The Beginning Of Kelvin Lodge Practice

By Mr Raymond Stubley

Kelvin Lodge belonged for many years to a man called Blenkinsop who was Managing Director of a Coal Mine and he had been retired for some time because all Coal Mines had become Nationalised. Sadly for his wife, he was killed when he fell out of a bus in 1956 and she survived him by two years. It was then that their son who lived somewhere around Yorkshire, put the house up for sale and I was very keen to buy it.

The Local Authority had taken over a large part of the Kelvin Lodge garden where the Caretaker's house used to be and which they demolished in order to build the existing roundabout. At the same time they constructed a new front garden wall within which they put the front entrance door of the caretaker's house, making a picturesque Lichen Gate which remains today.

After eventually receiving planning permission to convert Kelvin Lodge to a dental practice the construction of the car park was the first priority. I had to remove an enormous greenhouse which had been formed against the Elmfield side of the house and which extended almost all the way across the middle of the garden. The entry into it from the house came down a few steps from a glass doorway which I then altered by changing it into a large elegant window. This may be seen today. 

As regards the house itself, although in the beginning, only three surgeries were required,  with the future in mind, I made certain that electricity, gas, central heating, air pressure, water supply and drainage was established in the walls and under the floor in each possible room throughout the property so that any new developments would be easy to accomplish.

The first surgery was installed in the large lounge which was on the left of the front door when coming in to the building. The place for the second surgery was approached by going along the corridor towards the back of the house, turning left to pass by the cellar door and going straight on to reach the old Morning Room. At that time it had a big old fireplace with ovens, the whole of which had to be removed. In addition, opposite to it there was only one window overlooking the car park and to allow more light in the room it was necessary to build another one in the same wall. Also when leaving by the doorway, on the left-hand wall there was quite a large window which at that time only looked into the Washing Room. It had no particular use and so it had to be permanently screened over. The place for the third surgery was then planned in an upstairs room at the top of the second flight of stairs on the left-hand side at the beginning of the landing.

Coming in from the front door, on the right-hand side of the hall there were two doors leading into separate rooms. The first one looking out into the front garden, became the Reception Room which it still is today. The second room also entered from the hall, on its other side over in the corner led through to a garden door and a toilet door, both of which were also connected to the future Waiting Room. Soon afterwards the garden door and the door from the small room into the toilet, were both permanently closed. A few years later the small room was converted into a Hygienists Surgery.

Going again through the Reception Room to a door on its opposite wall before any alterations had taken place, produced an entry into what was then a very large, very high building which had been added to the house after it was built. By then it had become a rather faded billiard room. Its walls, the toilet and the very high dirty grey ceiling, needed a lot of decoration but when that work was done and the room was splendid. It became a very elegant Waiting Room which it has been ever since.

At the rear of the corridor, the Kitchen which then looked out onto the stable yard, had another doorway which joined it into what used to be an old Washroom. Both of these rooms were then altered to become the Dental Mechanics Laboratory. In addition the kitchen window which then was very small, had to be removed and replaced by a really large one to give sufficient light for the long laboratory bench. Around thirty years later at the end of the nineteen eighties, the parnership then demolished what had been the Washing room and built in its place, a much larger, brand new Mechanics Laboratory.

That reconstruction went on at Kelvin Lodge for two or three months and during that time the practice still continued to operate at 9,Elmfield Park where it had been for over ten years. At last in October 1958 the move there together with all the equipment and my Assistant, David Murray, finally took place. A little later in December another assistant called John Pettman joined us and the practice became even busier again. Eventually John left to go to Cambridge and Michael French came in his place. Later David Murray set up his own Practice at the end of 1960 and after him came C.W.Allan who started in 1961.

R. M .Clark began in October 1963 and Michael French remained until he set up his own practice at Rowlands Gill in January 1964. That was how things were when Danie Serfontein started as an Assistant in February 1964. Three months later in May 1964 he became a Partner and it was from that time onwards that the Partnership commenced.