Mid and West Wales College of Nursing and Midwifery

Deep within the valleys of southern Powys, Mid Wales lies the small market town of Talgarth. Having held important links with healthcare for many years as the home of the large psychiatric hospital next door, the Mid and West Wales College of Nursing and Midwifery was built as an extension to the hospital with the responsibility of recruiting and training nurses and midwives who were in such short supply in wartime Britain. In July 1940 during the Second World War it was agreed that most of the hospital next door should be given over to military use and most of the former patients were transferred to other Welsh mental hospitals. As was routine at the time, military nurses belonged to Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service (QAIMNS), as they had during World War I. Members of the Army Nursing Service served in every overseas British military campaign during World War II, as well as at military hospitals in Britain. At the beginning of World War II, nurses held officer status with equivalent rank, and in 1941, emergency commissions and a rank structure were created, conforming to the structure used in the rest of the British Army. The rise in recognition lead to the growing need for training and hospitality of women signing up to aid the wartime effort as injured soldiers were sent back from the frontlines in Europe in need of treatment and rehabilitation. After the war the hospital returned to civilian use in 1947 at the advent of the National Health Service, which brought a number of innovations, including art and occupational therapy and the integration of male nurses. The college remained in operation and followed the hospital into decline during the late 20th century after its closure. It has remained derelict ever since, and despite being stripped of furniture the interior of the building has been brilliantly worn by the Welsh weather to such an extent that the decay has created a mesmerising artistic canvas of peeling walls, mould-ridden ceilings and in some cases, indoor grass lawns that seem almost man-made. The colours of this nursing college have become even more vivid and exaggerated in the time since the building’s abandonment, making this place a true sight to behold.