Health

Blaby: Marcel Everitt (b.1914) talks about the village doctor. She also recalls the village 'middle wife' who delivered babies, laid out the dead and prescribed herbal medicines for local people. This interview was recorded in 1986.

• Full interview from the Leicester Oral History Collection. Read the EMOHA catalogue entry.

Ibstock: Brenda Clark (b.1913) talks about Dr Wilson, the local doctor, and recalls childhood visits to his surgery at the Manor House.

• Full interview from the Mantle Collection. Read the EMOHA catalogue entry.

South Wigston: Hilda Sykes (b.1908) recalls disease being rife in the village in the early 20th century, particularly tuberculosis. She talks about her mother sitting with the dying and laying out the dead and comments on the spread of disease amongst the poor. This interview was carried out in 1989.

• Full interview from the Mantle Collection. Read the EMOHA catalogue entry.

Waltham on the Wolds: Miles Atkinson (b.1902) talks about his role as a doctor in the village from the 1930s and attitudes to abortion at that time. This interview was recorded in 1986.

• Full interview from the Leicester Oral History Collection. Read the EMOHA catalogue entry.

Wymeswold: Ellen Smith (b.1907) recalls diphtheria and scarlet fever in the village in the 1920s. She recalls isolation treatments and removing wallpaper so that houses could be fumigated. So also comments on hearing about cases on polio in the nearby towns. This interview was recorded in 1986.

• Full interviews from the Leicester Oral History Collection. Read the EMOHA catalogue entry.