Booth Hall Infirmary, Charlestown Road, Blackley

NEW POOR LAW HOSPITAL - The Prestwich Union Poor Law Hospital which will be formally opened today, is called the Booth Hall Infirmary, and is in Charlestown Road, Blackley, overlooking Boggart Hole Clough. The site consists of a little over 34 acres of land. The building has a southern frontage. The whole of the site is surrounded by a stone wall and wrought iron railings, with a stone entrance and art metal gates and grilles. Immediately to the right is the porter’s lodge. The administrative block is in the centre of the building and runs in a northerly direction. It is designed to serve about 800 beds, which is the ultimate number for which wards have been laid down on the plan. At present the number of beds provided is 412. The buildings have been erected on simple and economic methods. They are of selected common bricks with terra cotta dressings, but the main entrance is of somewhat massive design. On the easterly side of the administration block the women’s wards are located, with a small maternity ward at the extreme end. The men’s wards are on the westerly side. Each of these groups consists of three two-storey pavilions with day rooms centrally situated for convenient use, each group having its own entrance or receiving block. The floors of the wards are in terrazzo and the ceilings are finished in enamel. Bed lifts communicating with the upper floors have been provided, as well as staircases. Behind the main wards and well away from the building a small isolation ward has been erected. A commodious well-lighted corridor with granolithic floor, from which the wards branch off at right angles, extends east and west of the administrative block. The walls are of salt-glazed bricks to a certain height, with red brick above. Half the corridor on the first floor in both men’s and women’s quarters, is open at the sides. The offices and the quarters for the steward and the matron occupy the front portion of the administrative block. The walls in this portion are lined with dark green tiles to dado height. The basement is all faced with white tiles and is utilised as the stores, goods being received either by means of an inclined roadway or an electric lift from the ground floor. On the northerly side of the main corridor is the kitchen from which the food will be served on waggons heated with hot water, and which will be wheeled to the various wards. The heating is on the Dargue Griffiths “Centralised” system. The buildings are lighted throughout and all the lifts driven by electricity, which is generated by three sets of Willan and Robinson’s engines of 55 brake horse-power at 600 revolutions, with direct-driven dynamos. Accumulators are also provided, which may be charged during the day, and thus provide the current required over a period of about ten hours, this making it unnecessary to run the engines through the night. The floor of the engine house is laid with red Dutch tiles, and a humidifier has been fixed for purifying and cooling the air. The electric switch-board is also in the engine house. All the pipes and mains have been placed in subways and are, therefore, easily accessible. For protection against fire there are large mains from the water tower erected in the grounds, and at short distances there are valves and hose connections. There are also emergency staircases at the ends of each ward, communicating directly with the outside. The laundry is fully equipped with modern machinery, and adjoining are several workshops. In the administrative block a well-lighted operating theatre is located, the lighting having received special consideration at the hands of the architects. On the first floor of this block there is a large room, which may be used for religious services or for concerts. The nurses’ home is a detached building on the easterly side, and has accommodation for twenty-eight nurses and six probationers. The architects are Messrs Thomas Worthington and Son, Manchester, and the contractors Messrs Robert Neill and Sons, Manchester, with Mr J Maynard as clerk of the works. For the electric lighting Messrs Crews and Handford of Manchester, have acted as consulting engineers. The erection of the building was begun in April 1906. While these are complete and are now being furnished, the grounds, a portion of which are to be lighted by arc lamps, have yet to be laid out, and this will take a few weeks to complete. [Manchester Guardian 28 October 1908 page 2]

OPENING OF THE PRESTWICH NEW HOSPITAL – The Prestwich Union Poor Law Hospital in Charlestown Road Blackley, was formally opened yesterday by Alderman Charles Jennison, the chairman of the Board. The buildings occupy a site of a little over thirty-four acres, with an open frontage to Boggart Hole Clough on the south. On the north the land is bounded by another deep wooded clough, while on the west the land slopes rapidly down to Blackley. The site is therefore an ideal one for open space, sun and circulation of air. The old Booth Hall, now pulled down, stood on part of the site, and the portion of the grounds which have been retained will add to the pleasantness of the nurses’ home. [Manchester Guardian 29 October 1908 page 10]

