As the former hospital site undergoes another change, we look back on one of its great stories, originally published in the Central Western Daily in 2011 ...
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FORMER nurse Leonie Horspool never thought Orange Base Hospital would be the place where she would find the love of her life.
Mrs Horspool, or Nurse Lyndon as she was known at the time, was a single woman living in the nurses’ quarters.
Sick of being the third wheel on other nurses’ dates she quickly asked her sister to set her up with a man.
One night after finishing a nursing shift at the hospital, Nurse Lyndon was pleasantly surprised to see that her sister had worked her magic well as a matchmaker.
I heard a knock at the nursing quarters’ door and he yelled out my name. Standing there was one of the most handsome man I had ever seen.
- Leonie Horspool
“I finished work here at the hospital and went back to the nursing quarters and found a note that said to be ready by 7pm because they were taking me out with a fellow,” she said.
“So later I heard a knock at the nursing quarters’ door and he yelled out my name. Standing there was one of the most handsome man I had ever seen.”
Charles Horspool soon began regularly calling in at the nursing quarters to take Nurse Lyndon out, although dating a nurse could often prove difficult.
“I had her back to the nurses’ quarters 10 minutes late one night after the 10pm curfew, and she wasn’t allowed a pass out again for three or four months,” Mr Horspool said.
The couple was later married.
