Eastman Dental Hospital

Can anything match the desolation of the Greys Inn Road on a Saturday morning?

Walking down from Kings Cross (I was far too early for a meeting and needed to use up some time) I passed the Royal Free Hospital and the adjacent Eastman dental centre.

In a sudden "whoosh" of memory I remembered when I was four and was staying at my sister's house in north London. Over the weekend I developed unbearable toothache and spent the whole of Saturday night in tears. On Sunday my father took me to the Eastman dental clinic, apparently the only dentist in London open on a Sunday. I remember Greys Inn Road was cold and desolate, and the dental clinic was deserted. The dentist opened up a green-painted dental surgery and I sat in the huge dentist's chair. My father held my hand as the dentist pulled the tooth out - this is the only time I can remember my father holding my hand.

More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastman_Dental_Hospital