“I flew down the lane to a shop and said I needed them to contact the doctor as soon as possible.
“When I got back to the house, the man had died.
“There was lots of drama every day. But you sort of got on with it because it was commonplace.” Mostly people were very grateful to see her. “A few would say, ‘wouldn’t you like to be in a hospital and be a real nurse?’, but they just thought they were being kind.”
After 10 years in the city, Beryl moved to Cornwall. A year later her mother asked if she could live with her. In Cornwall, she continued to nurse “in the district” then studied to become a health visitor and midwife.
“The difference between Liverpool and Cornwall was noticeable. In Cornwall, they didn’t even wear hats, and it didn’t matter what colour stockings they wore. It was shocking in comparison with what I knew. It’s tempting to say it was better in the good old days, but in district nursing it was. We didn’t try to be mini-doctors. I was very proud to be part of the district nursing service.”