The saying "You don't miss something until it is gone" is a one commonly heard but rarely do we take time to really listen or comprehend what it means. 
When the decision was taken to close Winterton Hospital many people thought and said "It will never happen." Almost seven years later and the inevitable is about to happen. Winterton Hospital is closing !
In compiling this book we hope to leave behind documentary evidence that Winterton Hospital existed and played a major part in the history of County Durham during the last one hundred and forty years. It will for many people who have lived in and worked at Winterton Hospital provide a pictorial record of what the hospital looked like. For others it will stir up memories and conjure images of life in the hospital and all that it meant tothe people who were cared for and for thosefor whom it provided a living.We hope it will provide a historical record that people in this County and further afield will find interesting and informative.

We could not invest all of our working lives in the care for those less fortunate than us and not remember where we cared for them.
This book is tribute to those who were cared for within the walls and to those people who cared for them. Everyone played their part.

Adam Lamb
Jack Turton.