Mum’s Diary
Typed GTE letters in am. Cleaned A & E rooms in aft. IM IL IS.
Roger’s/My Diary
I still haven’t got my pay-rise yet but hopefully we’ll get it next Saturday!!! A new girl has started to replace Ross her name is Deborah and she’s Terry’s daughter. It has not been decided yet whether she or Vivien will work afternoons. This evening I watched live the world light-heavyweight championship of the world from Copenhagen between John Conteh, the British world champion who has not boxed for 14 months due to an injury to his right hand and some Mexican. Conteh won on points. Norwich lost 1-0 to Middlesboro in the only 1st division match as all the fixtures were called off due to National commitments next week.
Notes
Work for Rev Eddy
GTE refers to Rev G T Eddy who was the Chairman of the Methodist District. Based on her CV, see Chapter 105, mum did some part-time secretarial work for him between 1973 and 1977, see Chapter 121. On this occasion, mum noted that she typed his letters in the morning (am).
Cleaning Bedrooms
A and E refer to my younger siblings Alan and Liz (Elizabeth). Mum cleaned their bedrooms, see Chapter 126.
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.
Saturday Job
At this time, although I was still at school, I had a Saturday job at the Scientific Anglian bookshop, see Chapter 119.
Pending Pay Rise
At this point, I had been led to believe that some kind of pay rise was coming. I had hoped that it would have been through for a number of weeks but that had not happened. This issue dragged on for a further two 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.
Deborah Tidd
I noted that a new girl started work at The Scientific Anglian to replace Ross. Her name was Deborah Tidd, the daughter of Terry Tidd who also helped out in the shop. I noted that it was not yet decided whether she or Vivien Gamble, who was already working there, would work in the afternoons. Sadly, I don’t recall her. I believe this is the only time she was mentioned in the diaries so I wonder if this didn’t work out.
Ross
I do recall Ross but not his surname. He attended King Edward school, I believe. I think he was probably two years older than me. In August 1976, I noted that Ross was awaiting his A level results. He wanted to study Law at Hull and needed BCC. By this time, he had left as presumably he had gone to university. However, he may have worked in some holidays after that, for example, on 22 December 1976.
Terry Tidd
I did recall Terry but not his surname. I am grateful to James Tidd for explaining on Facebook that his surname was Tidd and that Terry, who sadly died in 2013, had been his uncle. Terry was older than us and I believe was a friend of Mr Peake’s possibly from working together at May and Baker.
Vivien Gamble
My diary refers to Vivien working at The Scientific Anglian and I believe this was Vivien Gamble who I knew from Hewett, see Chapter 118. She has confirmed that it was likely to be her although she had forgotten about working there. I knew Vivien relatively well at school. She was friends with Sarah Camp who lived opposite me in College Road. She appeared doing a head stand in a gymnastics photo in the 1975 school magazine! In 1976, she won a prize in Spanish. In 1978, she passed A levels in Spanish and English literature. I am not sure what she did on leaving school. She is active on Hewett Facebook sites under her married name of Vivien Seymour, for example see here.
John Conteh v Yaqui López
In the evening, I watched the world light-heavyweight championship fight in Copenhagen between John Conteh and “some Mexican” [Álvaro (Yaqui) López]. The fight took place at The Forum, a large arena in Copenhagen, which opened in 1926. It was broadcast live on ITV from 9.45 to 11.00 pm. I noted that Conteh was the British world champion but that he had not boxed for 14 months because of an injury to his right hand. I also noted that Conteh won on points. This was the third defence of Conteh’s title which he had won in October 1974, see Chapter 123.
Álvaro (Yaqui) López
Álvaro (Yaqui) López was a Mexican boxer who, between 1976 and 1983, made seven unsuccessful attempts to win a world title.
Middlesbrough v Norwich
I alo noted that Norwich lost 1-0 away at Middlesbrough. This was the only first division game to be played because all other matches had been called off because of national commitments. World Cup qualifiers were being played at this time including games on 13 October 1976 between Northern Ireland and the Netherlands, Scotland and Czechoslovakia, and England and Finland. I assume that the Norwich and Middlesbrough squads were minimally-affected by these matches. In midweek, Norwich had beaten Queens Park Rangers 3-2 away.
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