Parish of St Helen Witton Northwich Cheshire

Profile of Anne Bond

I was born in Birmingham during the war (the Second World War of course!). My first recollection of my father was when I was 5 years old and I recognised him immediately when he walked through the doorway during the early hours of the morning. I had been sitting in the chair for hours, it seemed, dressed in my red kilt and a red ribbon in my hair, watching and waiting. My father had seen me briefly as a baby and then was posted in the army to the Middle East. I knew him straightaway, as every night my mother and I talked to his photograph and "kissed him goodnight".

The first time I attended an Anglican church was when I was 11 years old. I had been to the local Christadelphian Sunday school until then, but I wanted to join the Girl Guides and I could only do that if I attended their local Church. Even though it was 5 miles away and I had to walk or cycle, I duly attended nearly every Sunday and quite enjoyed the services, especially the music of the psalms and the chants. As I had always from a small child loved singing, it wasn't long before I joined the choir. I was confirmed when I was 13 years old and soon became an active member of the Church, also having fun at the youth club.

I always wanted to be a nurse. I suppose I was influenced to some degree by my parents who were both in the nursing profession. So when I was 18 years old I started my training at the Queen Elizabeth Teaching Hospital in Birmingham (my parents had moved to the West country the previous year). There were 80 of us in our set and we all passed the first three month's intensive preliminary course. We lived in the Nurses' home under the watchful eye of the Home Sister, who stood guard at the door every night to make sure we were in by 10pm! (She never managed to catch the errant nurse climbing through a colleague's window in the middle of the night). We were allowed to have one late pass until 10:45pm every month. We were certainly not allowed to entertain visitors in our room, only in a special visitor's room which of course was next to the Home Sister's office.

Our training was mostly ward based with a 6 week study block each year for 3 years and when we qualified had to work at least one more year as a staff-nurse. We worked long hours, but very rewarding hours. What Sister said was sacrosanct to everyone on the ward, nurses, doctors and all domestic staff. There were no infections in those days. Once a week it was the routine for us to spring-clean the ward together with the domestic staff.

Whilst we were student nurses we were allowed one weekend off per month and worked shifts, so it was sometimes difficult to pursue an active social life. I sang in the City of Birmingham Choir when time allowed, particularly after I qualified as I could attend rehearsals more easily. I was also able to attend Church more regularly.

I could go on about my early years in Birmingham, but I must be brief; only to say that even after 49 years I still meet ten of my old nursing friends regularly and we also attend reunions at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

I went on to do my Midwifery training in London and later in Bristol qualified as a Health-Visitor working with families who had special problems. I spent 5 happy years in Bristol work-wise and socially. I joined the Bristol Choral Society and also the local church choir near to where my parents lived in Weston-super-Mare.

In 1971 I went to Zambia for what I thought would be one year. I was employed by the Zambian Government to train nurses in a hospital in a small bush town on the Zaire (Congo) border called Mansa. I was Sister in charge of the Children's ward which was very daunting at first, because of very little medical cover and encountering diseases I had only read about. The local people were gentle and serene even through their poverty and suffering. The mother slept on the floor by her sick child's bed in the ward often with another baby swaddled on her back. Sometimes they had walked 50 miles to get to the hospital and often it was too late. Also the witch-doctor was still present in many villages and he would often administer his medicine to the sick child before we could give treatment. Most children suffered with malnutrition and had little chance of surviving if they acquired Malaria, Gastroenteritis or even Measles. It was heart breaking at times, but mostly very rewarding to see a child get better. The mortality rate for children under 5 years old was 40% (and still is). Experts say that "Aids" has been around for over 30yrs.

Half way into my contract I met Robert from Liverpool who had been appointed Provincial Health Inspector. We came back to England to get married and went back to Zambia to finish Robert's 3 year contract. Later our son Angus was born in a Dutch Mission Hospital 200 miles north of Mansa in an idyllic place called Kashikishi. There is so much more I could write about our time in Zambia, but perhaps another time!

On our return to UK we lived in Bristol for 10 years and then lived in Dover for 22 years prior to moving to Cheshire. I was a district midwife until 1995 when I had to take early retirement because of my health. I was very involved in our local Church and sang in the choir. Our son Angus and his lovely wife Jenni live in Hove and our dear grand daughter Olivia is 7 years old. Fortunately we are able to see them quite frequently.

We have lived in Northwich for 18 months now and are slowly settling down. After attending several Churches in the area, St Helens was the most welcoming and I thank you for that!!

Anne Bond