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00:00and in this series we're taking that to heart we're stepping into a world where
00:07cherished places from the past are brought back to life in miniature it's
00:11like being detectives isn't it from family homes I just miss it so much to
00:17grand public buildings this building was so magnificent I found my identity there
00:24each tiny model tells a big story it's a beautiful project because it's all
00:30about love the craft and skill of our team of miniaturists I'll make it happen
00:35perfect shines through in every delicate detail
00:45oh my goodness
00:49that's beautiful and while our models may be tiny the memories they stir are immense
00:58welcome to the marvellous miniature workshop
01:01the tools are out
01:18the paint pots are open and this time we're piecing together memories from the
01:23very start of adult life
01:35a first job is always an important milestone but when it involves saving lives and
01:40making lifelong friends then come on surely that's worth capturing in miniature
01:45visiting the workshop this morning a lifelong friends Kathy and Sue
01:52over the next few weeks we'll recreate the workplace that brought them together
02:00to the workshop you've brought the sunshine with you we have Kathy and Sue what we're going to do for you today
02:07well we're hoping for a model of Winford Orthopaedic Hospital Kathy and I met there when we were 17 started our nursing how lovely well I can't wait to hear the full story of the world we're going to do for you today
02:15well we're hoping for a model of Winford Orthopaedic Hospital Kathy and I met there when we were 17 started our nursing how lovely well I can't wait to hear the full story are you ready to come and meet our miniaturist yes please this way here you come
02:22our on-call model maker Hannah is just what the doctor ordered for
02:29right then ladies Hannah and I cannot wait to hear all about Winford Hospital
02:32because this was the very special place where you two legends first met it was indeed
02:36well I can't wait to hear all about Winford Hospital because this was the very special place where you two legends first met is that right it was indeed
02:44was happy memories of that time yes gosh yes so what year was this 1968 so this was your initial training to be nurses yes we had a great training but oh gosh yes
02:51training is just what the doctor ordered for this build is just what the doctor ordered for this build
02:57right then ladies Hannah and I cannot wait to hear all about Winford Hospital because this was the very special place where you two legends first met is that right it was indeed was happy memories of that time yes gosh yes
03:04so what year was this 1968 so this was your initial training to be nurses yes we had a great training
03:13training oh gosh training for life have you got photos of that time of the pair of you this one me and Kathy are in and I'm underneath here just see my head on
03:23that one I think with the bunches we were just 17 yeah it looks like a real laugh that you had together it was
03:30a really really good time so some of the nurses would be living on so yes the nurses home probably had about 30 of us I suppose it was mayhem
03:39a really good time yeah yeah yeah yeah what was it that drew you to a career in nursing when I realised I was never going to be a ballerina
03:46there's still time there's still time can there I wanted to look after people I wanted to help people and my dad would say you'll be a skivvy he was partly right I didn't realise I had to do so much dusting
04:01that was an eye-opening but to look after somebody even cutting their toenails we had to clean their teeth and not to be put off by it you might be but you walk away smiling come back smiling you know and you just do it 45 years I worked for the NHS and it was rewarding wasn't it you just to make somebody comfortable it makes a difference I always feel like saying that I had to do so much dusting
04:08thank you for putting such a long shift for the NHS because where would we be without it yes and it was rewarding wasn't it you just to make somebody comfortable it makes a difference
04:15I always feel like saying thank you in these yeah yeah I put in such a long shift for the NHS thank you because where would we be without it yes and it was rewarding wasn't it you just to make somebody comfortable it makes a difference
04:30I always feel like saying thank you in these yeah yeah put in such a long shift for the NHS thank you because where would we be without it yes and Sue what about you did you continue nursing
04:40no I didn't I'd met my husband to be at Winford he was teaching other nurses to drive and I thought I like him the rest is history after 54 years wow
04:52so have you got some photos of the hospital itself so Hannah can see what she's got to work with
04:57we have a few yeah um this is the one of the boards
05:06Winford Hospital in Somerset occupied a large rural site and when Sue and Kathy trained there in 1968
05:14it had 10 wards an operating theatre and 225 beds
