Although Dr Bathgate's memory of his work as a general practitioner spans some fifty years, this book covers mainly the years "in the sticks" before he bought a practice in Hastings in 1930. During these earlier years he worked on the West Coast (including Otira during the building of the tunnel, with his nearest medical colleague some 68 miles away), among the farming communities of the North Island, then back to the South Island to Motueka and Ashburton, before finally putting down his roots in Hawkes Bay - just in time to add the earthquake to his lifst of firsthand experiences.

From the disastrous 'flu epidemic of 1918 to the tragic Hawkes Bay earthquake, from the workmen of Otira to the farmers of the King Country and the Hauraki Plains, his story is full of human interest and real life drama. Though the pace of life may have been slower, it was not an easy life for the men, and their wives and families, in the back country of New Zealand in the 1920s. Dr Bathgate recalls with affection the kindness, courage and warm friendliness of the people to whom he ministered - characteristics which are surely a reflection of his own as he shared their hardships, joys and sorrows.

Hardback - 172 pages

Published 1973

Very good + condition - name entered on front endpaper