Nurse shares fond memories of closed down hospital

Head and shoulders image of Ann Parkinson standing in front of the exhibition. She is wearing a navy coat and cream scarf, has short wavy grey hair and is smilingImage source, Paul O'Gorman/BBC
Image caption,

Ann Parkinson worked on the wards as a staff nurse for 46 years

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It was a key part of the community for more than 130 years and now Accrington Victoria Hospital is being remembered in its very own exhibition.

The hospital, which was located on Haywood Road in Accrington closed in December after East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust deemed the building not fit for purpose.

Ann Parkinson, a former staff nurse who worked on the wards at the hospital for 46 years, said: "It was small, everybody knew everybody, and it was fabulous."

The 77-year-old said an exhibition in the town's library, which includes newspaper cuttings, photographs and medical instruments, "brings back a lot of memories".

An old black and white picture of a ward at the hospital showing beds at either side with tables at the bottom and a nurse's desk in the middle. There are many vases of flowers and to the left a nurse in uniform talks to a patient in bedImage source, Paul O'Gorman/BBC
Image caption,

The hospital, which was a key part of the local community for more than 100 years, closed in December

"Some of the people in the exhibition were part of Accrington Victoria," she said.

"There are a lot of colleagues on these pictures, colleagues who have passed away."

Her long service in nursing was recognised in 2004 when she was invited to open a new suite in the hospital along with MP Greg Pope.

A plaque erected had their names on and remained on the wall of the Victoria Suite until the hospital's closure.

A white table with stainless steel medical instruments on it, including a dish and two large syringesImage source, Paul O'Gorman/BBC
Image caption,

The exhibition includes newspaper cuttings, photographs and medical instruments

After the exhibition the plaque will be given to Ms Parkinson to keep and "maybe put at the front door".

"And what's even lovelier is that I now always have a little piece of Accrington Victoria to cherish," she said.

The hospital closed in December after the building was found to be beyond repair.

Large parts of the hospital, built in 1894, had issues with ceilings collapsing, asbestos and broken boilers.

One of the displays in the exhibition with framed black and white photos, pictures with text and signsImage source, Paul O'Gorman/BBC
Image caption,

The exhibition will run at Accrington Library until the end of April

Its future has not yet been decided, but the trust's chief executive, Martin Hodgson, said they would not demolish or sell the building but would work with the community and council to find a new use for it.

"It needs to be something that can be used by the community," Ms Parkinson said.

"As long as they don't pull it down, that would be very sad."

The exhibition will run at Accrington Library until the end of April.

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