UHNM invites 99-year-old great grandmother to view time capsule buried the same year she was born
A great grandmother from Stoke-on-Trent has been given the chance to view artefacts buried in a time capsule from the year she was born.
Joan Alberta Hopwood, 99, was born just four months after King George V buried a time capsule during a visit to the former North Staffordshire Royal Infirmary in June 1925.
Nearly a century later she was invited by University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (UHNM) to view the capsule’s contents as part of their week-long City of Stoke Centenary celebrations.
Born in Blackpool and now living in Penkhull, Joan moved to Stoke-on-Trent during World War Two after surviving the London Blitz, before starting a family and career in the NHS.
As well as three children of her own, Joan has six grandchildren and five great grandchildren.
Joan said: “My grandparents were circus people and parents in showbusiness, so as an only child I went with them whilst they toured the country. My earliest memories are going to the theatre in places like Gateshead and Worcester. We were living in Brighton at the time World War Two broke out. Then we moved to London and we were in the Blitz. I had an aunt and uncle living in Stoke and they wanted to us to come to where we would be a little safer. We were very lucky as a family to be able to move here, I would have been 15 at the time, it really was very peaceful in comparison..”
She added: “When we first came to Stoke it wasn’t easy for anybody to find a job. I moved around, working at Lewis’ department store, Old Betty Plant’s sweet confectioner and the Century oil works. My husband was in the armed forces.
“I returned to work aged 40 after our children had grown up, getting a job in the NHS. It was in the specimen reception department looking after the North Staffordshire Royal Infirmary, City General Hospital and Central Outpatients Department in Hartshill. I worked a 20-hour week, alternating morning and afternoon shifts. This was a brand-new department at the time, and we had to know all the tests and which lab to send them to, as well as which ones were needed quickly. My daughter can remember me telling her that I’d never remember all the names of the different tests, but after a while I had a little knowledge about a lot of things.
“It was all much smaller than how UHNM is now, I made many friends, and it felt more a family than anything. My husband was steward of the newly established hospital club, so we also looked after that in the evenings. After retiring at 65, I went on to volunteer in the Royal Infirmary’s A&E department for several years.”
The capsule was formally opened at a ceremony at the Royal Stoke University Hospital last week as part of the City of Stoke Centenary celebrations.
Newspapers, coins, and letter to King George V and Queen Mary are just some of the artefacts that will now be transferred to the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery for permanent display.
Joan was accompanied to view items on display by son Paul, an electrical maintenance craftsman at UHNM, where he has himself has worked for 45 years.
Paul, 62, said: “I left school in 1979 to start electrical apprenticeship, and joined what was the City General Hospital in 1980. I was born and grew up in Hartshill so always had an association with the hospital. There was something with the NHS that attracted me, that you could give back to the community.
“My mum has got such vivid memories, and its fantastic whenever we talk about her time working in the NHS. It’s so wonderful that she can be here at Royal Stoke to look over the artefacts from the year she was born.”
Lorraine Whitehead, director of estates, facilities and PFI, said: “It’s fantastic to welcome Joan and her family to view the contents of the time capsule at Royal Stoke. To think she will be celebrating her 100th birthday later this year, and she is able to come along to our centenary celebrations and look at the rich heritage on display is incredible. I would like to thank Joan and her family’s service and commitment to the NHS over many years.”
Joan added: “I don’t have a secret to a long life, I’ve just been lucky not to have had a lot of problems. We did scrape and scramble in our early days, but we got through it by talking. We had a good life, I wouldn’t swap it.”