Mum’s Diary
Hair set in am. P did washing then we went in city & finished shopping & went to Sainsburys. Bought some Boots Vit tablets 30 for P 30 for me. Work in aft. V busy with Mr S. He said he’d like Shirley to come in while I’m off in December if she can. Must see Mr A now. P went for evening meal with Andrew & Caroline at night. Roy rang to say he will come tomorrow. IT.
Roger’s/My Diary
This morning in Politics there was some very heated discussion after which I went swimming then I hurried quickly and got to the meeting of the common room committee and working party a few minutes late. We are organising a raffle in order to raise money and we’re also erecting some 6th form only signs. This evening watched the final of It’s a Knockout we came 5th. Germany won.
Notes
Hair Set
Mum noted that she had her hair set in the morning (am).
Washing
P refers to my older sister Tricia (Patricia). P refers to my older sister Tricia (Patricia). Mum noted that she did the washing, see Chapter 126.
A Fine City
Mum noted that she went “in city” with Tricia (P for Patricia). 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.
Finished Shopping
Mum noted that she finished shopping. By this, I think she meant that they finished buying things Tricia (Patricia) needed for when she went to university in Cambridge at the coming weekend, see Chapter 120. The previous day, mum had bought Tricia an electric kettle to take with her.
Sainsbury’s
Mum noted that she and Tricia went to Sainsbury’s. 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.
Vitamin Tablets
Mum noted that, while they were in Norwich, she bought Boots vitamin tablets, thirty for her and the same number for Tricia (P for Patricia), see Chapter 116. A few months earlier, in June 1976, mum’s GP had prescribed her some vitamins and perhaps she wanted to continue with these.
Boots
The well-known chemist was established in Nottingham and, at least there, the Boots store was more of a department store and was a favourite venue for mum and grandma to go for tea after the second world war and in the early fifties. When I was a child and a teenager, it was already established as a very well-known chain of chemists.
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 with Mr Stephens (Mr S).
Arranging Cover
Mum had had surgery for a kidney stone two months earlier, at the beginning of August, see Chapter 116. She had been found to have high levels of calcium in her blood (hypercalcaemia) as a result of an overactive parathyroid gland (primary hyperparathyroidism). She was scheduled to have parathyroid surgery in December.
It seems that there were discussions about covering her work while she was in hospital and then recovering. Mr Stephens said that he would like Shirley to come in and mum noted hat she now needed to see Mr Ashken (Mr A) presumably about this.
I am not exactly sure who Shirley was but I think she might have been Mr Stephens’ NHS secretary at that time, see Chapter 121.
Evening Meal
Mum noted that Tricia (P for Patricia) went for an evening meal with Andrew and Caroline Wright who were friends from St Peter’s Park Lane Methodist Church, see Chapter 124.
A Note on Meal Terminology
Based on my family’s working class background in Nottinghamshire, we had tended to refer to our meals as dinner and tea. However, given that we had moved to Norwich in 1960, and possibly because we were becoming more middle class, some of that usage was changing and family members sometimes, and perhaps increasingly, referred to a midday meal as lunch, see Chapter 92 although we continued to refer to an afternoon or early evening meal as tea. Here, mum referred to my sister going out for “an evening meal“. I think she avoided calling it dinner as that might be misunderstood as a midday meal and it was too late and possibly too “formal” to be tea!.
Dad Phoned
Roy refers to my father Royle Drew. My parents had separated in 1973 and, at this point, dad was living and working in Birmingham, see Chapter 114. Dad was coming for the weekend and had said he would arrive on Friday but he phoned to say he would come the next day.
For mum, this would not have been just a routine adjustment of timing. Mum was very precise about making such arrangements and keeping to them. Dad was much less so and this was one of many causes of tension between them. At least dad phoned to say he would be delayed. Mum was highly stressed over this visit. She had told Tricia (Patricia) that she had to choose which parent took her to Cambridge with mum noting in her diary that she was not sure if she could bear it if Tricia chose dad!
Also, although dad had sent monthly cheques to Tricia and me, mum’s cheque had not come. Mum had phoned dad about it and he had said he would talk to her when he came. I suspect mum was very anxious about what he might say. In the end, I think dad “wimped” out of that conversation but he left her a cheque for £90 saying he had reduced the amount by a quarter, from £120, as Tricia (Patricia) would no longer be living at home. Of course, mum was livid which is why I expect dad decided not to talk to her about it but to leave a note which, of course, made things worse!
Mum’s Medication
Mum tended to note the tablets she took each day, particularly at night, see Chapter 116. On this occasion, she noted that she took one amitriptyline (T for Tryptizol) tablet for depression. She was trying to stop these but sometimes took one particularly if the withdrawal symptoms were too bad.
Politics
I had just started sixth form at the Hewett School, see Chapter 118, I was doing a politics course as part of general studies. This was taken by Miss Norman, one of the school’s two deputy heads. I recall that it took a discussion format. On this occasion, that discussion was “very heated“. I may have contributed to this as I had been asked, the previous week, to report back with Liberal views on education and the economy interspersed with my own personal views.
Swimming
I noted that, after politics, I went swimming. The school had its own swimming pool which had been covered in the early seventies. I recall the pool “cover”. Rather than the pool being inside a building, it was covered by a large plastic “blister”. While I imagine it was much cheaper than a building, it was also much more susceptible to damage in bad weather. The school’s 1972 magazine had a full page article dedicated to the pool.
Common Room Committee and Working Party
About a week earlier, I had been elected to represent my form on the sixth form committee. This committee had the established, or possibly continued, a common room committee and a working party, which was intended to make the main committee’s meetings more efficient.
I had been elected to the working party but not to the common room committee. It may be that these groups held joint meetings and/or members of the working party attended the common room committee as, on this day, I referred to going to a meeting of the common room committee and working party. I was a few minutes late because of swimming. It was out first meeting as a working party. We agreed to organise a fund-raising raffle and to erect some sixth form only signs.
“It’s A Knockout“
In the evening, I noted that I watched “It’s a Knockout” on TV. It must have been the final of the international version which was also known as “Jeux sans Frontières” as I noted that we, that is Great Britain, came fifth and that a team from Germany won.
Based on a TV guide in the local press, it was on BBC1 from 7.05 to 8.30 pm. More detail is available from the BBC Programme Index. This was the international final and saw the following teams competing from seven countries:
- Newbury (GB)
- Geel (Belgium)
- Arbois (France)
- Ettlingen (Germany)
- Hilvarenbeek (Holland)
- Jesolo (Italy)
- La Neuveville (Switzerland)
The programme was transmitted from the former open air swimming pool in Blackpool, introduced by Stuart Hall and Eddie Waring. with international referees Gennaro Olivieri and Guido Pancaldi, and British referees, Arthur Ellis and Mike Swann.
“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.
