AIREDALE General Hospital at Steeton may now be past its best, but 50 years ago, Craven was preparing to welcome His Royal Highness Prince Charles to perform the opening ceremony of the new hospital. The hospital cost £5.5 million to build and was to be administered by the Airedale Hospital Management Committee along with six smaller hospitals in the group. It was to serve a population of 155, 000 people in the Keighley, Bingley Skipton and Settle areas. It was, reported the Craven Herald, the first time there had been a visit to the area of an heir to the throne, and there was great excitement.