Derbyshire Royal Infirmary
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Derbyshire Royal Infirmary (DRI) was established in 1810 on land formerly part of Derby's Castlefield estate on land near what is now Bradshaw Way and the A6 London Road.
When the hospital opened it was known as Derbyshire General Infirmary but in 1890 a Typhoid outbreak swept through the hospital, resulting in it being totally demolished, its design was to blame for the outbreak sweeping through the place so quickly.
A year later and the hospital was rebuilt and Queen Victoria laid the foundation stone, the hospital was completed in 1894 and renamed the Derbyshire Royal Infirmary.
Through out the years the hospital expanded with new buildings being built but the original onion shaped domed towers and central corridor remained unchanged.
In 1970 the Accident & Emergency department was built onto the main hospital which continued operating up until its closure in 2009.
The DRI was a pioneering hospital, the UK's first Flying Squad was set up here in 1955, in 1976 George Cohrane set up the first National Demonstration Centre for Rehabilitation and in 1992 the Pulvertaft Hand Centre was opened by the Queen, her grandson William was sent here seven years later following a rugby injury.
The A&E department has now been transferred along with other departments to the new Super hospital Derby Royal Hospital, although some wards and departments will remain open to provide the services of the closed Aston Hall and Grove Hospital's south of Derby.
The hospital itself is a jumbled mix of brutalist concrete structures, Jacobean domed towers and pre-fabricated buildings none of which really goes together at all, that said though some parts of it do look rather interesting, mainly the brutalist concrete bits from around the 60s and 70s but it is a strange one. Interesting but strange.
Well apart from the rather poor architectural features the building did have quite a lot to offer inside, some sections are in the middle of being cleared out and in typical NHS fashion they have left all sorts of items still in situ as they usually do.
It was very reminiscent of St Helens Hospital this one but better, power on, intact wards, and Doctors and Nurses wander all over the show.
The only thing that comes close to describing the place really is its like being in a scene from 28 Days Later literally.
A superb place though and awesome to explore!
