs / tasks. Thanks again -hope to sort the film out sometime this year!


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## smileysal (Feb 20, 2009)

WOW, look how pristine the building was when it was in the process of closing, love those floors. And like the flowers above the door under the archway. Good to see the then and now from the pics in the film and Winchester's pics of the same places. 

Excellent work mate, cheers to the nurse who had the foresight to film in in it's last days. 

Looking forward to seeing the film now when it's done.

cheers mate, excellent work.

 Sal


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## mr_bones (Feb 20, 2009)

Incredible stuff Lightbuoy, really appreciate your effort in saving these snapshots and sharing them with us.


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## Lightbuoy (Feb 20, 2009)

smileysal said:


> WOW, look how pristine the building was when it was in the process of closing, love those floors. And like the flowers above the door under the archway. Good to see the then and now from the pics in the film and Winchester's pics of the same places.
> 
> Excellent work mate, cheers to the nurse who had the foresight to film in in it's last days.
> 
> ...



Thanks Sal


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## Lightbuoy (Feb 20, 2009)

mr_bones said:


> Incredible stuff Lightbuoy, really appreciate your effort in saving these snapshots and sharing them with us.



No probs -was rather interesting trying to take photos of a screen playing the Film!


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## Robster (Feb 27, 2009)

Very cool! 

Love the film shots compared to the present shots...so atmospheric.

Lightbuoy, in my spare time I write music and would love to compose/score for the film if you need it! 

R


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## Winchester (Feb 28, 2009)

DA Photographics said:


> I have used Severalls on a couple of ocassions to do photoshoots. However, I now understand that some extensive vandalism has taken place and the security has now been enhanced. That's a damn shame.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



What's that one supposed to mean then? I don't entirely agree with using abandoned institutions as backdrops for what appear to be glamour shots. The background is rather gratuitous and disrespectful of the buildings' original use.


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## clebby (Feb 28, 2009)

Winchester said:


> What's that one supposed to mean then? I don't entirely agree with using abandoned institutions as backdrops for what appear to be glamour shots. The background is rather gratuitous and disrespectful of the buildings' original use.



why do we explorers go to these places? its jolly good fun, thats why. does that mean we are being disrespectful to the building? i think the photo works fine and is respectful enough, and considering how some explorers behave in the buildings, even if they are not causing damage, this is acceptable. the building has served society and is no longer wanted, and it doesnt belong to anyone except the landowner (who doesnt really count) so explorers cannot just claim it as their own. this is like the graffiti in hellingly that happened recently - the building doesnt belong to the explorer, so it can be used by other people for other purposes.

keep up the good work DA!


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## Mr Sam (Feb 28, 2009)

thats mega cool, what a find


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## stevejd (Feb 28, 2009)

Lightbuoy said:


> Cheers Golds. Yeah, just cleaning the floors must have been like "painting the Forth Bridge"!



My other half used to be a domestic at Rauceby and yes it was a never ending task, if on the corridors it took about a week to complete the lot then back to the begining again. fierce protective bunch they were, walk on were they were working and your ears would be burning  Strong as well after contolling a rotary buffer for 40 hours a week, I still don't argue


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## stevejd (Feb 28, 2009)

smileysal said:


> WOW, look how pristine the building was when it was in the process of closing, love those floors.
> Sal



at Rauceby I remember them buffing the floors upto the last day open, even painted the ward I worked on the year before even though the closure date was set, even the system was institutionalised, the plan said paint so painted it was.


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## Melvin Faust (Feb 28, 2009)

stevejd said:


> . fierce protective bunch they were, walk on were they were working and your ears would be burning



I knew a hospital domestic who would slap you round the ankles with her mop if you dared to walk on her freshly cleaned floor


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## bachaus (Mar 3, 2009)

This is very exciting and interesting stuff. 

I look forward to seeing more!


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## Lightbuoy (Mar 11, 2010)

*Severalls Hospital "The Final Days" -live at last!*

*Severalls Hospital "The Final Days" -live at last!*

Right, all four parts can be viewed on the website (haven't mastered how to "embed" part 1 on here!!!)

http://severallsmentalhospital.co.uk/#/films-video/4537178114

Sorry for the delay and thanks for your patience!


