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Site News
December 2009
(Vol 3 Issue 5) 

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Welcome our twelfth news page here at Schools of Nursing.
Perhaps very fitting - matches the twelve days of Christmas nicely!..

And being Christmas, we have some super presents to distribute to lucky winners in a Christmas competition which you will find outlined in the 'Collecting' column immediately below. Five prizes in fact, two super East Glamorgan Schools of Nursing badges donated by member Fran Biley - they really are super original and genuine badges in absolutely pristine condition. Only one badge per correct entry...

We also have two different Reproduction UK schools of nursing badges - one for Cane Hill Hospital and the other for North Wales Hospital, Denbeigh. Very Nice...
 

Both donated by member 'alicostello' These really are worth collecting and make a super way of replacing a lost badge which may no longer be available or a less expensive way of collecting the rarer items. Not all hospital/school badges are available but 'alicostello'  is always willing to try to help. We also have an article on this very subject Here. Well worth a read. We were once concerned that such badges could be passed off as genuine item (these particular ones never are), but in fact, although on the face of it perfect replicas they are quite easily distinguished by their perfectly new finish and pin fastenings. The latter are clearly modern... One badge per correct entry.
 
And, for our own contribution we are adding a brand new unopened DVD copy of the film 'Atonement' - with it's magical sequence of St Thomas's Hospital wards - including Sister and Probationers. If you have not seen this you really have missed a bit of history reproduced in live action. Whilst the film is a story based in WWI, the admittedly short nurse/nursing sequences are something to behold. well worth watching. One copy, one winner...

Articles.
Our latest article 'Nurses Buckles and Badges'  - by Edelweis James, is already on the servers, awaiting only a little photograph editing for completion. Judging by the number of nurse-belt buckles on auction, particularly on ebay, it seems a very opportune time to publish. The is link right here and a notice is also on the forum notice board.

A further article, possibly becoming a short series, on the subject of Military Nursing/Badges is currently being planned for the New Year.
 

Christmas Competition...
 
Rules: Any member of this website (SoN); nursingbadges; or hospitalhistory websites may enter. There are only five prizes. The prizes have no monetary value. Winners will be notified by email. Only winner/s schoolsofnursing ID name will be published. Proof of posting discharges all obligations. First entry with correct answers in any/all sections is the winner. The opinion of the judge/s decision will be final. No correspondence will be entered into. The questions:-

1. Where was the East Glamorgan HA Schools of Nursing HQ based?
2. Where was (Geographically) the Cane Hill Hospital?
3. Where (Geographically) was the North Wales Hospital School of Nursing?
4. Who was the female lead star in the film 'Atonement'?
5. Look at the photograph for the past (below); follow the link and read the query
    below the photograph shown there; offer the best analysis that you can. Who
    were the nurses? What hospital were they from?
    what were (any of) the badges they wore in the photograph?

The Prizes. Q1 - Genuine East Glamorgan HA SoN badge. Q2 - Cane Hill Hospital replica badge. Q3 - North Wales Hospital replica badge. Q4 - 'Atonement' DVD. Q5 - Genuine East Glamorgan HA SoN badge.

Closing date January 31st 2010.

Entry constitutes acceptance of rules. All entries to webmaster at schoolsofnursing.co.uk -
Contact

The site forum - Membership and Visitors.
In January 2007 we opened the forum for business.  I new topic; 4 replies; 2 new members; and 5 unique visitors!! The current situation is just a little different. We now have 144 topics'; and 704 posts 306 posts from 156 members. Not too bad for a history site, but since this one deals with nurses, nursing and hospitals we still have some way to go, but we have that in hand. So far we have not sought to openly promote the site. Our preference has always been to ensure quality and more importantly, 24/7 availability. Time perhaps, in 2010, to move forward...

Worldwide.. Certainly our visitors are wide ranging - from 44 countries worldwide... Australia & New Zealand and Canada are well represented in addition to the UK and USA. There are also some more esoteric sounding countries - China; Russia; Cayman Islands; Japan; Malaysia; plus Romania and Spain.

