Home Local News Healthcare’s coming home – Family fun day at Dardsley, Lostock Hall

Healthcare’s coming home – Family fun day at Dardsley, Lostock Hall

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Lostock Hall Medical Centre is hosting a family fun day on Saturday, 21 July at Dardsley in Brownedge Road, which will soon be its new home.

Practice manager David Pearson wants local people to drop by for a look at the historic old house and its surroundings, to share their memories of healthcare in days gone by and to find out more about the redevelopment work that will turn Dardsley into a GPs’ surgery that’s fit for the future.

David said: “Our search for a bigger building and better facilities brought us to Dardsley. It’s a rambling Victorian house with lots of space and we’ve discovered that it was originally a doctor’s house. Several local GPs worked there between the 1890s and 1951 and some local people still remember going there for appointments. After a gap of more than 60 years, Dardsley is set to become a doctors’ practice again.

“We’re transforming it into a forward-looking medical practice but we’re also going to celebrate its heritage and the characters who lived, worked and were cared for here. What was early 20thcentury healthcare like? How much did it cost to get treatment in 1905? Why was the building known locally as ‘the talent factory’ in the ‘50s and ‘60s? Come to the family fun day to find out the answers and to share your own memories of local healthcare with us.”

Lostock Hall Medical Practice, in partnership with Lancashire County Council Museums, has secured support from the Heritage Lottery Fund to uncover stories about Dardsley and local people as part of a cultural project called ‘Doctor, Doctor’.  These will be preserved as part of the celebrations marking 70 years of the National Health Service (NHS).

Mabel Hartley remembers that Dr Sharples took a flexible approach to charging for treatment during the Second World War:

“If you had family serving in the forces he was understanding and sometimes let you pay later.”

Terry McNulty has a lasting impression of Drs Cohen and Sharples, whose home visits always caused a stir:

“Dr Sharples had a green Ford Prefect, driven by a chauffeur in uniform and Dr Cohen had a similar arrangement except that his car was black.”

And Graham Hayes, whose family has lived in Lostock Hall since at least the late 1800s, has clear memories of visiting Dr Cohen after he moved the practice to Coote Lane:

“Dr Cohen’s surgery was in the front room of a little terraced house and the receptionist and waiting room were in a bedroom upstairs. Both rooms were rented from a woman who lived in the rest of the house.”

Drop into Dardsley between 11am and 4pm on Saturday for a free cup of tea, the latest tips on staying healthy, and some fun activities for the kids. Learn more about Dardsley past, present and future, take a look at some historic medical equipment, photos and other memorabilia, including items like a doctor’s bill for treatment in 1905, and contribute your own memories to the ‘Doctor, Doctor’ project.

For more information visit: www.lostockhallmedicalcentre.co.uk or follow Lostock Hall Medical Centre on Facebook.

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