Our New Worsley Care Home and The Story of Polly the Pig

We are very pleased to announce that our new care home, Bridgewater Manor, will be opening very shortly. The home is located in Worsley, Greater Manchester and it aims to provide the best living environment for elderly residents and people living with dementia. 

We thought we would take the opportunity to introduce our new care home and some of the great, new facilities it will have, as well as, give insight into the rich history that the site is built on. 

The Opening of Our Worsley Care Home and the Care Services We Offer 

All of our Newcare centres provide a full range of support services for our residents and Bridgewater Manor will be no different. Our care services are designed to suit individual circumstances and health needs and can accomodate people living with dementia to people who need general residential or nursing care. These include: 

Dementia Care 

The layout of Bridgewater Manor is designed with residents who live with dementia in mind. There is subtle zoning and signposting to help residents to find their way easily around the home. We have also implemented calming colour palettes to aid relaxation and prevent unrest. Every resident will have a well-appointed, spacious private bedroom with its own en suite wet room. They are fully furnished, however, we are avid supporters of residents making it their own space. Therefore, we encourage residents to personalise their bedroom with photographs and soft furnishing to make it feel like home.

Nursing Care 

People receive nursing care that reflects their personal care needs. Our staff will work closely with the residents and their family, as well as healthcare professionals, to ensure residents are receiving the correct nursing care. We will have highly trained and dedicated staff on hand 24 hours every day of the year at Bridgewater Manor to support residents with their nursing care needs. 

Residential Care 

Many people struggle to look after themselves as they reach their senior years. They struggle to move around their home and may be unable to make themselves food like they used to. This is where residential care comes in. Bridgewater Manor is designed with a safety first approach, we seek to eliminate any hazards such as stairs and small steps, that would be potentially dangerous for our residents.

Respite Care 

Respite care is a temporary form of care for people who need support due to a change in circumstance. For example, their carer may be away or they may have come out of hospital but still need specialist nursing care or a period of convalescence. A resident staying with us for respite care will have access to all of the wonderful home facilities and services. 

Bridgewater Manor Will Offer New Care Services and Assistive Technology

At New Care, we are committed to providing the best care facilities and activities for our residents. We champion activities that are backed by extensive research and have a proven positive impact on elderly residents and more particularly, people living with dementia. All of our homes use researched and evidence based technology such as the Magic Table to provide an opportunity for residents living with dementia to experience positive emotions. 

Bridgewater Manor will expand upon our commitment to providing the best living environment, and will include new facilities to improve the daily experiences that our residents have. 

Acoustic Monitoring to measure residents sound level 

Acoustic monitoring is the latest assistive technology which enables staff to monitor residents during the night. It provides residential, dementia and nursing home technology using an assistive monitoring system where a sound detecting device non-intrusively listens to sleeping residents. It triggers an alert for staff to respond as required, when sound exceeds or falls below an individual’s set noise level. This technology has positive effects on our residents and their quality of life due to the fact their sleep isn’t distrubed at hourly intervals. 

Silent call bells to prevent residents becoming distressed 

Noise can be distressing for us all, especially when it is repetitive and disrupts our sleep. However, it can be particularly distressing for residents living with dementia because sometimes they won’t know where the noise is coming from or the reasons for it. 

There has been clear research between high levels of distress and high noise levels, which is why we wanted to incorporate silent call bells into our home. These bells are designed for residents to be able to alert members of staff without the noise of a traditional bell system and work really well when preventing confusion amongst our residents. 

The Rich History of Bridgewater Manor: The Historic Grave of Worsley’s Famous Pig 

This site is particularly interesting as it is home to a fascinating history. The Cock Inn Public House used to stand on this site and in 1890, Alice Taylor, the Landlady of the pub at that time, bought a sow to add to her livestock.

This ordinary story turned particularly remarkable as the sow grew older and started producing frequent litters. Across her lifetime, she gave birth to 200 piglets, all of which (besides four) she reared herself. The smallest litter was four piglets, but her largest was 16. And in just one year alone, she gave birth to three different litters.

The gravestone marking the burial place of Polly, the mother of 200 pigs, a beer-drinking pig who died in 1904, is still in place today. The gravestone of Polly has received a magnificent amount of media attention since it was established. In 1904 gravestones were considered a luxury for people and for animals, they were practically unheard of. The grave is a wonderful testament to the bond that was forged between Alice and Polly. Alice Taylor, the owner of Polly and the pub, died in 1915 and is buried at St Mark’s Church, Worsley.

We aim to preserve the rich history of the site and in particular the grave of Polly the pig who is well known in the Worsley area. Polly’s headstone will be staying in place, and forms part of the landscape in the care home gardens for our staff, residents, and their family members to enjoy.

Are you Interested in Learning More About Bridgewater Manor?

We hope you have found this post interesting and like us, are very excited about the opening of our new home. If you’re interested in learning more about Bridgewater Manor, please feel free to contact us and we can make arrangements for you to learn more about us and the care services we offer. Please feel free to contact us on