Mum’s Diary
Roy rang – coming Sun for lunch. E went in city with Nicola all day. A went & bought some shoes from Rutlands. Rest of Coeliac Christmas cards came. I did bit of typ & dup. Dr Pearson rang in aft – he’d like me to go but think my house won’t fit. I’d like to go but think hours are difficult. Saw advert for full time hos & priv sec for Mr Birt. Rang – Mrs Birt said must be full time. Very off putting. ID 1L 2S.
Roger’s/My Diary
I am writing this on Sunday as I went to a party last night and when I came in I was very tired indeed. I went to work today. Terry wasn’t there as he’s working tonight so he would have been in bed. Anyway we got our rise at last from £2.40 to £3.20. On the way to the party I called round for Mascy but I must have been extremely late as he was ready and phoned me to ask where I was. Norwich drew 2-2 away today against Man Utd.
Notes
Sunday Lunch
Roy refers to my father Royle Drew. My parents had separated in 1973 and, at this point, my father was living and working in Birmingham, see Chapter 114. He did visit us frequently. On this occasion, she noted that he was coming on Sunday, the next day, for lunch. I am not sure if he invited himself or if mum invited him. It is quite possible that mum invited him and then complained about it in her diary and probably to her friends.
Surprisingly perhaps, mum did not mention that dad was picking me and my two younger siblings, Alan and Liz (Elizabeth) up so that we could spend half-term with him in Birmingham. I am sure that if mum had not wanted dad to come for lunch she could have just told him it wasn’t convenient. I think she definitely preferred to agree and then complain about how difficult it was!
Terminology Around Meals
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. On this occasion, mum referred to Sunday lunch.
City All Day
E refers to my younger sister Liz (Elizabeth) who was 11 at this point. She spent the day in Norwich with her friend and next-door neighbour Nicola Drury, see Chapter 125.
A Fine City
Mum noted that Liz went “in city” for the day. 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.
Buying Shoes
A refers to my younger brother Alan who was 14 at this point. He went into Norwich to Rutlands to buy shoes, see Chapter 125.
Rutlands
Rutlands, originally, W B Rutland was an independent boot and shoe shop located at 12-14 Davey Place from at least 1899 to 1992. In 1976, their premises underwent a major refitting with a new shop opening in 1985. There are great photos of the shop here and here. Patisserie Valerie were based here from at least 2016 to 2022 although Google Streetview shows that their signs were in place into 2024. WoolOvers took over the building in November 2025.
Coeliac Christmas Cards
My younger brother Alan had Coeliac disease, see Chapter 78, and my mother was active in the fledgling Coeliac Society, see Chapter 116. She was involved in organising local activities and meetings and also raised funds for the society by selling its Christmas cards across the country. She was the society’s national vice-chairman for three years from June 1977. On this occasion, mum noted that the rest of the Coeliac Christmas cards came. I assume these were for her to sell and that some had arrived previously.
The Coeliac Society was founded in 1968 by Elizabeth Segall and Peter Benenson. Elizabeth Segall was the wife of a doctor and the mother of a child with coeliac disease. Peter Benenson had the condition and also became a founder of Amnesty International. In 1971, the Coeliac Society had about 5,000 members and this rose to 12,000 by 1976, 23,000 in 1987, 49,000 in 2001 and over 76,000 by 2006. In 2001, the charity renamed itself Coeliac UK, see Chapter 100.
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 that she did a bit of typing (typ) and duplicating (dup).
Job with Dr Pearson
At this point, mum was looking for a second part-time job to supplement her income from her work as part-time secretary in the private practice of Mr Ashken and Mr Stephens, see Chapter 121. Earlier that week, she had seen an advert for a part-time receptionist for a doctor in the Earlham Road area. She had written an enquiry and hand-delivered it to the office of the Eastern Evening News (EEN). On this occasion, Dr Pearson rang. It seems that Dr David Pearson may have been a GP who also worked at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital as a clinical assistant in diabetes. He wanted mum to go, presumably for an interview, but mum wrote “think my hours won’t fit”. I am not sure who thought this, mum or Dr Pearson, possibly both.
Advert for a Secretary to Consultant Surgeon Mr Birt
Mum saw an advert for a full-time hospital (hos) and private (priv) secretary for a consultant surgeon who mum identified as Mr Birt.
