Grandad – Ethel went to DLM. Snow in the Midlands, very cold here. Mrs Douglas hired a van to flit.
Mum – Hair set at 9am. P went to school – left at 10.30. Drove down to Newbury Park – left P A & E there then drove through Blackwall Tunnel to Eastbourne – The Links (Guild House). Had single room – quite nice. Left in sunshine, rain at Ipswich then sleet & snow – thawing a bit but very cold.
Notes
Grandma Went to Drayton Ladies’ Meeting (DLM)
Ethel refers to my grandmother Ethel May Cecilia Parkin. DLM refers to Drayton Ladies’ Meeting which was a weekly women’s meeting held at Drayton Methodist Church which grandma attended, see Chapter 124.
Both Grandad and Mum Commented on the Weather
Grandad noted that there had been snow in the Midlands and that it was very cold where they were. Mum noticed that they had left Norwich in sunshine, experienced rain in Ipswich and then had both sleet and snow. By the time she wrote, it was thawing a bit but still very cold.
Mrs Douglas Hired a Van to Move
Mrs Douglas was the mother of Ron Douglas who was grandma and grandad’s next-door neighbout at 168 Drayton High Road. She had moved out two days earlier and must have been living/staying there. I thought she had previously lived there but had moved out in 1969 with Ron’s brother John, see Chapter 91. She clearly had enough stuff to need a van to move it. Throughout his diaries, grandad used the term “flit” to denote moving house, see Chapter 3.
Tricia Went to School Briefly
P refers to my older sister Tricia (Patricia). She went to school but then left at 10.30, see Chapter 118. I am not sure if mum had arranged this specifically or this was when she broke up. My other siblings, Alan and Liz, had broken up the previous day.
My Siblings Went to Dad’s
Mum dropped my siblings, Tricia (P), Alan (A) and Liz (E) in Newbury Park which was where dad was living at the time, see Chapter 114. I did not go as I was away on a school camping trip in France, see Chapter 118.
Mum Then Went on to Eastbourne
From Newbury Park, mum drove through the Blackwall Tunnel to Eastbourne where she stayed in a single room at the Methodist Guild property, the Links, see Chapter 122.
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