St Helens Hospital Tunnel

I used this tunnel in 1983 to 1984 many times to cross under Frederick Road for my lunch hour at the main hospital dinning hall. I was training as a nurse supporting people with learning disabilities who were moved into the old isolation wards before Mount Pleasant Hospital was closed down.
In memory of Debbie Ralph - MPH Resident

I also used this tunnel when I worked in the OT dept. in 1979onwards for a few years. Always hated going down there!!

I trained at RESH, St Helens and Buchanan 1973-76. I remember the tunnel well but always found it pretty spooky. Didn’t mind if I only had to go to the pharmacy in the Lodge but hated having to go right under the road. What happened to it when they developed the site?

I really should have checked before I posted, my maiden name was Humphreys!

i was reliably informed by a new resident who was living in one of the newly developed bits a few years back
( right hand side of the road pointing towards The Ridge ) that the tunnel was still there and accessible with a bit of digging.
I was a porter at the hospital , my first job on arrival Hastings as a youth , round about '63 I guess.
So , on a daily basis we would herd sizable aluminium dinner wagons from the kitchens through the tunnel to the other size. This was down hill and allowed for a naughty youth to leap on the back and guide it with a bit of twisting about. Of course when one reached the dog's leg in mid tunnel , a lack of alacrity meant the baked beans often developed a mind of their own as did sundry other items, flying off into the darkness as the wagon lost it's stability!
Enough said I reckon , but they can't sack me now can they!
Richard

Went through this quite a lot. In my college holidays 69-72 worked as a nursing assistant in the so called ‘subnormal’ ward on the other side of the road.

Linda Tinto....may I ask if you were a teacher at Elphinstone?

I did some voluntary work at the hospital radio back in about 1986-1987 and remember using the tunnel to get from the studio to the wards to get the requests. I was always a bit freaked out using it and had to talk myself through in my head.....I look back and think I was a wuss...then I see this photo!