01/04/2002 Entry: "Domesday Project"

Many years ago (well 1985), the BBC created the Domesday discs... laserdiscs with tonnes of info in different formats. A BBC microcomputer was connected to it and you used a big roller ball to control it. The laserdisc output was overlayed with the BBC video output. It was early multimedia - and in many respects was better quality than many of the mid 90s mutimedia programs.

Pieces of info about places was mostly written by school kids.

Anyway, if you look up Cane Hil and Netherne, here is what you will find:

Cane Hill Hospital, the BBC Domesday Project circa. 1985.
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Cane Hill was commissioned in 1833 and is now owned by Bromley Health Authority. There are 643 patients with 300 nurses in 40 wards. These are named after famous people in the nineteenth century. There are many separate buildings for the different functions such as a swimming pool, launderette and hairdressers. There is also a large church. The hospital used to have a large farm where the patients worked with hens, cows, horses and sheep. Now the patients are gradually being integrated into the local community, as Cane Hill may be closing in the 1990’s. Coulsdons residents are very concerned about this possibility.

Netherne Hospital, the BBC Domesday Project circa. 1985.
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Netherne Hospital is run by the NHS for the psychiatrically ill. It has about 500 long-stay and 200 short-stay patients all of whom are male. There are indeed more staff than patients : 1000 in total; but some of these are peripatetic. The staff comprises 20 male and 20 female doctors, 1 matron, 63 sisters, 100 female nurses and 320 male nurses. The rest of the staff are cooks and kitchen staff, orderlies, grounds men, gardeners and in charge of social or recreational facilities such as bowls. There are a large number of recreational facilities for patients which may also be used by staff. The staff have their own social club in the grounds where there is also a nurses’ home which accommodates 100+ nursing staff. Most of the land surrounding Netherne Hospital is associated with it. It is private land with it’s own private roads for access only. The only public road running through is the “C” road which runs from Coulsdon to Hooley, parallel to the A23. To the west of this road are annexes to the hospital and to the east : staff housing. Most of the remaining area is arable farmland rented out to farmers. There is also a considerable area of woodland, characteristic of the three 1km x 1km squares : 2856, 2857 and 2956.Small woods, often with both deciduous and coniferous foliage all have their own names, e.g. Netherne & Boxers Wood. North of the staff housing, to the east of the C-road, is situated the Netherne Sports and Social Club.

There you go.

Thanks to Dave Robinson for digging this one up.