Drew Family Diaries

Mum’s Diary

Work all day. VV busy. Nice though. Dorothy told me Mr S told her I was looking for more work & that I was good! Plaster falling in R bedroom. Depressed – up & down. 1D 1L 3S.

Roger’s/My Diary

Today it was very cold. In PE I went swimming and both football teams won !! There is quite a lot of plaster on my floor as the men who are repairing the roof, knocked it down. This evening in the 5 a side competition Wolves won by beating Stoke in the final.

Notes

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 Wednesday, she worked all day. She noted that it was very, very busy but nice though.

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Looking for a Second Part-time Job

My parents had separated in 1973 and, at this time, my father was living and working in Birmingham, see Chapter 114. The split was very acrimonious and it seemed as if they argued over everything especially money. Things had come to a head recently when my older sister Tricia (Patricia) had gone to university, see Chapter 120. Dad had decided that, because the number of children living at home had reduced from four to three, he would reduce the monthly amount he gave mum from £120 to £90. Like so many things, they did not discuss this. Rather, at the end of one visit to Norwich, he left her a note and a cheque for the reduced amount.

Since then, mum had been actively looking for another job that she could fit around her existing hours. Mr Stephens had said he would make enquiries for her.

Dorothy was Mr Stephens’ NHS secretary, see Chapter 121. He had told her that mum was looking for another job and Dorothy reported this back to mum along with the point that Mr Stephens had said she was good. Of course, mum would have been delighted to hear this.

Roof Repairs

At this time, we were living at 192 College Road, see Chapter 117. For some weeks and months, the roof had been leaking and major repair work was needed. Mum noted that the scaffolding for this had arrived a couple of days earlier and the work had started the previous day.

The house had six bedrooms distributed across two floors. I had originally had a smallish room on the first floor. When Tricia went to university, I asked mum if I could have her room which was bigger and on the second floor. Mum had “suggested” that we swapped my bedroom with her office which had been on the second floor. That is what happened. So, at this time, I was in a second floor/attic room and this may explain why plaster was falling into my room as they worked on the roof. Both mum and I noted this in our diary entries.

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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 depressed and feeling up and down.

While there were not always clear factors which contributed to mum’s feelings of depression, I think some things helped her feel better, such as work and the conversation with Dorothy, and others which made her feel worse, such as the ongoing problems with the roof and worries over money.

Mum’s Medication

At the end of her diary entries, mum tended to note the tablets she had taken that 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 three 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 varied the dose between one and two. She also varied the dose of the long-acting amitriptyline between one and two tablets.

A Note on the Weather

It was relatively unusual for me to comment on the weather but I did on this occasion noting that it was very cold.

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Swimming in PE

I noted that I went swimming in PE. In lower sixth, I think I did PE as one of two general studies options. We were fortunate that our school had a swimming pool so it was relatively easy for us to go swimming.

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.

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Football Teams

I think “both” the football teams I referred to were the school’s first and second eleven. They had played during PE on 6 October. I think the fact that both teams won and this merited two exclamation marks could be explained by the fact that, when I last noted their results, both had lost to UEA, 4-1 in the case of the second eleven and 7-0 in the case of the first eleven.

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Five-A-Side

I referred to “the” five-a-side competition and noted that Wolves beat Stoke in the final. This was a national five-a-side competition, sponsored by the Daily Express, between 1968 and 1986. It was televised until 1983. On this occasion, it featured on BBC 1’s “Sportsnight” programme from 9.55 pm.

Wolves beat Stoke 2-1 in the final. Other winners include Arsenal, Aston Villa, Celtic, Charlton Athletic, Crystal Palace, Derby County, Ipswich Town, Leyton Orient, Manchester City, Manchester United, Norwich City, Oxford United, Southampton (twice), Sunderland, Tottenham Hotspur, Watford and Wolverhampton Wanderers (twice). Norwich won the competition the last time it was played in 1986/87.

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