Mum’s Diary
Went in city in am. Typ & dup. Mr A came about 12.30 brought me some apples & some work – he’s off to Preston till Sunday. Dictated 2 letters & told me to pp them & the sperm counts. Malcolm came about 1.30 – talked till 2.15. I felt very low. IM IL IS.
Roger’s/My Diary
At lunch-time I went swimming which was quite pleasant. This evening Andrew brought round my practical book on his moped. It shows me how badly I want a motor-bike. With a bit of luck I’ll get one next birthday.
I’m not sure when exactly I’m going to dads but it’s soon. Watched a Sci-Fi film on TV “When Worlds Collide.” I’ve got a collecting box and I’ve got to do some collecting for the NSPCC soon.
Notes
A Fine City
Mum noted that she went “in city” in the morning (am). 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.
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).
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 only. She noted that Mr Ashken (Mr A) came in about 12.30. He brought mum some apples and some work. He was going away to Preston until Sunday.
Mr Ashken dictated two letters and asked mum to sign (pp) them on his behalf. He asked her to do the same with the sperm counts that I think were needed as follow-up on vasectomies which I think formed a large bulk of the work of Mr Ashken’s private practice. Mum would have absolutely loved to have done this. She relished the responsibility and particularly the implied trust.
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, he came to see mum about 1.30 pm and they talked until about 2.15 pm. This means that he must have come to see mum at work.
Feeling Very Low
Throughout the late seventies, and at other times, mum struggled with depression and anxiety, see Chapter 116. At various times, she took medication for these but had been trying to come off both sleeping tablets and antidepressants. On this occasion, she noted that she felt very low despite having been able to talk to Malcolm.
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 nitrazepam (M for Mogadon) tablet to help her sleep, one long-acting amitriptyline (L for Lentizol) tablet for depression and one senna-containing tablet (S for Senokot) for constipation. She had been trying to wean herself off both antidepressants and sleeping tablets but had been advised by her GP to increase them once again because of her current feelings of severe depression.
Swimming
I noted that I went swimming at lunch-time. I referred to this as “very pleasant” which sounds odd even slightly pretentious to my ears. At school, I recall that we were strongly discouraged from using generic words, such as “nice” or “lots of ” so possibly this was to avoid that trap!
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, I referred to lunch-time.
Hewett Swimming Pool
At that time and subsequently, 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.
Practical Book
While I had a number of friends at school called Andrew, see Chapter 118, the one in this context was Andrew Ellson as he was the one who had a moped. He brought me my practical book. I think this related to A level chemistry and presumably he had borrowed it for some reason.
Andrew Ellson
Andrew and I were friends particularly in the sixth form, see Chapter 118. He and his father were into sailing and I went sailing with him on a number of occasions. From memory, he lived with his family in Kingsley Road near the old Norfolk and Norwich Hospital. He played as goalkeeper for the school football team. In 1978, he won the Mitchell Prize for Public Spirit. He passed A level biology in 1978. On leaving school, he went to work for Berni Inns.
Mopeds and Motorbikes
Andrew was very into motorbikes and was one of the first in my year to have one as he went down the FS1E moped route which meant he was able to get it once he was 16. I recall there being quite a dilemma about whether to get a moped at 16 or wait until 17 and get a “proper” motorbike. Most of my friends waited and this probably influenced me, as did lack of money (!) and mum’s implacable opposition to both mopeds and motorbikes! One challenge I had was that, with a June birthday, I was one of the youngest in my year so had to wait while everyone else got their motorbike, took and passed their driving test and were legally able to buy alcohol! I did note that seeing Andrew’s moped reminded me of how badly I wanted a motorbike and I was hoping I might get one for my 17th birthday, see Chapter 127.
Going to Dad’s
By way of context, my parents had separated in 1973, see Chapter 114. At this point, dad was living and working in Birmingham. I noted that I was due to be going to dad’s at some point. I did not know exactly when it was but knew it was soon. In fact, my two younger siblings, Alan, Liz (Elizabeth) and I went to dad’s in half-term week at the end of October.
“When Worlds Collide“
In the evening, I noted watching the science-fiction film “When Worlds Collide” on TV, see Chapter 122. This was shown on BBC 1 from 7.10 to 8.30 pm. A 1951 film, it was directed by Rudolph Maté and it starred Richard Derr, Barbara Rush, Peter Hansen and John Hoyt. It was based on a 1933 novel by Edwin Balmer and Philip Wylie. Radio Times described it saying, “with another planet rushing towards earth and only eight months to save mankind, a group of scientists build an inter-planetary rocket to enable a few people to leave earth and start a new civilisation on the planet ‘ Zyra ‘.”
It was the first in a series of three science-fiction films from the fifties which was called “From Out of Space“. The other films in the series were “This Island Earth” and “Conquest of Space“.
NSPCC Fundraising
I noted that I had got a fundraising box for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) and that I needed to do some “collecting” for them soon. I recall collecting for the NSPCC in Yarmouth with friends from school, see Chapter 118. However, although I did this in both 1976 and 1977, this was in July so was unlikely to have been connected to this collecting box.
On the Monday after this, I noted collecting for NSPCC. I am not sure if this was organised through St Peter’s Park Lane Methodist Church, see Chapter 124, or school.
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