Flotsam- Coronation 1953 magazine

Janet Richards from Llantwit Major sent me a copy of the Sully Flotsam Coronation issue from 1953.

What struck me is that no mention is made of the new wonder drug, streptomycin, which was already saving hundreds of lives.

And it goes without saying that TB is not mentioned directly though one can infer it from the  “Ward Notes”.

These free verses give an insight into what life was like in Sully and what comes through is the camaraderie of the patients and their sheer optimism.

Here’s one:

“D” Ward

Morgannwy “D” sees four new cases,

Quite a change from the babies’ faces.

First comes Ida. She’s the oldest

And we think she is the boldest.

Asking doctor what she’s got,

Doctor says- “T.B. you clot!”

Next comes Ruth, engrossed in knitting,

She wishes she could do some spitting.

As it is, she has a gastric,

But there, - that’s not so very drastic.

Third comes Ann with her big feet

Hoping she wont rip the sheet.

In the ward are ants galore

But her hoofs will kill them by the score.

Avril then comes last of all.

She used to lie facing the wall.

But now she’s moved to the other side,

And watches the ships ride side by side.

Janet wrote:

“My mother, Clara, was in Morgannwy ward G for many months

She was one of the patients selected for the streptomycin trials.

She once told me they were the “No hopers”.

Thanks to this miracle drug her mother, Clara, did recover.

Her mother is mentioned in Flotsam magazine-
Morgannwy Ward G:

“G” Ward

In Morgannwg ward “G”

Four young women you’ll see.

Two of them doing their postures.

Though they lie on their sides,

To rules they abide,

And never lie on their Posteriors.

The two young women, namely Olive and Iris,

Have done their postures before,

On Olive’s two hours, she arranges the flowers,

While Iris is up for the four.

But for Margaret and Clara,

They are the sad pair sir,

 They put not their feet on the floor,

But they both have to stick it,

And even perhaps like it,

Although their bottoms get sore.