‘Osler House’ reunion
On Friday 30 August Director of Development and Alumni Engagement Ceri Butcher and long-time Head Gardener Michael Pirie welcomed over a dozen clinicians who were celebrating the 5oth anniversary of their training at the then-Radcliffe Infirmary from 1971 to 1974.
During that time Observer’s House, which now serves as the Green Templeton Principal’s office with student accommodation above was known as ‘Osler House’ – a retreat from the hospital that was then immediately to the south for doctors. A number of those who visited have subsequently provided reflections on their time at the precursor to what first became Green College.
Memories of ‘Osler House’ 1971-74
Peggy Frith
As rookie clinical students at the Radcliffe Infirmary, Osler House was our haven on-site. Here, away from the wards, clinics and operating theatres, we could relax and socialise, read the papers, check facts in the pre-internet library, sleep when on-call, be ourselves and commiserate with others in the hard task of becoming [to a certain extent] clinically capable. The House was gracious, sunny and understanding, with its wonderful garden as an ultimate retreat. It contained people to help us, experienced in our inexperience. We particularly cherish messrs Tidy and Messer [oppositely messy and tidy!] in the courtyard portakabin behind the house, who nagged us for deadlines, filled in our forms, issued our logbooks to be stamped, checked they had been, and supported Tingewick [see John Jolleys below], when they were often kindly portrayed. Mrs Treadwell with her tea and buns in the ‘back-passage’, and the Bar with Mr White and the essential Bar-footie table – I’m so very rusty now, Robin still an ace!
John Jolleys – and Rita
An episode I well recall was the induction of Peter Sleight as the Earl Alexander Professor of Cardiology. All medical students were told to leg it for the day since Osler House was to be used by the official party of Queen Mother, Earl Alexander, Mr [Harold] MacMillan [Chancellor of the University] and Peter Sleight himself, plus a detachment of the Irish Guards. Suffice it to say that Rita the Tingewick [Osler House pantomime large flannel] pink elephant put in an unscheduled appearance, inspecting the Irish Guards, meeting Morecambe and Wise – both very nice – and borrowing Vera Lynn’s fox fur. Caused PS some amusement, the QM and Mr MacM some bemusement. Nowadays we would have been shot, so thank heavens for back then! I was unable to see much, being at Rita’s rear-end – my colleague saw more at the front.
Andrew Miller
All but three of the crew from Torpids 1972 were at the reunion.
Dinah Protheroe [Fok]
Lunch in the Bar with Mr White’s cheese-&-apple-chutney sandwiches and a glass of tonic water. The fearsome Osler House Run, with a pint for everyone of the many draught beers from left to right along the bar – never attempted by me!! Fiendish, fairly vicious, games of croquet.
Peter Rubin
I clearly remember drinking beer on warm summer evenings in the lovely garden.
Jim Paton
Things about Osler House which spring to mind? The record player with Mozart’s flute and harp concerto, the leather settee from there which I bought for a shilling, and I spent quite a lot of time before finals when waiting for my fiancée to finish work, swotting upstairs in the library. We’ve been married more than 50 years. At the time I couldn’t understand why anyone would choose to go to London for their ‘clinical’ when they could stay in Oxford.
