Mum’s Diary
Had breakfast in bed. Typed & dup in morning & part of aft. Went to library & Sainsburys in aft. Went to Guild at night – conducted tour of cathedral – VG – Pam’s afterwards for coffee – Gerald & Thelma collected me & brought me home. P & R went to dentist. IT IS.
Roger’s/My Diary
Today had a very tiring day at school and at lunch-time during a Maths lesson Mr. Rathbone accidentally poured some water over me. This evening spent most of my time doing my maths hwk. Mao Tse Tung the Chinese leader died earlier today.
Notes
Breakfast in Bed
Mum noted that her day started with breakfast in bed. I am not sure why she did this although it seems to have been a feature of some days during this and the following week. One possibility is that, because she had had surgery for a kidney stone at the beginning of August, she saw this as part of her recovery phase, see Chapter 116.
It is possible that mum got up, made breakfast and took it back to bed. It is also possible that one of my siblings or I made breakfast for her. As my younger siblings and I were back at school, the prime candidate for doing this would have been my older sister Tricia (Patricia) who had finished school but who had not yet started university, see Chapter 120.
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 typed and did duplicating (dup) in the morning and in part of the afternoon (aft).
Library
Mum noted that she went to the library in the afternoon (aft). I recall mum being an avid reader and library user, see Chapter 122, although she does not often mention either in her diary. During this period, I recall spending quite a lot of time at Norwich library but this was largely as a place to do my school work, see Chapter 118, rather than to borrow books to read as pleasure.
Sainsbury’s
Mum also noted going to Sainsbury’s in the afternoon, presumably to do food shopping, see Chapter 125. Sainsbury’s was and is a very well-known supermarket chain. At that time, Sainsbury’s had two stores in Norwich, one in St Stephens Street and the other in Anglia Square, where I worked from April 1977 until June 1978, see Chapter 119. I believe that mum mainly went to the Sainsbury’s in St Stephens Street.
St Peter’s Guild
Mum went to a Guild meeting at night. This was a reference to St Peter’s Guild, a fellowship group to which mum belonged that was affiliated to St Peter’s Park Lane Methodist Church, see Chapter 124. It used to meet on a Thursday every two weeks or so. The group usually met in members’ homes by rotation. However, there were trips out, as in this case, a conducted tour of Norwich Cathedral which mum considered very good (VG).
Pam’s for Coffee
After the Guild visit to the Cathedral, mum noted that she went to Pam Ludlow’s for coffee. Pam is mentioned a lot in mum’s diary, see Chapter 124. They were friends through St Peter’s. 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 other than this.
A Lift from the Cookes
Gerald & Thelma refers to Gerald and Thelma Cooke. Mum noted that they collected her and brought her home. Gerald and Thelma were good friends of mum’s through St Peter’s Park Lane Methodist Church and were often mentioned in her diaries, see Chapter 124. They were part of St Peter’s Guild and they may have gone on the guided tour of the Cathedral. However, it appears, from the wording, that they might not have gone to Pam’s for coffee but rather made a special trip to collect mum.
Reasons for this might have included that mum had had surgery for a kidney stone some five weeks earlier and was still recovering. In addition, mum did have a car at this point, a Simca that she and dad had bought in February 1972 before they split up, see Chapter 110. However, it had problems with the exhaust and, I think she was limiting its use as it was very noisy, see Chapter 127.
Dentist
P & R refers to my older sister Tricia (Patricia) and me (Roger). Mum noted that we went to the dentist, see Chapter 116., although I did not note this in my diary.
Mum’s Medication
Mum noted the medication she took that day, see Chapter 116. On this occasion, it appears to have been one tablet of amitriptyline (T for Tryptizol) for depression and one tablet of senna (S for Senokot) for constipation.
Water in a Maths Lesson
I was at school all day, see Chapter 118, and noted that it had been very tiring. I described an incident which occurred during a lunch-time maths lesson. To be honest, I am not sure why there was such a lesson. I recall that there were such lessons for those of us who were doing S level but I thought those started later, but maybe not. It is also possible that, because of the complexity of my timetable, I might have missed one of my pure maths A level lessons and Mr Rathbone was helping me catch up. I think this is less likely.
Whatever, the reason, Mr Rathbone managed to pour water over me in that lesson. I don’t know how this happened but assume it was accidental!
Mr Rathbone
I believe Mr Rathbone’s first name was Richard, and possibly his middle name was Simon, but everyone referred to him as Basil after the actor. Sadly, Mr Rathbone died in October 2022, aged 92. A short death notice was published in the EDP. I particularly remember his beard but he was also well-remembered for his bike.
Maths Homework
For me, maths was the theme of the day! I spent my evening doing maths homework, see Chapter 118.
Mao Tse Tung
I simply noted that the Chinese leader Mao Tse Tung (Mao Zedung) had died earlier that day, see Chapter 129. Born in 1893, he led the People’s Republic of China from its formation in 1949, following the Chinese civil war, until his death.
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