Call the midwife part 2

[TwinklyFawn]

I know that my first thread isn't full yet. I just wanted to create the second thread before i forgot.

That was a really sad episode

Yes it was, but makes a change to the 'and they all lived happily after after' endings we usually have.

Where did the man in the iron lung go after his wife died?

He was being transferred to a Leonard Cheshire Home, which caters for disabled people.

@witchycat2 they said he was going into a Leonard Cheshire home. DH and I were very young in the 1970’s, but were talking of our memories of that time, neither of us could recall social care as we now call it in the community.

There were district nurses who did house calls and I recall my DGM having a home help who did some cleaning and a bit of shopping and wealthy people who had private nurses (my own DM was a nurse and did a little private work in the evenings when my brother and I were small)

I presume residential care for many conditions would have been much more common then.

I worked for many years as a nurse in a nursing home owned and run by a religious order of nuns. They had to abide by the strict rules of their religious order.

They were allowed to go home once a year for a family visit for a week. Their closest family members were allowed to visit the nursing home and stay in the family room in the Convent for one weekend per year.

They were not allowed to make phone calls home or receive personal phone calls unless it was a family emergency. They were expected to be devoted to God and their family had to take second place 😢

I have a friend in his 60s who had polio as a child and still has the lingering post polio syndrome - awful lifelong effects

It's a shame the viewing figures have gone down from over 10 million to over 6 million. I wonder what figures usually result in series being cancelled. I know the nuns moved out of Poplar in 76. I'll miss it when it's gone. I hope they replace it with something just as good.

I agree that the Lucille divorce storyline is jarring.

It was only last year.

I just had a look at the cast for this episode to see if I could work out where I recognise Mr Baldwin from (probably various one off roles in detective series) and I discovered that the actor playing Owen is actually paralysed.

Owen Desmond - Ben Owen-Jones
Ben is a 53 year old British actor known for his role in Grange Hill as a child. After a 1995 accident left him paraplegic, he continued his career starring in New Street Law, Frankie, Doctors and Casualty.

I just read that the actor who plays Owen (in the iron lung) is Ben Owen Jones who used to play Danny in Grange Hill in the 80s (the class loner). He was in a car accident in his 20s which left him paraplegic in RL, but he's had a number of acting roles since.

Cross post - snap!

There is a woman in the US who still sleeps in an iron lung, but some parts are running out.

www.npr.org/2021/10/25/1047691984/decades-after-polio-martha-is-among-the-last-to-still-rely-on-an-iron-lung-to-br

A man in Texas who sleeps in an iron lung and spends some of his days in one. He has qualified and worked as a lawyer.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12357005/Man-whos-lived-inside-iron-lung-70-years-struck-polio-developed-new-way-breathing.html

Oh brilliant spot! I love it when Grange Hill actors appear in the wild.

He wasn’t Danny Kendall if that’s who you mean.

Ah, that explains the very 21st century head rest on his wheelchair.

Also intresting that not the people still on Iron Lungs until recently could have had more modern ventilation, but opted not too.

@Toddlerteaplease I have read interviews with people who use iron lungs who say the old fashioned kind are far more effective

Ah, my mistake... Grange Hill but not Danny! I should know better, I actually used to work on it I the 90s!!

My 6yo daughter wears hand knitted school jumpers and cardigans (not by me). They are not a uniform pattern but in the school colour. She has a couple of logo jumpers and cardigans too, but the woollies are so much warmer.

Just looked at Ben Owen Jones' IMDB - he was in one episode of Grange Hill in 1985 and played a character called Phil.

I was a big Grane Hill fan - not sure i even recall all the main characters so no chance I'd recall Phil!!

I wasn't allowed to watch Grange Hill! (Or any soaps)

There was a lot of disapproval of a lot TV programmes when I was young but very little outright Do Not Watch programmes.

For the most part, I was a good and obedient daughter and didn't watch the disapproved programmes. However I clearly considered Grange Hill worth the barbed comments and looks of dissatisfaction 🤣.

I do find it hard to believe that she would have asked for a divorce but i am glad that Cyril is staying. They should have replaced her.

I will miss it too although it is not as good as it use to be. I hope that we get a prequel.