FORTRESS AS HOSPITAL

Greymouth Evening Star, 16 November 1935, Page 2

FORTRESS AS HOSPITAL

ANCIENT CAPITAL IN WALES

In one of the most remarkable castles in Britain, famous people are paying from 15gs to 30gs a'week to be deprived of nearly everything they like.* When the castle was built in 1281, At was called Rhudd-ddin —the Red Fortress.

It is still a fortress, but in a 20th century -way. Its armaments are a book of rules, its enemies, disease, and the temptations of late nights and rifeh food. Many of its patients go there, to be diagnosed and treated for illness, but some go simply to be slimmed.

Luxury and indulgence are put away and rigid diets are planned and strictly abided by. They are massaged every morning. At noon and 6 p.m. the flock of 60 well-to-do men and women goes meekly to its rooms and lies down for an hour. At 10 p.m. everybody must be in bed-.

No alcohol is allowed unless prescribed by a doctor. Hearty men, who are used to oysters, lobsters, and saddles of mutton, public men who eat five-course lunches, and sevencourse dinners, women who cannot resist cream, all go to Ruthin Castle to eat halibut, green salads,- and dry biscuits and drink lemonade for a month or more. . The doctors try to be as kind as possible. Before each meal they consult the patient ,as to what he or she would like—and then order what they think best. . Each patient has a diet chart m the kitchen, and each meal is separately “designed,” and, the calories aie weighed. • „ . , There is some jealousy, for instance between a husband eating steamed fish and his wife with lamb cutlets. But they laugh at themselves afterwards, and point to how many pounds they are losing. A stone a month is the average achievement. There are compensations. The castle looks out on three sides to the •lovely hills of Wales, and on the fourth to the' gentle Vale of Clwyd. And the local “pictures” are not banned —up to 10 o’clock at night.

The orderly sergeant was making his tour. “Any complaints?” he boomed. “This Irish stew’s funny, grumbled one soldier. “Is it?” said the sergeant. “Then why ain t you laughin’?”.