Mum – RAE started school. Nice day at work. JPS going on OK – one large stone. Rang M Cook re P’s grant form. He said I’m to fill it in & declare how much Roy gives me & that we haven’t lived together since June 73. To take photstat copy of it. Andrew Wright offered to do this & help if I need an accountant with my dup accounts. Andrew will do the photostat free whereas if I ask M Cook (he offered) to do it I shall have to pay. R went to Odeon to see Great Expectations. Asked R about div. He says he thinks I should & it won’t upset him. He seems quite keen about it. “You can get married again” he said.
Roger – First day of school today so got up early. Did nothing very interesting although I never felt really bored. After school had a group practice and this evening went to see the film Great Expectations at the Odeon as we are studying it. Afterwards went to the Coachmakers a pub and played pool till 11 then walked home & had some chips from the Chinese place. They were not very good and cost 18p.
Notes
Back to School
RAE refers to me (Roger), my younger brother Alan and my younger sister Liz (Elizabeth). Mum noted that we started back at school. My older sister Tricia had already started back. It was not unusual for us to have different term times particularly as Tricia attended a grant-aided school while the rest of us went to state schools, see Chapter 118.
I noted that we did nothing very interesting but I commented that I never felt really bored.
Mum Worked for Mr Ashken and Mr Stephens
During this period, mum worked 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. On this occasion, as it was Tuesday, she worked all day. She noted that Mr Stephens was “going on OK“. He had been diagnosed with gallstones and mum noted that he had one large stone, see Chapter 116.
Mike Cook
Mike (M) Cook was a solicitor with the firm Mills and Reeve who mum hired to deal with issues related to her separation/divorce from dad, see Chapter 114. She had seen him the previous day but she phoned him to discuss a form that needed to be completed to allow Tricia to apply for a university grant. She was in the process of applying to university and had been offered a place at Cambridge, see Chapter 120. Mike Cook advised mum to fill it in declaring how much dad (Roy) gave her and that they hadn’t lived together since June 1973.
Photostat
While mum referred to making a “photostat” copy, I suspect she was referring to modern dry photocopying. True photostats were largely obsolete by this period but the terminology persisted. It is interesting that church friend Andrew Wright, who I assume was an accountant, offered to do this for free whereas mum noted that Mike Cook, her solicitor, would charge her for this. Andrew Wright also offered to help her with her duplicating accounts, see Chapter 121, if she needed that.
“Great Expectations“
Both mum and I noted that I went, in the evening, to see the film “Great Expectations” at the Odeon, see Chapter 122. I noted that this was because we were studying it at school, see Chapter 118. However, I am not sure if it was a school trip as such. This was the 1974 film starring Michael York, Sarah Miles, James Mason and Robert Morley.
Discussion About Divorce
Mum noted that she and I (R for Roger) talked about divorce (div), see Chapter 114. I do not recall this but I have no reason to doubt it. Certainly, the views she attributes to me would have been those I held at the time and subsequently. Interestingly, I did not note this conversation at all in my diary. I was more interested in my trip to the pub and buying chips!
Mum noted that I thought she should get a divorce and it would not upset me. She noted that I “seemed quite keen about it” and that I commented she could get married again. I am not sure that I would have said I was keen on divorce. But, if it brought some resolution of matters and reduced levels of conflict, that would have been very much what I wanted.
Group Practice
While I was at school, I was part of a music group and was trying to learn guitar, see Chapter 118. However, I was never very good and was always on the edges of the group! On this occasion, I noted that there was a group practice on our first day back at school.
The Coachmakers Arms
After going to the Odeon to see “Great Expectations”, we went to The Coachmakers Arms and played pool until 11pm and then walked home. This pub on St Stephen’s Road is still in operation.
Chinese Chips
I noted that I got chips from “the Chinese place” but I thought they were not very good. I also noted that they cost 18p which presumably I was implying was expensive.
I believe this “Chinese place” was on Unthank Road. In recent years, it was called Hong Kong Fusion Takeaway but it opened originally in 1971. It closed in September 2024. I think we referred to it as the Hong Kong Chinese Post Office because that was what the sign looked like with the post office next door!
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