Our photograph this week shows the bird aviary that once stood in the grounds of the Old Manor Hospital.

I worked at the Old Manor for many years and often chatted with Alan, a patient at the hospital and the man who was responsible for the upkeep of the aviary.

Alan was devoted to the birds and spent most of his spare time looking after them.

The original aviary was situated along the boundary wall near the old Fonthill ward and was kept by two former matrons – this was when the Old Manor was a private concern.

In 1954, when the state took over, the aviary remained.

Alan by that time had acquired a wide knowledge of bird habits and took the aviary to his heart.

Eventually, in 1970, a new aviary was built in the carpenters shop and Alan helped to plan its layout – it was sited in the centre of the hospital grounds.

Alan explained in an interview that when he started he only had canaries and finches but after a few years he was looking after cockatiels, budgies, canaries, love-birds, bullfinches and gold-finches.

Many people would buy a bird when leaving the Old Manor as a token of appreciation for the pleasure Alan and his aviary had given them.

The birds themselves were very attached to Alan.

“When I go away for a few days they aren’t the same with whoever looks after them” he told the Salisbury Journal in the 1970s.

“When I see them again they seem to know me straight away.”

Alan was always keen to tell anybody about his hobby and also willing to listen to any tips about the bird-world.

I often wonder what happened to Alan and the birds he looked after when the Old Manor Hospital eventually closed down.

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