Mum – Visionhire brought colour TV – Philips. V nice. E fell in playground & they rang for me to fetch her home at 1.15. She was very dazed & odd & couldn’t remember anything. I rang Dr Welch (he was at Mile End) & he told me to let her sleep & then if she was not OK to let them know. She should have played solos & duet in school concert in evening but did not go. Seemed better in evening but not her usual self. 1S.
Roger – Played 5-a-side football today. The conditions were bad and we lost 4-1. I scored. This lunch-time did some more practicing for the Crime Prevention Quiz. After school talked to Mr Cheeseman about careers but we were interrupted by Mr Norton so I’m going back tomorrow. Got our colour tele today & spent most of the evening watching that.
Notes
Colour TV
We got our first colour TV on this day, see Chapter 128. Both mum and I noted this. I commented that I spent most of the evening watching it.
Visionhire
We were renting the television and mum noted that we got it from Visionhire, see Chapter 128. Visionhire were a national TV rental company, formed in the fifties. They merged with other companies in the eighties to form Boxclever that continues to operate. In the 1971-2 Kelly’s Tradefinder, Visionhire were one of nine TV rental companies in Norwich at that time. They had branches at 4d Castle Street, now Castle Street Optometry, and 28 Magdalen Street.
They had had the branch at 28 Magdalen Street since at least 1960 although, at that time, their second branch was at 3 Back of the Inns. It seems that the Castle Street branch opened in October 1965. The Big C Cancer Charity appears to occupy both 26 and 28 Magdalen Street now although their address is given as the former. The location where they were based in the Back of the Inns seems to have been incorporated into the entrance to Castle Mall.
Philips
The TV we got was a Philips, see Chapter 128. Philips is a massive international electrical company that continues to operate and which is mentioned frequently in the diaries. Family members bought a variety of their electrical items over the years including tape recorders and, as on this occasion, television.
Injured in the Playground
E refers to my sister Liz (Elizabeth) who was 11 at this time. She fell in the playground and mum was called to collect her from school. Mum noted that she was dazed and odd and she couldn’t remember anything. She spoke to her GP, Dr Welch, who was at the Mile End Surgery. He told her to let her sleep and to let them know if she was not OK. Mum noted that she seemed better in the evening but not her usual self, see Chapter 116.
School Concert
Liz was due to have played solos and a duet in a school concert that evening. However, she could not because of the earlier fall, see Chapter 118.
Senokot
Mum noted taking one Senokot (S) presumably for constipation, see Chapter 116. Senokot is a senna-containing medicine for the treatment of constipation.
Five-a-side Football
I noted that we played five-a-side football at school, see Chapter 118. We lost 4-1 and I seemed to be blaming the bad conditions although, of course they were the same for both teams. I noted that I scored which was a very rare event!
Crime Prevention Quiz
During my time at school, we were involved in crime prevention quizzes, see Chapter 118. This was an inter-school quiz and our school entered at least two teams. It appears that these quizzes may have started in 1974 as I found an article which referred to the fourth Norwich inter-schools’ crime prevention quiz taking place in 1977. Apparently that year, Bowthorpe beat CNS in the final.
On this occasion, I noted that the team had a further practice at lunch-time. This team was led, I think, by Jeremy Staples. They went on to lose their semi-final against Thorpe House, who went on to win the competition.
Careers
After school, I spoke to Mr Cheeseman, see Chapter 118. . This was part of ongoing discussions about what subjects I might study at A level. However, it is interesting that this discussion was framed in terms of future careers. This made sense as the decisions I made then influenced the choice of careers later open to me. However, we did not finish our conversation. We were interrupted by Mr Norton and I noted that I needed to go back the next day.
Mr Cheeseman
Mr Cheeseman’s first name was Geoff. He had also taught me French in my third year, see Chapter 103. His wife also taught needlework at the school although they later divorced. A number of ex-students remember them. He is one of the teachers I remember most clearly from school. I was scared of him initially but less so as I got to know him and progressed through the school. He took us on various trips to France. In the sixth form, I and other students helped him run bars for school events. I also remember groups of us visiting his house on one or more occasions.
Howard Norton
Mr Norton is not one of the teachers I recall from school even though he was Middle School head and he countersigned my end-of-year report in my third year. He was at Hewett for 11 years before becoming head of Costessey High School. In the school’s anniversary brochure produced in 1982, he contributed a piece in his role as head of Costessey High School. He noted that prior to coming to Hewett, he had had four years of comprehensive experience in Oxfordshire.