Mum’s Diary
At Dunoon. Rained in am. Left D at 10.30 on boat (private launch) & it had just stopped raining – to Millport on Great Cumbrae Island 1½ hrs down Clyde. Sun shone & was hot there. A & E cycled round island – about 10 miles. Back in boat. Played Scrabble at night in competition. Talked to Sid & others about healing. Nice atmosphere in home – among staff too.
My/Roger’s Diary
Roger – My timetable today was Pure Maths, Chemistry, Pure Maths, Physics. We worked hard. England have lost the 3rd Test Match so West Indies lead 1-0 with 2 matches drawn. This evening Tricia prepared tea – early as she was doing something at school. Caroline came round but could only stay till ½ past 9. She brought some homework to do. After she went I watched Eddie Macken win some Show Jumping Trophy at Wembley. Tomorrow I’m going to Yarmouth to do some NSPCC collecting. I have got to be at the station at a quarter past 9 and I’ve got to take dinner. I must ring Caroline up at ¼ to 6.
Diary Entries
Mum’s Scrapbook
We left Dunoon pier by private launch & travelled down the Clyde to Great Cumbrae Island passing the Cloch lighthouse which is situated on the coast road between Gourock & Skelmorlie.
The Nuclear power station at Inverkip is under construction & its chimney is 400 ft tall & was supposed to be hidden by trees when the plan was first proposed, but it is rather an outstanding landmark. We passed Wemyss Bay, Skelmorlie & Largs & arrived at Millport at the south of the island & its population is about 2000. Great Cumbrae is encircled by a coast road (about 10 miles) & an inner ring road that command grand views.
Mum’s entry contained three postcards,. The first showed Cloch lighthouse. The second was a multiview card of Cumbrae. Mum had labelled it as showing Garrison Gardens, Newton Beach and Kames Bay. The third postcard showed the Crocodile Rock in Millport.
Notes
Dunoon
Mum and my two siblings Alan (A) and Liz (E for Elizabeth) were away for a two-week holiday at Dhalling Mhor, the Christian Guild place in Dunoon, see Chapter 122. Those Guild holidays usually offered activity options, for example a walk and a coach trip. On this occasion, mum and my siblings, went on a boat trip to Great Cumbrae. Alan and Liz cycled round the island.
Notes on the Weather
Mum noted that it rained in the morning (am) but it had stopped raining by the time they left Dunoon and by the time they got to Great Cumbrae the sun was shining and it was hot.
Boat Trip
Mum noted that they left Dunoon (D) by boat at 10.30am. She described the boat as a private launch, see Chapter 122. She noted that the trip was down the Clyde and that it took 1½ hours.
In her scrapbook, mum noted some details of the trip there. She described places they went past including Cloch Point Lighthouse, the power station at Inverkip, Wemyss Bay, Skelmorlie and Largs.
Cloch Point Lighthouse
She noted that the Cloch Lighthouse was situated on the coast road between Gourock and Skelmorlie. She included a postcard of the lighthouse in her scrapbook.
Inverkip Power Station
Mum described Inverkip as a nuclear power station but it seems it was oil-fired. Built in the early seventies, the high and rising price of oil meant it was never used commercially. It was kept in reserve but power generation ceased in 1988. It was mothballed in the nineties and was decommissioned in 2006. Finally, it was demolished between 2010 and 2012. The iconic chimney was demolished in 2013.
The Nuclear power station at Inverkip is under construction & its chimney is 400 ft tall & was supposed to be hidden by trees when the plan was first proposed, but it is rather an outstanding landmark. We passed Wemyss Bay, Skelmorlie & Largs & arrived at Millport at the south of the island & its population is about 2000. Great Cumbrae is encircled by a coast road (about 10 miles) & an inner ring road that command grand views.
Millport
Mum did not note much detail of Millport but she did record the population as 2,000. As of 2022, the population was 1,173 and it has been steadily declining.
Although mum did not note what she did in Millport, she did include two postcards. The first was a multiview showing Garrison Gardens, Newton Beach and Kames Bay. The second showed the Crocodile Rock.
Cycling in Great Cumbrae
Although mum did not note what she did, she noted that my siblings, Alan (A) and Liz (E for Elizabeth) cycled round the island on a ten-mile circular route on the coast road, see Chapter 122. It is described as easy cycling, mostly flat.
I confess that Alan and Liz’s experience of cycling in Cumbrae inspired us to take a recent holiday in the area. We also rented bikes in Millport and cycled around the island
Inner Ring Road
In her scrapbook, mum noted that Cumbrae has an inner ring road “that commands grand views“. I very much doubt that mum saw these views herself but rather wrote the phrase from a guide book.
