Out of Sight, not Out of Mind

wm
OUT OF SIGHT, not OUT OF MIND
stories from the people of Monyhull Hospital
MYTH BUSTING
pg6
HOW LIFE
CHANGED
pg28

T A B L E O F
C O N T E N T S :
4&5
The Rise and Fall of Monyhull Hospital
Institutional life
18&19
6&7
Myth busting
Monyhull Staff
20&21
8&9
The White House & St Francis church
Holidays as therapy
22&23
10&11
How Monyhull changed over time
Moving out of Monyhull
24&25
12&13
The Monyhull bubble
How life changed
26&27
14&15
The workshops
Personal Space
28&29
16&17
Memories of the amazing people
What have we learnt?
30&31
Produced by CASBA (registered charity No: 701365) thanks to players of the
National Lottery and support from Heritage Lottery Fund. www.casba.org.uk
Written & Edited by: Joe Peacock • Designed by: Leo Pswarayi.

THE riSE & FALL of MONYHULL HOSPITAL
1908
Monyhull
Colony
for “sane
epileptics and
feebleminded
persons” was
opened by the
Kings Norton
Joint Poor Law
Establishment.
1998
The Hospital
is finally
closed. All
remaining
residents are
moved into
community
homes and
the hospital
is knocked
down.
1913 The Mental
Deficiency Act was
passed in parliament.
This gave more
powers to remove
people from the
community and place
them in institutions.
1994 A
consultation
took place at
Monyhull about
how the hospital
should be closed.
It also looked at
how to relocate
residents.
1930 Monyhull was
taken under the control
of Birmingham City
Council. The idea of
being “on licence”
was introduced as
well as the possibility
of release and
rehabilitation.
1990 The Community
Care Act was
published. This gave
plans for the shift to
community care in the
NHS and the closure
of institutions.
1940 The height
of overcrowding for
over 1300 residents.
The war meant
plans for building
new facilities were
delayed.
1986 The
Resettlement Team
was established
at Monyhull. They
assessed the needs of
residents and ensured
that these were met
when they left.
1948 Monyhull
became a Hospital
under the control
of the Ministry of
Health. Concern
over the detention
of ‘mental
defectives’ was soon
raised.
1959 The
Mental Health
Act was passed.
Now patients
were only
admitted on a
voluntary basis
unless they were
a danger to
themselves or
others.
1971 Government
White Paper “Better
Services for the
Mentally Handicapped”
said segregation
is unnecessary. It
advocated care in the
community.

Myths
Reality
“The belief amongst
local residents was
that Monyhull was
full of potentially
dangerous people.”
“I remember we’d
be playing and we’d
hear an alarm go
off. Then we’d all
run off screaming
because we thought
someone had
escaped.”
“As young lads, we were scared of
it. It was a bit of a dare to go over
there and mess about in the grounds.
There was no danger - just that myth
that it was a mental hospital and you
kept away.”
• There was
no alarm for
residents
escaping. If an
alarm went off
they were testing
the fire alarm.
• Most of the
residents were
not kept in locked
wards and were
not a danger to
anybody.
• Staff brought
their families
along to events
at the hospital
and children were
always welcomed.
“From my school
we used to take
harvest gifts to some
of the homes. The
kids would sit there
having a drink with
the residents. That
was great to break
down these barriers of
ignorance.”
“I was helping a
group of young people
to understand that
people with learning
disabilities aren’t
scary. It was OK to
say hello. That was
really positive.”

“I still enjoy going to Monyhull church now
and then and seeing familiar faces.”
ALISON LAST
he two surviving buildings
“The church was at the intersection of the
male and female drives. It was one of the only
places where males and females could mix
when there was strict segregation. They were
still kept on different sides, though.”
“Rev Awdry was curate at St Nicholas
church in Kings Norton when he started
writing the Thomas the Tank Engine books.
That meant he was chaplain at Monyhull,
too. It was in the same parish then.”
REV’D SIOR COLEMAN
“I was very good
friends with the
vicar, Mr Easter.
I went to church
once a week and
we sang songs.”
MICHAEL
STRACHAN
THE
WHITE
HOUSE
AND
ST FRANCIS
“I was up on the top floor on my own
with the door closed. I heard these
hobnail boots that stopped outside the
door. Nothing happened. This carried
on a few times, so I left the door open.
Next time I heard the footsteps I looked
over, but there was nobody there!”
DOT MACKIE
“The White House was the admin building.
All the nursing officers were there.
Medical records and admin were on the
top floor. You had to go up about three
or four flights of stairs to get there.
It doubled up as the nursing home as
well. There were two floors of student
or nurse accommodation. I lived in
there about 6 months.”
SARAH BARNES

