Mum – Hot. R – exam in am. Roy brought washing up – I offered to do it. There were 19 shirts!! Typed aft & am. Malcolm rang in am about my letter. Brought me “Beyond Ourselves” in aft. (He had spare copy so I bought it from him 40p) also a reply to my letter. Church Council at night. Decided to go ahead with membership campaign. P A E & I had tetanus inj in aft. A & E had dip as well. P’s arm ached at night. Ken Tickle asked me to serve on committee for campaign. I refused as Mr R obviously did not want me.
Roger – This morning had an English Lit exam 5 essays in 2½ hours. This afternoon I had a maths lesson. This evening after Star Trek had dinner with dad at the Grove House Hotel. We had Gammon Steak. He returns to Birmingham tomorrow. When I got back Andrew was here talking to Tricia. Watched a Western, it is now 11.20.
Notes
Note on the Weather
Mum noted that it was hot. That year, 1976, is well-known for having had a very hot and dry summer, see Chapter 129.
English Literature O Level
R refers to me Roger. Mum noted that I had an exam in the morning. I noted that it was an exam for my English Literature O level and that it involved writing five essays in 2½ hours, see Chapter 118.
Nineteen Shirts!
Roy refers to my father Royle Drew. My parents had separated in 1973 and my father, at this time, was living and working in Birmingham. He was in Norwich for a Norwich Union event but was staying in a hotel as mum had said he could not stay with us as he had done on previous visits. He brought her his washing to do. For some reason, she had offered to do it but commented on the number of shirts. I think this was one of many points of tension between my parents, see Chapter 114.
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 in the afternoon (aft) and morning (am).
Malcolm Carter
Malcolm refers to Rev Malcolm Carter. He was a Methodist Minister who became mum’s friend and confidant, see Chapter 114. From Merseyside, he served in the ministry there and in Darlington and East Anglia. He was Minister at Court Hey Methodist Church from 1978 to 1986. He was the Methodist chaplain to Walton Prison, now HM Prison Liverpool, for 20 years. I found a YouTube video of him taking a service at Wonford Methodist Church in Exeter in July 2024. When he was in Norwich, he was mainly based at Bowthorpe Road Methodist Church. On this occasion, he phoned in the morning (aft) about a letter mum had sent him. In the afternoon, he came round and brought mum a book and a reply to mum’s letter. He told her that the book was a spare copy so she bought it from him for 40p.
“Beyond Our Selves“
The book in question was in fact Catherine Marshall’s “Beyond Our Selves“, see Chapter 124. Mum had previously read others of her books including “A Man Called Peter” and “Adventures in Prayer“, see Chapter 122.
Church Council
At night, mum went to a Church Council meeting. Within a Methodist Church, the Church Council is the main decision-making body – see Section 61 of Methodist standing orders from “The Constitutional Practice and Discipline of the Methodist Church: Volume 2 2025”.
On New Year’s Day 1975, mum had been invited by the church’s senior Minister Rev Ream to be the Church Council secretary. In March 1976, she was elected to the Church Council, see Chapter 124. I believe this was the first Church Council meeting after her election. They decided to go ahead with a membership campaign.
Ken Tickle asked mum if she would serve on the committee for the campaign. Mum declined on the basis that Rev Ream (Mr R) “obviously” did not want her there. While it may have been true that, by this stage, her conflict with Rev Ream was so overt that he might not have wanted her on the campaign organising committee, I doubt that mum’s reasoning for declining was solely that he did not want her there. She often did things that she knew he did not want, for example, being an elected member of the Church Council.
Vaccinations
P, A and E refer to my siblings Tricia (Patricia), Alan and Liz (Elizabeth). They went with mum in the afternoon (aft) for tetanus injections (inj). Alan and Liz also had a diphtheria (dip) vaccination. Tricia had a sore arm following her injection.
I had had my tetanus and polio boosters in March 1976. I am not sure why I had mine separately from other family members nor why Alan and Liz did not have polio boosters at the same time. They went back, separately from each other, for these later that month, see Chapter 116.
Maths Lesson
I noted that, in the afternoon, I had a maths lesson. This was relatively unusual as our lessons had finished and we only had to come in for exams. However, some teachers laid on revision lessons for us and I assume this was one of those, see Chapter 118.
“Star Trek”
While I often watched TV, I relatively rarely noted what I watched, see Chapter 122. However, on this occasion, I noted watching “Star Trek“. This is a very well-known sci-fi series created by Gene Roddenberry. The original series starred William Shatner, Leonard Nimmo and DeForrest Kelley.
That evening, it was shown on BBC1 from 7.20 to 8.10 pm. It was a repeat episode entitled “The Savage Curtain“, the 22nd episode of the third series.
Dinner with Dad
After watching “Star Trek“, I went for dinner with dad. He was staying in a hotel as mum had said he could not stay with us as he had done previously, see Chapter 114. I am not sure if this was the first time I had eaten out at a hotel but it was not something we did commonly. I noted that we had gammon steak. I noted that dad was going back to Birmingham the next day.
Grove House Hotel
According to the 1971-72 Kelly’s Tradefinder, this was located at 77A Newmarket Road. It is now a Best Western Hotel, the George Hotel. I recall this hotel. Despite its Newmarket Road address, it is on the corner of Mount Pleasant and Newmarket Road and appears to me to be more on the former than the latter although there is a separate Arlington Lane leading to the hotel.
Andrew Wright
Tricia refers to my older sister (Patricia). Andrew refers to Andrew Wright who she knew from church, see Chapter 114. I noted that they were talking.
Western
I noted that I watched a Western. According to a TV Guide for the day, this was the 1966 film “Duel at Diablo” directed by Ralph Newton starring James Garner, Sidney Poitier, Bill Travers, Bibi Anderson and Dennis Weaver. It was shown on BBC 1 from 9.25 to 1.05 pm.
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