The story of FW Twort FRS travels to Poland

Back in 2008 I discovered in the Wellcome Trust archives that the famous expert microbiologist and discoverer of bacteriophages, Frederick W Twort was actually born and bred here in Surrey, and I could contact his only son and biographer, Dr Antony Twort.

It was a pleasure to invite Antony to tea. He already knew the way to Reigate because he had regularly driven himself to the Bourne Gallery round the corner in Lesbourne Road (now a trendy bike cafe) for occasional exhibitions.  Little did I know at the time that he had a famous watercolour artist as a distant relative - Flora Twort - whose own magnificent works are permanently on display in the gallery named after her in Petersfield. Antony very kindly brought me some goodies - a copy of his biography, which he inscribed for me, a copy of a crucial Penguin book from 1949 (Science News 14), which was from his father's own stash as one of the key authors, plus a splendid commemorative poster from the American Society of Microbiology that gives his father the credit he deserves in history.

Then in 2012 I also had the pleasure of inviting Antony to lunch - just before his 90th birthday, and I was able to give him an inscribed copy of my book - well, really, I had only written one of the chapters, but I included lots of material about the legendary FW Twort and the pioneering work he did.  It is now, in 2015, exactly 100 years since his discovery was first published in the Lancet, and I hope his son Antony has received my exciting news, that this centenary is going to be commemorated in proper style and dignity in Wroclaw, Poland, 850 miles away, with a one day conference - Clinical Phage Therapy 2015. Sadly, up until now, Twort has always been rather a Cinderella in the miniscule world of microbiology. We can transform all that on Saturday 26th September.

Here is the official website for Clinical Phage Therapy 2015: http://www.iitd.pan.wroc.pl/en/clinphage2015 - detailing the conference programme and speakers, registration, abstracts, and details of the venue and contacts.  Registration is free!

As a special guest, I shall be delighted to attend and present a 5 minute talk with some of my rare Twort photos and happy news of events this year when I have been able to easily spread the word about phage therapy.

Now I shall risk giving the game away: and for some very quick special effects to bring it all bang up to date, I have some marching band music playing Colonel Bogey, plus a video clip of a drone flying over a fabulous fairytale castle just 50 miles from Wroclaw Glowny railway station, which Winston Churchill visited way back in 1906 when it was still called Breslau. So I think that might be rather fun and I do think Dr FW Twort would have approved. (Incidentally, Twort once put butter on the railway tracks and watched the steam train skidding back down the hill again by his local station - naughty!)

My photo: Marching band playing Colonel Bogey to 1000 Churchill Fellows, at Blenheim Palace, 2015
                                                            (click link for the music)

A really big secret

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If you have ever had this magnificent silver cup sitting on your mantelpiece, then either you are in the Board Room of Reigate Grammar School or you were awarded it one year. It's the Mitchiner Cup.

And who was Mitchiner? Well he was a 'notable' Old Reigatian - a star pupil, a top consulting surgeon, a Major-General in the Territorial Army, Honorary Surgeon to George VI and Elizabeth 2 and a lot more besides - until his early death aged 64 in 1952. And the rest of the story is a secret. I am offering to tell people about this 'funny little man' - the methods and medicines that he used with such great success and taught many a student doctor in his time - the lives he saved, secretly, and the confidences he kept, secretly and forever. This was all in the days before methicillin (of MRSA fame) was discovered, just down the road in the village of Betchworth. We are so lucky that there are still a few of his former students still alive who remember him personally, and with such affection and respect.

Great tales!

My presentation is called Bowels & Bullets so if you are interested, do please get in touch. The number is 01737 217013. You would think a huge charitable organisation like the Wellcome Trust would jump at the chance to highlight the lifetime's work of this great chap, but no - they even expected to find it freely available on the internet! No fear. I wasn't born yesterday!

This is what people are saying:

Age Concern: "they loved your talk and were talking about it"

"they would like another talk"

"most impressive slideshow"

Private View: "I am inspired"

"I can hardly wait to tell my daughter all about it this evening"

"It was very nice to have a reminder of the connecting themes"

"Fascinating - definitely makes you think!"