About 'Two O'Clock At The Gate'

Two O'Clock At The Gate follows a nurse's training in the 1950s at St. Helier Hospital. It was written in rough in the 1960s from notes made during training, and evokes the period with remarkable freshness.

About the book's author

The author, Doreen Peacock, was born in 1935 in Bristol. She spent some time in care during her early childhood prior to being adopted by a couple from Horsham, Sussex in 1939. The money was in short supply in the family, her adopted father being a gardener and later a green-keeper; both lowly paid jobs. From an early age, she wanted to be a nurse and joined the St John's ambulance brigade as a cadet and learned the basics of first aid which was very useful to her during formal nursing training at St Helier Hospital, London.

After becoming a State Registered nurse, she moved to Edinburgh to obtain her midwifery qualification, and practiced for a while in some of the tougher districts of Glasgow. Later she moved south and eventually took a post as senior night Sister at the North Middlesex Hospital.

This only lasted a short period of time as she had met her future husband, Neil, who whisked her up to Newcastle in the North East of England, where she happily became an adopted "Geordie", all the while fighting against increasing disability which eventually confined her to bed for the last years of her life.

She passed away peacefully in August 2005 and is sadly missed by husband Neil, and her children Mike and Jonathan.

Buy the book from the publisher

 
If you would like more information, please contact Neil on hello@2oclockbook.co.uk