Sarah Beeson - The New Arrival: Part 2 of 3: The Heartwarming True Story of a 1970s Trainee Nurse

In 1969 17-year-old Sarah Beeson then Sarah Hill arrived in Hackney in the East End of London to begin her nursing career. Six years later she went into health visiting, practising for over 35 years in Kent and Staffordshire, building up a lifetimes expertise and stories through working with babies and families.

In 1998 Sarah received the Queens Institute for Nursing Award. In 2006 she was awarded an MBE for Services to Children and Families by Queen Elizabeth II.

She later married and became Sarah Beeson. Now she divides her time between Staffordshire and London.

I looked at the empty seat tucked neatly under the wooden desk next to me. A month into Preliminary Training School, or PTS as we called it, and every single student nurse knew it was a grave misdemeanour to be late for one of Sister Connorss classes. My friend Daniels was never late, and it was almost nine oclock in the morning. It was very hard to find a plausible excuse for tardiness given the luxury of, firstly, the classes not starting till nine and, secondly, the school being practically next door to the nurses home.

Have you seen Daniels? I whispered to Bonnett sitting at the desk behind me.

Not since Friday when she went into giggles during Sister Powells bed bathing demonstration, replied Bonnett, rolling her eyes.

What do you expect? Everyone knows they cant keep time, said the overtly priggish student nurse sitting at the desk in front of me.

I wasnt talking to you, Prendergast, I hissed back.

Prendergast swivelled round to face the blackboard. She was sitting in the middle desk of the front row teachers pet. Over the last few weeks since starting PTS I had come to loathe the sight of her dull brown curly head, her stubby features and most of all her abhorrent views, always expressed in clipped, unnatural tones in an attempt to hide that she was a coal merchants daughter from Shropshire. Prendergast liked to talk about hunting, dates with doctors and how the Labour government was opening up Britain to immigration and with it ruin and pestilence. This despite the fact that in this classroom it was the white girls who were the minority there only being me, her and five Irish girls out of the fifty students in the class but I think this fuelled her sense of outrage and supposed superiority.

Sister Connors strode in and started to rearrange the desk which she shared with the other Nurse Tutor, the recently arrived Sister Powell. They were like chalk and cheese. Sister Connors was from a hardworking Irish Catholic family; small and wiry, she liked to have everything in its proper place, preferred you to be silent unless spoken to and took the calling of nursing as solemnly as a bride of Christ. Sister Powell on the other hand would waft in late, her red hair loosely tied and her large hazel eyes still glazed from a Bohemian party the night before. Sister Powell preferred to gently lead us through our lessons, using questions and discussion rather than the long-serving Sister Connorss teaching method of no-nonsense instruction with a telling off if you made a mistake.

Sister Connors wrinkled up her nose in disgust as she cleared away Sister Powells tea cup and dropped empty humbug wrappers into the bin. She sighed at the flowery handwriting that hadnt been wiped from the blackboard since Friday, and it was at this moment, while Sister Connorss back was turned, that Daniels expertly slipped into the classroom.

Where have you been? I whispered.

I need you to do me a favour, she said, unperturbed, keeping her Tobagonian equanimity and ignoring my question completely. Are you doing anything tonight, Hill?

No, why?

I met this boy on the bus. His names Adam. Hes asked me on a date tonight and he wants to bring his brother. So I need you to go on a double date with me.

I dont know

Oh, come on now, Hill. You know how lonely Ive been since Ive come here. Now a nice boy has asked me out on a date. Its just a bit of fun.

Ive got work to do. Theres mid-term tests coming up, you know

Work, work, work, Daniels interrupted my excuses. Dont you know its bad for your health not to take a little break now and again? All work and no play makes Sarah Hill a dull girl.

I scowled slightly. It was true; since wed started PTS Id had my nose in a book most of the time. I was so thrilled to no longer be just an extra pair of hands and be a proper student nurse. But despite my three months on Infants Ward, Id found the real challenge was putting the theory into practice on the ward. A few girls had already dropped out after being faced with dressings, injections and bed baths. Nursing isnt for the faint hearted.

Daniels gave me huge puppy dog eyes and pouted her lower lip. Maybe a night out would do me good. I relented.

All right, then. What are we doing?

I said wed meet them at Leicester Square at seven oclock.

What are we doing? I repeated. God, was I going to have to drag every scrap of information out of her?

Odeon to see Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, she whispered back.

Sister Connors spun round. Student Nurse Daniels, is your social calendar in order? Would you mind if I started the lesson? she asked through a forced smile.

I slunk down in my seat. A date I didnt want, Sister Connors glaring at me not a great start to the week.

After the credits started to roll, our foursome gathered up coats, scarves and gloves and sailed out of the Leicester Square Odeon on a wave of excitement, all humming Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head. Daniels and her date Andys humming soon turned into heady singing, having partaken of a few pints in the pub before we went into the cinema. I had waited with Alex, a stranger, outside the smoke-filled bar as hed said it was too crowded and hed rather just talk outside. Even though it was the end of January and madness to be standing around street corners, for some reason I found I couldnt say no to him and happily nattered while he listened intently, both of us stamping our feet and hugging ourselves to keep warm against the cold night air, both filled with the anticipation of seeing Robert Redford.

As we merged with the crowd, Daniels and Andy strode out confidently ahead, laughing, walking hip to hip, whispering in each others ears suggestively, her hand in the pocket of his jeans, Andys arm wrapped tightly round my friends waist. Both their heads were a mass of black curls that intertwined when they kissed. I watched the delicate way her dark brown hand softly stroked his pale white cheek, and then looked away, embarrassed.

Alex and I followed Daniels and Andy at a distance through the throng of pleasure seekers, walking close together but not touching, talking quietly. Our pauses were filled with shy smiles and widening eyes. I felt light and happy and safe. The night sky was illuminated by the rainbow-coloured lights of Londons West End we werent in Hackney any more.

As we made our way past the tube station and down St Martins Lane, Alex asked in a voice so quiet that only I could hear him. Did you like the film, Sarah? He spoke like everything was a secret between just us two it was intoxicating.

I loved it, I replied. Especially the bit with the bike when she rode on his handlebars, I giggled.

He grinned, Me too, and I felt his hand brush against mine. A rush of excitement ran through me. I let my hand brush back against his.

Alex was tall and slim, his hair was blond and curly and needed a trim it kept falling into his pale blue eyes, making him blink behind his glasses.

We wandered through the lions in Trafalgar Square. Sitting on the fountain was a group of teddy boys. As we went past them, by now in a tighter foursome so we wouldnt lose each other in the crowds, they started to make monkey noises and jump up and down furiously.