Grandad – Jessie came also Annie. The men came & did the cabin roof. 1½ hrs. E went to coffee ev at Miss Garrods. Rev Hayman came to see me.
Mum – Roy rang 8.15am – he denies saying he will let me have house. Very angry. I was very upset – went to see Dr W. FR rang in aft on way to P & S’s. Church Fam Comm in evening. Only 6 there. V poor meeting. Mr Ream can’t chair a meeting & does what he likes anyway.
Notes
Grandma Was Keeping Grandad’s Diary at This Point
Grandad had not been very well, see Chapter 116. I think this means that grandma filled in his diary for him although he may have made the odd entry. The evidence that grandma was mostly keeping his diary is the change of handwriting, some of the topics discussed and also that, sometimes, she referred to him as Gordon and not as “I“. Grandma completed grandad’s diary quite a lot when he was sick, see Chapter 113. However, she was not always consistent. Sometimes, she referred to herself in the first person and grandad in the third person while, at other times, it was vice versa. On this occasion, grandad is referred to in the first person as “me” and grandma is referred to in the third person as E.
Jessie and Annie Came to Visit
Jessie and Annie came to visit. From the way it is written, I suspect they came separately. I do not know entirely who they were but suspect they were friends of grandma’s from the women’s meeting she attended at Drayton Methodist Church, see Chapter 124. Jessie may refer to Jessie Cushing.
Work on Grandad’s Cabin
Grandad had a purpose-built cabing at the back of their house that he used for practical tasks particularly woodworking, see Chapter 85. It seems there may have been a problem with the cabin roof and they brought men in to fix it. I am not sure what the problem was but it took a relatively short time to fix.
Coffee Evening at Miss Garrod’s
E refers to my grandmother Ethel May Cecilia Parkin. I am assuming that “ev” stands for evening and that grandma went to a coffee evening at Miss Garrod’s. Miss Garrod was someone who was very involved in the Methodist Church, see Chapter 124, which is how grandma knew her.
Rev Hayman Visited Grandad
Rev Hayman was the Methodist Minister based at Mile Cross Methodist Church, see Chapter 124. He visited grandad.
Mum and Dad Argued About the House
Roy refers to my father Royle Drew. He phoned mum at 8.15am, presumably before he went to/started work. I don’t know if this call was triggered by mum’s letter about tax refunds which she had written the previous day. I suppose it is just possible that he had received it that morning. Whatever the reason for the call, mum considered that it focused on another contentious topic which was what was to happen to the house. I assume this refers to 192 College Road where we were living at the time, see Chapter 117, and that they jointly owned it even though we only moved there after they split up.
Mum’s view was that dad had agreed to transfer the house to her name only but that now he was going back on what he had agreed. This issue dragged on for all of 1975 but eventually, in 1976, dad transferred the house to mum’s ownership only, see Chapter 114. It remains my view that mum never really appreciated how generous dad had been in agreeing to this and the financial challenges this created for him in terms of finding somewhere himself to live. Her view seems to have been that this arrangement was what she wanted and therefore it should happen.
Mum Saw Dr Welch
As a reult of this call, mum was angry and upset and she saw her GP Dr Welch (Dr W), see Chapter 116.
Rev Dowson
FR refers to Rev F R Dowson. Frederick Rodham Dowson entered the Methodist ministry in 1936. He was born in Haxby, York on 5 August 1912 and he died in Selsey on 4 September 2011, aged 99. I believe he was superintendent Minister for the Park Lane circuit from 1968 to 1974. He and mum were close and they spoke and corresponded frequently, see Chapter 114. On this occasion, he phoned in the afternoon (aft) on his way to P & S’s. I am not sure what this refers to.
Church Family Committee
I assume that Church Fam Comm stands for Church Family Committee although I am not sure what this committee’s function and purpose were, see Chapter 124. Mum was unhappy with this meeting. She felt attendance was poor and that it was poorly led by the then senior minister, Rev Ream. From her comment, I suspect she felt that any contribution she had made had been ignored.
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