Grandad – The doctor came. I was not too good. He cut down my tablets to see if that would help. Tom still very ill.
Mum – Work all day. YW at night. Strawberry & cream supper & Beetle Drive. About 52 came. All joined in. Very good effort. £12.90 proceeds to Mentally Handicapped (Stephen Dowson). Rang FR at night. Went to E school at night. Teacher gave glowing report. Her reading is improving but cannot read words out of context. Caused by “look & see” teaching. Teacher agreed with me.
Notes
Change in Handwriting
There had been a change in handwriting at the end of June. Based on this, it seems likely that this, and subsequent entries, were made by grandma even though this is not stated explicitly. If indeed, the entry was made by grandma, she writes about grandad in the first person as “I“.
Grandad’s Health
Grandad was “not too good“. The doctor came to see him and cut down his tablets to see if that would help, see Chapter 116.
Tom Wilson
Tom refers to Tom Wilson. With his wife, Amy, he was one of grandma and grandad’s closest friends. Grandad’s diary had noted that he was very ill three days earlier and also noted that he was still very ill, see Chapter 116.
Mum Worked for Mr Ashken and Mr Stephens
About three weeks earlier, mum had started a new job as part-time medical secretary for the private practice of two surgeons, Mr Ashken and Mr Stephens, see Chapter 121. This practice was based at 41 Newmarket Road. She worked all day on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and half day on Fridays. As this was Wednesday, she worked all day.
Young Wives
YW refers to Young Wives, a women’s group mum attended at St Peter’s Park Lane Methodist Church, see Chapter 124. They had a strawberry and cream supper and a Beetle Drive, see Chapter 69. Mum noted that about 52 people attended. She described it as a very good effort. Part of the evening’s purpose was to raise funds for the “mentally handicapped”. A total of £12.90 was raised. I believe the reference to Stephen Dowson is to Rev Dowson’s son who I assume had what would now be called a mental disability or impairment. I am not sure if the money went directly to the Dowsons or, more likely, to a charity from which they benefited.
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, mum phoned him.
Liz’s School
E refers to my younger sister Liz (Elizabeth). Mum went to her school at night, see Chapter 118. I assume it was some kind of parent teachers evening. Mum noted that her teaching gave her a glowing report saying that her reading is improving but she was not able to read words out of context. Mum said she thought it was because of the “look and see” method they were using and she said the teacher agreed with her. I wonder if mum was referring to “look and say”. In this method, children learn to recognise whole words rather than trying to sound them out using phonics. While useful for words where spellings don’t match their sounds, using this method alone could mean that children may be unable to read words they don’t recognise.