HOW MONYHULL CHANGED OVER TIME
“When I first started working there, the milk would come straight from the
farms in milk churns to the kitchens and dairy on site.”
“There were two farms; Kingswood and Bells Farm. Those were sold in the
1960s. That’s where part of Druids Heath is now built.”
1928
Bells Farm
Kingswood
Farm
hospital land
remaining after
1960s
farmland
1982
10
2
9
11
Male wards
5
8
1
3
4
St Francis 11
female wards
6
7
1 Psychology
2 Easter's Folly
3 Animal Husbandry
4 77 club, physiotherapy,
education resource centre
& catholic chapel
5 Workshops
6 Nurses Quarters & Canteen
7 White House
8 Assembly Hall
9 Residential
10 Main Entrance
11 Administration

THE MONYHULL BUBBLE - A WORLD OF ITS OWN
“It was a real bubble of a community. You’d
always walk up and down the drive smiling
at people and talking to them. You had to
remember not to do that when you were out
on the street because people might look at
you a bit oddly.” ALISON LAST
“Patients were free to go anywhere they
liked except the medical unit or the kitchens.
Otherwise, they just wandered around and
came into everyone’s office.” DOT MACKIE
“Sometimes the patients would drop in to say
hello even if they didn’t have an appointment.
They’d wait until we finished and then chat
with us. You wouldn’t get that in other
places.” KAREN LANGFORD
“From the outside, you did not think it was
so large inside; it was huge. You could get
lost there. They had duck ponds and the
donkey project – so many different things.”
JANET MULGRUE
“At Monyhull, people wandered around freely
and could just pop their heads round the door
and say ‘What are you doing today? Can I
come and help?’ They actually did have a
community there. More than outside in some
cases.” LORRIE LENNON
“The environment in Monyhull grounds was
safe. They could go out and run or walk. Some
had no road sense. You couldn’t open the door
and let them go off on their own in a house
out in the community.” SARAH BARNES

INSTITUTIONAL INDUSTRY
– The workshops and other work
“Back in the 1940s, 50s and 60s people were
expected to work. That could have been
taking Matron a cup of tea, working in the
kitchen, or on the farm. For a while, it was
felt it wasn’t right to ask people to work,
having exploited them in the past.
In fact, work is an important way of feeling
valued and having a place in your society, so
it was reintroduced.” ALISON LAST
“Some of them would get fed up in the
workshops. All of a sudden they’d just
knock all the stuff off the table and we’d
call the ward to come and fetch them.”
JANET MULGRUE
“Some of the people went out and earnt
money as builders, gardeners, refuse
collectors, or maids. There’s no way they
would be put into a hospital nowadays.”
DOT MACKIE
A bench made in the workshops at Monyhull
“Making things at the workshops was quite
repetitive, but they seemed to enjoy doing it.
There were the industrial workshops where
they did the curlers, made bits of furniture
and bird tables. There was another where they
did all the cushions, knitting and cutting up
bits of fabric to stuff things with.”
LORRIE LENNON
“We had so many different things going on at
Monyhull. They could work with the gardeners,
the porters or go to the workshops and do
contract work, which they loved. Combined
with the right medication, that meant they
didn’t have behavioural problems.”
DIANE CAPEWELL

MEMORIES of the AMAZING PEOPLE of MONYHULL HOSPITAL
“There was one man who we always called
“dummy”. He was the cleverest one there,
including most of the staff. They’d lost most
of the plans for the site. Only he knew where
the pipes were buried underground.
He’d go mad when diggers came in and they
were about to burst through water or gas
pipes, but they didn’t listen to him.”
“We had an aviary
with budgerigars. One
morning, we saw there
were only a couple
left. Apparently,
a couple of the
residents had been
taking two or three
down to the local
pub each evening and
selling them.”
“Every now and then this one guy would
disappear for a few weeks. Then we’d get a
phone call from London and have to go and
fetch him. He used to catch a lift off the
barge people to London. When he ran out of
money, he’d go to the nearest police station.”
“Graham was a lovely
sweet guy. He had severe
autism. He went rock
climbing and he just went
up like he was taking a
walk. His autism didn’t see
it as a problem. He went
straight up to the top. He
did it several times. It was
amazing.”
“Fred used to play the
organ if the organist
couldn’t make the
funeral. He was a great
church-goer and knew
all the hymns. He’d
been there since he
was a child and never
wanted to leave. He
died before they finished
the resettlement.”
“There was this guy who was a gentle giant.
He could catch butterflies in his hands.
Then he would carry them right across the
site, show people, then release them without
harming them. At his funeral a butterfly
appeared and flew around the stained-glass
window.”

