John Golightly, son of Dr Donald Golightly, has kindly shared with us an account written by his father of his experiences as one of the first GPs in the early days of the NHS. In the account there is anecdotal information about Prudhoe and Mickley (pages 3 and 4). Dr Golightly was assistant to Dr Norah Lockhart, who practiced from her family home at Braeside, (now a care home). He also worked with Dr Davison who practiced at that time from a temporary surgery, described in amusing terms by Dr Golightly as a small shop with no facilities for examination, and consultations listened to avidly by patients in the waiting area, which was the shop window. (Probably where 15 and 16 Tyne View now standard, opposite the Unionist Club). Later Dr Golightly practiced from a surgery at the bottom of Redwell Road.
Dr Golightly moved to Prudhoe in 1954, where he lived in a bungalow at Homedale, near Valley View. The property was described as having gas but no electricity. Next door lived a couple called Alice and Harry Heron, who may have been a bank manager. They had a daughter called Ruth who lived at Hillcrest around 1970 and was John’s Godmother.
You can also read the obiturary for Dr Golightly, described by the Hexham Courant as a pioneering GP.
Our sincere thanks to John for taking the time to contact the History Society to share not only his father’s paper on the early days of the NHS but the story of his father’s time in practice here in Prudhoe.