Molesey Vets’ 50th Anniversary- The History of Molesey Vets
May 18, 2023
If you read our first post last week announcing that we’re Celebrating 50 Years of Caring for Your Pets, you’ll know that we’re running a blog series to mark this momentous occasion. So, here is Part 2, all about the history of Molesey Vets…
Back in 1973 Princess Anne married Captain Mark Phillips at Westminster Abbey and Edward Heath was UK Prime Minister. Elton John, David Bowie and Pink Floyd were topping the music charts, and you could buy a litre of petrol for 8.6p!
Against this backdrop a lady called Josephine Stewart (MRCVS) set up a veterinary practice in two ground floor rooms of her little Victorian semi-detached home, on Pemberton Road. After a few years, Ms Stewart decided to move to sunnier climes and set up a German Shepherd breeding business in St Lucia; having sold her practice to an Irishman, called Paddy Slesinger.
In 1980, while Margaret Thatcher was settling in to No 10 and you could buy a pint of milk for 18p, Paddy Slesinger was busy selling his veterinary practice to pursue his unusual dream of becoming an opera singer!
It was at this time that John and Jane Ball secured a bank loan against John’s Triumph Spitfire, and they purchased the Molesey Vets business from Paddy. Demonstrating considerably more staying power than their predecessors, the couple moved the Practice from Pemberton Road to its current Park Road location, in 2000.
In 2001, when the film ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’ broke the record for the highest-grossing opening weekend ever, and Apple introduced the first ever iPod, a locum vet called Darren Partridge was engaged at Molesey Vets on an intermittent, freelance basis. In 2006 he accepted John’s offer of an equal partnership and the rest, as they say is history…
NEXT WEEK: 50 Years of Growth and Achievements