05:20what would be helpful to know I'd love to know the colours of the beds beddings yeah because I'm going to be making things from the black and white photos so any colour reference if you remember
05:35the bedspreads were blue or green light blue or light green and what about the walls I'm sure they were cream
05:42cream yeah just cream walls magnolia as far as I recall the floors were wooden they had curtains around the beds
05:50a bowl of fruit the ashtray because one of the things that they do which they wouldn't do now is they were allowed to smoke
05:57oh wow
06:00in the hospital in their beds
06:02yeah
06:03Astros were part of making the beds for a new patient to come in and this one this is the sitting room that we would use
06:12and that was exactly how we remember it
06:14so this is where you can just relax relax watch a bit of fuzzy black and white
06:19because you're smoking there
06:21yeah absolutely you walked in to a dental space
06:24I mean back then it was like oh it's good for you
06:26yeah
06:27very different times
06:29well there's a lot to be working with here
06:31looking at this Hannah any challenges
06:34it is exciting actually there's a lot of elements
06:36when I think of hospital I think of like clinical
06:39yes
06:40but it looks like there's a lot going on in the space
06:43to see it again would be lovely Hannah
06:46if you can do it I'll bring it back to life
06:48I'll bring it back to life
06:49in a different scale
06:58Hannah gets straight to work deciding which part of the vast hospital to focus on
07:05so I would like to make two rooms for Sue and Cathy because this is where they met
07:11one is going to be a hospital ward where there were professionals they were looking after people
07:17then I would also like to make a nurse's sitting room
07:21it sounds like they had a lot of fun times there
07:24they're going to be completely different builds
07:26but I really want to do both to highlight their friendship
07:30from Sue and Cathy's photos Hannah knows the Winford wards were single storey prefab buildings
07:38to make the floorboards she cuts over a hundred thin strips of birch veneer
07:44and spends five hours laying them down and staining them a no-nonsense brown
07:50the back wall is glazed and panelled in a functional mid-century style
07:56she paints each separate section
07:59adds realistic electrical conduit
08:03and stains the wooden framework
08:06on the cream side walls she adds curtain rails for privacy and angle poise reading lamps
08:13the shades made from resin poured into a tiny cone-shaped mould and painted cream
08:19the long arms styled from polystyrene rod
08:23such a detailed job
08:25the three ward walls are then glued together to form an open room box
08:30next Hannah turns her attention to the furniture
08:36the ward is going to be filled with beds, hospital equipment and some gifts, some hospital food
08:44she makes the retro metal bed frames out of more polystyrene rod and uses tiny wooden beads for wheels
08:55I've never made hospital beds before
08:59then she cuts miniature mattresses from foam board
09:02covering them with white cotton sheet and a blue woolen fabric to mimic the blanket Sue and Cathy remember
09:10let's hope these hospital corners pass matrons inspection
09:17the ward is going to be super special for them because
09:21they went in as a 17 year old and became an adult there
09:25so I really hope I can do justice
09:28do you want a cup of tea?
09:46yes
09:47Sue still lives just a few miles from Winford with her husband Steve
09:53Winford Hospital is where I met Steve and decided that we were meant for each other
10:00and she now puts her nursing training to good use every day as she's a full-time carer for Steve
10:07he hasn't been well of late and I look after him 24-7 but he's a good patient
10:13here's a cup of tea love
10:15thank you thank you
10:17and I'm going to go now
10:19see you later
10:20yep
10:21see you later
10:22have a nice day
10:23we will
10:24lovely
10:25but today she's joining Cathy to travel back to Winford
10:29morning
10:30all ready?
10:31all ready for it
10:32yeah
10:33this is the first time they've been back to the site together
10:36it's woods over there
10:43but everything's changed since they were trainee nurses here
10:50this is
10:51it's a foundation stone
10:53foundation stone that's right
10:54this must be the last little bit of Winford Hospital this stand down
10:59that is
11:01apart from all our memories
11:03yes
11:06Winford Orthopaedic Hospital discharged its last patient in 1993 and was demolished
11:13today the site is occupied by a housing estate
11:17it's sad
11:18it is sad
11:19but we were lucky to be trained there
11:21we were
11:22we were really lucky
11:23I think my time at Winford was very formative
11:26I always felt incredibly proud of the work that went on there
11:32and the training that I'd had
11:35looking back
11:3617 was young
11:37but
11:38we grew up
11:39learning that
11:40people
11:41have
11:42horrific injuries
11:43and we have to cope
11:45there is no walking away
11:47we have to cope
11:51does it take you right back?
