Mum’s Diary
Did not go to church in a.m. Felt v. tired. Got dinner ready. R. rang to say Roy’s car broke down at Swaffham & they’d arrive in aft. Went to mums for tea. Went to St. P. at night – Arthur Windridge – quite good – sat through whole service.
Roger’s/My Diary
Got up early and left Birmingham at ¼ past 7 to be in Norwich at lunch-time However just after before Swaffham the car conked out after giving dad a lot of trouble. After much trouble trying to get in touch with an operating garage we contacted Dave who agreed to come out & have a go at fixing it. However in the interim we found a garage who would deal with it so Dave towed us there. He brought us home & we sat playing Scrabble with him & Jean his wife. Then came home, had a bath & unpacked. Went round Everard’s he is back from Canada & was showing me all his souvenirs. He is a bit disappointed with his O level results as he failed his English & French & only got a C in Economics where he expected an A or a B. Went to meet dad at the pub. Raining heavily & I got soaked. After Ferrari’s return to motor-racing James Hunt won the Dutch Grand Prix in a McLaren which puts him 2 pts behind Nicki Lauda who is still recovering from his crash injuries.
Notes
Did Not Go to Church
Mum did not go to church in the morning (am). This was unusual as she was a committed member of St Peter’s Park Lane Methodist Church, see Chapter 124. However, she had had surgery for a renal stone at the beginning of August, see Chapter 116. She was still recovering so was only going to church once on a Sunday at this point although, to date, this had previously been in the morning.
Very Tired
I don’t know why mum decided to go to church in the evening and not the morning. It could have been that she was feeling very tired as she noted. She often complained of tiredness at this time. Partly, this was just a reflection that she was getting back to her normal busy schedule less than a month after major surgery. However, it was a recurring complaint and also reflected the interaction between her mental and physical health, see Chapter 116.
Cooking Dinner
Although mum was very tired and recovering from surgery, she took on responsibility for getting “dinner” ready, see Chapter 126. This would have been a major cooked meal, most likely a Sunday roast.
Dinner and Tea
On this occasion, mum referred to a midday meal as dinner and an afternoon/evening meal as tea, as this reflected my family’s working class background in Nottinghamshire. However, given that we had moved to Norwich in 1960 and possibly because we were becoming more middle class, that usage was changing and family members sometimes, and perhaps increasingly, referred to a midday meal as lunch, see Chapter 92. For example, in my diary for this day, I referred to “lunch-time” and not “dinner-time“. I guess now I would rarely refer to dinner at all as, depending on who you are talking to, it can be confusing. So, now I refer mostly to lunch and tea, although I guess I might occasionally use dinner if we were going out to eat in the evening.
Reporting a Breakdown
R refers to me, Roger and Roy to my father Royle Drew. Mum noted that I phoned to say that dad’s car had broken down “at” Swaffham and that we would arrive in the afternoon (aft) not lunch-time as planned.
My parents had separated in 1973 and, at this time, dad was living and working in Birmingham, see Chapter 114, while we lived most of the time with mum in Norwich. This explains why it was me and not dad who phoned mum. I imagine this would not have been easy to do as we would have needed to find a working phone box and would have needed enough change for the call.
Although mum refers to “Roy’s car“, dad did not actually own a car at this time, see Chapter 127. Rather, whenever he needed one, he used a Norwich Union car, the company for whom he worked.
Tea at Grandma’s
Mum noted that she went to her mother’s for tea. This was our usual practice throughout my childhood and teenage years, see Chapter 122.
Evening Service
Mum noted that she went to the evening service at St Peter’s Park Lane Methodist Church, see Chapter 124. Rev Arthur Windridge was the speaker and she thought he was quite good. She noted that she sat through the whole service. This was not a comment on the quality of the service! Rather, she had been leaving during the last hymn ostensibly as part of her post-op recovery but, knowing my mother, it was undoubtedly also for maximum dramatic effect!
Rev Arthur Windridge
Rev Arthur Windridge spoke at several services during this period. Mum seemed to like his services rating them as quite or very good. In a news cutting mum had of an open-air service in Chapelfield Gardens in July 1977, he is identified as the Minister at Wroxham Road Methodist Church in Sprowston. I found an entry for him on LinkedIn where he is described as a retired Methodist Minister in the Greater Norwich area. He is also listed as the Minister at Lessingham Methodist Church and as a Trustee of the North Norfolk Methodist Circuit. In 2008, he spoke at a dinner celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Wroxham Road church. Apparently, he was the Minister there from 1972 to 1982. Based on the Methodist Church Directory of 2004, he became a Minister in 1960.
