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In this, the 3^rd in a series of articles, the later years of the Eastby Sanatorium are followed:

1914-1921 : Bradford Guardians relinquish responsibility:

Dr Catherine Arnott was appointed in April 1914 when discussions about the viability of the Eastby sanatorium were already well underway. Its future had been uncertain since 1912 when the  Bradford Guardians began debating several options for relinquishing their responsibility for it.  They tried unsuccessfully  to persuade  Bradford City Council, the West Riding County Council and the Local Government Board to buy, or at least take up a lease on the sanatorium. Yet in May 1914 an offer from Skipton Urban District Council was rejected by the Guardians as not financially good enough. The discussions continued during Dr Arnott’s residency as Chief Medical Officer. She was on the usual one-year contract but soon established herself in a permanent position. She was determined to put her stamp on the place, and offered to lease the institution from the Board.

In 1915, facing annual losses of over £1,000, they relented and gave her a three-year lease at a rent of £100 p.a., which gave her full control over the day-to-day running, although she was still subject to inspections and some stipulations imposed by the Guardians – such as making at least 10 beds available for adult male cases referred by the Bradford Poor Law Union. ^[1] The lease was renewed in 1918, and then in 1921 she purchased it outright. She managed Eastby Sanatorium for the next 25 years until she retired in her 80s.

Under her direction the focus turned to provision for boys. Arnott gradually increased the number of beds to 85, and for the first time, provision was made for education of the children. A school was built and two teachers appointed. Her most difficult problem was repair and maintenance of the buildings for which she tried to obtain financial assistance from the Guardians. They refused, arguing she could charge more from the fee-paying patients. Nevertheless their inspectors frequently complained about the state of the buildings and facilities.

Legislative changes had diminished the powers of the Poor Law Guardians since the War – the introduction of Old Age Pensions, Sickness Insurance, the development of maternity homes, the creation of the Public Health Authority, and other social reforms had led to the creation of Health Committees which offered public assistance without the stigma of the workhouse or pauperism. The rivalry between the Bradford Guardians and the Health Committee was quite tense, so that the latter had declined to take over Eastby and instead considered the more expensive option of building its own sanatorium at Hebden.^[2]

By 1921 the Guardians were anxious to be rid of all responsibility, and were keen to sell the institution to Dr Arnott as a private enterprise. By now she had greatly expanded the complex, and had 85 beds for patients. Since they refused to renew her lease, Dr Arnott took up the offer to purchase, and became sole owner of the sanatorium.

Life in Arnott’s Sanatorium: 

There are quite a few surviving personal memories of life at the Sanatorium from boys who attended while Dr Arnott was in charge.^[3] Kenneth Evans, for example, arrived from Manchester in 1926, at the age of 9. He was to stay at Eastby Sanatorium for two years.

(A fuller account of these memories is included as an appendix)

His is a vivid account, especially of the impact of the “open-air” regime which was still considered to be the best form of treatment. New arrivals and the most serious cases were accommodated in a brick-built, heated building, but the majority were in wards where the doors were always kept open even on the coldest nights, when boys would wake up to find they were covered in rain or snow.  Boys considered to be less ill, would be made to sleep in chalets with tarpaulin roofs and open sides. It seems extraordinary today that exposure to all weathers should be considered suitable for children suffering from such a debilitating and wasting disease as tuberculosis. One wonders how many caught pneumonia as they frequently became wet sleeping through rainy, windy nights. But the prevailing belief in fresh air as conducive to recovery was so deeply ingrained that it was frequently carried to such extremes in sanatoriums. All very well in the warmer climes of Continental Europe, Australia and America, but not so pleasant in the Yorkshire Dales during the winter!

Deaths did occur at the sanatorium. The natural morbid curiosity of boys enticed them to occasionally sneak into the neighbouring wood to peer through the window of the mortuary there.

Parents would visit at weekends, many making a long journey by train to Skipton then by bus into Eastby as far as the horse troughs. They then usually walked up the steep hill to meet the boys waiting at the gates. Kenneth remembers this was very arduous for the elderly or for those who were not well themselves.

The boys were taken out for a brisk walk every day – the length depending on the weather, from just a few hundred yards, to the longest walk going as far as ‘look out point on the high point of the road’, presumably at Halton Heights on Black Park.  Occasional excursions were taken to Bolton Abbey, where the boys were allowed to paddle in the river, and brief visits each Saturday to the grocers and newsagents in Eastby to buy comics, sweets and cakes, and other little treats such as HP Sauce.

