Mum’s Diary
E went to help at riding school all day. P took her & Nicola at 8.30. A went on expedition with 3 other BB boys to Holt Hall. Roy arrived about 1. Typ & dup a bit & tidied room up. Andrew came again at night. – Very depressed & worried. Wrote to Malcolm. Roy still out at 1.30 am.
Roger’s/My Diary
I still haven’t got my pay-rise yet but I hope to have it by next Saturday. Dad came this evening as Tricia leaves for Cambridge tomorrow and I think he wanted to see her before she went. Norwich beat Newcastle Utd 3-2 and are consequently now 6th from bottom. The match was one of the ones in match of the day.
Notes
Riding School
E refers to my younger sister Liz (Elizabeth) who was 11 at this time. She was really into riding at this point, see Chapter 122, and went to help at the riding school all day. P refers to my older sister Tricia (Patricia). She was 18 and could drive. So, she took Liz and her friend and next-door neighbour, Nicola Drury, to the riding school.
While Liz recalls Nicola, she does not recall them going riding together, Liz does recall going to Keswick Riding School a couple of times and wonders if she might have gone there with Nicola. Liz started to learn to ride in Drayton but then went to two main riding schools, Palomino on Mousehold Heath and Redwings in Frettenham, see Chapter 122. I am not absolutely sure which riding school Liz helped at on this occasion.
Boys’ Brigade Expedition to Holt Hall
A refers to my younger brother Alan who was 14 at this point. He was very involved in Boys’ Brigade at this point, see Chapter 124. Mum noted that he went on an expedition to Holt Hall with three other boys. This was an overnight expedition and Alan got back the next day,
Note on Holt Hall
Holt Hall opened as an environmental and outdoor learning centre in 1950. Apparently, it was the first residential co-educational school to be opened by an education authority in England. It was originally built in the 1840s for Walter Hamilton Pemberton. However, in 2020, the County Council was considering selling the property. In 2022, the Council agreed to sell the hall to Gresham’s School for educational use.
Dad Came for the Weekend
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. He was coming to spend the weekend in Norwich.
As with all interactions between my parents at this time, this was not a straightforward visit but was an interaction packed with tension and conflict! The first issue was that when dad had phoned to say he was coming, he had told mum he would be coming on Friday. He had phoned on Friday to say that he would now be coming on Saturday. 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 noted that dad arrived about 1 pm on Saturday.
There were other tensions over this visit. As I noted in my diary, dad had come to see my sister Tricia (Patricia) before she left for university in Cambridge the next day. This was a big deal as she was the first person in our family to go to university let alone to such a prestigious institution. Mum had told Tricia 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 noted that dad was till out at 1.30 am. She clearly was not happy with this but she and dad had fundamentally different views about such late nights. Mum thought they were unreasonable. Dad did tend to keep late hours plus I think he would have wanted to try to be out long enough so that he could come in once mum was in bed. I think mum found it difficult to sleep at the best of times and could rarely go to sleep if she knew someone was still out. I am also not sure how the practicalities would have worked. For example, I don’t know if dad had a key. If not, mum would have had to have left the door open for him and that would have made her extra anxious.
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 doing typing (typ) and duplicating (dup) a bit.
Tidied Up
Mum noted that she tidied “room” up. While mum did not specify which room, I think it is likely that she was referring to her bedroom, see Chapter 126.
Andrew Wright
Andrew refers to Andrew Wright. Mum noted that he came again at night. He was someone that mum and Tricia (Patricia) knew from St Peter’s Park Lane Methodist Church, see Chapter 124. I think he had some role in relation to young people in the church. He and Tricia were friends but mum had reservations about this friendship because Andrew was older and married! To be fair, Tricia was 18 and could make her own decisions about any friendships she had. In addition, there was an element of “the pot calling the kettle black” as mum also had close friendships with married men within the church!
Depressed and Worried
Throughout the late seventies, and at other times, mum struggled with depression and anxiety, see Chapter 116. On this occasion, she noted that she was very depressed and worried. Sometimes, there were clear factors contributing to her anxiety and depression but sometimes not. On this occasion, likely factors were Alan being away overnight, dad coming for the weekend, Tricia’s impending move to Cambridge and Tricia’s relationship with Andrew Wright. At various times, she took medication for these but was trying to come off both sleeping tablets and antidepressants.
Malcolm Carter
Malcolm refers to Rev Malcolm Carter. He was a Methodist Minister who became mum’s friend and confidant, see Chapter 114. From Merseyside, he served in the ministry there and in Darlington and East Anglia. He was Minister at Court Hey Methodist Church from 1978 to 1986. He was the Methodist chaplain to Walton Prison, now HM Prison Liverpool, for 20 years. I found a YouTube video of him taking a service at Wonford Methodist Church in Exeter in July 2024. When he was in Norwich, he was mainly based at Bowthorpe Road Methodist Church. On this occasion, mum wrote to him.
I am not sure why mum wrote to him rather than phoning or going to see him given that he lived in Norwich. However, I think that when mum was worried and depressed, she found it helpful to write down how she was feeling. Having been the recipient of many of those letters over the years, writing them might have been helpful but sending and receiving them rarely was!
Saturday Job
At this time, although I was still at school, I had a Saturday job at the Scientific Anglian bookshop, see Chapter 119.
At this point, I had been led to believe that some kind of pay rise was coming. I had clearly hoped that it would have been through by this Saturday but that had not happened. I hoped to get it by the following Saturday but was again disappointed. This issue dragged on for a further three weeks. I finally got a 33% pay rise from £2.40 per day to £3.20 per day on 23 October.
While I now look back on my time working in that secondhand bookshop with great fondness, I also recall that I earned much less than my friends who worked in other places, such as Sainsbury’s. Ultimately, I did leave and went to work at Sainsbury’s in Anglia Square.
Norwich v Newcastle United
I noted that Norwich beat Newcastle 3-2 meaning Norwich were sixth from bottom. I commented that the game was one of those shown on Match of the Day which was on BBC 1 from 10.40 to 11.40 pm. Norwich were 3-0 up by half-time with goals from Viv Busby and two from Martin Peters, including one from a penalty. However, in the second half, Martin Peters conceded a penalty from which Tommy Craig scored and Alan Gowling added a second with 20 minutes to go.
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