| Mike Laughton |
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During the 1950s, one of the most popular radio shows of the day was a soap opera called Mrs Dale's Diary about the wife of a family Doctor.
But here in Stamford we had our own Doctor Dale who was the town's most popular and respected GP throughout the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s.
Even though more Doctors joined the panel in the St Mary's Street practice, Dr Dale was the GP everybody wanted to see.
Dr Dale was a very strong advocate of circumcision for baby boys on hygiene and cleanliness grounds. He used to carry out the snips himself at Stamford hospital.
This meant that by the mid-to-late 20th century there were probably as many circumcised men in Stamford as there were in Golder's Green.
I gather that in more recent years, the practice has gone out of fashion again.
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| pam waldron |
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YES I REMEMBER DR DALE HE WAS OUR DR HE WAS A LOVELY MAN
NOTHING WAS TO MUCH TROUBLE.
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| Peter Bowman |
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I was very young at the time - we left Stamford when I was 11 in 1959 - but I remember another doctor at this practice who was our GP - Dr Holt. Tall and distinguished, I seem to remember. I believe that he too had a good reputation. Home visits were much more common then - I recall the 1958 Asian flu epidemic prompted one to see me in bed.
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| Clem Walden |
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Hi Mike, I have fond memories of Dr Dale but they are not related to the subject matter you mention! He was our family doctor throughout my childhood. A gentleman indeed and very well respected throughout the area. My sister Iris remembers the registration of his dark red car TL7222. but is unable to remember the make. However she recalls as a child how concerned she would be when seeing his car "who was ill? "who was he visiting? particular if Dr Dale's car pulled into Tolethorpe Square we lived. Dr Dale at that time lived in St Martins opposite Colonel? or General? Strongs House (that later became Lady Anns Hotel) His daughter was at school with my sisters and his son John became a solicitor. In the 60s when we first started in business it was John Dale who we engaged as our legal advisor this continued until he retired. John now lives in Portugal.
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| Derek |
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I remember as a small child suffering all day with terrible stomach pains and sickness. At teatime and still in agony my parents decided to call for the doctor. Doctor Dale duly arrived and after examining me told my parents i needed to be admitted to hospital immediately and that he would call for the ambulance when he got back to the surgery. Not many people had phones in those days. Well it was just my bad luck that Dr Dale forgot to call out the ambulance so after hanging around for a couple of hours dad decided he would piggyback me to the infirmary instead. By the time dad arrived at the hospital with me on his back i think he needed as much medical attention as i did. Anyway not long after we arrived i was being operated on for the removal of my appendix. I can still remember clearly being pushed along the corridor on the trolley to have the operation. I recall asking the porter where we was going and him saying "to the theatre" which cheered me up no end as i thought i was off to the pictures. Despite his memory lapse which we didn't hold against him, Doctor Dale was a lovely man and a very popular General Practitioner.
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| John Tyers |
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I vividly recall being let out of the surgery front door in St Mary's Street with my mother toward the end of the war though I do not know from just what I was supposed to be suffering! Mr Motson, the general factotum let us out into an absolutely clear night with a full moon saying "it's a bomber's moon tonight!" It was past midnight and we were not the last to see Dr Dale during that session. If you went to see him on a Saturday evening a receptionist would come around checking for patients wanting to catch the last Easton and Colly buses and they would jump the queue. For some I think it was some kind of social event with remarks such as they had to be in time to buy their fish and chips from Clarks in Water Street to take home on the United Counties bus for their husbands' supper!
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