Mum – Hair set in am, then to GTE. Work in aft. P at school. Went to Norwich Evangel Choir at night – Anne Saunders met me there – quite nice – am not too certain it is right. Rang FR at night. JPS back.
Roger – I was 16 today. I got some sheet music, a box of weekend, a geometry set and several other things. A quiet morning watching cricket and this afternoon went to have my haircut. This evening mum went out somewhere. West Indies are about 490 all out. England have not started to bat.
Notes
Hair
Mum had her hair set in the morning (am). I also noted having my hair cut in the afternoon.
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 went to his after having 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. On this occasion, as it was Friday, she worked in the afternoon. She noted that Mr Stephens (JPS) was back. This followed him having gallbladder surgery, see Chapter 116.
At School
P refers to my older sister Tricia (Patricia). She was back at school after her half-term but the rest of us were not. As she attended a grant-aided private school while the rest of us went to state schools, our holidays did not always fully overlap, see Chapter 118.
Norwich Evangel Choir
At night, mum went to the Norwich Evangel Choir. I noted in my diary that she went out “somewhere“. She met Anne Saunders there. She thought it was quite nice but was not certain that it was “right“. I think at this time she was disillusioned with the choir at St Peter’s Park Lane Methodist Church and was thinking of joining a different choir, see Chapter 124.
Mum had seen Norwich Evangel Choir, also known as Norwich Evangel Singers, the previous month at Drayton Methodist Church. Apparently, they were a singing group based at Wensum Chapel. I found multiple adverts for performances by them in the late seventies although they disbanded in 1979.
Rev Dowson
FR refers to Rev F R Dowson. Frederick Rodham Dowson entered the Methodist ministry in 1936. He was born in Haxby, York on 5 August 1912 and he died in Selsey on 4 September 2011, aged 99. I believe he was superintendent Minister for the Park Lane Circuit from 1968 to 1974. He and mum were close and they spoke and corresponded frequently, see Chapter 114. On this occasion, mum phoned him at night.
Sixteen
It was my 16th birthday. I noted some of the presents I received including some sheet music, a box of Week-end and a geometry set. Surprisingly perhaps, mum does not mention my birthday at all in her diary.
Week-end
These chocolates were produced by Mackintosh in the sixties, seventies and eighties.
Cricket on TV
I noted having a quiet morning watching cricket, see Chapter 123. According to a TV Guide in the local press, this was the first test between England and the West Indies. It was shown live on BBC1 from 11.25 am to 1.30pm and again from 2.10 pm to 3.58 pm.
My recollection is that I don’t think I really followed cricket as a child or teenager. I thought the forms of cricket available then, and which I knew, were slow and boring!
I remember going once to county cricket with my dad and remarking that one good thing was that you could go for lunch, come back, and know you hadn’t missed anything! Later, I believe I got called a “philistine” for this remark, not by my dad though. I believe that my brother, when he was later living in the States, described cricket to his American friends as like baseball on Valium!!
I confess that my views on cricket have changed over time, not least because of the introduction of one-day cricket and T20, and the effect these forms of cricket have had on the way test cricket is played. While I would not say I am, even now, a regular watcher of cricket, I do watch it on occasions.
However, my diaries might indicate that I took more interest in cricket than I recall. For example, they describe, in some detail, the five test matches the West Indies played when on tour in England from May to September 1976. The West Indies cricket team spent almost all of the 1976 cricket season in England. They played a five match test series which West Indies won 3-0.
This was the second day of the first test. It was played at Trent Bridge in Nottingham and the match was drawn. At the end of the second day, West Indies had completed their first innings for 494.
Leave a Reply