"I WAS sad to read in the Weston Mercury this week that Boots was moving to close its chemist shop in St. Andrew’s Parade on Bournville, Weston-super-Mare.

"My father, George Smith, opened the first ‘Bournville Pharmacy’ in around 1948, not long after the Second World War.  

"Weston’s council provided a row of Nissen huts to be converted into small shops in Lonsdale Avenue and Dad took over the lease of one of them.  It was pretty small and utilitarian.  My father was able to get redundant drug drawers and shelves from the Lewis Wing pharmacy in the Boulevard - where he had worked for several years and served his apprenticeship.  

"The dispensary, with scales, pestils and mortars, Bunsen burners and a heated glass pallet for preparing ointments, was a small area at the rear, storage was very restricted.

"Sometime in the 1950s the Nissen hut shops were demolished and replaced with the present three storey terrace with shops on the ground floor.  Dad’s shop crossed the parade and now faced north.

"Within a few years he was able to take over one of the shops next door and he was provided with a garage for storage.  He was fortunate in having a branch surgery close by in Coniston Crescent served by, primarily, Dr Tim Kelly – they were mutually supportive.  

"On a Friday night, I would walk over from school to help in the shop.  Indeed ‘the shop’ came to dominate much of our lives, including my mother’s who took over the non-medical items.  

"It was demanding and difficult work which I came to appreciate when I returned to Weston with a medical degree.  I worked at the New Court Surgery in the Boulevard which included the Coniston Crescent branch.  

"Dr Kelly was still there and I often would walk across the green to buy a loaf of bread from Passmore’s Bakery and have a cup of coffee with Dad.  He died in 1983, still in harness, and a year later, Mum sold up.   After a while the business was taken over by Ian Clark who sold it on to Boots.

"My parents were an important part of the Bournville community and the chemist shop somewhere you could get advice and guidance and not bother the doctor!  It’s difficult to see how Bournville will deal with its loss after over 70 years."
 

Dr Howard Smith, Weston-super-Mare.