Worcester Street

A Memory of Stourbridge.

My grandfather was a dentist in Stourbridge from before WW1 until 1961. He had his surgery and dental workshop in a large house in Worcester Street. In fact the house had two addresses: 64 Worcester Street and 1 Pargeter Street. My father and his three brothers and three sisters all grew up here and with breaks for war service, they mostly spent their lives in this area. The boys all went to King Edward VI Grammar School in Lower High Street and then into local commerce and industry. They are all gone now and an era that begun with workers from the North Staffordshire clayfields moving to Stourbridge and restarting their careers in the same industry. They married local girls and progressed into a high street furniture shop and a variety of other businesses. My grandfather became an apprentice/assistant to a dentist at age 14 and became a licensed Dental Surgeon with a private practice. I do not think he ever joined the N.H.S. but relied on his loyal private patients. During family visits all the children and grandchildren enjoyed personal and free dental treatment but orthodontics was not available then and most of the family had/have crooked teeth, but still their own teeth. The dental workshop was an alladin's cave for a young boy; full of tools, moulds and false teeth as the technician made the dental plates on the premises. There were several garages too as all the boys were motor bike and car fanatics. They indulged in tuning and the repair of their machines and entered into hill climbs at Shelsley Walsh before WW2 and went to races on the Isle of Mann and in Ireland. After his death the house was sold and, I believe, converted into apparments using both front doors.

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