Seventy Nine Years on Drugs

At the age of 88, Ernest Samways, author of Dorset Barnaby, wrote this autobiography describing 79 years as a pharmacist. This is not a tale of hippies and addicts, but of unusual medicines, peculiar addictions and poisonings. It provides an insight into the social history of his lifetime and the development of Pharmacy before and after Lloyd George's Health Insurance Act in January, 1913. Ernest was born and brought up in Gillingham, Dorset. You are taken on a journey from rural Dorset to Weston-super-Mare, Plymouth, Exmouth,Watford, Wales and back to Dorset. All the little embedded stories are clear and demonstrate an empathy for the people he encounters. The reader will be amazed by the joy of simple things brought to that period between the centuries: the way miles were covered on foot and bike and an old Austin 7; the acceptance and interest in the old country dialects, local politics and the impact of two world wars.