No. 23 York Street became the home of the dental practice on 31 December 1947, when Kenneth Bowker returned to Clitheroe following service with the Army Dental Corps in North Africa and the Middle East. The location held a personal connection for Mr Bowker, who had attended neighbouring Clitheroe Royal Grammar School in the 1930s. From these beginnings, he established a practice that would become part of the town’s dental heritage. For nearly thirty years, he practised alongside Frank Parrott as Bowker and Parrott, Dental Surgeons. Their retirements in 1988 and 1989 marked the end of the practice’s first generation of ownership, although Kenneth remained closely connected with the practice until his passing in 2013, aged 95.
The second generation was led by Colin Aspinall, Martin Nolan and Catherine Cumpstey. During this period, the practice adopted the name Cramond House Dental Practice, reflecting the long-established name of the building, and continued to develop while preserving the character and continuity for which it had become known.
The sale of the practice by Martin and Catherine in 2026 marked another passing of the mantle, with Cramond House entering its third generation of ownership under Shahram Namjoy Nik and his sons, Iman Namjoynik and Amin Namjoynik, continuing a family legacy in dentistry. The established clinical and support team has largely remained together, with many familiar faces continuing to care for generations of local patients.
Today, Cramond House is home to six dentists, three hygienists and nine members of our nursing and support team. We continue to welcome new patients while caring for families whose connection with the practice spans decades, with some clinical records reaching back to its earliest years.
As Cramond House enters its latest chapter, the range of care available continues to grow, including both surgical and non-surgical treatments. Much has changed in dentistry since those early days, but the values at the heart of Cramond House remain the same: clinical precision, painless dentistry and individualised care.