E-Mail Contact - the 'contact' link (above and throughout the site) arrives directly on the webmaster's desk. Use it to communicate directly with the site. All mail is considered confidential unless the contents are stated to be otherwise. Stated to be for public consumption by you. Publication itself is an editorial decision.
Collecting... Nurse Badge Sets..
In the very first collecting article here at SoN, among the reference to how nursing badges could be collected there was a paragraph or two about collecting the badges of an individual nurse, as well as reference to collecting badges with particular themes, for example midwifery, particular hospitals, and, another example, geographical locations. Areas such as the latter two are concerned with nursing/hospital badges and many superb sets have been put together by collectors.

Being primarily a collector of Individual nurse histories, my own special love is the collection of nurse badge sets.  Many more seem to have surfaced over the last year or two - and normally command quite high prices.  Personally I do not begrudge this, although it does not make me laugh a lot (!) being a buyer, but high prices can cause sellers to split a badge set as well as, conversely, keeping sets in the hands of serious collectors, which should help keep them together. Splitting such sets is, in my humble opinion, a serious sin...

Imagine then, my elation, or maybe it was my relief, at winning this set on ebay, which will now be preserved as far as anyone can ensure, in it's entirety...

And that wasn't the end of my personal good fortune, (together with some depletion of my personal fortune!), because, trawling the Net I came across another set - this time a GNC and 25 year (Silver/enamel) District Nurse long service award - for the same nurse of course at UK dealer Britannia Medals. I added it to my letter to Santa and left it open on the dining room table - long enough to be noticed, before consigning it to our wood-burners Chimney. And guess what? Santa duly delivered!

I wonder if that works on other days....

For me, a collector/collator of nurse histories, all of which will eventually be published - firstly here on SoN and then, who knows... My objective is simple to keep together as much professional history of as many individual nurses as I can manage. It starts with the badge sets - and as much paper -  certificates, photographs et al, as I can gather. Then the research. Including any from living relatives where possible; National Archives; professional bodies - anywhere a trace might be hidden,  and then on to the construction of the history. But for me it starts with the badges...
 

The first badge set has a considerable amount of paper with it - nursing qualifications and Registration certificates - and a couple of certificates (birth and death) of the nurses mother and some overseas -Tanganyika - nursing Registrations. Easy enough to make a start on a history there.... But where was/is Tanganyika?

The second - GNC & District Nurse set has no paperwork - and there must also have been a hospital/school of nursing badge, plus a basic DN Registration badge - now how could I attempt to find those? Seems impossible...

But imagine - just imagine, that you know some - or even all of the answers to the several questions posed on this page, and could win one or more of the very nice badges - and or/or that super DVD film ('Atonement')...

Imagine that you didn't know what the competition rules were, and didn't know how to enter - And missed the chance...  Forgive yourself? you never would.... Better have a look at the top right column and have a go!

Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2010...

WB.

 

 

 

Another Photograph from the past...This time
      some big question marks attached!
The best answers could win you a prize in our
 Christmas/New Year Competition

WWI perhaps, maybe earlier... Just which hospital/s were these nurses from? Is the location of the photograph setting identifiable? Was the lady in the centre a matron ? A Sister Tutor perhaps? And the badges and armbands - just what were they? \For larger photos and possible hints (not necessarily answers)..  Go Here.


Well, that seems yet another very pleasant note upon which to end the twelfth Schools of Nursing Site News, so for now I will say goodbye and wish you all well - working or not - Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

 

Would you like to see your PTS or training group featured here? We desperately need more photographs to feature. Can you help?  If so please Contact us.


We express our grateful appreciation to those people
who have contributed the original photographs
used to produce the News Pages.

1. News heading photo (all dates) - John Reeves
2. Bristol Southmead Gold (April) - John Reeves
3. St Bartholomew's Gold (April) - Ruth Watkin-Jones
4. Haygarth Silver (April) - 'ukhistory' (ebay)
5. Newcastle LS (April) - Peter Backman (Nursing badges)
6. RRC Medal (April)  photo's- 'Caulgisbo' (ebay)
8. 'catandfrog' (July) - (ebay).
9. bokojnr (Dec) - (ebay).
10. blue.bottle (Dec) - (ebay).
11. 'backman' - (ebay).*
12. Hotminicooper (Jun) - (ebay).
13. Right-one50 (Oct - (ebay).
14. jcollinsmedals (Dec - (ebay).
15. Brittania Medals (Dec 2009).

   
All Copyrights are Asserted

*
Peter -  'backman' is also creator and webmaster of the 'nursingbadges'
&
'historyofhospitals' websites.

 
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