Mum – Hairset in am. Work in aft 1.15 – 3.45. Then mum, A E & I went to stay with Olive & Alf at Old Dalby (Melton Mowbray). Left 5.45 got there 8.45. 123 miles. A& I slept on camp beds. Took 1 Tryptizol at night.
Roger – Got up early as went swimming before school. There was an assembly but didn’t go as out form tutor was not there so he couldn’t take us. Went swimming again at lunch-time. No group practice after school as Gary was swimming. Mum, Alan & Elizabeth have gone to Melton Mowbray for the weekend. Patricia & I are here on our own. Have arranged an interview with Mr Burns but will have to cancel it as it clashes with my German oral. Was going to see Towering Inferno but stayed at home and watched tele instead. Tricia went out briefly as Andrew came.
Notes
Hairset
Mum had her hair set in the morning (am).
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) from 1.15 to 3.45 pm. I think she might have finished early as she was going away for the weekend.
Melton Mowbray
A and E refer to my younger siblings Alan and Liz (Elizabeth). They went with mum and grandma to visit Olive and Alf Holland in Old Dalby near to Melton Mowbray, see Chapter 122. They left at 5.45 pm and got there at 8.45 pm. Mum noted that it was a distance of 123 miles and that she and Alan slept on camp beds.
Olive Holland née Evans was grandad’s niece, the daughter of his sister, Eva. As a result, she was mum’s first cousin and my first cousin once removed. However, she was quite bit older than mum so mum referred to her as Auntie Olive.
I noted that mum, Alan and Liz, who I surprisingly referred to by her full name, had gone to Melton Mowbray. I noted that this meant that Tricia and I were at home on our own. At this point, Tricia was 18 and I was 15. Again, somewhat surprisingly, I referred to Tricia by her full name.
Antidepressants
From time to time, mum took antidepressants, see Chapter 116. At this point, she was not taking them every day and was trying to come off them. However, on this occasion, she took one tablet of amitriptyline (Tryptizol, T). The previous time she had noted taking one was back in March. I am not sure if she was feeling particularly depressed and, if she was, whether anything specific had triggered that.
Swimming
I noted that I went swimming both before school and at lunch-time, see Chapter 118. I did not say where I went swimming but I assume it was in the school at lunch-time and probably was there before school too.
Missed Assembly
I noted that I did not go to assembly as our form tutor was not there so he could not take us. I was not the biggest fan of assembly so was definitely not heartbroken not to be able to go! I assume that each class needed to be taken to assembly by their form tutor. We definitely knew where assembly was held so could have gone there ourselves. At that time I was in year 5 and our form tutor was Mr Poyner, the physics teacher, see Chapter 118.
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 no group practice after school as Gary Wood was swimming. Gary was a good guitarist and was a central member of the group. Hence there was no practice if he couldn’t be there.
Interview with Mr Burns
I noted that I had arranged an interview with Mr Burns but that I would need to cancel it as it clashed with my German O level oral. Mr Burns was head of Hewett upper school and I believe this meeting was to discuss my A level choices for sixth form. Essentially, I wanted to do chemistry and German and he was adamant that I could not do both sciences and languages. This led to an impasse and me failing to submit my A level choices within the deadline specified by the school. The issue was only later resolved by Dr Roy’s intervention, see Chapter 118.
“Towering Inferno“
I had been planning to go out to see the film “Towering Inferno” but, for some unspecified reason, I did not go but stayed in and watched TV instead. “Towering Inferno” was a 1974 disaster movie directed by John Guillermin and starring Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Fred Astaire, Susan Blakely, Richard Chamberlain, Jennifer Jones, O J Simpson, Robert Vaughn and Robert Wagner.
Andrew Wright
Tricia refers to my older sister Patricia. She went out briefly when Andrew Wright came round. He attended St Peter’s Park Lane Methodist Church and he and Tricia were friends at this time, see Chapter 122.