Mum’s Diary
At Dunoon. Went on boat trip to Largs bit rough coming back. Pain in left back in evening ?cold? Spent day with May Dot Bill and Alf.
Roger’s/My Diary
Got up at about ½ past 10 & did some shopping. This afternoon we had another group practice this afternoon. I spent this evening watching the Olympics as usual. We are third in the 3 day event at the moment. Charlie Magri is out of the boxing, he was knocked out. Rodney Patterson has slipped to 2nd in his sailing class but Reg White is still leading his. The athletics started today – 2 finals. The women’s Long Jump an East German won and the 20km walk which isn’t finished yet, There were also the heats for the men’s 100m, men’s & women’s 800m, men’s shot putt, women’s javelin and men’s 10 000m.
Mum’s Scrapbook
Trip by boat to Largs. It was at Largs in 1263 King Haakon of Norway was surprised & routed by Alexander III before he had time to get his troops into battle array after their landing. The king however escaped to Orkney. His defeat caused the cession of the Isle of Man & the Hebrides to Scotland on condition of an annual tribute which was paid until the days of James I.
The two pages of notes include three postcards all of Largs including one of the pier.
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, mum went on a boat trip to Largs. She noted that it was a bit rough coming back.
The Evanses and Ponds
Mum spent the day with May and Alf Evans and Dot and Bill Pond. I believe mum had met them on this Dunoon holiday, see Chapter 122. They kept in touch subsequently.
Back Pain
Mum had been having pain in the left side of her back and haematuria for much of the week. On this occasion, she again had pain in the left side of her back but was again wondering if it was a cold. It turned out that she had a renal stone and, the next day, the day she should have come home, she was admitted to Dunoon hospital! She later flew home and had surgery for the stone in Norwich, see Chapter 116.
Shopping
At home, I got up at about 10.30 am and did some shopping, see Chapter 125.
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! We had had a group practice at mine on Monday and, on this day, we had another practice.
Olympics
I spent the evening watching the Olympics “as usual”, see Chapter 123. I noted various Olympic events including the following.
Three-day Eventing
At this time, we were third in the three-day eventing. Three-day eventing involves the disciplines of dressage, cross country and show jumping. The British team of Richard Meade, Princess Anne, Lucinda Prior-Palmer and Hugh Thomas failed to finish the competition as two riders did not complete the show jumping course. USA won gold, West Germany silver and Australia bronze.
Boxing
Charlie Magri was out of the boxing having been knocked out. Carmel (Charlie) Magri competed in the flyweight category. He received a bye in the first round and won by walkover against Eric Quaotsey of Ghana in the second round. In the third round of the competition, he was knocked out by Canadian Ian Clyde in the fight’s third round.
Sailing
In the sailing, Rodney Pattison had slipped to second in his sailing class but Reg White was still leading his.
Athletics
The athletics had started that day and there had been two finals. These were the women’s long jump, won by an East German, and the 20km walk which had not finished when I was writing my diary. There had also been heats for the men’s 100m, men’s and women’s 800m, men’s shot put, women’s javelin and men’s 10000m.
Women’s Long Jump
East German Angela Voigt won with a distance of 6.72m. In terms of British performances, Sue Reeve qualified for the final and finished ninth. Another Briton Myra Nimmo finished 24th.
20km Walk
This was a men’s event. It was won by Daniel Bautista of Mexico with East Germans Hans-Georg Reimann and Peter Frenkel second and third. In terms of British performances, Brian Adams, Olly Flynn and Paul Nihill finished 11th, 14th and 30th respectively.
Men’s 100m Heats
The heats and quarter finals for the men’s 100m were held on this day with the semi-finals and final on the next day. There were nine heats and four quarter finals. There were no British athletes in this event. Harvey Glance of the United States produced the fastest time of the day of 10.23 in the fourth quarter final. He finished fourth in the final the next day.
Men’s 800m Heats
The heats for the men’s 800m were held on this day with the semi-finals on the next day and the final the day after that. There were six heats. British athletes Frank Clement and Steve Ovett won the second and third heats respectively. Rick Wohlhulter of the United States produced the fastest time of the day of 1:45.71. He won bronze two days later. Steve Ovett finished eighth in the final but Frank Clement was eliminated at the semi-final stage.
Women’s 800m Heats
The heats for the women’s 800m were held on this day with the semi-finals and the final completed over the next three days. There were five heats. British athletes Liz Barnes, Angela Creamer and Chris McMeekin all failed to qualify from the heats. Svetla Zlateva of Bulgaria produced the fastest time of the day of 1:59.24. She finished sixth in the final.
Men’s Shot Put Qualifying
Qualifying for the men’s shot put was held on this day with the final on the next day. The top 12 athletes proceeded to the final. British athlete Geoff Capes qualified third and finished sixth overall. Aleksandr Baryshnikov of the Soviet Union produced the longest qualifying throw of 21.32m, an Olympic record. He won bronze in the final but had he reproduced his qualifying throw, he would have won gold.
Women’s Javelin Qualifying
Qualifying for the women’s javelin was held on this day with the final on the next day. The top 12 athletes proceeded to the final. British athlete Tessa Sanderson qualified seventh and finished tenth overall. Marion Becker of West Germany produced the longest qualifying throw of 65.14m. She won silver in the final.
Men’s 10000m Heats
Heats for the men’s 10000m were held on this day with the final three days later. There were three heats. British athletes Brendan Foster and Tony Simmons qualified second and first in the second and third heats respectively with Bernie Ford qualifying as a fastest loser from the first heat. Tony Simmons posted the fastest qualifying time of 28:01.82. Brendan Foster went on to win bronze in the final with Tony Simmons finishing fourth and Bernie Ford eighth.
Largs
Mum’s boat trip to Largs is mentioned in mum’s scrapbook along with some historical detail about the town.
Recently, my wife and I visited Largs at the start of a holiday which took us to Cumbrae, Bute and the Cowal peninsula.
The Battle of Largs
Mum described the Battle of Largs which took place in October 1263. She noted that this was fought between Norway, led by King Haakon, and Scotland, led by Alexander III. Initially, Alexander tried to buy lands from the Norwegians but, when they refused, resorted to military invasion. The Norwegians launched a massive fleet in response. Alexander sought to delay the fleet’s arrival through negotiations and, as a result, the fleet was ravaged by a storm which resulted in the Scottish victory mum described. Although King Haakon did escape to Orkney, he died soon thereafter. Under threat of invasion, the Isle of Man and the Hebrides agreed to become Scottish and, in 1266, this was agreed by the Norwegians in return for an annual payment.
The pencil monument in Largs commemorates the Battle of Largs. We walked there in June 2026.
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