Retired civil servant Brian Ward went back to Savernake Hospital on Tuesday – 55 years after spending almost two months there flat on his back.

He was guest at the first of a series of coffee mornings launched by the hospital Friends, who run a shop and a trolley service for the wards.

The gatherings will take place on the first Tuesday each month at The Sun Inn, courtesy of Patrick and Sarah Jackson, who recently took over the pub.

Val Compton, who set up the hospital shop with Friends’ vice chairman Janet Louth in March, invited Mr Ward, 73, from North London, after he made contact through the Friends’ website.

Mr Ward was 17 when he left London to go cycling in the west country with a friend. He made it to Marlborough where was thrown over his handlebars.

“I finished up on my back in great pain,” said Mr Ward. “The next morning I was still in great pain and the warden at the youth hostel (in Bath Road and now a private house) took me to Savernake Hospital in his car.

“After telling the doctor what had happened, x-rays showed I had fractured my spine,” he said.

“I was admitted and told I would be spending the next couple of months flat on my back. All this was a bit of a shock to a 17-year-old Londoner far from home.”

He could recall matron Mabel Blackwell, who died last year. “I reached the conclusion from matron’s manner and bearing that she was very much in charge and well respected by staff.”

After seven weeks Mr Ward was put in a plaster jacket and sent home to convalesce.

“All this was 55 years ago but still fresh in my memory is the marvellous care and treatment plus the sheer dedication and professionalism of staff,” said Mr Ward, a father of two and proud grandfather.