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Our
first Pharmacy in Hartlepool was situated at 84 Lynn Street,
and was purchased as a going concern in 1945 from Pharmacist
Mr. Levy.
The photograph shows Mr. Whitfield's son-in-law John Grundy
with an unknown assistant at the Lynn Street premises sometime
in the late 1940s we believe.
In
1950, the West Hartlepool Drug Company was registered with
Companies House, and traded from the Lynn Street premises
as a Wholesale Chemist. The Wholesale company subsequently
moved to Southgate on Hartlepool Headland, before finally
relocating to St.Aidan's Terrace, Trimdon Station in 1979
and changing its name to Durham Pharmaceuticals Ltd.
The
Lynn Street branch proved a disappointing purchase, and
the business was transferred to the present address in
Victoria Road in 1953.
In
1970, the branch was extensively rebuilt, and a new shopfront
installed to exactly mirror the attractive shopfront
of the neighbouring Opticians. This outrageous piece
of plagiarism of their Architect's design quite rightly
upset the Opticians, but after appropriate apologies and
considerations, we like to hope we remain on good terms.
In
1983, it was announced that a new Health Centre was to be
built in Victoria Road, directly opposite our branch, and
that it was to include a Pharmacy. After lengthy negotiations
with every Pharmacy Contractor within Hartlepool, it was
agreed to form a Consortium of all Hartlepool's Pharmacies
to run the new Pharmacy, and when the Health Centre opened
in 1985, Victoria Pharmacy Ltd was established. Mr. Peter
Grundy, Managing Director of M.Whitfield Ltd was appointed
Chairman of the new company.
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