INFIRMARY, BLACKLEY - The new Booth Hall Infirmary of the Prestwich Poor Law Union in Charlestown Road, Blackley, has been erected at a cost of £70,000 on a site of about 34 acres of land overlooking Boggart Hole Clough. The infirmary provides beds for 400 patients, with room for future extensions as required, but for the present only 280 patients will be admitted. The buildings are of selected common brick, with terra-cotta dressings. Immediately on the right is the porter's lodge, md the administration block is in the centre of the buildings, with the women's wards on the easterly and the men's wards on the westerly side. These wards are contained in six large two-storied pavilions, three for men and three for women, each group having also its own entrance or receiving block. There is a special ward of six beds for maternity cases, with another small ward annexed containing two beds. The main corridors have granolithic floors, whilst those of the wards are of terrazzo instead of wood. The walls and ceilings are of white tiles and white enamel. The buildings are lighted by electricity generated on the premises. All the pipes and electric cables are laid, in a large subway running under the main corridor on the ground floor. The buildings have been erected by Messrs Robert Neill & Sons, and the work has been carried out under the direction of the architects, Messrs T. Worthington and Son, all of Manchester. [Builder 17 November 1908 page 504]

BOOTH HALL INFIRMARY. MORE MONEY REQUIRED. At the Prestwich Union offices yesterday an inquiry was opened by Mr. Arthur Lowry, Local Government Board Inspector, into the application of the Prestwich Guardians to borrow an additional sum of £6,000 connection with the Booth Hall Infirmary, at Blackley. Mr. B, T. Kitchen, architect the Local Government Board, was also present, and the Guardians were represented by Mr. Rycroft. Mr. Rycroft stated that April, 1906 sanction was given to the borrowing of £82,860. The Guardians had obtained a thoroughly satisfactory building on an excellent site, but during the progress of the work it was found that certain additions and alterations had to be made to the original plans at a cost of £13,027. The contract for the structure was let to Messrs. R. Neill and Sons at £62,000, but when the work was measured the claim made by the contractors was for £72,069. He then proceeded to point out the variations from the original figures. A statement by the architects pointed out that the foundations proved to be very bad. though this had not been apparent from the trial holes dug before the drawings were prepared, and the site formation between and around the blocks necessitated considerable removal of soil. The engineering contracts were let after the contract in which provision could not be made for these additional charges. A considerable sum had to spent on the water supply, owing to want of pressure from the Corporation mains. There appeared to a considerable deficiency in the quantities on which the contract was based. This shortage in quantities was estimated at £2,500; the additional expenditure owing to bad foundations, soil removal, and alterations in drainage at £2.000; and the additional work in connection with the engineering contracts also £2,000. Mr. Edward W. Ogden, clerk to the Guardians, gave evidence as to the details the work and the additions sanctioned by the Guardians. Mr Ogden said the infirmary was designed for 430 beds, but the administrative block would accommodate 800. The cost per bed, reckoned on the present number of 430 was £242. Messrs Neill's was not the lowest tender, but there was only one below it and that was £5.000 less. Mr Percy Worthington, the architect', said considerable expense was caused by the discovery of moving sand when making the foundations. [Manchester Courier 16 December 1909 page 3]

Opened        28 October 1908

Reference    Manchester Guardian 29 January 1904 page 6 – appointment as architect
Reference    Manchester Guardian 28 October 1908 page 2 – description
Reference    Manchester Guardian 29 October 1908 page 10 – opening ceremony
Reference    RIBA Journal 14 August 1939 page 950-952
Reference    Building News 30 October 1908 Page 615
Reference    Manchester Guardian 28 October 1908 page 2 – description
Reference    Manchester Guardian 29 October 1908 page 10 – formal opening
Reference    Builder 17 November 1908 page 504