Stenhousemuir reunion event planned for former Bellsdyke Hospital staff
A 90-year-old former staff member is just one of the guests confirmed to attend a Bellsdyke Hospital reunion event.
John Dirom, who worked at the hospital, is organising the reunion, which is scheduled to take place at the Plough Hotel, Main Street, Stenhousemuir, on Friday, November 21.
He said: “I used to work in Bellsdyke Hospital in Larbert and myself and some colleagues are organising a staff reunion. The hospital was a local and national landmark for many many years and most people locally had a family member or someone they knew who worked there.
"We're opening it up to everyone who has worked in the hospital over the years, in any capacity. The oldest person who has confirmed they're coming is 90. My next door neighbour, who is 84, started working there in the 1950s when he came over from Donegal with some friends.
"There were a lot of staff who came over from there over the years. We're opening the night up to all NHS Forth Valley Mental Health division staff, including current staff, although we’re mainly looking to get older staff together again.”
Bellsdyke Hospital, also known as Stirling District Asylum, opened in June 1869 and consisted of two large buildings containing a chapel, male and female dormitories and a dining-room.
The asylum was large enough to house two hundred and fifty people, with patients – or inmates as they were then known – coming from Clackmannan, Dumbarton, Stirlingshire and Linlithgow.
In 1907 a new block was opened to house the large numbers of female nursing staff and Bellsdyke increased in size to house a hospital block, a block for those who could do light work and a block for those with more serious issues.
By 1914 there were over 700 patients on site and overcrowding became an issue.
The facility closed in 1997, although there are still some services which remain in operation at the site.
John says he hopes the event will include staff who worked at Bellsdyke from the 1950s – even the 1940s – onwards.
It is a pre-booking event so people who are interested in attending can e-mail John at [email protected] or call him on 07799787217.