The Last Cold: A Volunteer’s Diary from 1989
In June 1989, one volunteer recorded the small rhythms of life inside Britain’s famous Common Cold Unit and unknowingly participating in the final clinical trial before the centre closed its doors.
What unfolds is not a dramatic medical tale, but something far more human.
Days began early. Temperatures were taken with near-ritual precision. Nosesprays, temperatures taken and the quiet mechanics of science ticking steadily in the background. Meals arrived like clockwork: cornflakes at breakfast, hearty British staples at lunch, flans and salads for supper.
Yet between the clinical procedures, life carried on in its own gentle way.
There were games of Monopoly and Scrabble fiercely contested with flatmates. Snooker matches, computer tests and walks around the compound. Deer spotted on misty mornings and helicopters drifting overhead. The changing English weather: fog, rain, sudden sunshine all providing endless commentary.
The diary reveals the curious social microcosm of isolation. Friendships forming, quirks emerging, mild suspicions brewing. One flatmate’s questionable hay fever became a source of intrigue, also the stockpiling of baked beans sparked amusement. Nurses and doctors passed through daily rounds with calm efficiency, becoming familiar figures in the volunteers’ temporary world.
Most striking is the underlying uncertainty: Will the virus “take”? Will a cold develop? For many participants, including the diarist, it did not. Despite deliberate exposure, symptoms remained elusive.
By the final days, attention shifted from science to endings. Goodbyes were said and bags packed. Last walks taken through the grounds. Travel and pocket money collected.
Shortly after, the Common Cold Unit itself would close, ending decades of research that shaped modern understanding of respiratory viruses.
What remains in this diary is not laboratory data, but something rarer: a snapshot of ordinary life inside an extraordinary place. A reminder that even at the frontier of medical research, human experience is built from weather, routines, conversations, boredom, humour and the hope of staying healthy.
Sometimes history ends quietly with cornflakes, Scrabble and a final temperature reading.
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