Travelling from Birmingham
I had stayed the previous night at dad’s in Birmingham as he had picked me up from a two-week youth hostelling holiday in the Peak District, see Chapter 122. I noted that I got up early so that we could leave Birmingham at 7.15. Our aim was to be in Norwich by lunch-time.
However, I noted that the car, which dad had borrowed from the Norwich Union, broke down (“conked out“) near Swaffham. Initially, I had written “after” Swaffham but I had crossed this out and written “before“. From what I have written, it seems that there were problems with the car before it finally stopped going! It was also difficult for dad to find an garage that was operating. I imagine that part of that difficulty reflected seventies communication issues in the age pre-mobile phones. However, I imagine that part of it was this was on a Sunday when most garages would have been closed.
Nevertheless, part of the issue was how dad was, or was not, prepared for such an issue. Essentially, he was not prepared at all and just dealt with things as they arose. This was a stark contrast to my mother who was hyper-organised in this regard and was an enthusiastic and loyal member of the AA. So, had this happened with her, she would have simply called the AA who would have attended and dealt with the matter, This is yet another example of how fundamentally differently my parents approached things which was, in my view, a major factor in why they proved to be quite incompatible!
Dave O’Neill to the Rescue
Dave refers to dad’s friend Dave O’Neill. They knew each other from a shared involvement in Liberal party politics. Dad had clearly phoned Dave who agreed to come out to see if he could fix it.
However, by the time Dave arrived, dad had found a garage that would take the car. So, Dave towed us there and then brought us to Norwich.
Time with Dave and Jean O’Neill
Interestingly, and perhaps typically, dad did not take me directly to mum’s. One possible reason for this could have been that, by the time we got to Norwich, mum might have already been at grandma’s. Since mum and dad had split up, dad had avoided all contact with grandma. So, while I could have joined mum there, I think dad would have been reluctant to have dropped me there.
Scrabble
Rather, we stayed at Dave’s for a while playing Scrabble with him and his wife Jean. Although there were similar games with different names before this, the name Scrabble was first used in America in 1948 with sets first being sold in the UK in 1955.
Home
At some point, I did go home and had a bath and upacked. I think I had my own front door key at this point but I might not have taken it with me youth hostelling. If I did not have my key with me, I would have had to wait for mum to get back from grandma’s and I suspect this is what happened.
Everard Mascarenhas
In the evening, I went round to see my school friend, Everard Mascarenhas, see Chapter 118. Everard Mascarenhas and I were close friends in sixth form which we were about to start. He lived near me in Park Lane and we also worked together at Sainsbury’s in Anglia Square, see Chapter 119. In 1976, he won an endeavour prize. In 1978, he passed A level physics. He was part of the school football team. Apparently, he read physics at University College Swansea, has a PhD in semi-conductor devices from Nottingham Trent University and an MBA from Imperial College.
Back from Canada
Everard had been in Canada for the Montreal Olympics, see Chapter 123. He showed me all his souvenirs.
Disappointed with O Level Results
I noted that Everard was disappointed with his O level results. Specifically, he had failed English and French and he had only got a C in economics whereas he had hoped for an A or a B.
Interestingly perhaps, I had also taken social economics that year and had the same grade as Everard, a C. However, that was never one of my stronger subjects. Overall, I was happy with my results and I had done well in other subjects gaining four As and two Bs, see Chapter 118
Meeting Dad at the Pub
After that, I went to meet dad at the pub. I did not specify which pub it was but possibly The Garden House, as this was effectively his “local” when he was in Norwich, see Chapter 122. As mum’s social life revolved around the church, dad’s revolved around the pub among other places. This was another area where they were very different and probably incompatible!
A Note on the Weather
I noted that it was raining heavily and I got soaked.
Dutch Grand Prix
I noted that, after Ferrari’s return to motor racing, James Hunt won the Dutch Grand Prix in a McClaren which put him two points behind Niki Lauda who was still recovering from his crash injuries. Niki Lauda had been driving for Ferrari when he crashed in 1976. Ferrari missed one race the Austrian Grand Prix on 15 August 1976 but were back for the Dutch Grand Prix on the 29th. However, they only had one car driven by Clay Regazzoni. He finished second behind James Hunt.
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