Mum – Mr Hopper came in am, typed all aft. Bought con quilt cover for me – 13.95 Belfast on Barclaycard. Took P watch in to be engraved. Went to joint circuit meeting with Cal St at night – at St Peter’s. Voted 77 for 6 against 2 neutral to join 2 circuits. I was put on Committee to sort it out. They wanted a female from each circuit. Connie Harvey nominated me, someon Vera Wyatt. They were starting to vote – although V had said she wouldn’t be at first mtg when Ken Hustler said the person must be there so I was elected, I wish I had been voted in – there seemed to be a lot of people not voting for Vera, No S. Period v heavy.
Roger – Played some football today but it was an uneventful day at school. Mum & Alan argued about holidays. Alan went to Boys’ Brigade & Mum went somewhere, I’m not sure where. I watched tele and had a bath.
Notes
Work for Rev Hopper
Rev Reginald West Hopper was one of the former Ministers of St Peter’s who returned for the 40th anniversary celebrations in October 1979. He was Superintendent Minister in the St Peter’s Circuit from 1963 to 1968, see Chapter 124. Mum’s diaries mention him a number of times, not least because she did some secretarial work for him between February and June 1976, see Chapter 121. On this occasion, he came in the morning (am).
Centre – Rev Hopper at a reception in 1966 for then President of the Methodist Conference Rev Douglas Thompson
Right – Rev Hopper pictured in 1968 after returning from an exchange visit to the United States
Typing
According to mum’s CV, see Chapter 105, she ran a typing and duplicating business from home until 1975. However, she did typing and duplicating after this date, particularly for the church, see Chapter 121. On this occasion, she noted typing all afternoon (aft).
Duvet Cover
Mum noted that she bought a duvet cover for herself. She referred to this as a continental (con) quilt cover. She bought it from Belfast for £13.95 and paid for it with her Barclaycard, see Chapter 125.
Duvets vs Continental Quilts
As children, we had always had sheets and blankets on our beds. In the seventies, duvets started to become popular although I recall that they were initially called “continental quilts”. Mum had bought Liz one for her birthday that year, see Chapter 122.
Belfast
I believe mum was referring to Belfast Linen Warehouse which had operated in Norwich since at least 1952 and was known as The Belfast. Initially, there was a shop at 17 St Stephen’s Street, but following street widening, they moved to 19 St Stephen’s Street, where Coral are located currently. There was also a store at 43 Magdalen Street, where there is an Asian Mart Euro Foods currently.
According to the House of Fraser archive, The Belfast Linen Warehouse was established in 1935. However, a 1952 advert in the local press dates its establishment to 1905. Later, it became a subsidiary of Hide and Co which itself was taken over by House of Fraser in 1975. It seems the brand was maintained for sometime afterwards, at least into the 1990s.
The Norwich Remembers Facebook Group includes posts with memories and photos of the Belfast including one of the shop in St Stephen’s Street providing the background to a bus queue in the seventies.
Barclaycard
Mum noted that she bought the duvet cover with her Barclaycard, see Chapter 125. I think this was relatively novel for her having first used it in February 1976. Barclaycard was launched by Barclays in 1966. Originally, it was a charge card meaning that the full amount had to be paid off by an agreed date, usually monthly. However, in November 1967, it became the UK’s first credit card allowing customers to roll credit balances over. Apparently, it enjoyed a monopoly as a credit card until the introduction of Access in 1972, although there were other charge cards, such as Diners Club and American Express before that date.
Watch to be Engraved
P refers to my older sister Tricia (Patricia). Mum had bought her a watch for her 18th birthday, see Chapter 122. She took it to be engraved.
Joint Circuit Meeting
At night, mum went to a joint circuit meeting at St Peter’s Park Lane Methodist Church. Apparently, there had been five Methodist circuits in Norwich but, at this time, only two remained. These were St Peter’s and Calvert (Cal) Street, which had been named after Calvert Street church and which retained the name even after the church had closed, see Chapter 124.
The main topic of the meeting was to discuss and vote on whether the two circuits should merge. The vote was strongly in favour with 77 for and only six against and two abstaining. A committee was established to “sort it out“, that is to arrange the practicalities.
Mum was elected to be one of the representatives of St Peter’s Circuit on that committee. It seems that they wanted at least one woman from each circuit. Connie Harvey nominated mum and Vera Wyatt was also nominated. However, as they started to vote, circuit steward Ken Hustler stated that whoever was elected would need to be available to attend the first meeting. This ruled Vera Wyatt out so mum was elected unopposed. She noted that she would have preferred to have been voted in particularly as she thought there were a lot of people not voting for Vera.
It appears that the final decision to merge the circuits was only taken by each circuit in March of 1977.
In my diary, I noted that mum had gone somewhere but I did not know where!
Senokot
Mum took Senokot (S) at times 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.
Heavy Period
Mum had problems on and off with her periods from May 1975, see Chapter 116. On this occasion, she noted that it was very heavy.
Football at School
I noted that I played some football at school but that otherwise the time there was uneventful, see Chapter 118.
Arguing Over Holidays
I noted that mum and my younger brother, Alan, argued over holidays. It is interesting that mum did not mention this at all in her diaries. It was extremely unusual for Alan to argue with anyone particularly mum. I don’t know what the argument was about but clearly it related to something about holidays, see Chapter 122.
Boys’ Brigade
Alan refers to my younger brother. I noted that he had gone to Boys’ Brigade, see Chapter 124.
TV and a Bath
I noted watching TV (tele) in the evening but did not note what I saw, see Chapter 122. I also noted having a bath.
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