Dr David Rawlins - a pillar of our small community

We heard of the loss of David Rawlins last week and I felt it was important to write a little about him here on our community website.  I haven’t been in Chantry for very long (4 years), but have been continually aware of David and his passion for his local community and involvement with Holy Trinity Church.  He was always spoken of with fondness and respect especially as he was the GP who set up the Coleford Practice.  He was also very knowledgeable about the history of Chantry and Whatley and indeed it is his work that is linked to the History page of our website.

David lost his father when he was only 4 years old, but as a result was accepted as a pupil at the prestigious Christ’s Hospital School in London because he was considered an orphan.  He remained at the school, which provided for all his needs, including his clothing, until he was 18 when he became a medical student at the London Hospital in Whitechapel London (now known as The Royal London Hospital!).

David met Val while he was Resident Medical Officer at Barnet General Hospital – she was a nurse and medical secretary.  They married in 1965, and soon after that, David went into General Practice, first in Wareham in Dorset and eventually they moved to Mells where he set up the practice in Coleford with Dr Donald Thompson where he worked until he took early retirement.  David and Don worked extremely well together and were known as a training practice for doctors wanting to work in General Practice.  The timid medical students that came to train, lived at Green Farm.

David and Val had bought Green Farm in Chantry in 1974 at auction.  David created a small holding with around 100 sheep, but he disliked night shifts so the lambing process was delegated!

After being called out to many road traffic accidents and quarry accidents, David and Don started SAVES (The Somerset Accident Voluntary Emergency Service) and raised money through funding to equip each GP in the area with an emergency radio, medical equipment and a green flashing light for their cars.  This operation was manned at Shepton Mallet Ambulance Station by a wonderful controller named Millie who was never phased by whatever call came in and was blessed with a strong sense of humour.

David and Don went on to set up BASICS (the British Association of Immediate Care Schemes), which is still running in many places today. 

Christmas mornings were spent at Frome Victoria Hospital, visiting his patients on the wards and handing out tins of Roses to all, and wishing the on-call ambulance crews a Merry Christmas over his CB radio!

David was a member of The Ramblers’ Association and undertook expeditions as Doctor Leader to various countries, including Nepal and the Anna Purna circuit, Peru, Portugal, Australia and what became his favourite country Greece.

David and Val had 4 children – Sue, Richard, Catherine, and Jo.  He loved animals (not so much horses or cats!) and had several St Bernards over the years (Marcus, Tyrus, Janus, Titus), with a mix of rescue dogs (Mutley and Megan).  There are many photos of him with elephants, kangaroos and even giant pandas.

David was always adventurous, taking abseiling, snorkelling, water skiing, and climbing mountains in his stride. He was a passionate traveller and his knowledge of history and places was that of a tour guide - with David around there was no need to pay a guide!

He was a church warden and treasurer for Chantry church for many years.

David was heavily involved with Christ’s Hospital, where he was a governor until his death. He attributed Christ’s Hospital to being able to fulfil his dream of becoming a doctor and supported the school as best as he could.

He gave a lot of time to various charities over the years, such as Winstons Wish and the Leprosy Mission, and was recognised several times for his dedication to the Princes’ Trust by way of invitations to Buckingham Palace, and most recently Highgrove where he met the now King Charles.

David will be very much missed by his community and his family – our thoughts are with them.