The film starts in colour with footage of a sports day at Saint John's Hospital at Bracebridge Heath in Lincolnshire. Events include running races, tug of war and sack race. There is also a fairground carousel (merry-go-round) and stalls with fairground style games. This is followed by footage of threshing (using a steam traction engine) on the hospital farm. The remainder of the film is in black and white and begins with "Visitors to the Lincolnshire Show Scunthorpe 1938", which includes shots of patients at the show. "Hospital Sports 1938" also includes running races and tug of war as well as other attractions such as donkey rides and a sack race. The film ends with "Bowls Tournament 1938" with a shot of the scoreboard (including patients' names) and a game in progress.
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Saint John's Hospital at Bracebridge Heath in Lincolnshire was formerly known as the Lincolnshire County Lunatic Asylum. The asylum was built in 1852 and extended on several subsequent occasions. The hospital was set in grounds of 120 acres which included gardens, farmland, a sports ground and a cemetery. In 1940 female patients were transferred to other hospitals, mainly Storthes Hall near Huddersfield, to make space for an emergency hospital, and many did not return until after the War. Administration of the hospital passed to the National Health Service in 1948. By the early 1960s it was known by its final name of St John's Hospital.
The hospital closed in December 1989 with the remaining patients transferred to other establishments. The site was sold for housing and most of the buildings apart from the central block were demolished.
The following names, among others, have been used for the institution, sometimes interchangeably:
1852-1893 Lincolnshire County Lunatic Asylum or Lincolnshire County Pauper Lunatic Asylum
1894-1915 Lincolnshire Lunatic Asylum
1897-1898 Lindsey, Holland, Lincoln and Grimsby District Pauper Lunatic Asylum
1903-1920 Lincolnshire Asylum
1898-1902 Bracebridge Pauper Lunatic Asylum
1902-1919 Bracebridge District Lunatic Asylum
1919-1948 Bracebridge Mental Hospital
1930-1938 Lincolnshire Mental Hospital
1939-1960 Bracebridge Heath Hospital
1961-1989 St John's Hospital, Bracebridge Heath