Walking around the Royal Albert Highvolume Play Pause Stop

This is a photograph of men who lived in the Royal Albert. (Although - is the man with an umbrella and cigarette a member of staff?) They are walking across the front of the institution with the photo being taken from down near the door to the ‘male side’. Walter Megson, who shared this image in the early 2000s, is second from the left as you look and is likely to be in his 40s. The date of the photo is probably the 1960s.

Walter Megson

Up until the later years of the Royal Albert, and similar institutions, it was very difficult for those living there to have private possessions. The survival of a personal photograph, probably from the 1960s, in the possession of a former resident is unusual. The crease perhaps suggests that it was cherished and hidden from view for many years?

Also, often photographs of those who lived in any of the long-stay institutions are linked to special occasions. It is rare to come across images such as the one here which appear to be fairly ordinary and everyday. Although, most of the men in the image, including Walter Megson (who owned the image), look to be wearing suits, so perhaps they are walking to or from an ‘event’.