The nurses - who all trained together in Sheffield - took a trip down memory lane at a reunion to mark the 50 years since they started work on the wards.

The women all trained at Sheffield Royal Hospital between 1958 - when the NHS was just 10 years old - and graduated in 1962.

After qualifying they all went their separate ways - two as far a field as Canada - but all got together again at the Fulwood Inn to mark the 50th anniversary of beginning life on the wards.

Freda Riley, who now lives in Buxton, was among the guests with her twin sister Nancy, who had jetted in from Canada for the occasion.

Freda, who eventually became a practice sister in the NHS, said they had a wonderful time reminiscing about their days in training, when they would often work 12 hour shifts, plus unpaid overtime, making 60-hour weeks a regular occurrence.

She said: "There was no weekend leave except a half day on Sundays - at the discretion of the ward sister - and we weren't allowed to leave until the work was done.

"It was compulsory to live in nurses' accommodation - there was a night curfew of 10pm and doors were locked. Saying that, we nurses soon found downstairs windows were very accessible after hours!"

Freda, aged 68, said most of them had continued working in nursing, one as a health visitor, another in theatre, and another as a midwife.

Some had also specialised in other areas later in their careers - with one woman running her own antiques business, while Nancy set up her own nursery school.

She said they had all enjoyed catching up with what each other had been up to over the years and added it had been a "wonderful" day looking back at "fond memories".

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