We have had a huge response to our piece (Saturday, February 27), when reader Gaynor Fisher was asking for information about the old Fever Hospital in Bradford.

We’re still going through all the fascinating letters and packaging them up to send on to Gaynor, and we’ll be presenting some of your memories on a future Remember When? page.

In the meantime, though, here’s a message from Vincent Finn, formerly of Bradford and now of Boston, Massachussetts.

Regular correspondent Vincent writes: “It brought back many memories for me, and my brothers and sister. I, too, contracted diphtheria and was confined at the Leeds Road Hospital.

“I was admitted in November 1947 and stayed there for 18 weeks. As it turned out, it was the worst winter for many years, with probably the heaviest snows since the winter of 1933.

“I had been ill at home for about ten days. The doctor thought it was mumps since one of the symptoms was a swelling in the throat. As the illness progressed, it gave off a very distinctive odour. All this of course was in the days before the National Health Service had come in.

“Our doctor was an old-timer. His name was Dr Greaves, and his office was at the corner of Feather Road and Barkerend Road, opposite St Clement’s church.

“Luckily for me, he had recently been joined by a young partner, Dr Hennessey. I remember there were three or four doctor visits to the house before a second consultation was ordered, from Dr Hennessey. He was about 6ft 9in tall and had to stoop down to come into the room. I think it was Dr Hennessey who immediately recognised the symptoms and ordered the ambulance.

“In the period between Dr Hennessey declaring diphtheria and the ambulance arriving, my mother sent to St Mary’s for a priest who came and administered the last rites of the Catholic church. Since I was a mass server I fully understood the significance of the arrival of Fr Mullen, and the red blanket.

“At Leeds Road Hospital I was housed in a room on my own, and I had the same nurse every day. She came in to feed me and give me an injection. The doctor came to see me every day. The bed was an iron frame, and the sheets were changed every couple of days.

“The building pictured in your article was the administration building. We were house in a single-storey building to the right of the one in your photo. It is still standing, although now all boarded-up.”