As Sunnyside Royal Hospital by Montrose prepares to end a 230-year history of mental health care later this year, a number of events to celebrate the history of Scotland’s first asylum have been arranged.
A thanksgiving service will take place on Friday, August 19, at 2pm in Hillside Church.
Following the service, conducted by the Rev Linda Broadley, refreshments will be provided in the village hall.
On Saturday there will be a summer fete in the grounds of Sunnyside from 11am to 3pm with children’s activities, various stalls, a car boot sale, music from Montrose Town Band and refreshments.
If the sun doesn’t shine, the action will transfer to the former nurses’ home on the ground floor of Booth House.
An exhibition is currently running at Montrose Museum, displaying artefacts showing the history of the hospital and charting the daily lives of staff and patients over the years.Lecture seriesThe exhibition includes equipment, plans, papers and uniforms plus portraits and display boards about developments in the field and the key figures involved locally, including founder Susan Carnegie.
It runs until Saturday, September 24.
The museum is also hosting a series of talks The History of Sunnyside on Thursday, August 25, at 7.30pm, Montrose Royal Asylum The History of Psychiatric Nursing on Thursday, September 8, at 7.30pm and The Present And Future Of Psychiatry on Thursday, September 22, at 7.30pm.
Admission is free but booking is a essential as there are limited places. Anyone interested should contact the museum on 01674 673232
NHS Tayside is seeking contributions to a planned publication of The Last Sunnyside Chronicle, the former staff newsletter.
Contributions from staff past and present or anyone with something to share are welcome and can be placed in memory boxes at the exhibition and the fete or emailed to sunnysidecelebrations.tayside@nhs.net.
The new mental health facilities at Stracathro Hospital are due to be handed over to NHS Tayside in late October, with patients and staff transferring from Sunnyside a month later.