Took R to work then went to church to arrange flowers. Not really satisfied with them. Typ & dup all aft. P went to Primary party in aft. A & P went to Senior party in evening. R went to Y Club at Chantry. FR rang & I rang back about 5. 1T. 1S. Wrote another letter to Roy!
Notes
Work
R refers to me (Roger). Mum took me to work. At that time, I had a Saturday job at The Scientific Anglian bookshop, see Chapter 119.
Arranging Flowers
Mum went to St Peter’s Park Lane Methodist Church to arrange flowers, see Chapter 124. She had bought white and yellow daffodils the previous day. However, she noted that she was not really satisfied with them but did not specify why.
Typing and Duplicating
According to mum’s CV, see Chapter 105, she ran a typing and duplicating business from home until 1975, see Chapter 121. However, she clearly continued doing typing and duplicating after that, possibly mainly for church. On this occasion, she noted that she typed (typ) and duplicated (dup) all afternoon (aft).
Sunday School Parties
P refers to my older sister Tricia (Patricia) and A to my younger brother Alan. They went to Sunday School parties that day, see Chapter 124. These related to the Sunday Schools at St Peter’s Park Lane Methodist Church. In the afternoon (aft), Tricia went to the Primary party. I assume she was a teacher or helper in that Sunday School. In the evening, she and Alan went to the Senior Party. I assume they were still part of that Sunday School. Tricia was 17 at this point and Alan 13. I am not sure if my other sister Liz (Elizabeth) was still involved in Sunday School at this point. I believe she was. However, she stayed at grandma’s in Drayton this weekend.
Chantry Youth Club
R refers to me (Roger). Mum noted that I went to the Youth (Y) Club at Chantry, see Chapter 122. I recall attending a youth club around this time. It seems that mum referred to it as Chantry Youth Club and I referred to it as “Teens”. Based on the diaries, I attended it on a Saturday night at least between January and March 1976. I have vague recollections of it including walking home from it along Chapelfield Road. One thing I am sure of is that it was not at Chapelfield Road Methodist Church but I wondered if it might have been at Chantry Hall.
Researching Chantry Youth Club
So, I posted a question about it on Norwich Remembers Facebook Group. Quite a number of contributors recalled this youth club and confirmed that it was held weekly at Chantry Hall with monthly discos.
Memories
Richard Painter recalled that they had ultraviolet light, which made teeth look green and showed up dandruff on the boys’ shoulders! Alan Clarke remembered his first visit there on 1 May 1976 after the cup final. He wrote, “May 1st 1976 after cup final, very hot day, was my first time there as a 14 yr (month before 15th birthday) wearing brand new beige bags double belted with brown capped t shirt and thin beige with diamond pattern cardi, and it became a regular Saturday night ritual, meet in the Lamb Inn, then onto Teens (Chantry) until June 77 when people’s and the Samson became the new ritual.”
Affiliated to St Peter Mancroft
It appears to have been affiliated with St Peter Mancroft church and was known by various names including (St Peter) Mancroft Teens Club, Mancroft Youth Club and Chantry Club. I don’t think I knew about the church affiliation at the time and I don’t recall anything particularly “churchy” about it.
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 rang and mum rang him back about 5pm.
Antidepressants
Mum had had severe struggles with her mental health, suffering with depression and anxiety, see Chapter 116. She was on antidepressants. On this occasion, she took one tablet of amitryptilline (Tryptizol, T).
Senokot
Mum noted taking one Senokot (S) presumably for constipation. Senokot is a senna-containing medicine for the treatment of constipation.
Letter to Dad
Roy refers to my father Royle Drew. Mum noted that she wrote him another letter and this merited an exclamation mark. She had received a letter from him the previous day and this had made her very angry, This was not an unusual reaction to letters she got from dad at this time, see Chapter 114. The only specific point she made was that he did not answer her question about insurance for Tricia’s violin. It seems unlikely that this was enough to make her so angry. However, if there were other issues, she did not note what they were.
She had written two replies the same day that she received his letter but did not think she would send either. It is interesting, and perhaps surprising, to note that mum recognised that sending letters she had written in anger might not be helpful. I am not sure if her letter was any less angry written on this day than the two written the previous day!
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