Brecon & Radnor Joint Asylum - Talgarth, December 2010
The Mid Wales Hospital was a psychiatric hospital in Talgarth, Wales. It opened in 1906 and was formerly known as the Brecon and Radnor Joint Asylum or Mid Wales Counties Mental Hospital.
It is in echelon style (narrow arrow)and at its peak could serve 1,000 patients. However, nearer the end of its life, in 1995, this had dwindled to 168. The site was also home to the Mid and West Wales College of Nursing and Midwifery and the Powys Drugs & Alcohol Council for substance misuse.
As part of its services the hospital provided treatments for the elderly mentally ill; rehabilitation and continuing care; occupational therapy; day care facility; psychology; reflexology; physiotherapy; electro-convulsive therapy; chiropody and psychiatry.
The Mid Wales Hospital was sold in October 1999. It was closely related to the Welsh Office/Assembly as they were the official owners. For a number of years it was occupied and used by the local Health Authority as a mental health hospital.
The sale seemed to have had all the hall marks of inside trading. It was sold to one of its former chief medical officers and his wife. Alun Michael MP, who was the Secretary of State for Wales and then the Assembly First Minister, was implicated with having a direct involvement with the disposal and sale to the successful purchasers.
Although this was later refuted, it was found that all normal procedures , including sealed bids, inventories and district valuations were abandoned by the authorities involved with the disposal. The AGW investigation also uncovered what appeared to be a pay back scheme , whereby the Health Trust arranged a compensation payment of £128,000 to be paid to the new owners a few months after completion.
This meant that a 43 acre site with 200,000 square feet of hospital buildings and floor space, plus 5 large family sized houses, a chapel , tennis court and cricket pitch, was bought for a cost of only £227,000 (two hundred and twenty seven thousand pounds ).
Visited with tom46
After speaking to my friend which was at Bristol Univeristy and driving 146 miles from kent we decided to pay a visit to Mid Wales Asylum Talgarth, this place is in the middle of no where down a singal track road. Once in we noticed there was a lot of water damage due to the slate on the roof being removed. We got to see most of the site and the boiler room. Most of the corridors between the buildings have been demolished. When inside we herd voices security were doing there petrol around the site.
Buildings
Main hall
Inside the main hall
Behind the stage
Lights
Corridor
Stairs
Ward
The remains of piano keys
Climbing up to the clock tower, sadly all the workings have now been removed
View from the clock tower
View 2
Looking over the boiler room and chimney
Corridor in the admin building
Boilers
Pipes
The Mid Wales Hospital was a psychiatric hospital in Talgarth, Wales. It opened in 1906 and was formerly known as the Brecon and Radnor Joint Asylum or Mid Wales Counties Mental Hospital.
It is in echelon style (narrow arrow)and at its peak could serve 1,000 patients. However, nearer the end of its life, in 1995, this had dwindled to 168. The site was also home to the Mid and West Wales College of Nursing and Midwifery and the Powys Drugs & Alcohol Council for substance misuse.
As part of its services the hospital provided treatments for the elderly mentally ill; rehabilitation and continuing care; occupational therapy; day care facility; psychology; reflexology; physiotherapy; electro-convulsive therapy; chiropody and psychiatry.
The Mid Wales Hospital was sold in October 1999. It was closely related to the Welsh Office/Assembly as they were the official owners. For a number of years it was occupied and used by the local Health Authority as a mental health hospital.
The sale seemed to have had all the hall marks of inside trading. It was sold to one of its former chief medical officers and his wife. Alun Michael MP, who was the Secretary of State for Wales and then the Assembly First Minister, was implicated with having a direct involvement with the disposal and sale to the successful purchasers.
Although this was later refuted, it was found that all normal procedures , including sealed bids, inventories and district valuations were abandoned by the authorities involved with the disposal. The AGW investigation also uncovered what appeared to be a pay back scheme , whereby the Health Trust arranged a compensation payment of £128,000 to be paid to the new owners a few months after completion.
This meant that a 43 acre site with 200,000 square feet of hospital buildings and floor space, plus 5 large family sized houses, a chapel , tennis court and cricket pitch, was bought for a cost of only £227,000 (two hundred and twenty seven thousand pounds ).
Visited with tom46
After speaking to my friend which was at Bristol Univeristy and driving 146 miles from kent we decided to pay a visit to Mid Wales Asylum Talgarth, this place is in the middle of no where down a singal track road. Once in we noticed there was a lot of water damage due to the slate on the roof being removed. We got to see most of the site and the boiler room. Most of the corridors between the buildings have been demolished. When inside we herd voices security were doing there petrol around the site.
Buildings
Main hall
Inside the main hall
Behind the stage
Lights
Corridor
Stairs
Ward
The remains of piano keys
Climbing up to the clock tower, sadly all the workings have now been removed
View from the clock tower
View 2
Looking over the boiler room and chimney
Corridor in the admin building
Boilers
Pipes
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