Launch of The Children of Craig-y-nos : a tuberculosis history

The Children of Craig-y-nos: Life in a Welsh Tuberculosis Sanatorium, 1922-1959 , co-authored by Carole Reeves of the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at UCL, was launched on 1 May at Craig-y-nos Castle. The book, written by Reeves with artist and writer Ann Shaw, is based on a two-year public engagement project comprising oral history and photography, and features on UCL's World TB Day webpage. Outreach historian Carole Reeves received a grant of £5,000 from the 'Awards for All Wales' National Lottery scheme to create the book based on the experiences of children in a tuberculosis (TB) sanatorium. Craig-y-nos Castle, set in the Brecon Beacons National Park in Wales, was the estate of the world-famous opera singer Adelina Patti, until her death in 1919. It was then transformed into the Adelina Patti Hospital, and for nearly 40 years served as a TB sanatorium for children and young women in a region where TB incidence was the highest in Britain. The project was initiated by Ann, who was a patient at the hospital from the ages of 9 to 13. On a return visit to Craig-y-nos in 2006, she was amazed to find some of the wards still intact.