New life could be injected into this former nurses' home which has stood derelict for a number of years if proposals to transform the site into apartments are given the green light.
The four-storey property opened almost 100 years ago in Newcastle's West End, and was once home to trainee nurses working at Newcastle General Hospital. But in more recent years it has become better known as one of the city's abandoned buildings.
Now work to create 57 private rented properties at the Angel Heights site on Westgate Road could begin later this year if planning permission is granted, completely transforming the site from the home fondly remembered one of the nurses who once lived there.
Gwenda Gofton, formerly Brady, was one of the Newcastle General Hospital nurses who lived at Angel Heights from April 1952, following three months training at a Preliminary Training School in Walkergate. Today she looks back at her time living at the home.
Gwenda, now 89, lived at the home for three years from the age of 18 and occupied the only double room in the property, which she shared with her friend Margaret. The nurses would often spend the day in bed when off duty because they were so tired and on their days off and they were able to order breakfast in bed.
She remembers accessing the hospital via an underground tunnel which connected Angel Heights to the hospital and was especially grateful for the route on cold and damp days as "it was always warm because large pipes ran through it".
Gwenda and Margaret's room was situated on the top floor and the pair would often share a bed to keep warm as there was no heating in the bedrooms and "the electricity wasn't powerful enough to have portable heaters or kettles."
She added: "Tap water was used for hot-water bottles, and we usually had a hot bath to thaw out before going to bed. If we washed our hair, we went to bed with it wet and it was dry by morning.
"There were three bathrooms together and the dirty water ran along an open channel past each bath before reaching the drain."
The 175-room property was opened in 1925 by Coun JW Telford, who was at the time chairman of the Newcastle Upon Tyne Board of Guardians. It featured two sitting rooms on the ground floor, one very large and the other smaller in size.
However, Gwenda recalls how the nurses would congregate in the bedrooms and would rarely spend time in the sitting room.
Maids were on hand in the dining room at the home to serve meals and refreshments to the nurses. And the nurses would only have to hold their cup in the air and for it to be quickly replenished by a maid.
Gwenda said: "As we were always hungry we had no complaints about the food except for scrambled egg. We were sure it was made with dried egg but there was always a tiny piece of eggshell in it as if to prove it wasn't."
Angel Heights was managed by two "lovely" Home Sisters during Gwenda's time at the home and night porters would also worked shifts at Angel Heights.
Gwenda added: "One favourite night porter was Big Bob. If we were later than 11pm we had to sign a book and there was trouble if it was signed more than once in a week.
"However, when Bob was on duty, we could come in any time if we gave him a kiss and a bottle of beer. Sadly, he was suspended for being drunk on duty so we all felt bad about that."
Strong friendships were made between the nurses during Gwenda's time living at the home, and 70 years later some of them remain in contact following a plea to reunite a team of 40 Newcastle General Hospital nurses published in The Chronicle in 2012.
The friends share fond memories of their time at Angel Heights and Gwenda recalls how they would often play tricks on each other.
Gwenda said: "Naturally, we played many tricks on one another. I remember returning from a day off at home and finding no bed in my room.
"It was in the lift, which was stuck between two floors. It was a large noisy lift with a metal door and the trick was to set it away then someone would try and open it causing it to stop working.
"Another trick we used to play was with a bobbin and thread. We'd hide the bobbin under someone's bed, then pull on the thread when they were in bed. It made an awful sound and terrified the life out of the poor person in bed."
She added: "We sometimes had parties in our rooms. We had an old pram that we used to go to the off licence on Brighton Grove and stock up on Merrydown cider. I remember us trying to mend a puncture once in the nurses' home cloakroom, but we couldn't get the tyre off."
Angel Heights was bought by the Angel Group in April 2000 and transformed it into a hostel. Around 200 asylum seekers were brought to Tyneside as part of an agreement between Angel Heights and Kent County Council to reduce the number of asylum seekers in south coast towns. But, when plans to move the asylum seekers into the hostel were first revealed, neighbours did object, with one resident describing the hostel as an "open prison".
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