Speaking for Myself

<p>The Royal Albert Hospital under its full title Asylum for Idiots and Imbeciles and the Weak-Minded of Northern England opened in 1870 in Lancaster. It was renamed the Royal Albert Psychiatric Hospital in 1930 and was closed down in 1996.</p><p><br></p><p>The poems in this pamphlet draw primarily on the words of patients and staff at the Royal Albert and of adults with learning difficulties living in the community and attending Thorpe View Centre in Morecambe. Most of them participated in weekly drama workshops at Lancaster University led by the poet. Their names have been changed.</p>