Derbyshire Times - Saturday 12 August 1922 (page 4) printed the following lengthy report of the opening ceremony:
'BAKEWELL'S HOSPITAL. Opened by the Duke of Devonshire.
Freed from debt, with which it was at one time faced, the Bakewell and District War Memorial Cottage Hospital was opened with befitting ceremony by the Duke of Devonshire on Sunday afternoon in the presence of a large crowd of people from the town and many of the surrounding villages. Delightful weather prevailed. As a result of the successful fete at Chatsworth a sum of £2,542 has been handed over to the Hospital Committee's hon. treasurer, with the result that not only has the institution started on its career clear from any financial embarrassment, but it has a goodly sum in hand. Amongst those present, in addition to the Duke of Devonshire, were the Duchess of Devonshire, the Marquess and Marchioness of Hartington, Lady Rachael Cavendish, Lady Ann Cavendish, Lady Drummond, and the Marquess of Granby. The first part of the proceedings was an assembly in the Rutland Square to observe the anniversary of the outbreak of war. A short memorial service near the monument was conducted by the Rev. E. Spink (vicar) and the Rev. Leslie Clench (Wesleyan Church minister, Bakewell), and the hymn "For all the Saints who from their labours rest" was reverently sung. Colonel H. Brooke Taylor said that eight years ago that very day the Bakewell Company, belonging to the 1st 6th Battn., Sherwood Foresters marched away from the Square, Bakewell, to take their part, and they did it nobly, in the Great War. Many of them never returned. Five years later the men were given a great welcome home, a day which would always be remembered in the town. A year after that the towns - people erected a beautiful monument on almost the same spot from which their soldiers departed from the war. It was erected to the glorious memory of those who gave their lives for King and country. That monument had, he said, been erected largely by the vigorous efforts of the women of Bakewell. Before the memorial Cross was erected a public meeting had been held in the Bakewell Town Hall to consider what would be the best way to commemorate, not only the services of their men at the front, but also the great self-sacrificing spirit of the Empire, for men had come from all the distant Provinces, sacrificing everything to save the Old Country when she was in danger. The townspeople decided to build a small hospital, in which the names of the men from the different villages round about Bakewell would be inscribed. Money, he added, came in most unexpectedly from various sources, and many thanks were due to the organisers of the great fete at Chatsworth a week or two ago, and also for a further very generous contribution of £1,000 from Mr. E. L. Hoyle. They were enabled, he said, not only to open the cottage hospital free from debt, but there was also a handsome balance in hand. Mr. Hoyle had also endowed two beds at the hospital. and Mr. Arthur Morton, of Baslow Road, Bakewell, another generous supporter, had given £500 to endow another. Afterwards the whole of the company proceeded to the hospital, the procession, headed by the Bakewell Brass Band, under the conductorship of Mr. B. W. Duck manton, including the surpliced choir from the Bakewell Parish Church, the Revs. E. Spink (vicar of Bakewell), J. H. Veal (Primitive Methodist minister), J. E. Franks (Congregational pastor). and Leslie Clench (Wesleyan), the Duke of Devonshire, supported by the Chairman (Col. Taylor) and Hon. secretary of the hospital (Mr. E. L. Hoyle), the committee, Bakewell branch of the British Legion (in charge of Lieut.-Commander Sir John Salt, R.N.. retired), members of the Bakewell Urban Council, Friendly Societies, including the Oddfellows, members of the local lodge of R.A.O.B., etc., Girl Guides, and the general public. The Duke of Devonshire, who with the Hon. Secretary had entered the porch to the hospital, in the course of a short address, said he knew the erection of that useful building had been a great LABOUR OF LOVE to those who had been interested in it right from the time the scheme was decided upon, and it was going to be, he added, a boon and a blessing, not only to this immediate generation, but for all time. The Duke paid a warm tribute of appreciation to the generous and active service rendered by Mr. and Mrs. E. L. Hoyle, of Holme Hall, Bakewell, also the Duke of Rutland (who kindly gave the site for the hospital), Mr. Arthur Morton, Mr. C. G. Openshaw, Col. H. Brooke Taylor, the Rev. Edmund Spink, the architect (Mr. Bladen. of Liverpool). ,Mr. Thos. Allsop, Bakewell (builder and contractor of the hospital), Messrs. Needham arid Sons, and Mr. John Waddell. The Duke added that the hospital would serve as a perpetual reminder of the great sacrifices made during the war. "We of the British Empire can claim," he said, "that in the anxious days through which we passed in that trying and difficult time we did our share in carrying out the great traditions of our race, and also the great traditions of the British Empire without any thought of any ulterior gain, beyond the thought of ridding the world of a most foul and cruel menace." And with that experience fresh in our minds, he added, we should lay the foundations to start a movement which would make the late war known in history as the Last War. When hostilities ceased at the close of the Great War the British Empire (the Duke observed) was the greatest force ever known in the history of the world for the purpose of waging war, and it should now be the greatest factor for the preservation of peace. After unveiling the memorial tablet at the entrance to the main building, the Duke unlocked the door of the hospital, and a dedication service was conducted by the Vicar, the lesson being read by the Rev. J. E. Franks. During the proceedings the hymns sung were "O God, our help in ages past," "All people that on earth do dwell." The ground floor of the hospital was afterwards viewed by a large number of the general public, who expressed their satisfaction. THE HOSPITAL. The scheme to erect cottage hospital as a war memorial was decided upon at a meeting of the townspeople held at the Town Hall in November, 1918. It will serve the requirements of time town and district. The building is pleasantly situated off Butts Road on the hillside below the Catcliff Woods (one of the gifts of the Duke of Rutland to Bakewell). He also gave the site for the hospital, which has two wards, one for each sex, and will contain six beds. The building has been erected largely as the result of voluntary subscription and a substantial donation from the British Red Cross Society's Surplus Funds. The villages included in the hospital area are Ashford, Baslow, Beeley, Birchover, Calver, Chatsworth, Curbar, Edensor, Harthill, Hassop, Great and Little Longstone, Middleton-by-Youlgreave, Monyash, Nether Haddon, Over Haddon, Pilsley, Rowland, Rowsley, Sheldon, Stanton, and Youlgreave. Up to the end of December last there was a deficit of about £2,500, but special efforts, which have proved successful, were made to clear it off. Mr. arid Mrs. E. L. Hoyle, of Holme Hall, Bakewell, have been most generous donors'.
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