| Sylvia
Laurie
"They
put me in there when I was 19 years old in Grove Park, when I was
19. Well I went off my head, I used to have screaming hystericals,
screaming hystericals, and so they put me there, till I got over
it.
My
parents couldn't stand me, they couldn't stand my nonsense! But
I got out of it a long time ago, I got out of it a long time ago.
I'm grown up now. My mum and dad got me home, got me out of there
on my birthday. I was 11 years at Grove Park Hospital and 12 years
at Darenth Park Hospital. Mum and Dad used to visit me, weekends,
Saturdays and Sundays, but not any other day. They used to let me
go home for Christmas, they used to let me go home for Christmas,
just for a week, it was a treat. Didn't like to have to come back.
Some people didn't have anybody and they used to have to stay there
at Christmas.
There was a school nearby, and I used to see the school kids from
the wards. I used to see them running around and playing outside,
and wished I could join them!
There
used to be wild cats living there. We used to feed them and give
them milk and cat food, Whiskers and fish. I love animals! I'm not
allowed to have animals where I live now. Used to be a lot of wild
cats at this hospital for years.
There
were some horses down there, loads of horses in the fields, and
we used to stroke them we did. We used to pinch the apples and pears
in there, apples and pears and feed them to the horses, we used
to go to the orchard and pinch the apples and pears."
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