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## mr_bones (Mar 11, 2010)

Something to watch when i get home from work! Look forward to it.


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## dead pigeon (Mar 11, 2010)

Love the polished floors, sounds like a fabulous insight mate.


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## klempner69 (Mar 11, 2010)

Watched the first 2 vids..excellant recordings..


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## mr_bones (Mar 11, 2010)

Many thanks for putting in all your hard work in editing, processing and uploading this video Lightbuoy. I have watched the whole lot now and found the footage very interesting, it is all very familiar and top marks to Patricia for having the idea of documenting the place just at the point where Severalls had JUST wound down services. It is especially fascinating to see how they are really getting stuck in with emptying, partitioning, securing and removing parts of the site - including the ever so familiar fence!


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## Lightbuoy (Mar 12, 2010)

dead pigeon said:


> Love the polished floors, sounds like a fabulous insight mate.



When I first had a look around, I didn't think that the floors looked so bad in places. Then I saw the Nurses' video and it put this view into perspective for sure! 
As has been mentioned before, it must have been an almost constant task, along with painting, washing and other maintenance jobs -something like painting the Forth Rail Bridge!


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## Lightbuoy (Mar 12, 2010)

klempner69 said:


> Watched the first 2 vids..excellant recordings..



Thanks Klempner -I merely converted & edited the footage. Full marks must surely go to Patricia!


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## Lightbuoy (Mar 12, 2010)

mr_bones said:


> Many thanks for putting in all your hard work in editing, processing and uploading this video Lightbuoy. I have watched the whole lot now and found the footage very interesting, it is all very familiar and top marks to Patricia for having the idea of documenting the place just at the point where Severalls had JUST wound down services. It is especially fascinating to see how they are really getting stuck in with emptying, partitioning, securing and removing parts of the site - including the ever so familiar fence!



So, did you leave work early? 

You are most welcome Sir! I must say that each time that I watch it, I spot something else that looks familier, yet has changed, either through natural decay, or sadly, through criminal damage etc 
Out of all the footage, the thing that I find most striking is seeing the lights still on -even though there's no one at home 

As at footnote: The footage is in fact longer, showing a handful of "Long Stay" Patients strolling around the Grounds, however for obvious reasons, this has been omitted.
This is no way demeans these Patients, and is not intended to be an insult -like "we're only interested in the Buildings", but is simply out of respect and to maintain their privacy (am I making sense here?)

Anyways, thanks for your comments


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## Goldie87 (Mar 16, 2010)

Excellent work Lb, its great to see the place so clean and with the lights on!

BTW looks like some of the stuff from your website has been copied onto a severalls group on facebook if you didn't know.


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## UrbanX (Mar 17, 2010)

Excellent work LB, thouroughly enjoyed these. As Mr Bones said, the timing is perfect, just as they're closing down. It's so weird when you see bits that are so, so familiar to you, but in tact. 
The area in front of Admin is a really nice area (before they put the fence up!) and it's odd to see a car going past there! 
It also really emphasises the acoustics, and how disturbing it must have sounded in its heyday. 
Hats off once again!!


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## erol4130 (Mar 21, 2010)

thanks alot for the vid L.B, been waiting for that for what seems like forever . its so strange to see it all, so pristine but even in the video it still has the same eerie feel to it. very interesting to find out the names of all the villas and and what happened where, i never knew where they performed the ect which was included in the video. im feeling another visit coming on.
great work again and many thanks to the nurse that recorded it and urself
erol


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## ImmortalOwl (Mar 22, 2010)

Fantastic work there, LB. Those videos are a real insight


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## chaoticreason (Mar 22, 2010)

All thoughs endless screaming corridors,I await with baited breath.
Looks like a tasty scene.


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## MD (Mar 22, 2010)

cracking job LB
still my fave hospital 
great to see it


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## N400THS (Mar 23, 2010)

*wowzers*

These stills are amazing!!seen it as it is and always tried picturing it in use...looking forward to a vid!!top banana


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## mr_bones (Mar 23, 2010)

N400THS said:


> These stills are amazing!!seen it as it is and always tried picturing it in use...looking forward to a vid!!top banana



Vid is up!

[ame]http://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/showpost.php?p=154437&postcount=41[/ame]


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