Beatton's Pharmacy, Half Moon Lane

Gateshead Medical Association was founded in 1898 by Dr. Alfred Cox. At this time there was only one doctor to every 2,500 people. A variety of tonics and cures were available to the public at local pharmacies. Pharmacists prepared medicines to order using ingredients from their shops. Many of these ingredients would be considered dangerous today or are now illegal. In the nineteenth century laudanum and raw opium were freely available at any English pharmacy or grocery store. At the time opium was viewed as a medicine and no-one had considered that people could become addicted to a cure!