PART ONE- EARLY DAYS
AT CARLSON HOUSE
At the age of 62, David Barnsley is becoming reflective
about his life as a disabled person. In many ways a lot changed in society
since David was born in 1941 and, in this 2 part series of short biographical
articles, David has shared some of his memories as well as some of the photos
from his remarkable historical collection.
As a child of about 6 years old, David was one of the first
children from the Birmingham area to attend a new school for children with
cerebral palsy, called Carlson House in Harborne, Birmingham. David recalled
for us the origins of Carlson House, which in it’s day was a pioneering centre
of excellence set up with the support of Birmingham’s well known Cadbury
family:
“At the end of the war, Paul Cadbury was visiting America on
Business when he learnt of the theories of Dr Earl Carlson. Dr Earl Carlson had
cerebral palsy himself and he had written a book stating his views that
children with cerebral palsy were educable. Paul Cadbury’s daughter, Margaret
had cerebral palsy herself so this was what inspired him to use his own
influence to try and bring Dr Carlson’s theories to Britain”.
“Paul Cadbury gathered together a group of people prepared
to support his venture and to put up some finance. People like Ken Quayle of
Quayle Carpets in Kidderminster and others and they also gained the interest of
the Education Department in Birmingham who agreed to put up some money. They
purchased a large house at 13a Victoria Road in Harborne, which had large
garden and stables and from 1945 the building was made suitable for the
education of children with cerebral palsy”.
“In those days parent didn’t get grants so they banded
together with other parents. I recall going as a child of about 5 or 6 to 13a
Victoria Road for weekends where my parents helped with working parties who
were converting the house. I recall that there was a covered way from the house
to the stables with 17 windows along the side, which gives you some idea of the
size of the area that was converted into physiotherapy department. This is
where physiotherapy and speech therapy were offered on a daily basis”.
On the 8th September 1948, Carlson House opened
it’s door so it’s first group of pupils. David told us of the sense of debt he
feels towards the staff and everyone involved with Carlson House in the early
days:
“The first headmistress was Miss Christine Woodall, a nice
lady, she became Mrs Brown, but later on she went away to work at Ponds, which
belonged to the Spastic Society. I still keep in touch with her and she
recently came to my 60th birthday”.
“The criteria set for admission to Carlson House was based
on a certain IQ level and children vetted to see that they would benefit from
what was offered. I recall that the kids used to be collected each morning by
pre-war Austin taxis supplied by the All Electric Garage in Harborne - they
were dubious vintage- even the journey from home was exciting because of the
tendency for the vehicles to break down at least every 7 days. The spare car
came to pick you up and then that would break down too, we’d have the back
number plate in the boot as we arrived at school. It was a dubious choice
between which car was most broken down!”
“The cars became symbols; we were attached to them and
recalled them by their registration plates. There was ‘Ada’, ‘Ea’ and a rather
sophisticated and beautiful Armstrong Sydney Saphire with an unfortunate number
plate @Cac’! And that is how we got school”.
“On the 1st day one of the occupants was sick
over the drivers lunch. We arrived to be taken
by physios to be assessed., whenever we were taken from the classrooms
to therapy sessions, orderlies would wheel you away in chairs adapted with
wheels on the back that had been provided by a local antique man, as you grew
they would come along and alter the chairs. A highlight of life at Carlson
House was in 1955 when Roy Rogers came and visited the school, he was over in
Birmingham with Trigger and his wife Dale Evans”