THE PROBLEMS
“They were very institutionalised and I felt
very sorry for the residents there. They
lived on long wards. They didn’t have private
facilities at all. They had a very thin metal
locker and nowhere to put ornaments or
private possessions. I think it was a very
miserable place to be.” SHEILA CLARKE
of life IN AN INSTITUTION
“They gave me cold showers.
In the winter.
They cooked nasty food and
it used to make me sick.
They used to take my toys
off me because they said it
was childish.”
MICHAEL SMITH
“The priority was that they were fed, clean,
dressed in institutional clothes and they were
safe. There was no personal care; it was all
routine.
You had 30 residents who had to be over at
the workshops for 9 o’clock. It was a bit of a
production line. For breakfast, everyone got
tea, probably with sugar, no choice at all. You
ended up taking short cuts, because you had a
time schedule.” SARAH BARNES
“I wanted to live in my
own place, so I got out the
window and ran off along
the canal. After that, they
put me in a side room, like
a cell with just blankets on
the floor. When I ran away,
I did more time in there.
First time one week, then
two weeks or maybe three
weeks.”
ROLAND CLEWLEY

MONYHULL STAFF
“The fact that you brought family along to
events was great and it really helped show
that this is a group of people that are as
important on this earth as anybody else.”
“I was very apprehensive on my first
day at Monyhull. People used to say
you’d come and go quick or you’d
stay forever.”
“The matrons in the early 1980s used to scare
us. Their job was their life and they took it
very seriously. You jumped when they said
jump. It was like being in the military. They
didn’t like change and all the modern stuff
coming in.”
“You wouldn’t have dreamt of going anywhere
else for bonfire night. You’d go to Monyhull
with your family because you knew you would
enjoy yourself and it would be a good time for
everybody, staff and residents.”
“A number of the people that I’m still friends
with met their partners when working at
Monyhull.”
“There were a lot of families that worked
there. Someone in estates might be related to
one of the nurses and someone in the gardening
team. You had to watch what you said.”
“The staff had a sense of common purpose
and it was a team. Some families had more
than one generation working there. It felt like
everyone belonged to everyone else.”

HOLIDAYS as THERAPY
“All work and no play is not good for any of
us. Holidays or time away from the same four
walls was important and therapeutic in itself.”
ALISON LAST
“I think the very first holiday was in the mid-
1960s. About 100 of them all went together.
We had corporation buses that took them and
their luggage to New Street Station. From
there carriages took them to Galston-on-Sea
near Great Yarmouth. Everyone came back and
said how wonderful it was.” EILEEN MCCANN
“We went on holiday to Blackpool and
Weston-super-Mare. It was a day trip,
which was OK, but by the time you get
there, it’s time to go back.” ROLAND
CLEWLEY (former resident)
“If the holiday was tailored to their
needs, you could have such a good time.
We went to Paris and it was awful. Back
then they didn’t really accept disabilities.
People would push and climb over you to
get on the train.”
SARAH BARNES
“I went with six residents and
another member of staff on a
coach trip to Austria. At the
same time another group were
going to Scotland by coach. They
all loved it and it was a really
good experience.”
LORRIE LENNON
“Some patients didn’t like
going on holiday and didn’t
want to go. Some would like
to have gone three times a
year.”
EILEEN MCCANN
Fundraising: The Earl Foundation raised money for holidays
for the patients and bought holiday homes in Weston, Tenby
and then a canal boat, which was moored in Alvechurch.

EXODUS – MOVING out of MONYHULL
“It wasn’t like a shop that’s closing
where you could just shut the doors
and get rid of the clothes that were
in there, these were people.”
“The original idea was to return
residents to the places they came
from. But they’d been in Monyhull
their whole adult lives and had no
ties there. Also, many of those
places didn’t exist anymore. They’d
been demolished.”
“There would be a meeting for
each resident. The consultant,
named nurse, physiotherapist,
occupational therapist, pharmacist,
finance manager and family, not
just immediate family, but anyone
involved, would all come.”
“Everyone was assessed for who
they’d be living with. Not everyone
got on together, so the ones that
did and were friends would move in
together in these small units.”
Birmingham
“Once we’d found a possible home,
we’d take them there for a cup of
tea. Then they’d go for a stay and
we’d decide after that whether the
place would work for them.”
“We’d travel quite a long way for
some of them; to Poole on the
South coast or The Wirral and
other places in the North West.”
“We stayed involved even after
they’d moved for quite some time to
make that they were settled.”

