It was Angela’s daily routine.
She walked, sometimes ran if she was late for her work but she always stopped at the coffee kiosk on the corner of Quarter Mile to buy her daily coffee.
As she waited to be served her eyes would wander up to the balconies on the end of The Royal Infirmary building.
She would notice patients sitting outside on the balconies
probably watching the day go by and wishing they could be one of the crowd below away from the hum drum life in the hospital.
Angela’s gaze would travel upwards above the balconies to the two turrets designed by David Bryce, architect
She wondered if the patients were aware of the turrets.
Surely they were as they housed water closets and a bath.
Occasionally shrieks and yells would waft out of the open windows as if the patients were being subjected to some form of torture.
Calls of ‘Nurse, nurse help me ‘ by someone unable to get out of the bath would echo downstairs and outside.
The yelling would stop as soon as the patient was attended to.
What stories these turrets hold !
The hospital closed in 2002 when The New Royal was completed.
In Jan 2017 flats were being sold to new occupants and part of the building became a university hub.
Angela found herself owning one of the flats and sitting on the balcony waving to passers by as they bought their coffees from the kiosk just as she had done many years ago.
She often hears noises coming from the turrets and wonders if they belonged to the ghosts of the patients she had waved to.
Were they coming back to share the new space ?
Maureen Feb 2024