Matron of Addenbrooke's Miss Mima Puddicombe greets the Queen at the official opening of the Hills Road site in 1962.

As the nation looks forward to the Queen’s diamond jubilee in June, Cambridge First remembers each month Her Majesty’s visits to the city over the last six decades. This month we take a look at the 1960s.

The Queen with the chairman of the board of governors at Addenbrooke's Lord Roger Parker, also the Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire, at the opening of the hospital's Hills Road site in 1962.

ADDENBROOKE’S Hospital in 1962 was a far cry from the 
internationally-revered biomedical campus situated on Cambridge’s ring road today.

The number of people working on the ever-expanding Addenbrooke’s site by 2020 is predicted to be 17,000.

But when Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the Hills Road site on May 28, 1962 it boasted just an outpatients building, 
X-ray department, accident service, neurosurgery 
department and four wards.

Nurses at Addenbrooke's welcome the Queen at the official opening of the hospital's Hills Road site in 1962.

At the time, however, there were ambitious plans to 
nurture a state-of-the-art 
hospital which would 
eventually replace the somewhat outdated city centre site in Trumpington Street.

The last patient left the Trumpington Street hospital - now Cambridge University’s Judge Business School - in 1984 with the scale of development at the biomedical campus today surpassing all expectations.

There was much excitement surrounding the 37-year-old Queen’s visit to officially open the new Addenbrooke’s site on a Monday morning in 
May 1962.

Staff were told to dress impeccably with many on the night shift or on rest days coming to the hospital to witness the 
royal visit.

Her Majesty was accompanied by Enoch Powell, Health Minister at the time, and 
was shown around the new hospital by its chairman of 
the governors Roger Parker in his capacity of Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire.

There is a lasting memory of the special day in the form of a commemorative plaque that Her Majesty unveiled which is incorporated into the redesign of the entrance of the hospital’s outpatients department.

Retired nurse Dorothea 
Cockcroft was a night sister at Addenbrooke’s at the time and was working between the two hospital sites.

Miss Cockcroft, who lives in Cambridge, decided to stay up specially for the Queen’s visit.

“I think we knew it was 
happening some days beforehand and it was an amazing day,” she said.

“She was wearing yellow and there was quite a crowd, 
probably mainly made up of people working on the site.”

Edward Bustard, 86, was an architect for the London-based firm Easton & Robertson who designed the Addenbrooke’s site from stage one right through to the F&G blocks.

Later becoming Cusdin, Burden and Howett, Mr 
Bustard, who lives in Great Shelford, moved to Cambridge shortly after the royal visit 
and worked on developing 
the hospital site for a total of 
34 years.

Mr Bustard recalled his memories of the 1962 visit.

He said: “I am the same age as the Queen and was 
presented to her.

“She was very glamourous and we were all rather 
awestruck.

“Equally so was she as she was a very young and relatively new queen at the time.”

It was Alan Bullwinkle’s job in 1962 to complete health assessments for the portering and nursing staff at Addenbrooke’s Hospital.

“Rumour swept around 
that she was coming and 
there was a great deal of 
excitement,” said Mr Bullwinkle, 91, of Stapleford.

“I went just to do some 
rubber necking and everyone 
was thoroughly enjoying 
the visit.

“The Queen was very young and glamourous at the time and I remember the nurses lined 
up outside of outpatients to meet her.

“Everyone really enjoyed the occasion and I would say there was a controlled buzz.

“They were really looking forward to moving into a new hospital as they no longer wanted to be in one designed back in the 19th century.”

Marking 50 years of the Queen’s visit to Addenbrooke’s in the diamond jubilee 
year, hospital archivist Hilary Ritchie is creating a special 
memory bank of photos, films news stories and personal 
recollections to commemorate the royal visit.

Ms Ritchie can be contacted by emailing archive@
addenbrookes.nhs.uk or by 
ringing 01223 586737.