Wigan Album

My dad, Ernest Morris, and my cousin Richard Ryan both died in this hospital within a few days of each other in 1976

Does this hospital still exist? If not, what replaced it?

Albert, Billinge Hospital was pulled down about 10 years and has been replaced with the usual housing.

The reason I ask A.W. is. My eldest son was born there, in 1962, as were a lot of other babies, over the years, as it had a a maternity ward. Charlotte Aindow, was the sister in charge of the maternity ward in 1962. A first class lady. She had been a Methodist missionary, in Africa, years previously. She took me to Taylor's Lane Sunday School, Spring View, when I was a child.

Albert, When our son was born in Billinge hospital it had a new state of the art maternity unit, that was not very long ago. So what did the "expert planners" do, pull it down and move maternity to Wigan hospital!!

I was born there in 1942.

The `new' maternity block was the Roy Hartley named after a consultant who was based at the hospital and who died in the prime of his career whilst he was working there. The new block was already open in 1969 but hadn't been there very long;my son was born there in May of that year. The first three floors were for new mums and each consultant had their own floor. The top floor was for antenatal care. I spent quite a lot of time in there early in '69. I heard later that under the local gvt. re-organisation in the early seventies that the boundary was re-drawn to keep the maternity unit within the Wigan area, the town would have had no maternity facilities of its own as the unit would have come under Merseyside. Miss Standish was Matron at the time I was an in-patient. I was also born in Billinge and my daughter was born at Firs Maternity home in Leigh and was delivered by the same midwife who delivered me.

Albert,
Charlotte Aindow was our neighbour in Billinge in the late 1950's. She was, as you say, a wonderful lady. She tried to save my Dad's life in 1960, and after she left Billinge Hospital, worked at Tanfield Special School in Hindley. She remained a friend of my family until her death in about 2005.

Thank you Helen. Every word you have said about her, is so true. I can still remember her kindness, as a child.

My daughter was born there in August 1969, was in the premature unit for a couple of months. I was in antenatal for about 2 weeks before she was born. The staff were brilliant.

I was born there in February 1966, we lived in Ashton in Makerfield at the time

I was born in 1942. On my birth certificate it gives 154 Upholland Rd Billinge. Was there a small maternity hospital on the site before the Roy Hartley maternity hospital was built.