Mervyn Bell was consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Wigan from 1977 to 2004. Born in Hove in 1937, he qualified from Guy's Hospital in London working in the fields of general surgery and neurosurgery. On developing an interest in orthopaedics he moved to the Royal Free Hospital and the Nuffield Orthop

James Bankes was born in Romiley, Cheshire, on 10 March 1935, the son of Reginald and Alice Bankes, who were both pharmacists. He was educated at King's School Macclesfield, King Edward VII School, King's Lynn, and the City University, London, before entering St Mary's Hospital Medical School where

Tim de Dombal was born on 16 August 1937 in Sheffield, the son of Leonard Arthur de Dombal, a general practitioner, and Frances Edith, née Hire, a teacher. He won a scholarship to Uppingham School, and in 1955 went up to Pembroke College, Cambridge, to read natural sciences. There, his prowess at