11:53oh
11:54yeah
11:55I'm 17 again
11:56yeah
11:57let's go and see where we can place things
11:59I think the nurses home must have been
12:01here
12:02sort of around there
12:03yeah
12:04then the wards would have been
12:06up there
12:07yeah
12:08I don't know where the doctors residents were behind
12:10behind
12:11I don't think we fully understood how important and pioneering that some of the work that was being
12:18done was
12:19things like hip replacements which are now very commonplace were relatively new then
12:25it was a very special place we made friendships that have lasted as you can tell for a long time
12:32our lives were made
12:34yeah
12:35those were the days
12:36those were the days
12:37yes
12:38the building is gone now and we won't see it ever again
12:42but to help this model I know our community of nurses will just love it
12:51fortunately for Kathy and Sue, Winford is rising again on Hannah's workbench
13:03and now she's turning her attention to some vintage medical equipment
13:09I've never made hospital equipment before
13:12first she slices thin strips of wood to make crutches bending and shaping each one before wrapping them in pattern tape
13:21she makes a tiny walking frame from polystyrene rod before turning her attention to a much more complicated device
13:30so I'm going to be making wheelchair that was around in sixties because it was an orthopedics ward
13:40there were wheelchairs everywhere
13:42I am going to be making everything from scratch
13:45including the wheels
13:47so I've got very thin wire here
13:55I'm going to bend it
13:57and stretch it out with a toothpick
14:01and that becomes a spoke for the wheel
14:04and now I'm just going to dab it in a bit of glue
14:09put it around the centre of the wheel
14:13apply the glue
14:17and place it firmly
14:22I'm going to put the masking tape on it
14:24so it stays in the position until it's dry
14:28so I'm going to be making a few of them
14:33put it across so that it's nice and even
14:36and hopefully at the end result
14:39it's going to look very realistic
14:42and I can't wait to put it on the body of the wheelchair
14:45the seat of the wheelchair is made from carefully cut polystyrene sheet and rod
14:50glued into shape
14:52once it's been painted and stained
14:54it's time to add the handcrafted wheels
15:07and Hannah's miniature wheelchair is ready to roll
15:12now Hannah turns her attention to the nurse's common room
15:16she decorates each wall separately to match the photo Sue and Cathy provided
15:22the cream wall colour is based on their memories
15:25then she glues the walls together to form a second room box
15:29now Hannah wants to fill it with familiar items
15:35and starts with a classic 1960s uniform
15:39carefully cut from stiff blue cloth
15:43folded and pleated at the front with a crisp white collar
15:47back then nurses wore their hemlines long and their caps high
15:53Matron would have been proud
15:59so far so standard hospital issue
16:02but to make this model perfect
16:04Hannah needs more specific details about Winford
16:07and what life was like there for young trainee nurses
16:10so I'm off on a fact-finding mission
16:13to meet historian Andrew Seaton
16:17Andrew hello
16:19Hi Sarah, how you doing?
16:20Glad to see you're Jenning up very studious here
16:22Absolutely
16:23I'm glad you know your stuff
16:24because we are building this model for Cathy and Sue
16:27they are former nurses at Winford Orthopaedic Hospital
16:31so you're here hopefully to give me a bit of insider knowledge
16:35on nursing and the hospital back in the 60s
16:38so where to start?
16:40Winford itself, what do you know about it?
16:43Winford Orthopaedic Hospital was a hospital that dealt mainly
16:47with musculoskeletal conditions
16:50it opened in 1930
16:52so it's bones isn't it basically?
16:53That's right, yeah
16:54during the Second World War it opened its doors to military personnel
16:58and then after the Second World War in 1948
17:02the hospital joined the new National Health Service
17:09Following the Second World War
17:11the NHS was born out of a radical vision
17:14free healthcare for all
17:17inheriting around 125,000 nurses
17:20it was immediately desperate to recruit more
17:24by the 1960s numbers had almost doubled
17:28and typical trainee nurses were unmarried girls
17:31with 5-0 levels and upstanding moral character
17:37So let's talk a little bit then about nursing in the 1960s
17:41when Sue and Cathy would have started as young girls
17:43they were 17, first time away from home
17:45what would their duties have been?
17:47would it have been quite tough work?
