please empty your brain below
I don’t think iI’ve ever been to Shirley Oaks but my mum worked in the hospital shortly after it opened. I remember she used to bring home leftover food including smoked salmon which seemed like an unimaginable luxury back in the 80’s.

Cjw714 | 07.07.22 - 8:15 a.m. | #

I lived years ago in Southampton near an estate which also has flower-based names, built in the 1930s. Shirley Oaks has ten more such names than that estate - only eight flower names feature on both lists.

cau1khead | 07.07.22 - 8:51 a.m. | #

During lockdown I attended Shirley Oaks Hospital as a outpatient on three occasions for a minor but potentially serious issue. Fortunately the cost was covered by my company's health insurance which was just as well because three consultations which turned out to last about 10 minutes each cost almost £200 a time.

What really surprised me was the ordinariness of the place given that everyone thinks it is for the 'posh' people. It felt like an NHS hospital minus the NHS signs with a wait to see your nominated doctor in a waiting room that was functional but not particularly pleasant. The main difference was they swiped you credit card in case your insurer defaulted on payment.

The people who attended seemed no different from an ordinary cross-section of people from a middle-class area. I was quite surprised that I wasn't the only patient that arrived by bus.

The only advantages for outpatients that I could see was that you could actually get an appointment with a doctor in person and there was a free car park with available spaces. The cars in the car park were not the high end of the range. Ronnie Corbett's Rolls Royce, if it had been parked there, would have looked quite out of place.

Pedantic of Purley | 07.07.22 - 9:18 a.m. | #

Two random anecdotes...

Mum used to use Shirley Oaks as a rat-run when on the school run in the 90s. No idea if it ever saved us much time, but she persisted in using it.

Also, for reasons I cannot remember, we went to Shirley Oaks Hospital one day and happened to bump into Patrick Stewart, who was visiting someone.

Alex | 07.07.22 - 9:39 a.m. | #

The Children’s Home’s cottages had the tree and flower names first, from Ash to Violet.

Dee | 07.07.22 - 12:00 p.m. | #

Please could you add a link to the colour coding totals each time so we don't keep having to find the June 14 write-up?

Andrew S | 07.07.22 - 5:14 p.m. | #











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