Mum’s Diary
Went to E’s assembly. She played flute & danced hornpipe. Assembly on Nelson. VG. Had hair set. Bought bo. Work in aft. V busy with Mr S. Lot to do for Mr A too. Saw him at hos. He rang me at home about a patient. Met A Dolly at bus station 5 to 10. 1 hr 5 mins late RA&E went with me. V irritable & depressed. FR rang briefly in aft. 1D 1L 2S.
Roger’s/My Diary
At last half-term is here. In Politics we finished the planning of the questionnaire and had a heated discussion on Education. This evening we went to pick Auntie Dolly up as she’s staying with grandma. The bus was an hour late so we waited for her in the rain.
Notes
Liz’s Assembly
E refers to my younger sister Liz (Elizabeth). She was 11 at this point and still attending Avenue Primary School, see Chapter 118. Mum noted that she went to Liz’s assembly. I don’t know if it was common practice for parents to attend assemblies at her school. Perhaps it was because Liz was taking an active part, playing her flute, see Chapter 122, and dancing a hornpipe. Mum noted that the assembly was about Nelson and she thought it was very good.
Assemblies were a prominent feature of school life at that time including at Hewett where I attended. Assemblies were held every day in each of the three halls in Lower School, Middle School and Upper School. This is something that is mentioned in the video “A Hewett Day” (1.39) and pupils are seen in one of the assemblies (2.41). I confess I was not a huge fan of assemblies. In November 1977, I summed up my view of assemblies saying they were pointless as they meant I had to get up half an hour earlier than I needed to!
I don’t think it was unusual to have an assembly about Nelson or to have to learn about him in school. Given his connection to Norfolk, I think most schoolchildren in Norwich and Norfolk were expected to know about him and other notable figures from Norfolk such as Edith Cavell and Elizabeth Fry.
Hair Set
Mum noted that she had her hair set presumably after she had been to Liz’s assembly.
Deleted Entry
Mum appears to have started to write “bought book” but crossed out a partial entry so it reads “bought bo“. Sometimes, mum wrote her diary a day or two later. It may be that she started to write that she had bought a Medical Secretary Handbook, see Chapter 121, then realised that had been the previous day and squeezed the entry in there! Of course, it could have been some other book she didn’t buy on this day!
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 it was very busy with Mr Stephens (Mr S) and there was a lot to do for Mr Ashken (Mr A) too. Mum saw him at the hospital and he phoned her at home about a patient.
Auntie Dolly
P refers to my older sister Tricia (Patricia) and A Dolly refers to Auntie Dolly. Her full name was Dorothy Rose and she was grandma’s first cousin. So, she was not really an aunt but mum’s first cousin once removed and my second cousin twice removed! She lived in Bedford but often visited grandma, see Chapter 122. She usually came by bus and someone used to meet her at Norwich bus station. On this occasion, mum met her with me (R for Roger) and my two younger siblings Alan (A) and Liz (E for Elizabeth) in tow.
Mum complained that the bus came in, or was due in, at 9.55 pm. It was an hour and five minutes delayed. In my diary, I also noted that we went to pick up Auntie Dolly as she was staying at grandma’s. I also commented on the bus being late and added that we waited for her in the rain!
Depressed
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 “irritable and depressed“.
While there were not always factors that led to her feelings of depression, there were on some occasions. This time, I am sure that waiting for over an hour in the rain wouldn’t have helped her mood.
It is interesting that mum here links her feelings of depression with irritability. This was not something she did often in her diaries. However, my recollection is that the main way mum’s depression affected me directly was that she always seemed to be irritable with me, in particular, and I felt she was always on my case! As a result, our relationship was extremely difficult at this time.
Rev Dowson
FR refers to Rev F R Dowson. Frederick Rodham Dowson entered the Methodist ministry in 1936. He was born in Haxby, York on 5 August 1912 and he died in Selsey on 4 September 2011, aged 99. I believe he was superintendent Minister for the Park Lane Circuit from 1968 to 1974. He and mum were close and they spoke and corresponded frequently, see Chapter 114. On this occasion, he rang briefly in the afternoon (aft).
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 flurazepam (D for Dalmane) tablet to help her sleep, one long-acting amitriptyline (L for Lentizol) tablet for depression and two senna-containing tablets (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. Recently, she had changed sleeping tablets from nitrazepam to flurazepam. She had started taking two tablets of flurazepam at night but had then reduced that dose to one.
Incorrect Date
In my diary, it looks as if I incorrectly entered the date as 12th October but later changed it to the 22th. I left it as 22th and did not correct to 22nd.
Half-term
I had just completed my first half-term in the sixth form at the Hewett School, see Chapter 118. I frequently commented on the increased workload now that I was studying A levels. I was glad that the half-term holiday had arrived.
Politics
As part of our sixth form studies, we had some general studies and I recall having some choice over what we did within those periods, see Chapter 118. In lower sixth, I did PE and politics. On this occasion, in politics, we finished planning a questionnaire we were going to use to canvas political views and opinions. We then had a heated discussion about education. As sixth form students, this was something that affected us personally and directly.
This period was a time of great change in the education system which affected me personally. The old selective system of grammar and secondary modern schools was being replaced by comprehensive schools. The school I attended Hewett was a case in point. It was a relatively new comprehensive school formed from the merger of three schools, the Hewett Grammar School and the two Lakenham Secondary Modern Schools, one for boys and the other for girls.
I was at the forefront of this transition! As I approached the end of primary school, we were living in Norfolk which still followed the old system. As a result, I took the 11+ exam which would have determined which school I went to. However, we moved into the city just before I went to secondary school so went to Hewett which, I believe, had turned comprehensive the previous year.
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