Mum – Hair set, then to GTE. Work in aft. Not very busy. BB Open evening. Alan won Boys Cup – for attendance, appearance & behaviour. Holds it for one year. 1S. Roy rang – wants to give me half towards P’s watch – he obviously can’t be bothered to get her anything. I feel rather bitter!
Roger – Went swimming at lunch-time & also went into the city to get some sunglasses as Debenham’s had them on offer but I didn’t see any I liked. The inflation rate is down to 18.2% a year. The exchange rate for the dollar is 1.8 something. Wales played Northern Ireland today. When I went to bed they were winning 1-0. England play Scotland tomorrow.
Notes
Hair Set
Mum noted that she had her hair set.
Work for Rev Eddy
GTE refers to Rev G T Eddy who was the Chairman of the Methodist District. Based on her CV, see Chapter 105, mum did some part-time secretarial work for him between 1973 and 1977, see Chapter 121. On this occasion, mum noted that she went there after she had had her hair set.
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. As it was Friday, she worked in the afternoon (aft). However, she noted that it was not very busy.
Boys’ Brigade Open Evening
In the evening, mum went to a Boys’ Brigade (BB) open evening, see Chapter 124. My younger brother Alan won the Boys’ Cup. Mum noted this was for attendance, appearance and behaviour. She noted that he held it for a year.
Senokot
Mum took one Senokot (S) presumably for constipation, see Chapter 116. Senokot is a senna-containing medicine for the treatment of constipation.
Tricia’s Watch
Roy refers to my father Royle Drew, see Chapter 114. P refers to my older sister Tricia (Patricia) who was turning 18 the next day, see Chapter 122. The previous Saturday, mum had bought her a watch from Samuels for £22.95.
Mum noted that dad now wanted to give mum half the money for this watch. This clearly irritated her as she interpreted it as dad not being bothered to buy her anything. She noted that she felt “rather bitter“,
To be honest, I struggle with this and find it rather harsh towards dad. I assume he only knew mum had got Tricia a watch because mum had told him. I suspect he thought that she wanted him to contribute to this and he may well have offered. If she had not wanted him to, she could either have not told him about the watch or could have said no. From my own memory, it was quite common for mum and dad to buy us joint birthday presents, even after they split up, particularly when these were larger items.
Certainly, mum and dad had different approaches to our birthdays. Mum would give a lot of thought to cards and presents and would try to buy us something we wanted or had asked for well in advance. Dad’s approach was very different. He might bring us a present when he next came but was more likely to phone on our birthday than send a card.
I assume mum was saying that she felt “rather bitter” towards dad because he couldn’t be bothered to get Tricia a birthday present. My own interpretation of this is that, while mum undoubtedly felt bitterness towards dad, I suspect it pre-dated this particular incident. Indeed, the bitterness mum felt towards dad probably informed how she interpreted his offer to contribute to Tricia’s watch.
Swimming
I noted going swimming at lunch-time. Although I did not say so explicitly, I assume this was at school, see Chapter 118.
Sunglasses
I was planning to buy some sunglasses, see Chapter 125. I think I wanted to get them at this time as I had heard that Debenhams had them on offer, some at half-price. However, although I went to Debenhams, I did not get any as I did not see any that I liked.
Debenhams
Debenhams was a major department store in Norwich that was originally known as Curls. It was established in the 19th 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.
Inflation and Exchange Rates
I noted that the annual inflation rate was down to 18.2% and the exchange rate for the dollar was 1.8 something, see Chapter 129. Both these figures might seem odd now. Currently, the inflation rate is around 3.3% which is considered high and the exchange rate is around 1.35 which again is considered strong or high.
However, the seventies are well-known for having high inflation and I recall this. A news article in the Eastern Daily Press for the following day confirms that the exchange rate had fallen to 1.8157. The same article gave the inflation rate as 18.9% which means I had probably noted down the last figure wrongly.
Home Championship
I noted that, in football, Wales played Northern Ireland. This was part of the British Home Championship, see Chapter 123. When I went to bed, it was 1-0 to Wales and that was how it finished. According to a TV Guide from that day, the match was not shown live on TV but their were highlights on “International Match of the Day” on BBC1 from 10.45 to 11.35 pm. It seems likely that I watched some of the match but not all of it. I did note that England and Scotland were playing the next day. This was the deciding match of that year’s Home Championship.