Mum’s Diary
Lovely day at work both morning & aft. Extra nice in aft. Sid rang at night. 2L 2S.
Roger’s/My Diary
Everard was ill so he didn’t go to school today although he seemed OK when I went there this evening. There was a dress rehearsal for the review after school. It is on on Thursday, I’m going. I’ve arranged to leave 2hrs early from work on Saturday. I bought a bottle of whisky for the party.
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 Tuesday, she worked all day. She noted that it was “lovely” at work both in the morning and in the afternoon (aft). She thought it was “extra nice” in the afternoon.
Sid Collins
Sid refers to Sid Collins who I think was someone mum had met while on a Methodist Guild holiday in Dunoon in July 1976. At the time, mum noted that he seemed very understanding but she did not take to him in the same way as she had to others. He phoned sometimes between October 1976 and January 1977. However, the last call mum noted from him was on 3 January 1977. I don’t know any more about him, see Chapter 114.
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 two long-acting amitriptyline (L for Lentizol) tablets 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.
Relatively 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. On this occasion, she did not take any even though her GP had recently offered her a higher dosage of flurazepam tablets (30mg). However, mum had not accepted these preferring to remain on the 15mg tablets. She also varied the dose of the long-acting amitriptyline between one and two tablets.
Everard Mascarenhas
Everard refers to my friend Everard Mascarenhas who I knew through school, see Chapter 118. He and I were close friends in sixth form. 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. On this occasion, I noted that he was unwell so did not go to school. I went to see him in the evening and thought he was “OK“. I am not sure if I was sceptical about him being ill or was just used to a higher threshold for being allowed to be off school. My recollection was that we needed to be at death’s door for mum to allow us to be off school.
Dress Rehearsal
There was to be a school review, see Chapter 118, and I noted that there was a dress rehearsal before the performance on Thursday. My main interest in the review was that my friend, Gary Wood, was playing guitar with a band.
Gary Wood
Gary Wood was one of my closest friends at school, see Chapter 118. He and I had a lot in common. In addition to both playing, or trying to play, the guitar, we both later had motorbikes and we both worked at Sainsbury’s in Anglia Square, see Chapter 119. Gary went on both the camping trips I went on to France in 1975 and 1976. He worked at “Le Paradis” in the summer of 1977.
In 1976, Gary won an endeavour prize and, in 1978, the Sheriff’s Prize for Art. In 1978, he passed A levels in pure maths, physics, chemistry and art. He went on to study physics in York. He is a member of the Hewett Facebook group but uses the name Robert Wood. Apparently, Robert is his first name but he used Gary as Robert was also his father’s name. His Facebook page notes that he studied architecture in Rome, Cambridge, Harvard and London, that he has his own architecture studio and lives in France.
Party Planning
Everard and I were holding a joint party at his house on the coming Saturday, see Chapter 122. I had arranged to leave my Saturday job at The Scientific Anglian bookshop, see Chapter 119, two hours early. I also bought a bottle of whisky in preparation. Although I was only 16, I recall it was relatively easy to buy alcohol. I was rarely, if ever, challenged on age and, if I was, I would have just gone somewhere else.