Just come home from the unveiling of the first blue plaque in our village, in honour of Norman Heatley (1911-2004). He was in many ways the most outstanding member of the team that developed penicillin, because it was his inventive imagination which solved the essential problems of how to turn the discovery of the world’s first effective antibiotic, into a process that could grow the mould, extract it and refine it on something like an industrial scale.
There were some notable speeches about his role in the saving of millions of lives. But (as I had guessed) none of them mentioned his Christian faith. He was a faithful, humble and devout man, for many years a regular worshipper every Sunday. My memories of this great man include his volunteering as a helper in the craft activities at our annual children’s holiday club, teaching fascinated 5-10 year olds how to tie knots.
When I was about 13, I interviewed Norman Heatley for a school project — I remember him as a lovely man. (For some reason, the one detail which has stuck with me is him telling me about seeing bottles in museums with his own handwriting on the jars.) His wife was very kind, too.
I remember him doing the knots; they were very popular with the older boys!
It’s great to have a plaque for him in Marston; hope other generations of kids are as fascinated by the penicillin story as I was…