Alan Birt was born on 24 June 1915. He was educated at Wellington College and St Thomas’s Hospital, where he qualified with honours in 1937. Then, he held a number of junior appointments there and was later appointed senior registrar, having passed the FRCS in 1940. He joined the Royal Army Medical Corps and served in North Africa. In 1946, he was appointed surgeon to the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, working in vascular and cardiac surgery. He chaired the advisory committee of the Association of Surgeons, of which he became President in 1979 the year he retired. He died on 12 August 1993.
Mum rang to enquire about the job but Mrs Birt said it had to be full-time. Mum described her as very offputting! To be fair to Mrs Birt, the advert was clear that the job was full (or whole) time.
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 13th October but later changed it to the 23th. I left it as 23th and did not correct to 23rd.
Writing my Diary
Usually, I wrote my diary at the end of the day in question. I am not sure mum did this and sometimes may have completed more than one entry a day or two later. I have been keeping a diary again since 2022 and now mostly complete it the next morning. On this occasion, I noted that I was writing my diary on Sunday morning as I had come in late from a party and was “very tired indeed” which strikes me as oddly literary and Victorian, as if I thought my surname was Brontë or Dickens!”
Saturday Job
At that time, although I was still at school, I had a Saturday job at the Scientific Anglian bookshop, see Chapter 119. I noted that I went to work and that one of the people who was usually there was not. For a number of weeks, I had been expecting a pay rise and this finally came through. It was a substantial 33% rise from £2.40 to £3.20 per day but it was still low compared to what my friends earned in other Saturday jobs.
While I now look back on my time working in that secondhand bookshop with great fondness, It definitely irked me that I earned much less than my friends who worked in other places, such as Sainsbury’s. Ultimately, I left and went to work at Sainsbury’s in Anglia Square.
Terry Tidd
The person I noted was not at work was Terry. 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. He still worked at May and Baker at this time and he was not at work in the bookshop as he was working night duty there.
Party
Based on previous entries, the party I went to was organised at the Louis Marchesi by someone I did not know! Basically, I had been to a party there the previous Saturday and everyone there was invited to come the following week, see Chapter 122. I was hesitant but went as “everyone else” was going. This, I think, was fairly early in my party-going career as later I would have had no such qualms! I recall attending a number of parties in the cellar of the Louis Marchesi pub around this time.
Louis Marchesi
The pub was first named the Louis Marchesi in 1976, after the founder of the Round Table Great Britain and Ireland. The Round Table used to meet there. The name was revived in 2017. The part of the pub I remember was a downstairs basement that is now known as The Crypt.
Everard Mascarenhas
I went to the party with my friend Everard Mascarenhas who I called, on this occasion, by the highly original nickname of “Mascy“. He had a reputation, at least with me, of always being late and never being ready. Clearly, I overcompensated on this occasion as he phoned to see where I was. I concluded that I must have been really late!
I knew Everard Mascarenhas through school, see Chapter 118. He and I were close friends in sixth form which we were just starting. He lived near me in Park Lane so we often walked to and from school together. Also later, we worked together at Sainsbury’s in Anglia Square, see Chapter 119. In 1976, he won an endeavour prize. In 1978, he passed A level physics. He was part of the school football team. Apparently, he read physics at University College Swansea, has a PhD in semi-conductor devices from Nottingham Trent University and an MBA from Imperial College.
Manchester United 2 Norwich City 2
I noted that Norwich drew 2-2 away at Manchester United. According to news reports at the time, Manchester United led 2-0 at half-time but goals from John Ryan and Phil Boyer earned Norwich a point. During October 1976, Norwich played six games winning two, drawing one and losing three. As a result, they moved off the bottom of the table to 18th or fifth bottom. They were two points clear of Bristol City who, at that point, were occupying the final relegation place.
An Aside About Programme Prices!
In reviewing football results of that era, I have looked at a number of match day programmes. One thing that struck me was the variation in programme prices. While the majority of first division clubs, fifteen including Norwich, charged 15p, six clubs were cheaper. Liverpool, Manchester United and Newcastle United each charged 12p while Middlesbrough, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United only charged 10p. Leicester City had the most expensive programme at 20p.
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