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Cyril
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IT was in 1924 that Mr. Cyril Woods came to Rushden to help start the St. John Ambulance Brigade. Today, after forty years, Mr. Woods, of 3 Purvis Road, retires, a day after his sixty-fifth birthday.
Earning a weekly wage of 27s. and driving a gravity-fed Daimler ambulance, Mr. Woods described those early days as "hopeless." There was no modern depot, all calls and jobs were conducted from his home, where he and his wife worked for years on end without a break for a holiday.
His particular area, centred at Rushden, stretched as far as Kimbolton and Bedford. He often had to cover great distances to reach emergency cases and in his time he has helped to deliver 53 babies on the way to hospital.
For 28 years he was transport area officer. Five years ago came the modern depot in Station Road, where he has been station officer since it was built. During World War I he served with the Tank Corps and it was he who after the war, fetched the Mark IV tank, presented to Rushden, from the station and drove it to Spencer Park where it remained until World War II. Mr. Woods has had many hazardous jobs to do but he said the most frightening was when he had to rescue two injured men from the top of a ninety-foot retort in Rushden. One of the two men died.
Less Hectic
During the past few years with over forty ambulances serving a district once served by four, Mr. Wood's life has been a little less hectic. No longer is he sole operator of the ambulance service in Rushden. A staff of four works under him and equipment is modern.
Mr. Wood hopes his retirement to be a complete one but he will continue to concern himself with the sick.
Forty years is long service in any profession especially in one which is full of personal responsibility and irregular hours. Many people in the area will have cause to remember Mr. Woods.
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