Mum’s Diary
P finished work at City Hall. Hair set, then shopping in city. Ordered Med Sec Handbook from Jarrolds, bought bk on Urology. Work in aft – v busy. Mr S there until 4.50. Went to see Mr Green at 5. V nice. Had long long talk. Agrees to explore parathyroid – TCI end Nov – early Dec. Ellingham Ward – single room. Went to St P at night to meet Peter Lemmon & wife. Seemed quite right. He is 39 he told us. Finished 10.25. 1 Mog. 1S.
Roger’s/My Diary
Today in Politics it was decided that I should report back next week with the Liberal Party’s views of on education and the Economy interspersed with my own personal beliefs. This lunch-time played cards. This evening watched Its a Knockout. We came 2nd. In place of Switzerland a team from Liechtenstein took part.
Notes
Tricia Finished at City Hall
P refers to my older sister Tricia (Patricia) who was 18 at this point. She had had a summer job working in the Treasurer’s Department at City Hall, see Chapter 119, between finishing school, see Chapter 118, and going to university, see Chapter 120.
Hair Set
Mum noted that she had her hair set before going shopping “in city“.
A Fine City
Mum noted that she went shopping “in city“. This was how she usually referred to shopping in Norwich city centre, that is, as going into the “city”, see Chapter 125. Indeed, she would point out to anyone who dared refer to this as going “to town” that Norwich was a city!
“45 Years“
Some three years ago, I watched the film “45 Years” starring Tom Courtenay and Charlotte Rampling. They are a couple and are supposed to live in rural Norfolk. However, he referred to going into Norwich as “going into town”. This grated on me so much that I asked about this on the Norwich Remembers Facebook Group. It generated almost 600 comments which is easily the most I have ever had for one post!
Definitely City
Those who commented almost all agreed that going to Norwich was referred to as going to, or up or down the, “city” and never as “town”. Some felt that because Norwich is a city, with a cathedral, it should be clear to everyone to refer to going to Norwich in this way. However, others pointed out that not all places with cathedrals are cities, e.g. Bury St Edmunds and people in other cities, e.g. Bradford, Bristol, Cambridge, Colchester, Leeds, London, Newcastle, New York and York, sometimes refer to going into town. Colchester is a specific case. It was only relatively recently elevated to city status, in 2022, although it was apparently a city in Roman times but, more recently, has been a town.
Medical Secretary Handbook
At this point, mum was the part-time secretary for the private practice of two surgeons, Mr Ashken and Mr Stephens. She was keen to improve her knowledge and skills as a medical secretary so she ordered a Medical Secretary (Med Sec) Handbook from Jarrolds, see Chapter 125.
Jarrolds
Jarrolds is a very well-known store in Norwich, see Chapter 93, that was established in 1840 and is still in operation today. The store’s website has a really extensive history section. In the 1960 and 1967 Kelly’s Directories, they had their St James’ works Cowgate, bookshops at 1-11 Exchange Street and 1-7 London Street and wholesalers at 25-27 Exchange Street. For me, Jarrolds, on the corner of Exchange Street and London Street, marked one end of the main shopping area in Norwich when I was a child and teenager.
Remarkably, the store has continued to trade as an independent department store and, in many ways, is pretty unchanged from how I remember it in the seventies. Jarrolds was also unusual in that it was popular with all generations of our family. Mum liked it for many reasons including that it was a high-end department store in the same ilk as Bonds, Curls and Garlands but I also liked it because it sold affordable stationery, books and other items.
Book on Urology
Mum also bought a book on urology, see Chapter 125. While part of her motivation might have related to her surgery for a renal stone at the beginning of August, see Chapter 116, I suspect her main motivation was, as for the Medical Secretary Handbook, the fact that at this point, she was the part-time secretary for the private practice of two surgeons, Mr Ashken, a urologist, and Mr Stephens, a general surgeon. I don’t think it is possible, just from this description, to identify the specific book on urology that she bought.
Mum Worked for Mr Ashken and Mr Stephens
During this period, mum worked as part-time medical secretary for the private practice of two surgeons, Mr Ashken and Mr Stephens, see Chapter 121. This practice was based at 41 Newmarket Road. She worked all day on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and half day on Fridays. On this occasion, as it was Friday, she worked in the afternoon (aft) only. She noted that it was very busy and Mr Stephens (Mr S) was there until ten to five.
Medical Appointment
As mentioned above, mum had had surgery for a kidney stone at the beginning of August, see Chapter 116. This had been conducted by Mr Ashken for whom she worked. She had been found to have high levels of calcium in her blood (hypercalcaemia) and she had been referred to renal physician Dr Jack Pryor. He had diagnosed primary hyperparathyroidism, on clinical grounds I believe, but mum had had blood taken to measure her level of parathyroid hormone.
