HISTORY

The practice was owned during the war by Geoff Brown, a Glasgow graduate, married to Elizabeth Craigs from a local farming family. He was an all round sportsman, mayor of Morpeth three times, and an excellent public speaker with stories from the Herriot era. He had a farm, went shooting and hunting, played cricket and found time to run a successful veterinary practice!

The present senior partner, John Prescott, joined the practice as an assistant in 1968 and went into partnership with Geoff Brown and Bruce Robson in 1971. The surgery was at The Retreat, the Browns’ house in Dark Lane in Morpeth, (which was recently demolished to make way for a town centre development) with branches at Ashington, Bedlington and Blyth. The work was principally farm animals but we treated pit ponies, racing dogs, pigs in allotments and some cats and dogs!

Geoff retired in 1982 and Robson and Prescott was established in a new purpose built surgery in Staithes Lane. Over the next 20 years the business expanded with a new surgery at Seaton Delaval and a large extension to the Morpeth premises.

With Bruce Robson’s retirement in 2002, John took Jane Barwick-Nesbit, Sally Booth and his son Sam as partners, all with their own areas of expertise: Sally equine, Jane small animal surgery and Sam large animals and camelids. Since then all the branch surgeries have been refurbished. We have built a fully equipped new surgery with two theatres, X-ray, laboratory, etc near the quayside at Blyth to serve our clients from the S.E. Northumberland and Tyneside area. The Ashington branch has been extended to include operating, x-ray and laboratory facilities and the Bedlington surgery now has a permanent specialist pet supplies shop.  In 2009 we will complete the development of our equine unit with stabling and diagnostic and work-up facilities at a 6 acre site in Clifton.

Our work is now probably 50% small animal, 25% equine and 25% large animal.

Sally, with the help of our assistant vets, has built a thriving equine side to the business. Race goers will know her as being one of the vets at Newcastle race course.

Through John’s specialist knowledge of exotic species, the practice has a reputation for treating birds (parrots, birds of prey) and reptiles (tortoises, snakes, lizards). We have in house vivaria for the hospitalisation of reptiles.

We now have a staff of 46 of whom 11 are vets and 16 are nursing staff. We are a training practice and most of our qualified nurses have come through the system. They continue to train in specialist areas such as behaviour, dentistry and exotics and well as running health clinics and puppy parties.

Treatments have changed a great deal since Geoff Brown’s time, but one thing hasn’t – every member of the practice is totally committed to giving each animal they see the best possible care