THE £5,000,000 Airedale General Hospital was comfortably up and running by December, 1970, but Prince Charles gave staff and patients a boost when he came to officially open it.
Margot Shaw, of the Keighley News, was impressed by “his relaxed and friendly approach” and insisted that he “wowed all of the women, young, old and middle-aged alike”.
Her assessment was echoed by an elderly patient who said “he was lovely” and a teenage student nurse who thought “he was gorgeous”.
The Prince’s tour of the hospital fell behind schedule as he stopped to chat to staff who lined the corridors.
In the children’s ward, he gave ten-year-old Rachel Blakeney “a hand with the crossword puzzle she was doing”.
Prince Charles is seen here chatting to staff of the maternity unit, accompanied by the deputy matron and Mr J Foster Beaver, chairman of the hospital management committee.
“A large marquee was erected in the hospital grounds,” recalls a former nurse, “where all visitors and staff had lunch. It was a happy and memorable day.”
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