When not in the schoolroom the boys played games such as marbles, running hoops along the drive, racing home-made ‘boats’ (small piece of wood) down an open drain, or chasing rats. Gardening was an activity that was still encouraged – occasionally the boys would tend the ‘Doctors’ garden’ but there were also allotments for growing food. In 1918 geese and pigs were added for the boys to tend.^[4]

In November 1938 a fire broke out in the engine-house which housed the electricity generator. Paraffin was also stored in this brick-built building. Curiously the fire was tackled by the Keighley Fire Brigade – added to the length of time it must have taken for them to arrive was the shortage of an accessible water supply. Nevertheless the fire was extinguished and prevented from spreading – although the staff and boys had to rely on candles and lanterns overnight. The cause of the fire was not discovered.^[5]

War Evacuees and Holiday Makers

With the start of the Second World War, one of the dormitories was given over to evacuee children. Dr Arnott retired in 1940 and the buildings were quickly taken over by Dr Barnardo Homes for more evacuees.   In April 1946 the former sanatorium was made available to let. It was described as “a large and substantially built stone and blue slate Dwelling House, fitted with tiled surgery, and comprising living accommodation, wards and large dining room…. Also two large Sanatorium Buildings and grounds extending to nearly ten acres; accommodation for 100 persons.”^[6]

It was offered again in August, this time for sale, in an auction held at the Black Horse Hotel in Skipton. The description of this freehold property was as follows:

“Stone-built residence containing Entrance hall, dining room, two reception rooms, surgery, store room, cook-house, scullery, bedrooms, bathroom, electric light, hot and cold water. Garage.  Two pavilion huts, one hut covering pumping engine and gear over well. Two large huts, each containing 16 and 18 rooms with casement windows, wash basins and baths. Boiler house, two central heating boilers, stone-built engine house complete with oil engine, dynamo, storage cells, switch board and accessories.

This property is situated in one of the beauty spots of Craven and is one mile from Embsay and two and a half miles from Skipton, has extensive views of the country and covers approximately seven acres … with the option of a further three acres of pasture and woodland on lease.”^[7] However, it had to be withdrawn due to failure to reach the asking price.^[8]

The buildings and grounds were eventually converted by Mrs E. G. O’Neill into ‘Eastby Fell Holiday Camp’ where visitors could enjoy a ‘restless, happy holiday’. A new owner, Elizabeth Gertrude Marlton, took on the business in June 1947. She offered “…all comforts, good food, hot and cold, central heating; situated in lovely grounds and woodlands; games room, lounge, cheerful surroundings.”^[9] A major attraction advertised was the fresh air for which it had famously provided to help TB patients recover. Local people and businesses were urged to come and enjoy luncheons and afternoon tea in the lovely surroundings of the gardens and woods.  At first it appears to have been fairly successful, and in December 1948, after owing the site for about 18 months, Elizabeth was confident enough to apply for planning permission to extend the 7½ acre site so she could build a bathing pool, tennis courts, bowling green, children’s playground, theatre, cinema and concert hall.  But she may have been overambitious. The camp failed to attract enough visitors. But she too was overambitious, borrowing large sums of money to invest in hotels and entertainment venues in Blackpool. In 1950 she entered into a partnership, ‘Eastby Fell Ltd.’ of Keighley.^[10] But she was declared bankrupt in May 1952.^[11] A few months later, the Skipton magistrates struck the site of the register “on the grounds that it had ceased to exist.”^[12]

A year later, the whole site was offered again as a freehold ‘Guest House and Holiday Camp’.  If there was no sale, the whole complex was to be dismantled, the materials, fixtures and fittings to be sold off separately – everything from roof beams and window mullions, to staircases and radiators, wash basins and pillows,  fencing, rockery stones, and garden plants – it all had to go.^[13] And indeed it was split up and sold off in over 640 small lots in September 1953. The wooden buildings were to be demolished to make available the timber, fixtures and fittings to a number of buyers.^[14]

In 1958 the venture was closed down and the complex sold off for private accommodation.

Article notes

[1] Bradford Daily Telegraph, 1 September 1915

[2] Bradford Daily Telegraph, 1 September 1915

[3] Embsay-with-Eastby Millennium history files, Embsay Library

[4] Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer, 7 February 1918

[5] Bradford Observer,  21 November 1938

[6] Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer, 29 April 1946

[7] Lancaster Guardian, 2 August 1946

[8] Bradford Observer, 13 August 1946

[9] Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer, 25 July 1947

[10] Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer, 7 September 1950

[11] Bradford Observer, 15 May 1952

[12] Bradford Observer, 1 August 1952

[13] Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer, 22 August 1953

[14] Bradford Observer, 2 September 1953

In the 4^th article in this series the stories of some of the individuals associated with Eastby Sanatorium are explored..
Jane Lunnon – EwE Historical Research Group, March 2024