HOW
life
CHANGED
“Iris just wasn’t happy in the sort of homes
she moved into. She was so institutionalised
after all that time in Monyhull that fitting in
with other people was very hard for her. She
often had arguments and got very cross.”
JACKIE EDMUNDS (Volunteer Advocate)
“Michael used to walk around
on his own at Monyhull. Here he
goes to the shop on his own, as
the shopkeeper knows him now
and he goes to the park with a
Carer. We make sure he goes
out every day.” VIV BROOKS
(Care Home Manager)
“Now, I go shopping, I cook, I
go to classes at college and I
go to watch Birmingham City
every week. I’m much calmer and
very happy.” JEREMY CROUCH
(former resident)
“I went to live in a flat in Moseley
on Church Road on my own. It was
OK until people started stealing my
post with my benefits book. Then
I moved to Druids Heath and from
there I could walk back to Monyhull
to work with the Porters.” ROLAND
CLEWLEY (former resident)
“Nellie was nearly 80. The
staff were horrified we were
thinking of moving her. She
never spoke at Monyhull, but
within weeks of settling her
into a family home she was
talking and had the children
on her knee calling her
granny.” SHEILA CLARKE
(Social Worker)
“John loves doing karaoke,
so we got him a machine for
his room.” JEAN COTTON
(Support Worker)

Not everyone moved out of Monyhull into the same
types of homes. Some moved into their own flats
or into family homes. Here we compare conditions
between the homes at Monyhull and care homes for
those with higher levels of need.
“The old homes felt really institutional.
They didn’t have much room. The beds
were really confined, and they just had a
little locker – not even a bedside table.
It’s a lot better now where they have
their own individual rooms and private
space.”
“They choose their own furniture
and how to decorate it. They have
privacy and their own space which
they can go to when they want to
be on their own.”
“Michael has his toys all over his
room and he wanted a double bed,
so we got him one.”
Personal
S P A C E

WHAT HAVE WE LEARNT?
Almost everyone we spoke to agreed that people spending their entire adult life living on a ward with no personal space
or possessions was not acceptable. People’s basic human rights to have some choice over their lives are better served
by more personalised care.
Residents of Monyhull Hospital:
vs
People with Learning Disabilities
living in the community:
were not allowed to live as couples or have children
had no control over their finances, but did not
need to worry about money or accommodation
had no choice over when or what they ate
could work (although didn’t earn much)
have relationships and families much more
frequently, although still much less than the
general population
have to manage their money and deal with the
benefits system
have much more choice over what and when they
eat, whether living independently or in a care
home
find it very difficult to find a job – only 6% have
paid work
had access to many social and sporting
activities on site
had access to medical care, physiotherapy and
dental services
“We have learnt that those who need help
actually contribute to our society in an extremely
important way. They make our society fully human.
They bring out the best in people, encouraging us
to be caring, be tolerant and look out for others,
rather than just thinking of ourselves.”
JACKIE EDMUNDS (Volunteer Advocate)
are less likely to play sport (only 17% play once
a week)are more likely to feel isolated. 85% of
young disabled adults from the 18 to 34-year-old
age group report feeling lonely
Find healthcare hard to access - 40% of people
with a learning disability reported a difficulty
using health services
It is very clear that people do not have enough access
to support and community life is not always easy. There
is still much work to do, but we are learning lessons all
the time.

From Institution to Community
In 2017, Heritage Lottery Fund awarded £44,000 to CASBA
to run an oral history project speaking to those who had
lived and worked at Monyhull Hospital, as well as those
who cared for residents after they left. CASBA (Citizen
Advocacy South Birmingham Area) was established in 1988
to advocate for residents being moved out of Monyhull
Hospital, so was ideally placed to look at the story from
before and after closure.
We wanted to ensure the stories of people with Learning
Disabilities are heard in looking at the history of Birmingham
and particularly Kings Norton, where Monyhull Hospital was
such an important feature for 90 years.
We hope that this publication, along with the audio
recordings and film, shed new light onto a little-understood
part of life in Birmingham.
We would like to thank all those involved in the project, particularly:
Our volunteers: Janet Baralaska, Heather Baseley, Becky Birch, Francoise
Brinkworth, Brenda Brown, Kate Byford, Sior Coleman, Paul Gaynor, Becky Jones,
Janet Kane, Steve Peacock, Stella Plisner, Christine Spooner, Martyn Spooner, Jan
Stebbens and Joe Todd.
Our interviewees: Claire Bainbridge, Sarah Barnes, John Birch, Viv Brooks,
Margaret Brooks, Debbie Brown, John Bull, Diane Capewell, Sheila Clarke, Roland
Clewley, Ena Cole, Sior Coleman, Becky Crampton, Jeremy Crouch, Jane Davies,
Jackie Edmunds, Dawn Harborne, Karen Langford, Alison Last, Lyn Lawson,
Lorrie Lennon, Dot Mackie, Stella Matley, Eileen McCann, Janet Mulgrue, Michael
Strachan, Colin Tamplin.
Our Partners: Birmingham Community Health Care, Northfield Arts Forum,
Birmingham Library Archives, Real Life Options, Liz Tilley from SHLD Research
Group at the Open University, Izzy Mohammed of Future Seed.