Bewdley Bridge Community Magazine - October 2025 /
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Women medical students were only 2-5% of the annual intake although St George's was more generous and took 10%! It is fair to say we did not feel discriminated against in any way by staff or fellow medics, although some nurses saw us as opposition on the boyfriend scene... however, we felt it was necessary to be as good as, preferably better than, the boys! It was at a mutual friend's birthday party that I met Roger during my first year. He was a dental student with no eye/ball co- ordination, and I was someone who had no interest in music, an unlikely match but it worked for us! We were married in Wales in deep snow in early December 1966.It was so bad that 4 friends from London never got further than Cannock Chase, and it has never snowed again on December 3rd since then! Three years as a junior doctor in London followed. The arrival of my first pay cheque was exciting, all £33 of it for the month! Alternate nights and weekends on call was the norm and I loved my paediatrics and obstetrics stints.
Association would only see you if you were married or had a wedding date in the next 6-8 weeks, and this was in the sixties! One of my friends went to Woolworths and bought a brass curtain ring and turned up at a different clinic! I worked part time in general practice in Worcester for 7 years. It was impossible to work in hospitals if one was married with a child, so my dreams of paediatrics were a non-starter. I did my training as a GP when it was new, and I was the first person in the country to complete it half time over 2 years rather than one full time year. When the opportunity of joining Bewdley Medical Centre arose I jumped at it. Roger was very supportive, his only condition being that we bought a dishwasher! The boys were 7 and 4 in 1976 and I could not have considered it without him. Life was hectic as a full-time partner with a 1 in 5 on call rota but all my partners and everyone else were hugely supportive and I loved working in this community. I joined the tennis club after a few years, and the club became and still is a constant presence in my life. I enjoyed the social side as well as playing matches and found it a great way to relax. In due course I served as ladies' captain and was chairman of the committee for many years. I then was honoured to be elected President for a five-year term in 2012. During this time the boys grew up and left for university and then found jobs in London. Then as a family we experienced the shock and sadness of Roger's sudden and totally unexpected death when they were in their early twenties. He was 52. I can only be thankful he saw them grow up and that they got to know him not just as children but as adults too. I also had reason to be so grateful that I lived in this wonderful town that is Bewdley,
We moved to Worcester with a 6-week- old baby for Roger to join a practice and I found myself doing Family Planning clinics in odd places such as Church Halls as there was no NHS service then. Even the enlightened Family Planning
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