17:49would have been very tough work
17:50so your primary duty would be of course looking after the patients
17:54the nurses were also expected to keep the ward clean at this time
17:57so this meant changing bedpans, the sheets, mopping the floors
18:02on the ward itself you were under the supervision of the matron on the ward
18:06who kept usually very strict standards, inspection of clothes
18:11if you had a ladder in your tights then you would be sent immediately back home to deal with that
18:16Gosh
18:17and nurses had to know their place in that hierarchy
18:20there were rules about student nurses for instance speaking to doctors
18:24you wouldn't be able to speak to them directly
18:26Gosh that seems absolutely mad doesn't it?
18:28but also there were lots of other controls of their social life as well
18:31so they weren't allowed partners
18:33many places had what was called a marriage bar
18:36and that really meant that if you got married
18:39you were expected to resign your position
18:41and look after the children
18:43and it would be the husband who would be the breadwinner of the family
18:46so the NHS at that time
18:48although in many ways an egalitarian and radical thing
18:52was still carrying on with these Edwardian and even Victorian hierarchies
18:56that seems so bizarre now to a modern woman
19:00that you wouldn't be allowed to have a partner
19:02you'd have to be single
19:04the marriage bar was something Sue experienced first hand
19:08when she decided to marry her dashing driving instructor Steve
19:13and start a family
19:15now Hannah's adding a surprise detail to the model
19:18that should bring a smile to Sue's face
19:21I am making a miniature version of the highway code
19:25because I heard that Sue had met her husband
19:30while she was working in the hospital
19:32and he was her driving instructor
19:34so it would be really nice I think
19:36if I add this into one of the room that I'm making
19:40I found a vintage copy of highway code from 1968
19:45so I have printed that out
19:48but I'm also painting over it
19:50because the colour of the printouts isn't strong enough
19:53so I'm applying the colour onto the book cover
19:58with a tiny paintbrush
20:00so it will look nice and vivid when it's done
20:04Hannah's filled the cover with tiny driving symbols
20:09a reminder that Sue's road to romance began at Winford
20:14but what other details should she be adding?
20:18So we've got to build this model
20:21what do we need to know about the inside of a ward at Winford in the 1960s?
20:26what is crucial to include?
20:28The social life of the ward is really important
20:30the amount of time that people spent in hospital in the 50s and the 60s
20:35was much longer than the average hospital stay now
20:38I think patients, you know, reading newspapers, reading books, listening to the radio
20:42playing cards with each other
20:43that might be nice to kind of capture something that I'm sure your nurses would remember
20:47about the social life of the ward
20:49and then types of cleaning equipment, bedpans of course would be enough
20:53Oh yeah, do we have to include some bedpans?
20:54I think so, yeah
20:56Lovely
20:57Hannah wastes no time cracking on with Andrew's suggestions
21:05she adds a dose of 1960s social entertainment
21:09printing tiny playing cards and stacking them into a perfect miniature pyramid
21:14a reminder of bed-bound patients looking for ways to pass the time
21:22and because Sue and Cathy spent an awful lot of time cleaning
21:26Hannah makes a mop bucket
21:28she draws, cuts, curves and coaxes a piece of card into shape
21:36gluing a disc onto the bottom
21:39she cuts thin strips of card to form rims and ridges
21:45before a coat of silver paint gives it the industrial gleam of galvanised steel
21:50for the mops, handles are fashioned from humble kebab sticks
21:56and the heads are a collection of coarse string
21:59made stiff with glue and aged with brown paint
22:11Nurses were waitresses of the wards in those days
22:14so Hannah is making tiny hospital meals
22:17good old fashioned meat and two veg
22:21and a hospital issue stainless steel pot for the tea trolley
22:26next, the get well gift on every 60s side table
22:31green grapes
22:32made from translucent air dry clay
22:35and held together with strands of glue
22:38it's very tedious
22:40then Hannah adds a detail you wouldn't see in hospital wards today
22:45back in the day hospital allowed people to smoke
22:49so I'm going to include some cigarettes as well
22:52they're made from wire wrapped in scrolls of paper
22:55with the ends painted brown
22:58I've never made them before
22:59it's going to be really really tiny
23:02even the nurses common room just wouldn't be complete
23:06without an overflowing ashtray
23:08last but not least
23:12the dreaded bed pan
23:14perhaps not Sue and Cathy's favourite memory
23:17the base has been fashioned from resin clay
23:20while the rim is cut from card and carefully glued on
23:24it's an essential and unforgettable part
23:26of the training nurse experience
23:39it's been a month since Sue and Cathy came to us
23:43hoping for a model of the hospital where they trained
23:46laughed and learned to care
23:47and now it's time to see if Hannah's creation
23:50is just what our favourite nurses ordered
23:56here they come
23:57Hello
24:04How are you?
