Mum – Hot. Went to Show all day. A & E went too. P had maths S exam & R had beginning of his 6th form induction course. He also saw Dr Roy who seems to have talked him into doing Maths Physics & Chem to A level. Hot at Show. I did church tea tent 10-2. Tired. R made enquiries about Sub Aqua Club. Went with him to see Mr John Storrey at Lakenham. Not too keen on this but will let him do it I suppose. He’s going next week to start preparing for admittance test. P did washing in aft.
Roger – This morning the induction course started. we were given a long talk by Dr Roy then I attended lessons in both French and Pure Maths. Our Latin lesson was cancelled as Mr Norris has a meeting with Doctor Roy. I had an interview with Dr Roy at 4 o’clock where we discussed what I would do at A level. I will wait till I get my O level results. Gary & I do not know if there is a group practice tomorrow but we are both taking our guitars. I am going swimming at lunch-time and to Kay’s party tomorrow evening.
I rang up the Leisure Officer at City Hall to find out if there was a Norwich sub-aqua club, there is. I rang the man in charge, John Storrey and he told me to go to Lakenham pool where they meet every Thursday evening. They also have a meeting on the 1st Tuesday of every month at the Eastern Electricity Board social club in the walk. The subscription is £11 for the 1st year and £8 for every year after that. For that you get a hard-cover book, copies of a national magazine published once every 2 months, copies of a local newsletter which is also bi-monthly, use of their hut which has got 4 boats, 4 engines and 3 compressors.
I have to pay to get into Lakenham pool – 35p. They have an extensive training course which I have to undergo before I can dive in the sea. The first test is one which involves basic swimming. I have to swim 10 widths any stroke (not backstroke), swim 6 widths with 12lb weight-belt, tread water for 1 min with no hands, float on my back for 5 minutes and retrieve 6 objects with 6 surface dives. All the equipment for use in the pool is provided by the club (no-suits) but when it’s sea diving I must supply my own stuff.
Notes
A Note on the Weather
Mum noted, in general, that it was hot and, specifically, that it was hot at the Royal Norfolk Show. She had noted that it was hot or very hot for most of June. This is not surprising as 1976, is well-known for having had a very hot and dry summer, see Chapter 129.
Royal Norfolk Show
Mum went to the Royal Norfolk Show all day, see Chapter 122. She helped at the church tea tent between 10am and 2pm. My siblings Alan (A) and Liz (E for Elizabeth) went too.
Between 1975 and 1977, mum helped at the church tea tent at the Royal Norfolk Show, see Chapter 124. She had done this previously in 1970 and 1971, see Chapter 107, possibly in other years. I recall going to the Royal Norfolk Show as a child and teenager and have some memories of the church tea tent which I think we used as a base from which to explore the showground.
According to articles in a local newspaper archive, the Anglican church first had a stand at the Royal Norfolk Show in 1950 with its position marked by a large cross. Later, both the Methodists and the Salvation Army opened stands with the Methodists serving cups of tea from theirs. These three churches joined together as one stand in 1967 and this continued from then with a different theme each year and each church contributing in different ways. For example, the Salvation Army provided music and the Methodists continued their tea tent. By 1975, the Baptists had also joined the combined church stand.
A levels
P refers to my older sister Tricia (Patricia). She was sitting her A levels, see Chapter 118. On this occasion, she sat her maths S level exam. These S or scholarship/special papers were taken by the most able A level students until 2001 when they were phased out.
Sixth Form Induction Course
R refers to me Roger. Mum noted that I had started my sixth form induction course, see Chapter 118. I provided a bit more detail noting that there was a long talk by Dr Roy. Then, I attended lessons in both French and pure maths. I think the choice of these lessons was significant and possibly a minor act of rebellion on my part! I wanted to study both a science and a language at A level but my school was telling me that that was simply not possible. Maybe so, but if I had control of the subjects I went to during induction, I would choose a language and a science! It also perhaps indicated that mum’s conclusion that I had decided to do maths, physics and chemistry was not perhaps as final a decision as she thought.
Latin Lesson
I don’t think this Latin lesson was part of the sixth form induction course as such. Latin was a three-year O level course that I had started in fourth year and would only complete in lower sixth. The fact that I was already committed to this O level restricted my choices at A level. For example, many of my peers did pure and applied maths, physics and chemistry. However, my timetable would not allow me to do applied maths in addition to the other three. On this occasion, our Latin lesson was cancelled as our teacher, Mr Norris, had a meeting with the headmaster.
