Mum – Walked to work. P had Physics pract exam. R – French. Nice day at work. Finance committee at night – I was sec for this meeting. Very tired. Malcolm rang me at work & called in evening with some duplicating. Prayed for Roy’s happiness & meant it at night. P fetched car back – new battery. Still stalls though. Mr A told me we could have increase of £3 a week – now £1.35 hr 12½% increase.
Roger – This morning first 2 I had a maths lesson, then had a French lesson. James Jarvis & Susan Marjoram came. French exam this afternoon comprehension and composition. Dad went back this morning. The trial of the British mercenaries in Angola is in its 5th day. The Unions are having a meeting to discuss the pay policy.
Notes
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 Tuesday, she worked all day. She walked to work as the car was in the garage. This was a distance of about 1 mile so a 15-20 minute walk. At work, Mr Ashken (Mr A) told mum that they could have an increase of £3 per week. I believe “they” referred to mum and another part-time secretary. This meant that they would have then been earning £1.35 per hour and mum called this a 12.5% increase. By my calculations, this means they had been earning £1.20 per hour and that they were working 20 hours per week.
A Level Physics
P refers to my older sister Tricia (Patricia). She was taking her A levels, see Chapter 118. On this occasion, she had a physics practical (pract) exam.
O Level French
R refers to me Roger. I was taking my O levels, see Chapter 118. On this occasion, I had a French exam. I noted that it was in the afternoon and consisted of comprehension and composition.
Finance Committee
Mum attended a meeting of the finance committee of St Peter’s Park Lane Methodist Church, see Chapter 124. On this occasion, she acted as secretary (sec) for the meeting.
Tired
Mum noted that she was very tired. She often complained of tiredness at this time. Partly, this was just a reflection of a busy schedule. However, it also reflected the interaction between her mental and physical health, see Chapter 116.
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 mum at work and came round in the evening with some duplicating.
Duplicating
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 that Rev Malcolm Carter brought her some duplicating in the evening.
Praying for Dad’s Happiness
Roy refers to my father Royle Drew. My parents had separated in 1973 and, at this point, dad was living and working in Birmingham. Mum noted that she prayed for dad’s happiness and meant it, see Chapter 124.
While mum wrote a lot in her diaries about her involvement in church activities, she did not write often about spiritual matters such as her beliefs. She did, however, sometimes, as on this occasion, write about prayer partly, I think, because she was inspired by Catherine Marshall books she had read. I confess to still finding some of this difficult particularly the idea of praying for dad’s happiness! My problem is that I think she could have done some practical things to have helped with this such as stopping being so mean to him! It still feels a bit of a cop out to me!
Dad had been attending a Norwich Union course. I noted that he had gone back to Birmingham that day.
Fetching the Car Back
P refers to my older sister Tricia (Patricia). At this point, she was 18 and had been driving for a year. She collected the car from the garage, see Chapter 127. At this time, mum had a Simca that she and dad had bought in February 1972 before they split up, see Chapter 110. There had been problems with the car not starting so, as a result, the garage had put a new battery in. Nevertheless, mum noted that the car still stalled.
Maths and French Lessons
I was in the middle of my O level exams, see Chapter 118. This meant that lessons had ended and we only had to come in for exams. However, some teachers organised optional revision lessons for some subjects. On this day, I noted such lessons for maths and French. Although I valued and attended such lessons, I am not sure how well attended they are. I noted that two other pupils in my year, James Jarvis and Susan Marjoram, attended the French lesson. I suspect they were the only other two!
Trial of British Mercenaries
I noted that it was the fifth day of the trial of British mercenaries captured in Angola, see Chapter 129. This is now referred to as the Luanda trial involving 14 Western mercenaries, of whom nine were British, four American and one Irish. They had been fighting for the US-backed National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA). They were captured by forces of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and were charged with acting as mercenaries, war crimes and crimes against peace. The trial lasted from 11 to 16 June. All were found guilty with sentences delivered on 28 June 1976. Four were given death sentences while the remainder received prison sentences of between 16 and 30 years.
The four who were given death sentences, Britons Costas Georgiou (Tony Callan), Andrew Gordon McKenzie and John Derek Baker, and American Daniel Francis Gearhart, were executed on 10 July 1976. Following negotiations by the respective governments, the remaining prisoners were released between 1982 and 1984.
Pay Policy
I also noted that unions were having a meeting to discuss the pay policy which was something proposed by the Labour government to try to limit pay rises to 4½% as a way of curbing inflation, see Chapter 129. The meeting I was referring to was in fact a special TUC congress being held the next day.
Charts
At the end of my diary, I noted the charts for three weeks including on Tuesday 15 May 1976. For some reason, these entries have been crossed out but are still clearly visible.
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