24:05Lovely to see you again
24:06So nice to see you
24:07You alright?
24:08How are you Sue?
24:09Hi Sarah
24:10You look gorgeous
24:11It's a blue
24:13Well I'm matching this
24:14Yeah you are
24:15Now gather round
24:16come and see
24:17the big moment is upon us almost
24:19Right yes
24:20How are we feeling?
24:21Excited
24:22Yeah?
24:23Anxious
24:24You've had some great stories
24:25so hopefully you've brought them all alive
24:27I hope so
24:28Not all of them
24:32Do you want me to get on with it?
24:33Please do
24:34It's okay
24:35Three, two, one
24:44Oh my goodness
24:45Oh my goodness
24:52Oh my goodness
24:53Well that's lovely Hannah
24:57That's brilliant
24:58It's great
24:59It's really amazing
25:00So Hannah you are marvellous
25:03From the starched sheets to the miniscule medical equipment
25:08Hannah's model is full of heart, humour and astonishing detail
25:13There's a lot of life in this ward isn't there?
25:15Yeah
25:16There's so much to look at
25:17The medicine
25:18Medicine
25:19Coatings are good
25:20Really good
25:21Oh look at this lovely little wheelchair
25:25And the beds are spot on
25:27They haven't made all the beds yet
25:29We'd be told off for having that bed like that
25:32Oh yes
25:33And crumpled, yeah
25:34And then look at the water coming out of them
25:36I know, I know
25:37Yes, yeah
25:38Your sister wouldn't be happy with that
25:39Would she with a puddle farm?
25:40No
25:41Bed pan on the floor
25:42Bed pan on the floor?
25:43No
25:44I feel like I got you two in a lot of trouble
25:47Yeah
25:48Yeah
25:49Yeah
25:50Brings it all back
25:51Yeah
25:52So much to do wasn't there?
25:53Yeah
25:54There was
25:55It was always busy and heavy and full on every day
25:58Wasn't it?
25:59But I never not wanted to go to work
26:01No
26:02This tiny world reflects a real one
26:05Where the work was hard but rewarding
26:08And when the day was done
26:09A group of bright young friends gathered around the fire
26:15And the sitting room as well
26:16I didn't know you were going to do a sitting room as well
26:19Oh
26:21The fireplace is spot on
26:23Yeah
26:24And I've traced
26:25Yeah
26:26I've traced
26:27Our photograph
26:29That's brilliant
26:35And casually propped on the coffee table
26:38There's a nod to Sue's driving instructor turned husband, Steve
26:45There's a miniature homework code
26:48It's just
26:49Steve's walked back into it
26:50Yeah
26:51Yes
26:52It's all brilliant, honey
26:53Well done
26:54Thank you
26:55You were brilliant
26:56Thanks for letting me do this
26:57Because it was honestly so much fun
26:59I thought of you two a lot
27:01And your colleagues
27:02And you know
27:03I also left home when I was young
27:05Yeah
27:06So I understand the friendship that you formed
27:07Yeah
27:08You know when you moved
27:09And we're still together
27:11Is it an emotional scene?
27:12Yeah
27:13Yeah
27:14Yeah
27:15Yeah it is, isn't it?
27:16Because that is so true to our life
27:17Yeah
27:18We're going to start us off in a bit
27:19No we're not
27:20No we're not
27:21No we're not
27:22It was incredible how much detail Hannah had got into that model
27:27It's emotional because it takes you back to those times
27:31And you realise how special it was
27:34Now that we have the model
27:36All the Winford nurses can see it
27:38Because there's a lot of love
27:40Yeah
27:41A lot of love for the place
27:44If we could shrink
27:46Yes
27:47We could walk in there and work
27:48Yeah
27:49Yeah
27:50It's brought it back
27:51Yeah, brilliant
27:52I've got myself walking in and starting
27:54Eight o'clock in there
27:55We can open up a mess
27:56Yeah
27:57Yeah
27:58Yeah
27:59Yeah
28:00We could recognize it
28:01Yeah
28:03Yeah
28:04Yeah
28:05Yeah
28:06Yeah
28:07Yeah
28:08Yeah
28:09Transcription by CastingWords
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