| AdminHistory | Following the sale of Higham Grange to the Miners' Welfare Commission for use as a Rehabilitation Centre, the Warwickshire miners obtained convalescent treatment at various Convalescent Homes throughout the country. At a meeting of the General Management committee on 20 December 1946, Mr A. J. Pratt reported that there was a very strong feeling among the Warwickshire miners that a new Convalescent Home should be provided for them, preferably at the seaside.
Within a few weeks a special Sub-Committee was instructed to investigate the possibilities of Swanage, Dorset. On 23 January 1947, Durlston Court was purchased at an auction held in Bournemouth. The new Convalescent Home comprised three buildings: Durlston Court, Maycroft, and Nethercourt. The Committee obtained possession of Durlston Court on 8 June, and on 18 October 1947, the first batch of six convalescent Warwickshire miners arrived at Swanage and were accommodated in Nethercourt.
By 22 February 1948, eighteen patients were able to be accommodated in Maycroft while Durlston Court was undergoing renovations. By Easter 1949, the bed capacity at the Home had been raised to sixty. Durlston Court was officially opened by The Right Hon. Hugh Gaitskell, C.B.E., M.P., Minister of Fuel and Power, and Mrs Gaitskell on Easter Monday afternoon, 18 April 1949. Well wishes were received via telegram from King George VI, Princess Elizabeth, and Clement Attlee.
By 1957, the 70 patients could be accommodated, and the Home was open 48 weeks a year. Due to the decline of the mining industry in Warwickshire, the decision was made to sell Durlston Court in 1968. Convalescent Warwickshire miners were sent to Convalescent Homes owned by Leicester Area, and Warwickshire's convalescent contributions were paid to Leicester and County Convalescent Homes Society. |