From the establishment of Bedford Physical Training College
in 1903 through to 1945, students followed a curriculum geared to the needs of
the gymnastics and games mistress that included the study of Massage and
Remedial Gymnastics. Students were
entered for the examinations of the Chartered Society of Masseurs and Medical
Gymnastics, a forerunner of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy. Following qualification, students were
eligible (if they so wished) to practice therapeutic massage under the
direction of a Registered Medical Practitioner rather than pursue a career in
physical education.
The photograph shows the Medical Room where students
practised treatments on voluntary patients drawn from the local community. It is in a building that was the original
College Gymnasium, which accounts for the presence of climbing bars on the
walls and ropes hanging from the ceiling.
A new gymnasium was built in 1913-14 and the Medical Room became
permanently established after this date.
This photograph was taken sometime between 1914 and 1919 by
P.A. Buchanan &Company from Croydon in Surrey. Buchanan specialised in photographing
schools, colleges and other institutions and turning the images into individual
postcards and souvenir booklets. We know
that this particular photograph was part of a booklet originally containing 12
images showing the interior of several College rooms and buildings and was
donated to the Archive by Ruth Montgomery of Set XIX (1920-1923).
It is interesting to note from studying photographs of the
Medical Room taken in the 1920s through to the 1940s that its appearance hardly
changed, even the ropes remained in place!
From BPEA HRef 7/1
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| BPEA HRef 7/1 |
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