Mr Norris
In years four and five, my Latin teacher was Mr Norris. I think he may have written the introduction to the upper school section of the 1972 school magazine. From a post on Facebook, it seems he also taught English literature.
Dr Roy
As noted above, I was having difficulty deciding what subjects I was going to study for A level. I wanted to take at least one science and a language but the Head of Upper School had told me that this was not possible, see Chapter 118. Mum had seen Dr Roy, the school’s overall head, a few days earlier. She noted that I saw him and she thought he had persuaded me to study maths’ physics and chemistry.
I also noted that I had an interview with Dr Roy at 4 o’clock where we discussed what I would do at A level. However, unlike mum, who concluded that I had decided on what subjects I would study at A level, I noted that I would wait till I got my O level results.
I suspect Dr Roy told each of us slightly different things. I think he recognised that I would react strongly to what I saw as bureaucratic restrictions on what I could or could not study and wisely agreed to give me more time. Pragmatically, the quality of my results in different subjects might have made the decision for us! Mum would of course have argued that she was right as I did in fact go on to study those subjects. She would have smiled knowingly if I had said it had not been decided at this point as she thought it had been decided between her and Dr Roy!
Tired
Mum noted she was tired. She often complained of tiredness at this time. Partly, this was just a reflection of a very busy schedule. However, it also reflected the interaction between her mental and physical health, see Chapter 116.
Sub-Aqua Club
Mum noted that I made enquiries about a sub-aqua club. She went with me to meet John Storey at Lakenham swimming pool to discuss it. She noted that she was not too keen on me doing this but would let me do it “I suppose“. As a result, I was going the following week to prepare for the admittance test.
I confess that I had completely forgotten about this and only recalled it when reviewing the diaries. Nevertheless, there was quite a lot about this in my diary. I am not sure if there is a Norwich sub-aqua club currently. There is a club at UEA and there is also an East Anglian club. The latter is based in Norwich.
In those pre-Google days, in order to find out about a sub-aqua club in Norwich, I phoned the Leisure Officer at City Hall. I found out that there was and he told me to phone John Storey which I did. John told me that they met at Lakenham pool every Thursday evening and they also had a meeting every second Tuesday of the month at the Eastern Electricity Board social club on the Walk.
There was an annual subscription of £8 per year with an initial subscription of £11. For that you got a hard cover book, copies of a national magazine published once every two months, copies of a local newsletter which was also bi-monthly, and use of their hut which had four boats, four engines and two compressors. I noted that I had to pay to get into Lakenham pool and this cost 35p. I also noted that they had an extensive training course which I had to undergo before I could dive in the sea.
The first test was one which involved basic swimming. I had to swim ten widths any stroke (not backstroke), swim six widths backstroke, swim four widths with a 12lb weight-belt, tread water for one minute with no hands, float on my back for five minutes and retrieve six objects with six surface dives. I noted that all the equipment for use in the pool was provided by the club (no suits) but that I would need to provide my own stuff when it came to sea diving.
However, despite my apparent enthusiasm, I don’t think this came to anything. Although I thought I was a good swimmer at the time, I don’t think I was and I think I struggled with the swimming requirements!
Lakenham Pool
There was an outdoor pool in Lakenham. It opened in 1908 and closed in 1992 when costs of reopening of £100,000 could not be met. It was located on Martineau Lane near the Cock pub. I believe this is where the Camping and Caravanning Club now have a site. There are some allotments there referred to as Lakenham Baths allotments. A video based on photos from Norwich Evening News can be found here.
Swimming at Lunch-time
I noted that I was going to go swimming the next day, presumably in the school pool, see Chapter 118.
Washing
P refers to my older sister Tricia (Patricia). Mum noted that she did the washing in the afternoon (aft), see Chapter 126.
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 neither I nor my friend Gary Wood knew if there was to be a group practice the next day. We were both going to bring our guitars just in case.
Kay’s Party
I noted that the next day I was going to Kay’s party. This party is significant as I had hoped to hold a party on that day but was unable to because this party was already scheduled, see Chapter 122. I fear I do not recall exactly who Kay was. There was a Kay Burton in my year so it could have been her but I am not sure.
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