Places To Remember For A Newton Exile

Brilliant thread this one, great memories of Newton over the years... my first "ex" bought a house in gladstone place a few months after the flood of '79 - it was still damp!!

Newton was a great place to be on a wednesday... due to the "special licensing laws" afforded to a market town, the pubs used to open at 11 and stay open all day (with just a half hour non-serving between 4:30 and 5 to clear the ashtrays and floor)..

My best memory involves my cousin, who was a year older than me and a policeman serving with the lancashire constabulary... he came down to visit in 1975 and one evening we went into Torquay for a few beers... at the time I was working at the Pickwick on pimlico so we popped in to say hello to Dave the landlord... I had a pint of Harp and Rob ordered a pint of cider... I had never known that he was partial to the old apple juice so I promptly ordered him to drink up and announced that we were leaving...

Next stop, the Cider Bar at newton... what an eye-opener for him, especially as I asked him how he wanted his cider (sweet, medium or dry)... he requested Dry so I got him a pint which was, of course almost undrinkable for him... cue order a pint of sweet= 2 pints of medium!!
Followed by a word in landlord's ear... enter a pint of Harvest - much more cider-looking for my northern friend, all clear and fizzy...2 pints of that on top of everything and his legs had gone and he was a gibbering wreck..

I had no choice but to drive us home and face the wrath of my old dear 1) for getting rob into "that state" and 2) driving without a licence with a pi$$ed up copper in the back seat!!

Happy daze!!

ATB,J.

Between the swimming pool and the paddling pool can be seen the old shelter the old den of iniquity, but what happened to the steam model railway track that can be seen in the distance?

One building I’m sure every Newton Abbot boy on here will have lasting long childhood memories of, is the old Newton Abbot hospital. I do not know what your lasting memories might be, but mine was the smell of disinfectant and just feeling the place was so clean and sterile. Mind you back then it was the good old days of matrons who made sure the place was always spotlessly clean.

That old hospital served the town well but like so many old buildings it had seen its day and it was time for the town to have a brand new hospital build. That happened a good few years ago now and since then the old hospital has been left empty to simply rot away.

For a number of months now work has been going on to demolish all the old buildings to make way for a new housing development. It will provide some much needed housing in the town and remove what has become a major eyesore.

One building on the site has always held a big interest to me and that building is the old workhouse. It’s hard to think it’s not much more than a hundred years ago such buildings were in use such things went on as they did in such places.

In the nineteenth century, those unable to provide for themselves through extreme poverty, disability, or physical and mental illness, often ended up in the Newton Abbot Workhouse, which included the Borough of Torquay in its remit.

The Newton Abbot Poor Law Union had been formed in 1836 and their Workhouse - which could accommodate 350 inmates - was built in 1837 in East Street.

In 1894, the workhouse officers became involved in a scandal which was the subject of an inquiry by the Local Government Board. Witnesses claimed that the "jumper," a sort of sack used as a strait-jacket, was constant use in the workhouse, and that aged inmates had been placed in it naked, and then tied to their bedsteads. A Mrs. Bovey died five days after being confined in the "jumper," and she was said to have been tied down within a few hours of her death. Other witnesses alleged that the wards of the workhouse were in a filthy condition, and many of the inmates infested with vermin. One witness, a nurse named Alice Hinton, testified that she had found inmate named Mrs. Nicholls apparently dying. The woman was very dirty and covered with vermin. Her hair had been cut off, and her toe-nails were like claws, being 2½in. long. Another woman who was paralyzed had her finger-nails so long that they made wounds in her flesh. In the workhouse yard, Hinton had seen an idiot woman crouched in a corner with her face bruised.

The Guardians had built a shed for her in the yard, and witness had noticed that the boys threw stones and snowballs at her. When the master's son was at home he was the ringleader. The boys said that they pelted the old woman to make her swear. It was also alleged that Miss Ann Mance, workhouse matron for almost thirty years, neglected her duties, and had only been seen to visit the sick ward five times over a three month period. to her knowledge. It was further alleged that the fighting among the idiots was especially dreadful on Sunday morning, when the matron was in bed, and Nurse Hinton added that she had also complained to the matron of immorality that was going on amongst the inmates.

Miss Mance gave an emphatic denial to the charges, swearing that she had never bullied an inmate in. her life, and declared that she had exercised proper authority over the establishment. The idiots said to have been cruelly treated had not a single bruise upon their bodies. She had allowed inmates to sing Sankey's hymns on Sunday mornings, but it was utterly untrue to state that the place had been turned into a Bedlam. She never ordered any inmate to be put into the "jumper." "Jumpers" hade been introduced by a former nurse, named m'Connell, and they were supposed to be under the control of the nurse. She had never received a complaint respecting their use. In regard to the charges of misconduct among the inmates, the matron declared that it was absolutely impossible that men and women could have been in the laundry together.

Another workhouse nurse, Miss Pike, said she had been given sole charge of about 150 sick paupers in the nursery. The beds were unfit for pigs, and the children were under the care of two partially blind women. One day a child was tied up to the bed with a piece of string to prevent it from running about, as it had no shoes and stockings. Eleven children had only four nightgowns between them. Neither brushes nor combs were provided for the inmates, and their food was kept in the lavatories. A temporary nurse named Elizabeth Wills said she one night found two men tied down in the bed. One was au imbecile and the other was so ill that he died the same day. Mr. John Alsop, union clerk, said the Guardians never ordered the use of jumpers.

Following the inquiry, Miss Mance was dismissed. She died from a heart condition a few weeks later.


What memories do you have of the old Newton Abbot hospital?