Mum – At Dunoon. A went on coach trip to Callander. E & I walked to Glen Massan. Fine all day. Played Scrabble & Table Tennis at night with Dot, Bill & Mary. Nice.
Roger – Although I got up early, I spent all morning lazing around and reading. The man came to read the electric meter and the man also fixed the tele. I then did some shopping and spent the afternoon watching the Olympics. I got a letter from mum. She wants me to do some shopping for the weekend. Last night Great Britain won their 2nd medal again for swimming. In the 4 x 200m Freestyle relay we won bronze. In the gymnastics after Russia won the women’s gold & Japan won the men’s Andrianov of Russia has won the individual mens and Comaneci of Romania after 5 perfect scores of 10 won the women’s. Denis Healey had announced new spending cuts. There is outrage today over the assassination of Britain’s ambassador to Eire. Britain have just one their first gold medal by winning the team gold medal in the modern pentathlon. In the competition for the apparatus medals in the women’s gymnastics, the women’s gymnastics results are
| GOLD | SILVER | BRONZE | |
| VAULT | N KIM (USSR) | {L Turischeva (USSR) | Stombeck (GDR)} |
| ASYMMETRIC BARS | N COMANECI (Rom) | T Ungereanu (Rom) | M Eryevari (Hun) |
| FLOOR | N KIM (USSR) | L Turischeva (USSR) | N Comaneci (Rom) |
| BEAM | N COMANECI (Rom) | O Korbut (USSR) | T Ungereanu (Rom) |
In the swimming competitions the americans are dominating the men’s competitions and the East Germans are dominating the women’s – Kornelia Ender having won 4 gold medals already.
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. On this occasion, Alan went on a coach trip while mum and Liz opted for the walk.
Coach Trip to Callander
My younger brother Alan (A) went on a coach trip to Callander. I am a bit surprised that Alan opted for a coach trip rather than walking. It would have been a round trip of some 150 miles as Callander is in Perthshire. Both grandad and mum had visited Callander previously, see Chapters 92 and 106. When mum visited, she noted that it was better known as Tannochbrae, the fictional setting for “Dr Finlay’s Casebook” which she noted used characters that had been created by A J Cronin. I think dad was a fan of A J Cronin. He certainly encouraged me to read his books. However, as mum did not go on this trip, it is not mentioned in the scrapbook but neither is the walk mum and Liz did.
Walk to Glen Massan
My younger sister Liz (E for Elizabeth) and mum walked to Glen Massan. Glen Massan is some seven miles from Dunoon so I think it is unlikely that mum and Liz walked there and back. It seems more likely that they were dropped somewhere and walked from there, see Chapter 122.
A Note on the Weather
Mum noted that it was fine all day.
Scrabble and Table Tennis
At night, mum played Scrabble and table tennis with May Evans and Dot and Bill Pond. I believe mum had met them on this Dunoon holiday. They kept in touch subsequently. She said this was nice.
A Quiet Morning
At home, I noted that I got up early but spent the morning lazing around and reading, see Chapter 122.
Electric Meter
I noted that, in the morning, a man came to read the electricity meter.
Fixing the TV
The previous day, the television had stopped working and, on this day, someone came and fixed it. We were renting the television from Visionhire, see Chapter 128. It was our first colour TV, a Philips, which we had got in March 1976.
Visionhire were a national TV rental company, formed in the fifties. They merged with other companies in the eighties to form Boxclever that continues to operate. In the 1971-2 Kelly’s Tradefinder, Visionhire were one of nine TV rental companies in Norwich at that time. They had branches at 4d Castle Street, now Castle Street Optometry, and 28 Magdalen Street.
They had had the branch at 28 Magdalen Street since at least 1960 although, at that time, their second branch was at 3 Back of the Inns. It seems that the Castle Street branch opened in October 1965. The Big C Cancer Charity appears to occupy both 26 and 28 Magdalen Street now although their address is given as the former. The location where they were based in the Back of the Inns seems to have been incorporated into the entrance to Castle Mall.
Letter from Mum
I noted that I had received a letter from mum from Dunoon. She wanted me to do shopping for the weekend, see Chapter 125.
Olympics
With the TV fixed, I was able to watch the Olympics in the afternoon, see Chapter 123.
Britain’s Second Medal
The previous night, Great Britain had won their second medal. This was again in swimming, in the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay where the British team won bronze. The USA won gold and USSR silver. The British team consisted of Alan McClatchey, David Dunne, Gordon Downie and Brian Brinkley.
Gymnastics
In the gymnastics, the Soviet Union won the women’s team event with Japan winning the men’s. Nikolai Andrianov of the Soviet Union won the men’s individual title with Nadia Comăneci of Romania famously winning the women’s individual title after registering five perfect tens. During that Olympics, she received seven perfect scores of 10. I included a table for the women’s gymnastics apparatus medals.
Britain’s First Gold
I also noted that Great Britain won their first gold in the modern pentathlon. The British team of Jim Fox, Danny Nightingale and Adrian Parker finished ahead of teams from Czechoslovakia and Hungary.
There is a very good account of this event in the British Olympic Association Official Report (pp48-49). It starts out on the night before the final event, a 4000m cross-country run. The British team were strong runners. Publicly, the team were saying they could possibly win bronze while privately they had calculated the times they thought they would need to win gold. At that point, Britain were fifth, 537 points behind leaders Czechoslovakia, and 150 points behind third-placed Poland.
Adrian Parker ran the fastest time of 12 min 9 sec for 1,378 points. Danny Nightingale caught the runner in front of him recording a time of 12 min 23 sec for 1,309 points while Jim Fox posted 12 min 47 sec for 1,264 points. Parker finished fifth overall, Nightingale tenth and Fox 15th.
The report then examined Fox’s performance in more detail. It considered that the show jumping had been too easy meaning that 13 competitors, including Fox and Parker, scored maximum points. So, Fox, as a good horse rider, was unable to establish a lead in that event. In the fencing, it was Fox who reported concerns about Boris Onischenko. The Russian’s disqualification was said to have shattered Fox who regarded Onischenko as an old friend. It also affected his shooting although he picked up his performance in the swimming and running.
Dominating the Swimming
I also commented that, in the swimming, the Americans were dominating the men’s competition and East Germany were dominating the women’s competition. I remarked that Kornelia Ender had won four golds already.
There were 13 men’s events. Of the 39 medals available, the USA won 27. They won 12 of 13 golds. The only one they did not win was the 200m breaststroke won by Great Britain’s David Wilkie.
There were 13 women’s events. Of the 39 medals available, East Germany won 18. They won 11 of 13 golds. The other countries that won gold were the Soviet Union, in the 200m breaststroke, and the United States, in the 4 x 100m freestyle.
Spending Cuts
At this time, Denis Healey was Chancellor the Exchequer. Apparently, he announced a £1 billion cut in public spending to try to combat the 1976 Sterling crisis. This move was deeply controversial within the Labour government, see Chapter 129.
Christopher Ewart-Biggs
I also noted that there was outrage at the assassination of the British ambassador to Ireland, Christopher Ewart-Biggs, see Chapter 129. He had been killed by an IRA landmine the previous day. Also killed was Judith Cook, a civil service secretary.
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