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.
The exhibition continues until 24 January 2027.