Mum had been referred to see surgeon, Mr Alan Green, to get the ball rolling for surgery. She saw him at 5 pm. She thought he was very nice and they had a “long, long talk“. It is fair to say that mum had a lot of anxieties about her including whether it could be cancer and the scale of the operation she might need. She noted that he agreed to explore her parathyroid gland and she was to come into (TCI) hospital at the end of November for surgery in early December. He would arrange for her to have a private room on Ellingham Ward at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital.
Private-Level Service
Because mum worked in private practice, she saw the individualised service private patients received and she wanted that herself, see Chapter 116. I know she discussed this with Mr Ashken at the time of her original surgery and he agreed to provide her that individual care without charging her. However, I am doubtful that his colleagues would, or could, have done the same. I know she was in correspondence with BUPA presumably about private medical insurance. It is possible that Mr Green agreed to work on the same basis as Mr Ashken as he was primarily a urologist so they were close colleagues.
Mr Alan Green
I found Alan Green’s obituary in the EDP. In 2015, he died at the age of 87. Norman Alan Green was born on 2 July 1927 in Leicester. He studied at St Bartholomew’s. He married nurse Doreen Wright in 1951. They had four children. He spent three years in Norwich from 1954. He won a Fulbright scholarship in 1958 and went to Boston Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Then, he returned to Norwich in 1961 and established the city’s first urology service in 1966.
He retired in 1990. After retiring, he wrote obituaries for professional journals. He was a founder member and then President of the British Association of Clinical Anatomists and an external examiner for the Royal Colleges of Surgeons in England and Edinburgh. He was a musician playing piano to a high standard. I found other biographies on the Royal College of Surgeons of England website and on the Travelling Surgical Society website.
Meeting a Potential New Minister
At night, mum went to St Peter’s Park Lane Methodist Church (St P) where she was a member, see Chapter 124. She went to meet Rev Peter Lemmon, who would become their new Minister in 1978, and his wife. I assume it was some kind of introductory meeting to assess mutual fit. Mum noted that he “seemed quite right“. Apparently, he told them that he was 39. The meeting must have been quite long as it finished at 10.25 pm.
Rev Peter Lemmon
Peter Lemmon was born in King’s Lynn and came from a family with a strong Methodist tradition. His father, Charles Lemmon, was a local preacher and Peter had two brothers, Gordon, also a Methodist Minister, and David a local preacher.
Peter attended Culford School near Bury St Edmunds, obtained a degree in psychology from Durham and an MA in theology from Wesley House, Cambridge. Prior to coming to Norwich, he served in Stamford, Leeds, Manchester and Salford. He had been part-time chaplain at the University of Salford. His wife Christine was a teacher at Hewett School although I suspect she started there just after I had left, see Chapter 118. Rev Lemmon was based at St Peter’s Park Lane from the end of 1978 to 1986.
Mum’s Medication
Mum tended to note the tablets she took each day, particularly at night, see Chapter 116. On this occasion, she took one nitrazepam (Mog for Mogadon) to help sleep and one senna-containing tablet (S for Senokot) for constipation.
Politics
I had just started sixth form at the Hewett School, see Chapter 118. I was doing politics as one of my general studies options. In that lesson, I was asked to report back on the Liberal Party’s views on education and the economy interspersed with my own personal beliefs. I imagine I might have made it known that broadly my emerging political views were left-leaning and liberal and I could have mentioned that my father had stood as Liberal Party candidate in the 1970 general election.
Cards
I noted that we played cards at lunch-time. This was not unusual. We often played Bridge but also other games, see Chapter 122.
“It’s A Knockout”
In the evening, I noted that I watched “It’s a Knockout” on TV. It must have been the international version which was also known as “Jeux sans Frontières” as I noted that we, that is Great Britain, came second and that a team from Liechtenstein played in Switzerland’s place.
Based on a TV guide in the local press, it was on BBC1 from 7.10 to 8.30 pm. More detail is available from the BBC Programme Index. This was the seventh international heat and saw the following teams competing from seven countries:
- Edinburgh (GB)
- Aalter (Belgium)
- St Gaudens (France)
- Ettlingen (Germany)
- Groningen (Holland)
- Silva Marina, probably Silvi Marina (Italy)
- Uechtenstein, presumably a transcription error for Liechtenstein (Switzerland)
The programme was transmitted from Groningen in the Netherlands introduced by Dick Passchier and Barend Barendse, with international referees Gennaro Olivieri and Guido Pancaldi, and commentators Stuart Hall and Eddie Waring.
“It’s a Knockout” was a series broadcast on the BBC from 1966 to 1982 with specials continuing until 1988. One episode was broadcast on ITV in 1990 and Channel 5 revised the series from 1999 to 2001. Two or later three teams competed in a range of “silly games” with the winner going on to represent Great Britain in the international version also known as “Jeux sans Frontières“.
The show was surprisingly popular. I recall watching pretty much regularly. I remember the hosts Stuart Hall and Eddie Waring. Also, I remember piano-smashing which was a feature of early shows.
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