Mum’s Diary
Went to St P in am & played for Primary. Went ramble in aft (27 of us) round Coltishall. R didn’t go. A & E did. Went to Drayton for tea. Went to St P at night – Pratt Green – quite good. A went to Spotsoc. IM IL IS.
Roger’s/My Diary
This morning after going to the paper shop I had a bath and did some Origami from a book I’ve got. This afternoon the others went on a ramble before we went to grandma’s while I watched a film called Kim. This evening I played cards with mum and Liz and I watched a film starring Frank Sinatra called Tony Rome.
Notes
Morning Service
Mum went to the morning (am) service at St Peter’s Park Lane Methodist Church. Although she did not mention this, a news cutting from the local press confirms that it was the church’s anniversary service taken by the senior Minister Rev Ream. Mum did note that she played piano for the primary Sunday School. I am not sure if she did this as part of the main church service or separately for the Sunday School when, and if, they went out of the service. Although mum could play the piano, she rarely did so in public. However, she did play a few times for the primary Sunday School in late 1976, see Chapter 124.
Rev William (Bill) George Bertram Ream
Rev Ream was born in Stockport in July 1912. He entered the Methodist ministry in 1935 and served in Newcastle-under-Lyme and High Wycombe before coming to Norwich in 1974. During his time at St Peter’s, he was active in Norwich Council of Churches and Amnesty International. Afterwards, he retired but remained in Norwich. He died in Norwich in July 1999, see Chapter 124.
Ramble in Coltishall
Often, during this period, on a Sunday afternoon, there was a church outing of some kind, see Chapter 124. During the summer, these tended to be trips to the coast whereas, between October and May, they more commonly took the form of walks or rambles. They went to a wide variety of places including, on this occasion, to Coltishall. A total of 27 people went including my two younger siblings, Alan and Liz (Elizabeth).
Roger Didn’t Go
Roger refers to me and mum noted that I did not go on the church ramble. I had stopped attending church some years previously and was the only one of my siblings to do so at that stage. Mum was very unhappy about this decision but I point blank refused to go and she realised that could hardly make me!
While I do not recall this being discussed very explicitly subsequently, I was very aware of her disapproval. For her part, mum tried constantly to get me to go to church activities particularly those that were not overtly religious, such as a ramble. For my part, I was very conscious of mum’s efforts so mostly refused to participate.
However, I did occasionally go to some things particularly if a family member was involved in some way. I don’t think I was opposed in principle to going on a church walk but I often had things I would rather do, I did not particularly want to hang out with mum’s church friends and I did not want to encourage mum’s proselytising. Although I did not go, I did note the ramble in my diary and that others had gone.
Drayton for Tea
Mum noted that we went to grandma’s in Drayton for tea. This was our usual practice on Sunday afternoons, see Chapter 122. In my diary, I also noted that we went to grandma’s.
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 going to grandma’s for tea.
Evening Service
Mum went to the evening service at St Peter’s Park Lane Methodist Church “at night“. Mum noted that well-known Minister and hymn writer, Rev Pratt Green was the speaker. This is confirmed by the notice of the service in the local press. Mum thought he had been quite good, see Chapter 124.
Rev Fred Pratt Green
Rev Fred Pratt Green was a fairly well-known, relatively modern, Methodist Minister and hymn writer. He was born in September 1903 and died in October 2000. He served as a Methodist Minister from 1928 to 1968. It seems that he lived in retirement in Norwich including spending the last ten years of his life in a care home.
Spotsoc
At this point, my siblings were 11, 14 and 18 respectively. The older two were involved in church activities for young people at this point, although my older sister Tricia (Patricia) had recently gone to university. These youth activities included a youth club and the St Peter’s Over 12 Society, known as Spot Soc, SPOTSOC or Spotsoc, see Chapter 124. Mum referred to it as Spotsoc so I have largely followed suit.
I don’t know if there was a clear distinction between youth club and Spotsoc. I think the youth club met during the week, on Thursday, and was possibly more social in nature. Conversely, I believe Spotsoc met on Sunday evenings and it may have been more overtly religious/spiritual. I think many of the same young people attended both. I was not involved in either youth club or Spotsoc at this point.
A refers to my younger brother Alan. On this occasion, he went to Spotsoc.
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.
Newspaper, Bath and Origami
My morning was quite different from mum’s! Instead of going to church, I bought a Sunday newspaper, had a bath and did origami from a book I had.
Sunday Paper
Buying a Sunday paper was a bit of a Sunday morning ritual although I am not sure I always got one. At this stage, we were living at 192 College Road, see Chapter 117, and I used to walk to the newsagent at the Earlham House/Earlham Road shopping centre on the corner of Earlham Road and Recreation Road. I confess I do not recall the name of the newsagent but, based on a local news cutting, I believe it was called L A Bell, see Chapter 125.
L A Bell
Earlham House Shopping Centre opened in 1963, see Chapter 125. L A Bell occupied number 7 from at least 1966 to 1985. They may have had other shops including one on Knowland Grove in Costessey between at least 1972 and 1980. In 1974, Mr Bell was interviewed in the local press following a break-in at his Knowland Grove shop during which cigarettes and some cash were stolen. In comments on a Facebook post, a number of people recalled his shop on Earlham Road. Apparently, his first name was Lionel.
Origami Book
I noted doing origami from a book I had, see Chapter 122. I think I recall having an origami book but I thought I had no idea which one! To be fair, I don’t think I ever took up origami very seriously. However, when I looked at origami books available in the seventies, the first of three by Robert Harbin looked familiar.
Two Films
On this day, I noted watching two films “Kim” and “Tony Rome”, see Chapter 122.
I watched “Kim” in the afternoon on my own as others had gone on a church ramble. Made in 1950 and released in January 1951, it was directed by Victor Saville and it starred Errol Flynn, Dean Stockwell, Paul Lukas, Robert Douglas, Thomas Gomez, Cecil Kellaway, Arnold Moss and Laurete Luez. It was on BBC1 at 1.55pm.
I watched “Tony Rome” in the evening with my younger sister Liz (Elizabeth). I noted that it starred Frank Sinatra. It was on Anglia at 9.05pm and also starred Jill St John. It is a 1967 film directed by Gordon Douglas and also starring Richard Conte, Gena Rowlands, Simon Oakland, Jeffrey Lynn, Lloyd Bochner and Sue Lyon.
Interestingly, “Tony Rome” was an X-rated film meaning that, if shown in cinema,s only those aged 18 would have been allowed entry. However, as it was on TV, it was shown after the 9 pm watershed. This meant that Liz and I were able to watch it although I was only 16 and Liz was 11. I am surprised that mum allowed this at least in Liz’s case. While I do not recall the film clearly, I understand that it has a 15 rating now because of stylised violence and mild innuendo.
Playing Cards
In the evening, I noted playing cards with mum and my younger sister Liz. On this occasion, I did not note what card games we played, see Chapter 122.