Drew Family Diaries

Mum – Washer serviced in am. Cleaned & tidied up. Peter, Rita & Peter came in aft. Met them in city stayed for tea. Mum came too. Then P took them back to bus station (& Mum home) they are on Broads. Went to Guild at night, John & Heather picked me & Pam up. At the Culleys. Ron Ingamells speaker – VG evening. No S.

Roger – Had a run then went swimming in PE. At lunch did some work. This evening Uncle Peter, Auntie Rita, grandma & Peter came to tea left at 8pm. Mum went somewhere & Trish went to Youth Club. I watched tele. Tomorrow I’m going to get some sunglasses after school as it is my birthday soon & Debenhams have got some at half-price.

Notes

Washer Serviced

Mum noted that she had her washing machine serviced in the morning (am), see Chapter 126. I am not sure how often this had to be done, possibly annually, as she had noted having it serviced in May 1975.

Cleaning and Tidying Up

Mum noted that she cleaned and tidied up, see Chapter 126. Mum may have been doing this as she often did housework on Mondays as that was a day she did not work. However, the fact that she was hosting visitors was also probably a factor.

Peter, Rita and Peter Cirket

Peter refers to Peter Cirket. He was mum’s first cousin, the son of Bert Cirket, grandma’s brother. He was almost two years older than mum, see Chapter 22.

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Peter married Rita Ireton in 1955 with mum acting as chief bridesmaid. They had three sons, Adrian (b1956), Bertie (b1959) and Peter (b1961). The family lived in St Leonards-on-Sea near Hastings.

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Mum noted that Peter and Rita came in the afternoon (aft) with their youngest son Peter, see Chapter 122. He would have been 14 at this point as he was in between Alan and me in terms of age. Mum met them in the city and they stayed for tea. Grandma came too. After tea, mum noted that Tricia (P for Patricia) drove grandma home and dropped the Cirkets at the bus station. They were staying on the Broads.

Although the older Peter was actually my first cousin once removed, I referred to him as uncle and Rita as auntie. As a child, I was expected to refer to all adults in this way and clearly this persisted into my teenage years. I noted that they came for tea and left about 8 pm.

St Peter’s Guild

At night, mum went to a meeting of the Guild, a fellowship group within St Peter’s Park Lane Methodist Church, see Chapter 124. It used to meet on a Thursday every two weeks or so. The group met in members’ homes by rotation. On this occasion, John and Heather Ferguson picked mum and Pam Ludlow up. The meeting was held at the house of Tom and Margaret Culley. The speaker was Ron Ingamells. Mum considered it a very good evening.

In my diary, I noted that mum had gone “somewhere“!

Ron Ingamells

Rev Ron Ingamells was Diocesan Youth Chaplain, see Chapter 124. In addition to speaking at St PEter’s Guild, he also spoke at the morning service at St Peter’s on Education Sunday in October 1975 and, in April 1978, he led a joint meeting of local churches at St Peter’s Park Lane Methodist Church. In addition, in August 1963, grandma attended the wedding of John Jay and Helen Wright. I am grateful to Helen Jay for sharing a photo of the wedding with me, see Chapter 77. The ceremony was performed by Ron Ingamells who was a friend of the groom.

Ronald Sidney Ingamells was born in Skegness in 1932. He studied theology at King’s College and St Boniface College in Warminster from 1953 to 1957. He worked as an Anglican priest for 65 years, from 1958 to 2023. Initially, he worked in Leeds and Yarmouth before becoming the first full-time Diocesan Youth Officer in 1964 at the request of the Bishop of Norwich. He carried out this role into the late seventies. Later, he worked for the YMCA and a parish in Welwyn Garden City before retiring to Buckden near Huntingdon in 2002. Following the death of his first wife, he moved to Norwich and remarried.

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Senokot

Mum sometimes took Senokot (S) presumably for constipation, see Chapter 116. Senokot is a senna-containing medicine for the treatment of constipation. However, on this occasion, she noted that she did not take any.

Run and Swimming

I noted that, at school, I had a run and then went swimming in PE, see Chapter 118.

Working Lunch

I noted that I did some school work at lunch-time. This could have been homework or general revision as I was about to take the bulk of my O levels, see Chapter 118.

Church Youth Club

Although mum did not note this, I commented that Tricia (Trish for Patricia) had gone to Youth Club, see Chapter 124. This was also associated with St Peter’s Park Lane Methodist Church and may well have been held at the church.

TV

In the evening, I noted that I watched TV (tele), see Chapter 122, but I did not specify what I watched.

Sunglasses

I was planning to buy some sunglasses the next day after school, see Chapter 125. In my diary, I noted that it was my birthday “soon” so perhaps these were to be a birthday present from someone. I am not sure that my birthday was really that soon as it was three weeks away in early June!

I think I wanted to get the sunglasses at this time as I had heard that Debenhams had them on offer, some at half-price.

Debenhams

Debenhams was a major department store in Norwich that was originally known as Curls. It was established in the 19^th century, was badly damaged by bombing in World War 2 and was rebuilt in 1955. It was taken over by Debenhams in the 1960s and renamed in the 1970s although many older people continued to refer to it as Curls. Debenhams closed all its stores in May 2021.

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