Drew Family Diaries

Mum’s Diary

Did typ & dup off & on all day. P & A went to YC Barbecue in evening. Pam Ludlow came to see me in aft. Worrying about this calcium problem! 1 T 1 S 2 P

Roger’s/My Diary

This morning got up late so I played a couple of games with Alan before lunch. Gary came round this afternoon as arranged & we played our guitars all afternoon till 4.00 as he had to go to the dentists. This evening I went collecting for the National Children’s Home. More people than expected asked for my identification card & many especially the older ones were wary of opening the door as it was dark. Then had some chips, had a bath & went to bed. Have got to go to see Dr. Roy at 9.00 a.m. tomorrow.

Notes

Typing and Duplicating

According to mum’s CV, see Chapter 105, she ran a typing and duplicating business from home until 1975. However, she did typing and duplicating after this date, particularly for the church, see Chapter 121. On this occasion, she noted that she did typing (typ) and duplicating (dup) off and on all day.

Youth Club Barbecue

P and A refers to my siblings Tricia (Patricia) and Alan. In the evening, they went to a barbecue run by the youth club (YC) at St Peter’s Park Lane Methodist Church, see Chapter 124. At this point, I was no longer attending church and I think my younger sister Liz (Elizabeth), who was 11 at this point, might have been just too young for youth club.

Pam Ludlow

Pam Ludlow is mentioned a lot in mum’s diary. She and mum were friends through St Peter’s Park Lane Methodist Church, see Chapter 124. Pam and mum were involved in a number of the same activities such as St Peter’s Guild and choir. I don’t know much else about her. On this occasion, she came to see mum in the afternoon (aft). This may have been a kind of pastoral visit given that mum had had surgery for a kidney stone at the beginning of August, see Chapter 116.

Calcium Problem

Following her surgery for a kidney stone, mum had been found to have a high level of calcium in her blood (hypercalcaemia). She had been referred to Dr Jack Pryor concerning this and had tests to try to determine the underlying cause. Mum worked as a part-time medical secretary for two surgeons, Mr Ashken and Mr Stephens, see Chapter 121. The latter had mentioned that one possible cause was a parathyroid tumour and this had got mum worried. Indeed this was what it turned out to be. However, it was a benign adenoma and she had this removed later that year, see Chapter 116.

Mum’s Medication

Mum noted the medication she took that day, see Chapter 116. This included amitriptyline (T for Tryptizol) for depression, senna (S for Senokot) for constipation and paracetamol (P) for pain.

Games with Alan

I noted that I got up late and played a couple of games with my brother Alan before lunch. We had a strong tradition of playing board games in our family, see Chapter 122. On this occasion, I did not note what we played. I recall that board game playing within the family was highly competitive and, particularly as we got older, we enjoyed games of increasing levels of complexity.

Lunch

On this occasion, I referred to our midday meal as lunch. This was a relatively new and inconsistent thing in our family. We often still referred to such a meal as dinner reflecting 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. I guess now I would rarely refer to dinner 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.

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Gary Wood

Gary Wood was one of my closest friends at school, see Chapter 118. He and I had a lot in common. We both played guitar although, unlike me, he played well! We both had motorbikes and we both worked at Sainsburys in Anglia Square, see Chapter 119. Gary went on both the camping trips I went on to France in 1975 and 1976. He worked at “Le Paradis” in the summer of 1977. From memory, he lived with his family in Eaton Rise.

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In 1976, Gary won an endeavour prize and, in 1978, the Sheriff’s Prize for Art. In 1978, he passed A levels in pure maths, physics, chemistry and art. He went on to study physics in York. He is a member of the Hewett Facebook group but uses the name Robert Wood. Apparently, Robert is his first name but he used Gary as Robert was also his father’s name. His Facebook page notes that he studied architecture in Rome, Cambridge, Harvard and London, that he has his own architecture studio and lives in France.

On this occasion, he came round in the afternoon and we played our guitars all afternoon until 4 pm when he had to go to the dentist.

Collecting for National Children’s Home

In the evening, I went door-to-door collecting for the National Children’s Home, now Action for Children. Collecting for charities was one of the very few church-organised things I did at this time, see Chapter 124. We collected for National Children’s Home each September. We had our own “patch” which was Portersfield Road. Usually, I went with mum and sometimes with my sister. Tricia (Patricia). On this occasion, I went on my own, presumably because mum thought it was too much for her one month post-surgery and Tricia was at a youth club barbecue.

The fact that I was on my own, and that it was dark, may have been the reason that I was asked for my ID card more than I expected. I noted that many people, particularly the older ones, were reluctant to open their doors to me.

Chips, Bath and Bed

After I finished, I bought chips, a fairly common late night snack, see Chapter 125, and then went home for a bath and to go to bed.

From memory, the chip shop I most commonly went to at that time was actually on Portersfield Road, at number 47, on the corner of Warwick Street. According to the 1971-72 Kelly’s Tradefinder, this was C A Cozens fish and chip shop but, by 1988, according to local press, it was Carric’s fish and chip takeaway. As of 2024, it was occupied by Mr Pizza. From 2008, it had been various takeaways, including The Triangle Pizzas and Mr Chicken, Mr Pizza, Kebabs. Apparently, it has recently rebranded as Golden Triangle Takeaway.

Seeing Dr Roy

I noted that I needed to see Dr Roy, the headmaster of the Hewett School that I attended, the following morning at 9 am, see Chapter 118. This related to my choice of A level subjects to study at sixth form. I was supposed to have made this choice at the end of the previous year but there had been an impasse as I wanted to do both chemistry and German but the school said I could not. Dr Roy had intervened to say that we should wait until we got my results and he would, if necessary, organise my timetable personally. I don’t recall the conversation clearly but I recall it was much less about what I could or could not do under the then education system but much more focused on what I wanted to do when I left school.

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