Mum – V Hot. Woke at 4.30am worrying about P & Andrew etc. Wrote thoughts to Malcolm & delivered them on way to take A to school. P & R off in am. Worked all day. Mr A away but very busy. Andrew showed coeliac film at night at church for me. Still very worried about them. Prayed that God’s will be done & that he would guide them – & me.
Roger – This morning got up about ½ past 10 and went to the shop and spent the time before lunch reading the newspaper and doing a little Chemistry revision for the paper this afternoon. It was not as difficult as I expected but I was writing for all the time. Watched a television programme called Explorers which this week looked into Cook’s voyage of discovery to Australia.
Notes
A Note on the Weather
Mum simply noted that it was very hot. This is not surprising as 1976, is well-known for having had a very hot and dry summer, see Chapter 129.
Worries
Mum struggled with depression and anxiety during this period, see Chapter 116. On this occasion, she noted she woke early, at 4.30 am, worried about “P and Andrew etc“.
P refers to my older sister Tricia (Patricia). She was 18 at this point and was in the middle of her A levels. Andrew refers to Andrew Wright who mum knew through church. I am not sure what “etc” means!
Tricia and Andrew were friends at this time. Mum was concerned about this because of the age difference and because Andrew was married, see Chapter 114. She had raised her concerns with Rev Malcolm Carter a few days earlier. He had suggested she speak to Andrew which she had done. She thought he understood which I take to mean that he accepted what she said, possibly without comment and certainly without contradiction.
I am not sure there was ever any more to Tricia’s relationship with Andrew than someone involved with working with young people in the church seeking to support someone who was dealing with a difficult home environment and considerable academic pressures, A levels, application to Cambridge etc.
In addition, Tricia was 18 at this point so my feeling is that who she was friendly with was really her concern. However, mum saw this differently and I suspect had heard church gossip.
There is a degree of irony about this that I think was probably lost on mum. She dealt with concerns she had about the closeness of her daughter’s relationship with a married man by building a close relationship with a married church Minister!
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, mum wrote down her thoughts and delivered them to him. This was a strategy mum commonly used to deal with her anxieties, writing them down often in the form of a letter. However, while she may have found this helpful, my experience was that sending such letters to other people was often hugely counter-productive, particularly when shared with family members or others who she saw as the source of her anxiety!
Taking Alan to School
A refers to my younger brother Alan. At this time, he was attending Earlham School, see Chapter 118. Mum took him to school dropping her “thoughts” at Malcolm’s en route.
External Exams
P refers to my older sister Tricia (Patricia) and R to me (Roger). Mum noted that we were both off school in the morning (am). This was because we were both taking external exams and only had to go to school when we had exams. In Tricia’s case, she was taking A levels and, in my case, I was taking O levels, see Chapter 118.
My diary centred around my O level chemistry exam which I took that afternoon. I got up late, about 10.30 am and went to the shop to buy a paper. I spent the morning reading that and doing some chemistry revision. However, I did not note any particular news stories in my diary which was relatively unusual for me.
Concerning the exam itself, I thought it was easier than I was expecting but I noted that I was writing for all the time. Perhaps this meant that I had a lot to say. However, usually I had a very strict exam technique which allocated time to answering each question leaving me time to read through and check at the end. It seems I did not do this on this occasion.
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 Wednesday, she worked all day. She noted that it was very busy even though Mr Ashken (Mr A) was away.
Coeliac Film
My brother Alan had been diagnosed with coeliac disease and my mother was active in establishing and promoting a local branch of the Coeliac Society, see Chapter 116. On this occasion, she showed a film at the church she attended, St Peter’s Park Lane Methodist Church. She noted that Andrew Wright showed the film for her.
Prayer
Although mum was very involved in church life, and her diaries are full of church activities, she very rarely wrote about her spiritual beliefs or practices, see Chapter 124. However, one topic she did sometimes mentions was prayer including praying for other people, such as here.
“Explorers“
I noted watching a TV series called “Explorers“. On this occasion, it featured James Cook’s “voyage of discovery” to Australia. The ten-part series, from 1975, was narrated by David Attenborough. Eight episodes are available online here including episode 8 which was the one about James Cook. Other explorers featured were Roald Amundsen, Charles Montagu Doughty, Henry Morton Stanley (episode missing), Burke and Wills, Mary Kingsley, Jedediah Strong Smith, Alexander Von Humboldt, Francisco Pizarro (episode missing) and Christopher Columbus.
1976 Screening
According to a TV Guide from the time, “Explorers” was shown on BBC1 from 9.25 to 10.15 pm. It was a repeat and, perhaps confusingly, was badged as episode 1. I have checked and this was the first episode of this series on this occasion. Subsequent episodes were shown weekly in the following order:
- 2. Francisco Pizarro (30 June 1976)
- 3. Alexander Von Humboldt (7 July 1976)
- 4. Burke and Willis (14 July 1976)
- 5. Charles Montague Doughty (4 August 1976 following a two-week break for the Olympics)
- 6. Mary Kingsley (11 August 1976)
- 7. Roald Amundsen (18 August 1976)
- 8. Jedediah Smith (25 August 1976)
Missing Episodes?
Initially, I thought the episodes about Christopher Columbus and Henry Morton Stanley were not shown on this occasion. However, I found the former on BBC1 at 4.15 pm on Sunday 29 August 1976 with a note that this was from BBC2. The latter was shown on BBC1 at 3.35 pm on Sunday 18 July 1976. I wondered if this meant that the series was shown in 1976 on both Wednesday evenings and Sunday afternoons but, apart from these two episodes, this does not appear to be the case.
Original 1975 Screenings
It seems that the series was first shown at the end of 1975 on BBC2 with episodes being shown on Sunday evenings and then repeated on Thursday evening. The running order on this occasion was as follows:
- 1. Roald Amundsen (13 and 17 September 1975)
- 2. Charles Montagu Doughty (21 and 25 September 1975)
- 3. Henry Morton Stanley (28 September and 2 October 1975)
- 4. Burke and Wills (5 and 9 October 1976)
- 5. Mary Kingsley (12 and 16 October 1975)
- 6. Jedediah Smith (19 and 23 October 1975)
- 7. Alexander Von Humboldt (26 and 30 October 1975)
- 8. James Cook (2 and 6 November 1975)
- 9. Francisco Pizarro (9 and 13 November 1975)
- 10. Christopher Columbus (16 and 20 November 1975)
I am unsure why the BBC used a different running order in 1976 compared to the original screening in 1975!
Early Reviews
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