вЂњThings do change but as long as what is done is sensitive to the community in Denbigh then thatвЂ™s fine.вЂќД¬lwyd, whose wife, Carol, was also a nurse, retired in 1999 after helping find new roles for the 500 staff who remained when the hospital closed in 1995 when there were still 600 patients. вЂњKeeping the original building is good but from the point of view of what happens to the rest of the site thatвЂ™s a decision for the county council. вЂњSome people wonder why we want to retain it but it was a major part of the town and provided most of the employment in Denbigh for many years.

I was very frustrated by all the comings and goings with people buying or selling the place. вЂњAt last something positive is being done. вЂњIвЂ™m pleased that it is a local firm that is carrying out the redevelopment because it will provide jobs for the area and apprenticeship opportunities for young people. Picture Mandy JonesД¬lwyd, now 74, who began his career at the hospital as a 19-year-old nursing assistant in 1965 and worked there for 30 years, said: вЂњItвЂ™s got to be good for Denbigh and IвЂ™m glad that the original 1848 building is being retained and restored. Pictured is Clwyd Wynne at the North Wales Hospital site, Denbigh with his book. Those plans have now been approved by Denbighshire County Council, subject to detailed agreement, paving the way for a project which will boost the local economy by ВЈ75 million and create 1,200 jobs. Victorian Asylum, the story of the North Wales Hospital from its opening in 1848 to the end of the 19 thВ century, is the first of three volumes covering the history of вЂњThe North Wales Asylum for the InsaneвЂќ.ДЄfter the hospital closed in 1995, the buildings were neglected and fell into a state of dangerous decay, hastened by vandalism and arson attacks, before Vale of Clwyd-based contractors Jones Bros drew up ambitious plans to redevelop the site and save the magnificent original central building.

The book, written by Clwyd Wynne, a former Nursing Manager at the North Wales Hospital, hits the bookshelves just as planners have thrown a lifeline to the iconic Grade Two Star-listed building in Denbigh. Photographs dating back to the 1870s will be used to illustrate a new book about the first half-century of WalesвЂ™s first ever specialist mental hospital. Officers and female staff in 1884 with Dr Llewellyn Cox and Matron Pugh centre, with croquet mallets and balls on the lawn.

Lifeline state of decay