Morrissey was a HP

 

Another name I can add to my hospital porters' hall of fame is the singer-songwriter Steven Patrick Morrissey, usually just known by his surname. Morrissey grew up in Manchester in an Irish family and had a musical talent that served him well. His first band was formed in 1976. It was firmly in the punk scene and had the unforgettable name of "The Nosebleeds", but his true break came when he formed The Smiths in 1982 with Johnny Marr and Mike Joyce. Morrissey is a rather shy and private man and a lot of his personal life and past is still mysterious. His songs are often very poignant and melancholy with titles like "Girlfriend in a Coma" and "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now". "Suffer Little Children" is about the Moors murders which took place in the mid-60's during his own childhood. Morrissey lived close to the killers and their victims. He's also known to be very opinionated. He, along with Eric Clapton, bravely refused to play at a gig in 2021 when he found out the organizers were forcing attendees to show proof of having a Covid vaccine. Morrissey has little time for political correctness and is openly patriotic. This has inevitably led to accusations of racism. He supports animal rights and is a vegetarian. Most interestingly of all, and relevant to the HPWA, is that he was a HP. This is according to his biographer David Bret. Between 1977 and 1981 he did a number of jobs including a brief stint in the civil service and at a records store; and hospital portering. I have not read the two books Bret wrote about the singer so I don't know which hospital in Manchester Morrissey served at, but I expect it was one of the main generals such as the Royal Infirmary or North Manchester General. He describes the job as "grisly" and relates a time when he had to clean up human remains, something I can sympathize with. He also describes the doctors' uniforms and how much they were covered in blood. He took a keen interest in the culture of working class life in Manchester and his HPing service exemplified that. He lived for his whole youth in that world and many of his lyrics express his sentiments. I remember The Smiths very well in my childhood and Morrissey's unique vocals. I salute MEP&DBP Morrissey, who joins his fellow music icon Simon Le Bon in that crossover between pop stardom and HPing, see: https://hpanwo-hpwa.blogspot.com/2023/04/simon-le-bon-was-hp.html.

See also: https://hpanwo-hpwa.blogspot.com/2018/07/colin-wilson-was-hospital-porter.html.

And: https://hpanwo-hpwa.blogspot.com/2021/12/mick-jaggers-service-confirmed.html.

Cylindrical Nostalgia

 

I have received the above photo from a brother HP who thought I'd like it, and he was totally correct. It shows a porter's hand opening the valve on a gas cylinder. The cylinder is F-size, about four feet long and weighing thirty pounds or so; and it contains pure oxygen. My guess is that it on a static installation for use in a ward, clinic or other department. Some large hospitals have a mains supply of some medical gases. They are piped all over the site from a large storage facility in the industrial block; the JRH was one of them. Smaller hospitals usually have their own departmental static supply and the cylinders have therefore to be changed regularly by we, the porters. Changing the cylinders is not difficult and we can learn it in a few minutes; but, like all portering skills, it takes longer to perfect. The regulator has a washer on it called a bodox seal and you have to be careful it doesn't stick to the cylinder valve. Once there it will be taken away with the empty cylinder. Many have been lost that way and a regulator without a bodox will just leak so much it is useless. As it is, very few seals are perfect, so don't worry if it makes a very slight hissing sound. If you fiddle with it a bit the hiss usually goes away. If it doesn't and the device is not in use, shut the valve. When you open the valve you should hear the gas flow into the regulator and even feel it vibrate. It's a very satisfying ASMR feeling actually. We used to crack the valve briefly before attaching it to blow out the dust and excess lubrication oil, but this was not common practice. The regulator has on it a pressure gauge that tells you how much gas is in the cylinder. Some of them also have a flowmeter, but not all, especially on portables and vehicle supply because they get broken easily. I knew an old senior who boasted he could read the pressure in a cylinder just by its weight. It's true that compressed gas does weigh something, but I didn't believe him; or at least I tried it and it didn't work. What's interesting about this photo is the porter is using a very old type of gas spanner, a big cast iron one that also has a built in lever for twisting very stiff attachment bolts. It has two heads, for F and G-size valves. They're a bit too heavy to carry around and so I only went and picked one up from the lodge as and when required. Thanks very much to my HPing online contact for this little taste of cylindrical nostalgia.

Hospice Exorcist

 

This article is adapted from one posted on HPANWO Voice.
Hospitals are some of the most likely places to be haunted. Parapsychologists often say this is because the huge amount of fear, pain and death within their walls generates a psychic energetic atmosphere more conducive to ghosts. I've covered this possibility many times over the years, inspired by my own twenty-three years of service as a hospital porter, see the links below. Over the years there have been many news stories that have proved my point, but this latest one really takes the biscuit. Staff at a hospice in Norwich have been so troubled by ghostly phenomena that they have arranged to have the building exorcised. A hospice is a hospital that provides palliative care, treatment for those who are terminally ill; painkillers, other procedures to ease symptoms and generate a calm and caring environment. This does not include euthanasia in my country. The Priscilla Bacon Lodge is part of the Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust and so is a serious mainstream public institution. Exorcism is the spiritual practice of healing a person or place said to be possessed by a malevolent supernatural entity. It was popularized by the famous 1973 horror movie The Exorcist. Management at the hospice say there are concerns about "paranormal incidents" especially regular sighting of a young girl in a red dress who seems to be a phantom. According to leaked emails, Priscilla Bacon Lodge has been writing to the local bishop asking for advice and help from a "deliverance" team. The hospice's chaplain will join them in carrying out a blessing of the building to expel whatever darkness lurks within. Source: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/nhs-exorcist-hospice-ghosts-b1268691.html. This will certainly not be as dramatic as the film. Hopefully no spinning heads or projectile vomiting. I hope it works. The cause of all this paranormal activity could be nothing to do with the building itself, but its location. It was erected on the site of a children's hospital which was demolished and its facilities moved to a new campus. No wonder the ghost seen there is of a child. What really surprises me, knowing how the NHS works from the inside, is how the management are acting openly and straightforwardly on this very unusual matter. I'm truly surprised they would risk it. I can't imagine any of the office wallahs who paths I crossed thinking in those terms. They would just put their hands over their ears and sack the person who brought the matter to their attention. Sadly, as regular readers will know, in today's healthcare world a service provider can be discharged for so much as breathing at the wrong volume; and the higher up the hierarchy you are, of course, the easier it is to get rid of you. I definitely never reported any ghosts to my bosses, and would probably not have done even if I'd seen any. The fact that the admin at the Priscilla Bacon Lodge are risking that fate means that something serious and immediate must be going on. The paranormal unrest must be considerable. When the media asked further questions about what staff and patients had witnessed the trust declined to comment. Finally, if HPWA readers are at all interested in palliative medicine and its spooky elements then I definitely recommend "Hospice Nurse Julie" on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@hospicenursejulie.
See here for more information: https://hpanwo-hpwa.blogspot.com/2025/01/ghost-of-hp.html.
And: https://hpanwo-hpwa.blogspot.com/2021/12/hospital-pm-scares.html.