New Portland Basin Museum exhibition explores Tameside’s medical past

Visitors can learn about Tameside’s medicine history in a new exhibition at Portland Basin Museum.

The recent addition looks at the history of medicine locally, including the development of Tameside Hospital. Named ‘An Apple a Day’, it combines objects and images from the museum and archives collections as well as items loaned in to enhance the displays.

Visitors can find out about pioneering individuals involved in the medical field locally, including the first female doctor at Ashton Infirmary (now Tameside Hospital), Dr Catherine Emslie Anderson.

Displays include items from former Bardsley Vale pharmaceutical manufacturer Thomas Kerfoot & Son and local chemist shops. The crucial roles of the St John’s Ambulance Service and British Red Cross are also highlighted.

Herbal healing and medicine before the evolution of the NHS is featured, as well as displays about nursing and midwifery, including objects thought to have been used at Denton Nurses Home.

An eye-catching and colourful display of a mass of medical packaging features well-known household brands such as Zubes and Germolene.

The exhibition includes a range of historic medical equipment, such as a radionics machine from the 1950s having been discredited as “quackery” by the medical profession.

Medicine during wartime is explored with items from the Manchester Regiment collections, such as Boer War era dressings and an embroidered tablecloth from the First World War.

Themes are brought up to date with the discussion of global pandemics including Covid-19. There is also a dress up area for children to take the role of a doctor or nurse and test out the play medical equipment.

Tameside Council’s Strategic Director of Housing, Environment & Estates, Julian Jackson said: “An Apple a Day offers a fascinating insight into the medical history of Tameside and the people, organisations, and innovations that helped shape healthcare locally.

“It’s a rich and engaging exhibition for all ages and a great opportunity for residents to reflect on how far medicine has come and the impact it continues to have on our everyday lives.”

The exhibition continues until 24 January 2027.

Find more information on visiting Portland Basin Museum, in Ashton-under-Lyne, here: www.tameside.gov.uk/portlandbasin.