When we visited, we stayed three nights on the island so this gave us time to explore the inner ring road on one day. The highest point is on Barbay Hill which, at 417 feet, is the island’s highest point. As mum noted, there are great views.
Scrabble
Mum noted that she played Scrabble at night in a competition, see Chapter 122. Mum thought there was a nice atmosphere in the home including among the staff.
Healing
In the evening, mum talked to Sid Collins and others about healing. I assume this focused on divine/spiritual healing as this was a topic that mum had some interest in at this time, see Chapter 124.
Sid Collins
I am not exactly sure who Sid Collins was but this trip was the first time he was mentioned in mum’s diaries. He is mentioned a few times after that as he phoned mum on a number of occasions between October 1976 and January 1977.
Sixth Form Timetable
I was at school and we had started our sixth form timetable, see Chapter 118. I believe we did that for a week and then went on summer holidays, On this day, I noted that my timetable was pure maths, chemistry, pure maths and physics. This is interesting on two counts. First, I had not finally selected what A levels I was doing and was waiting for my O level results. However, in the meantime, it seems I was doing pure maths, physics and chemistry which were the subjects I ultimately studied at A level. Second, from memory, I think our day was divided into eight 35-minute periods. Most lessons were double periods, so an hour and ten minutes. There were four double periods in the day but they were called 1&2, 3&4, 5&6 and 7&8.
Cricket
I noted that England lost the third test match meaning that West Indies led the series 1-0 as the first two tests had been drawn, see Chapter 123. In fact, England only added one more run on the final day! In their second innings, John Edrich high scored with only 24. West Indies won by 435 runs.
Tea
Tricia refers to my older sister (Patricia). On this occasion, she prepared tea, see Chapter 126, and did so early as she had something on at her school, Norwich High School for Girls, see Chapter 118, but I did not specify what.
Caroline Kingham
Caroline refers to Caroline Kingham. She and I had just started going out. I noted that she came round and brought some homework. She was only able to stay until 9.30pm. Later in my diary entry, I noted that I needed to phone her the next day at 5.45 pm.
I recall her and would consider her as my first “proper” girlfriend, see Chapter 122. We went out for a relatively long period by the teenage standards of that time, but it was probably less than a month all told! I confess that I was unable to recall her surname but was able to track it down as my mother and her mother later worked together. I don’t know much about what happened to her but I believe she may have married Marcus Adam Batch in June 1982.
Show Jumping on TV
I have never been the biggest fan of show jumping but I confess I am happy watching pretty much any sport! I recall watching some show jumping as a child and teenager. On this occasion, I noted that I watched Eddie Macken win “some show jumping” at Wembley, see Chapter 123. In this event, he won on his horse Boomerang.
Royal International Horse Show
I believe this was the Royal International Horse Show. This had been first held at London Olympia in 1907, hosted by the Institute of the Horse and Pony Club, which would later become the British Horse Society. The show was discontinued during the First World War but revived after it. No show took place in 1933 but the event was reestablished at Olympia in 1934. Having also been held at Wembley Stadium, White City Stadium in West London and the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, the show moved to the All England Jumping Course at Hickstead in 1992.
Events
This Horse Show was broadcast on BBC1 at 9.25pm. There were two events, the big wall puissance and the Godfrey Davis Championship, which was the one that Eddie Macken won.
The Puissance
The puissance was won by John Whittaker on Bericote Golden Vale with Rene Dechamps, Hendrik Schulze-Siehoff and Harvey Smith tied for second. I remember being somewhat fascinated with “puissance” events in show jumping as they seemed to be like high jump for horses! Apparently, the highest height cleared in puissance indoors is 7’ 10”!!
Godfrey Davis
Although I have come across a number of show jumping competitions with the name of Godfrey Davis, I was not initially sure who this was. I was thinking that it would have been someone who was big in the world of show jumping. But, it turns out that it was a car hire company. Established in 1920, the company pioneered car rental in the UK from 1920 before being bought out by Europcar in 1981.
Collecting for the NSPCC
I noted that the following day I was part of a group going to Yarmouth by train to collect money for the NSPCC, see Chapter 118. I did this at least twice, in 1976 and 1977. To be honest, I am not sure why we went to Yarmouth rather than, for example, collecting in Norwich. At this point, I was mostly concerned with the logistics, the time I needed to be at the station and the need to take my own dinner/lunch.
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