‘Nye’ - play about Aneurin Bevan and birth of the NHS.

I was very seriously ill in hospital in 1949, the year after the NHS was founded. My parents kept saying how grateful they were for the (newish) NHS. I had no idea what they were talking about (I was 9) but now I realise I’d have cost them a fortune if they’d had to pay! Not that they would have grudged it, but it would have been difficult for them.

We live in Urmston where Nye Bevan officially opened the first NHS hospital. Black & white photos on the walls of the corridors, with Matron of the day in attendance and a very starched white cap, surgeons with a stethoscope around their necks and cigarettes in hand!

The Loungers Bar below our apartment gives a nod to the area - it’s called Bevano!

This play is going to be shown as live screenings at theatres throughout the UK from the end of April. I’m really looking forward to seeing it, but unfortunately it’s not on in my local theatre until June, so it will be a while.