Haslar was Britain’s best-loved hospital. That’s not an idle boast. Even Queen Victoria said: ‘It would be difficult to think of a hospital more loved than the Royal Hospital Haslar.’Known for its wards with gleaming floors, immaculate bed-linen and dedicated staff, it served the Royal Navy for nearly 250 years, eventually becoming a Tri-Service hospital and then admitting civilians. Little wonder, then, that when it was threatened with closure, 22,000 people took to the streets of Gosport...