| Description | [Soon after Broadmoor opened it began to stage musical and theatrical entertainments for patients by visiting artists, and later sports and ward-based activities such as card games and social gatherings were introduced to entertain the patients. In 1920 the first annual sports day was held, and in 1926 the first annual flower show. The patients set up their own sports committee during the 1920s, and in 1945 a social committee was created, chaired by the Medical Superintendent and with elected patients from each block as members. They organised sports, concerts, card games and table tennis, and social events in the blocks. Sports included cricket, football, table tennis, and bowls, and there were many inter-block matches. The Broadhumorists, the patients' amateur dramatic society, was created in 1939 by the Medical Superintendent Dr Stanley Hopwood. They performed plays, musicals and revues, and held annual concerts in the central hall, usually in March, which members of the public could come to watch. Patients all performed under pseudonyms in order to protect their identities. Most social activities were single-sex, but mixed-sex dances were also held on a regular basis. More recently there have been film showings, bingo, and discos, and the hospital now has an indoor sports centre and gym, as well as offering a wide range of activities and entertainments.] |