Web Page No 2484

16th June 2018

1^st Picture: The small surgery attached to Dr. Cheyne’s house can still be seen just over the fence

2^nd Picture: Drayton Surgery today

3^rd Picture: Hand written prescription

4^th Picture: 1950’s Doctors Bag

Going to the Doctors

My earliest recollection was walking along the Havant Road with my mother to visit Dr. Watson Cheyne in the small surgery which was an annex to his house. This must have been sometime in the early 1950’s. The surgery consisted of two rooms, a consulting room and a waiting room. There was not the luxury of a reception desk or receptionist, it was just a case of turn up and wait and try to remember who was in the waiting room before you so you knew when it was your turn. Likewise, when my mother and I reached the consulting room Dr. Cheyne, normally dressed in tweeds, would make his way over to the filing cabinet to extract you file and the consultation would begin. Luckily my mother understood him because I could not make head or tail of his Scottish accent.

Having had the consultation if the doctor did not dispense a cure from his small chemist shelves and he had written up a prescription, as there was no Pharmacy in Farlington, this involved a mile walk back along the Havant Road, passing our house on the way, to one of the two Pharmacies in Drayton. Dr. Cheyne did have partners in the practice at this time but during the war years he was on his own until he was called up. The people of Drayton and Farlington were so enraged at loosing their only doctor that they wrote, as a body, to the War Office asking if he could be excused military service as he was a vital part of the community. The answer they received took them all by surprise because the powers that be declared that there was a surgery in Widley and that the seven mile return walk, up and down Portsdown Hill, was not unreasonable!!!!

Sometime in the early 1960’s things changed, the Medical Practice was extended to take in some of Cosham and Highbury, a surgery being opened on in a house on the Highbury estate and a brand-new surgery being built in Drayton where it is today. Unfortunately this involved the demolition a small number of house, my Uncle Will’s being one of them!

This new surgery was state of the art at that time, with a Reception area and receptionist where the patients booked in and were given a plastic call number. A large waiting room and four consulting rooms. Not only had the practice area grown, so had the number of doctors. Those I remember are Cheyne, Martindale, Kenyon, O’Connell and Russell the surgery was also home to the local District Nurses, not that I remember any of them.

The call system here was better than the old surgery because a call bell rang in the waiting room and an indicator vibrated to call in the next patient. All very high tech at the time.

One of the big advantages of this new surgery, apart from the facilities was that it was only about a 50-yard walk to the nearest Pharmacy.    

I note today that the Drayton surgery has almost doubled in size reflecting the increase of the population in the area. Looking back Dr. Cheyne had a large catchment area but nowhere near the number of patients. The Naval Estate had not been built, neither had Copsey Grove and in the early days the area around Grant Road and Galt Road was still being developed. How things have changed!!!!  

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Yours

Peter

gsseditor@gmail.com

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News and Views:

On this day 19th June 1960-1965.

On 16/06/1960 the number one single was Cathy's Clown - Everly Brothers and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Sunday Night at the London Palladium (ATV) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 16/06/1961 the number one single was Surrender - Elvis Presley and the number one album was GI Blues - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was No Hiding Place (AR) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 16/06/1962 the number one single was Good Luck Charm - Elvis Presley and the number one album was Blue Hawaii - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions

On 16/06/1963 the number one single was From Me To You - The Beatles and the number one album was Please Please Me - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Conservative Party Political Broadcast (all channels) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. The big news story of the day was USSR puts first woman in space.

On 16/06/1964 the number one single was You're My World - Cilla Black and the number one album was Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 16/06/1965 the number one single was Crying in the Chapel - Elvis Presley and the number one album was The Sound of Music Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.