Talgarth Asylum, Wales

The Mid Wales Hospital, Talgarth, Brecknockshire, was originally called the Brecon and Radnor Joint Asylum on its opening in 1903; the name was changed in 1921.

The first patients at the hospital were admissions mainly from the Brecon area but numbers also arrived from towns further afield such as Swansea and Shrewsbury.

Although initially intended to cater for 352 patients, at one point at the end of 1925 there were 455. In December 1955 the number of patients had reached 496. In 1994 the total number of patients averaged 140, but 179 could be catered for.

In 1974 the Powys Health Authority came into being and assumed control, with matters changing again in 1993 with the formation of the Powys (NHS) Trust. The hospital was closed in 2000 with some facilities being combined with nearby Bronllys."

Talgarth Hospital was built on part the Chancefield Estate just to the south-east of the town of Talgarth in the early years of the 20th century, as a lunatic asylum, together with a detached chapel, workers' houses and cottages and other ancillary works. Bronllys Hospital, together with a recreation hall and chapel, was built as a tuberculosis sanatorium during the 1920s in the former parkland of Pont-y-wal Mansion to the north-west of Bronllys.

N.G.T.E Pyestock

The National Gas Turbine Establishment (NGTE Pyestock) in Fleet, part of the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE), UK was the prime site in the UK for design and development of gas turbine and jet engines. It was created by merging the design teams of Frank Whittle's Power Jets and the RAE turbine development team run by Hayne Constant. NGTE spent most of its lifetime as a major testing and development center, both for experimental developments as well as supporting the major commercial engine companies.
Like many companies at this time, the newly merged venture was nationalised, and the search for a suitable site for turbine development began. Pyestock, a former golf course in a secluded wooded spot between Farnborough and Fleet was chosen, as the activities at the NGTE would be top secret and (one presumes) the surrounding woodland would dampen the phenomenal noise. Construction began in 1949, but the site was not as we know it. Instead of the massive test cells there today, testing was done on a much smaller scale in test "cubicles" inside buildings like the Plant House. When the possibility of supersonic jets arose, the site underwent a massive expansion to the north west, with the massive Air House and several huge test cells being built.
For over 50 years Pyestock was at the forefront of gas turbine development and was almost certainly the largest site of its kind in the world. V bomber, Harrier and Tornado engines were all rigorously tested on site, the power of the air house allowed Concorde's engines to be tested at 2,000 mph, every single gas turbine installed in the Royal Navy were checked here, captured Soviet engines were discretely examined - and all this on terra firma, without a single plane taking off.
NGTE Pyestock closed down in 2000. The Pyestock campus is now in the state of being decommissioned pending the building of a large business/industrial park.

Barrow mental hospital

A hospital branded the dirtiest in the country has apologised after healthcare inspectors found mildew, graffiti and urine stains during a visit.
Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust, which runs Barrow Hospital in North Somerset, said the findings were "unacceptable".
Inspectors examined medical equipment, beds, sinks, bedpans and toilets in 98 hospitals on visits in August.
The Healthcare Commission examined levels of cleanliness in hospitals.
Inspectors arrived at Barrow Hospital unannounced to find floors marked with cigarette burns, coffee cup stains on a table, walls with extensive graffiti, urine stains around a toilet, mildew and stains from bodily fluids on the bottom of a hoist chair.
Two of the hospital's three wards have been closed and the services transferred to Southmead Hospital.
'Cleanliness issues'
After the spot check, toilets and kitchens in all clinical areas were deep cleaned, and housekeeping reorganised with a named supervisor for every ward.
Barrow Hospital ranked bottom of the commission's table of cleanliness in hospitals.
A spokesman said: "Immediately following the spot check a Patient Environment Action Team, led by senior managers, was established at Barrow.
"A range of measures have been put in place to deal with the cleanliness issues identified by the Healthcare Commission and monitoring shows that these have already begun to have an effect."
The hospital is due to close to patients next summer when services transfer from Barrow Gurney to Callington Road in Bristol.

The rectory