Wednesday 5 March 2014

Pontypool Park, South Wales

Pontypool Park remains one of my childhood's lasting memories as a place of wonder and excitement. There was the cherry tree walk in spring, collecting chestnuts with my Dad in the autumn, swinging on the swings at any time of the year, watching the bowls with the teams kitted out in white.

After this wet winter, everything looks a little sad and soggy, but with a few fine days and a little breeze I'm sure things will perk up.

I recently found a treasure hiding behind the renovated pond. Rather green and slimy, but nevertheless, carved stones in remembrance of the now demolished Pontypool & District Hospital. As a child, walking up to the large wooden front doors of this grand gothic piece of architecture, you couldn't help but know you'd be cured of whatever it was that ailed you.



The white plaque in this picture provides a rough idea of the stature of the original structure.  Standing high above the road it was a really majestic building.


These stones, sited probably a mile away from the original site may not even be noticed for anything more than a few bench seats by the casual passerby. But for those who knew the hospital in its heyday, nurses scurrying about long green painted corridors, doctors with stethoscopes around their necks disappearing through closed doors, these stones will always be a reminder, no matter how hard nature tries to conceal them.



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