68. Resurrecting old Joyce Green Hospital names.

Key words/phrases: Jill Jedman - Property Information Officer of Dartford Borough Council, Dr John Burne, Dr Cameron, Sister Shaw, Norman Beater, Dr William Budd, Stan Burroughs, Mr Tuffil, Hazel Radley/Mrs Noakes, Mr Alec Walker, Miss Bingham.

No.68

I have been talking to Mrs Jill Jedman,Dartford Borough Council’s Property Information Officer this week about the naming process of the streets, buildings and open spaces on the new ‘mixed purpose’ development on the old Joyce Green Hospital site.

Apparently Mrs Jedman does her her research into the historical background of sites, people and events, draws up lists of possible names and then submits these to the Council ‘cabinet members’ who make the final decisions.

Words that could lead to confusion, names of people who are still living and other factors can lead to certain names being left off these lists but on the whole it seems that almost any name can be considered for inclusion.

One especially encouraging fact is that Mrs Jedman seems to welcome advice and suggestions from people who are familiar with the history of a particular area, previous establishments or characters and past occurences. For this reason it has proved really interesting discussing further ideas with her for possible names; in our case those associated with the Joyce Green and the so-called “River” Hospitals.

Some years ago Dr John Burne, a Consultant Pathologist at JGH, wrote an article for the “Bygone Kent” magazine (Vol 12, No.5) focussing upon the work of Harry Hopkins, the head gardener who - along with Dr Cameron, the Medical Superintendant at the time - designed, created and maintained the famous Joyce Green collection of trees, shrubs and flowers between 1919-1935.

The story of these men’s horticultural interests and work is in itself fascinating but the article also covers a lot of other ground from which I have been able to extract a collection of possible names for Jill’s lists for Phases 2-5 of “The Bridge” Project.

Just to remind you of aspects of some of JG’s rich past here are some of the words and names that I have passed on to Jill for her consideration. It actually falls to Jill to add the second part of the name or title, if she has decided to add a name to one of her lists.

Tramcar - because of the trams that used to bring patients into the hospital from the riverside in the past. So for instance she might chose to add an ending such as Tramcar Road or Tramcar Passage.

Nurseryman’s (Square ?)– another possibility relating to Harry Hopkin’s skills.

Child’s Fever (Place ?) - highlighting the use of 900 beds for children with Scarlet Fever during the period 1919-1922.

Alastrim (Rise ?) the name for a mild form of smallpox, an outbreak of which kept JGH busy in 1929.

In addition, I have also submitted the names of a number of individuals who contributed very substantially to the hospital’s work in the past.

Jill Jedman is already aware of the names of many of JGH’s “old hands” but I have also tried during the past week to draw to her attention to some other names that I thought that she might not know of ?

Some of these are : Sister Shaw, the Children’s Ward Sister, Norman Beater, a previous Superintendent Radiographer in the X-Ray Department, Dr William Budd, a Consultant Geriatrician, Stan Burroughs (or was his name spelled Burrows ?) - Departmental Charge Nurse for Geriatrics who was later promoted to “Assistant Matron” grade, Mr Tuffil, a Consultant Urological Surgeon, Hazel Radley - who became Mrs Noakes , the Principal Nurse Tutor (whose title changed with the introduction of the Salmon Report on the “Senior Nursing Staff Structure” to Senior Nursing Officer (Education), Mr Alec Walker, Nurse Tutor, Miss Bingham, Nurse Tutor.

Do you remember the names of other people whose names could be put forward for consideration ? If so now is the time to mention them : Jill’s e-mail address is : Jill.Dedman@dartford.gov.uk and her telephone number is : 01322 343206

67. Old JGH site & the naming of the new roads.

Key words/phrases: The Bridge Project, Bob Dunn Way, Rennie Drive, Halcrow Avenue, Binnie Road, Brunel Way. Doctors and nurses of yesteryear : Couzins, Birdwood, Hyde, Mitman, Waylen, Marsden,Wacher, Cameron, Morris, Chapman and Thorpe.

No.67

In view of the ‘near completion' of Phase 1 of the new Bridge Project - next to the old Joyce Green Hospital site - consideration has obviously had to be given to naming of the now completed arterial roads and the ‘secondary’ roads and streets within the residential section of this new development.

New houses for sale have already have come onto the market along what is now now known as "Bob Dunn Way" but in addition we are now getting some indication of the names that have already been selected, or are being considered for, some of the roads on this new housing estate.

The perimeter roads it seems will be named after the following bridge designers : Rennie Drive (the northerly road between Littlebrook Manor Way and Marsh Street), Halcrow Avenue (the southerly road between Littlebrook Manor Way and Marsh Street), Binnie Road (the northern road from Marsh Street through the main residential area) and Brunel Way (the south road extending from Marsh Street and through the Science Park.

However the roads and streets in the residential housing area - now nearing completion - are to be given the names of doctors and nurses associated with Joyce Green Hospital. The suffixes have not yet been decided upon but nine names are apparently going to be selected from the following eleven: Couzins, Birdwood, Hyde, Mitman, Waylen, Marsden, Wacher, Cameron, Morris, Chapman and Thorpe.

Miss Wacher, Miss Thorpe and Miss Couzins were all ex-Matrons of Joyce Green Hospital; Drs Mitman, Marsden and Cameron were medical men of previous eras but who were Birdwood, Hyde, Waylen, Morris and Chapman ?

How is your history ? Can anyone remind us who these 'stars' of Joyce Green's past were ?