The Death of Dr Lush

Doctor John Lush along with his brother, Harry, were for many years local Doctors. This obituary is for Doctor John Lush who died in Cirencester in 1933.

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A Northbrook View

The street known as Northbrook leads out of The Market Place. It goes down a hill and at the bottom it crosses the stream, also called Northbrook. It then rises up, quite steeply on to the sands. The present tarmacked road ends at this point but footpaths continue – there’s a choice of five paths radiating out from the top of Northbrook.

There are potential views over the village from points up Northbrook. Photographer Alf Burgess found a spot in about 1910

Northbrook, Market Lavington from the sands in about 1910

It is quite hard to get this photo to match anything from the present day. So much has changed. But the terrace of cottages at bottom right is still there with the Northbrook stream running past this end gable.

The thatched roof is probably that of ‘The Rest’ also still in existence. The little corner of tiled roof at the bottom left of the photo would be on cottages demolished in about 1950.

On the right hand side of the picture there are cows grazing where now you’d find the houses on Bouverie Drive.

In the middle of the picture we can see Northbrook (the road) making its way up to The Market Place where all has changed.

The Doctor’s House and Ivydene – amongst many long gone properties in Market Lavington

The cottages lining Northbrook on the right of this enlargement have either gone or been altered. The thatched cottage in the centre alongside the raised footpath is still there, but not thatched.

To the left of that cottage, and almost behind it we have another cottage now demolished. The white building beyond must be part of a house we sought – Ivydene. This was the home, later, of Fred Sayer, the bus company proprietor.

He also became the owner of the large house behind the tree. The other side of that house faces the Market Place. That house had belonged to Doctor Lush at one time. It was demolished in the mid-1920s to allow more space for Fred Sayer’s fleet of buses.

Dr William Hay Ashford Brown’s brass plaque

The doctor, mentioned in the title was the Market Lavington medical practitioner from the early 1950s. For ten years he lived in the village, at Greystone House in the High Street which had long been a doctor’s house. In 1961 he and his family moved house, but for a while, continued to use the surgery at Greystone House. Later he had other premises, but the plaque we have comes from Greystone House.

Plaque from the Market Lavington surgery of Dr Ashford Brown

The plaque is made of brass, about 12cm by 8 and just carries the doctor’s name.

It is nothing remarkable but serves as a reminder of days when a room in a house (or even a caravan) was a doctor’s surgery. Nowadays, Market Lavington has a large, dedicated surgery building. There are four partners – doctors who run the surgeries, two practice nurses and a health care assistant, a practice manager and, no doubt, other admin and clerical staff.

Dr Ashford Brown, who retired in the mid 70s and died in 1998, would be amazed to see such services.

Cold Hands

This autobiography by Doctor Ashford Brown was mentioned in an earlier blog entry.

Our former local doctor explains in the book, that he always had cold hands – not ideal for a doctor.

The book is well written and makes a fine read.

Cold Hands includes tales from Dr Ashford Brown's time in Market Lavington and Easterton

The back cover has further information about Dr Ashford Brown, and the book.

The blurb about the book

A frontispiece, in the book, is a lovely sketch of the good doctor.

Dr Ashford Brown was a GP for Market Lavington and Easterton for 24 years.

If you can’t find a copy, then you can always come to the museum to read the book. It is open this afternoon.

Dr Ashford Brown

Our curator enjoys getting out in the community. He can regularly be seen at community events with a collection of enlarged photos. Most recently it was the Church Christmas Bazaar where a ‘guess the date of the Christmas Card competition (won by Margaret Bell) was also organised.

If  there is a photo of Dr Ashford-Brown as there was at the church fete, it is almost certain to generate comment. What you might hear could be, ‘Ooh, he was a lovely man’, or ‘He was a marvellous doctor’. Most then add that we have always been lucky with our doctors in the village – and we still are.

We are also lucky, at the museum, to have Dr Ashford Brown’s door plate. For many years, in the 1950s and 60s the Ashford Brown family lived on High Street and the doctor maintained a surgery there even after the entire family moved home.

Dr Ashford Brown's door plate can be found at Market Lavington Museum

We have a few photos of Dr Ashford Brown, which we’ll look at on other occasions. They portray a man involved in his community, unconventional in many ways, and devoted to his native Scotland.

He wrote his memories in a book called Cold Hands.  (We have a copy in the museum). It provides a good insight into life in the village some 50 years ago.

We also have a toy scooter that the Ashford Brown children used – but they were not the first users by a long way.

As ever, we’d love to know more about our former village doctor.