In 1923 a tragedy occurred in the building. Dr Thomas Sharples aged 71 took his own life. Newspaper reports on the inquest describe the old doctor being depressed at the death of his wife the previous week. After travelling round the area in a taxi to say ‘good-bye’ to friends and colleagues, on return to Dardsley he told his son Sydney he had taken a morphine (‘nepenthe’) overdose and collapsed on the sofa. The coroner gave a verdict of ‘suicide whilst of unsound mind’ due to his grief.

 

In the late 1930s the practice employed an additional doctor - newly qualified from the University of Manchester, Dr Sydney Cohen.