Leeds NHS nostalgia: Chapel Allerton Hospital in the 1970s

“Happy Birthday to us...” sang the volunteer broadcasters at Radio Allerton in the 1970s. The volunteers who ran the internal radio station for patients at Chapel Allerton Hospital celebrated their first birthday in Mach 1979 with a toast and a cake. “We try to be a professional station, broadcasting a wide variety of programmes to the patients,” said Mike Barron, chairman of station, told your Yorkshire Evening Post at the time. The memory of one 11 photos charting a decade in the life of Chapel Allerton Hospital. The 1970s proved a busy time for the hospital with the opening of the Newton Green wing and the launch of Britain’s first ‘halfway homes’ for elderly patients to bridge the gap between leaving hospital and returning to their own homes. Four purpose built halfway homes, costing more than £50,000, were built in the grounds of the Newton Green wing on Chapeltown Road. Although the flats were linked to the main block by a corridor, the occupants could lead independent lives, calling on the services of the hospital only if required. Many of the photos featured in this gallery have been digitised for the first time after being discovered in the Yorkshire Evening Post archive. READ MORE: Memories of lost Leeds pubs - Chapel Allerton, Sheepscar, Chapeltown and Little London LOVE LEEDS? LOVE NOSTALGIA? Join Leeds Retro on facebook YEP RETRO NEWSLETTER: Sign up for our free monthly email digest of Leeds nostalgia