The Young Country Doctor series of books: Book 16 is Now Out

January 22, 2025 by Doctor Vernon Coleman

It is apparently seven years or so since the last Bilbury book appeared. My excuse is that strange things have happened in the outside world and have caused some disruption to all our lives. This is the 16th book in this series and so, if I have done my sums right, there are probably around fifteen other books describing the Devon village of Bilbury and its inhabitants. All the books in the series are available as paperbacks and as e-books on Amazon. A few hardback editions of the first seven books were self-published in modest runs but these are all now out of print. Some of the books are available in large print versions and some are available as audio books. The first few books are sequential but after about the third book you can read them in any order you like without getting into a tangle. Bilbury and its residents are, of course, still firmly and comfortably ensconced in the 1970s and will doubtless remain there indefinitely. In the world about which I write here, the mobile phone does not exist and nor does social media. Poor reception means that not even the television has made a mark on life in Bilbury. And so, as you can see, the world of Bilbury is, indeed, very different to the world we know today.

There are two main ways to begin an autobiography. The first way, the traditional way, is to begin with the protagonist’s childhood and to describe his school days and early memories of his parents, aunts, siblings and playmates. The disadvantage with this approach is that it is inevitably as dull and worthy and predictable as a royal Christmas broadcast. The reader will struggle and probably give up before Chapter Two. The second way is to begin with an account of some event for which the subject is best known – an in-depth account of how he won his Olympic medal, how he won his Oscar or how he prepared for his streak across Lord’s cricket ground in London. The snag with this approach is that Chapter Two will have to flash back to the subject’s tediously predictable childhood. And, of course, the reader will have nothing to look forward to because they will have already devoured the juicy bits.

My approach in writing about my life in Bilbury has been quite different. I have eschewed all memory of my childhood, and since my life contains no high points I have found it easy to avoid the second technique too. Instead I have chosen to describe my experiences in an episodic way, describing my experience with my wife, my friends, my patients, my home and my practice.

It seems fair to say that this technique has served me well enough since this is the 16th volume of my reminiscences, and I commend the method to all those who feel themselves unable to resist the temptation to describe their lives on paper and who wish to avoid the two deadly ways of doing this which I have described above.

As usual, the names and details of individuals, animals and establishments, except the Duck and Puddle (recently described in print as ‘the most authentic and most welcoming inn in England) and Peter Marshall’s shop (described in print as ‘famous for overpriced tat and food that is long past its sell by date), have been altered to protect the author from lawsuits launched by both the innocent and the guilty. The stories in this book are all set in the 1970s when life was very different in a multitude of ways. The author makes some predictions in this book and you can judge for yourself whether you think they were well-based and accurate or bizarre and completely off the wall. If you ever feel that the world is sometimes strange, difficult, frightening or alien in some ways, please consider yourself a citizen of Bilbury where trust, respect and dignity are still in vogue. You will always be welcome to enjoy a pint and one of Gilly’s rock cakes at the Duck and Puddle. And if you’re passing Bilbury Grange and need to have your verruca pared or your stitches removed do pop in. The magazines in the waiting room are changed every six months. The place where you feel safest and most comfortable is your home. If it helps, please think of Bilbury as your ‘safe’ place; your refuge at all times, and please think of the Doc, Patsy, Thumper, Patchy, Frank and Gilly, etc., as your friends. Living in Bilbury means you never have to be alone.

Whether you are a resident, a regular visitor or someone wandering into the village for the first time, I bid you welcome and thank you for sharing my life and my memories. Kind readers sometimes ask if the Bilbury stories are real. It’s a fair and reasonable question and one which I have asked myself more than once. There is one thing we can agree on: there is no village with the name of Bilbury. No real village with that name exists. We know this because if we look up ‘Bilbury’ in a Gazetteer or a map of Devon, we won’t find it. We will end up in a place called Bibury, which is in Gloucestershire and has nothing to do with Bilbury, or we will end up with a reference to one of the Bilbury books which means that we have ended up back where we started and are absolutely no further forward. So, that much we know: the name ‘Bilbury’ is fake. I admit it: I made it up. But that doesn’t mean that the village doesn’t exist. It just means that if it does exist then it must be called something else. And you have to make your own mind up about just how true the stories are and, indeed, whether I exist or am a figment of my own imagination. My only hope is that you will enjoy reading these tales. After all, that’s what really matters. Isn’t it?

Welcome to Bilbury. And welcome to my world.

Vernon Coleman, Bilbury,
January 2025

The essay above is the Introduction to Vernon Coleman’s new book `The Young Country Doctor Book 16: Bilbury Times’ which has just been published as a hard cover book, a paperback and an eBook. To purchase a copy just CLICK HERE

Copyright Vernon Coleman January 2025