Mum’s Diary
V nice day at work. Church Mtg at night. Film strip “One Church One Faith One Lord” quite good. WGBR as bad as ever. Gerald brought me home. Lots of people asked about me & how P was. KFE asked about P but not me though he did mention St. Barnabas Centre to me. 1D 1L 1S.
Roger’s/My Diary
After school we, that is James & I had our first S level Physics lesson. We did 2 problems in an hour & a half! They were hard. Got a letter from dad and he also telephoned. I’ve asked for some money towards 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 Wednesday, she worked all day. She noted that she had a very nice day at work.
Church Meeting
Mum attended a church meeting (mtg) at St Peter’s Park Lane Methodist Church at night, see Chapter 124. Church meetings were an opportunity to communicate with and consult everyone associated with the church. They appear to have happened once or twice per year. I think these were equivalent to what might be an AGM in other settings. These may be known formally as society meetings.
“One Church One Faith One Lord”
Mum noted that they saw a film strip, that is a film with a series of still images. It was entitled “One Church One Faith One Lord“. Mum thought it was quite good. The same film strip had been shown at a service at Chapelfield Road Methodist Church in April 1975, see Chapter 124. I don’t know any specific details of the film strip. I guess it was an educational resource produced by the Methodist Church. The theme derives from the Bible and is a common phrase in Christian worship and teaching. It might have been used to promote ecumenism.
Rev William (Bill) George Bertram Ream
WGBR refers to Rev William George Bertram Ream who was senior Minister at St Peter’s Park Lane at that time. Mum’s relationship with him was extremely difficult and she was critical of more or less everything he did including the way he led meetings, see Chapter 124. On this occasion, she said he was “as bad as ever“.
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.
Gerald Cooke
Gerald refers to Gerald Cooke. He and his wife Thelma were friends of mum’s from St Peter’s Park Lane Methodist Church, see Chapter 124. They were active members of St Peter’s Guild and possibly were its leaders. I think Gerald held some leadership position in the church, perhaps steward and/or church secretary. Gerald worked for many years for the printer Crowes. On this occasion, he was at the church meeting and gave mum a lift home.
Enquiring about Mum and Tricia
P refers to my older sister Tricia (Patricia). She was in her first term of university at Cambridge, see Chapter 120. Mum had been to visit her the previous week so it was understandable that church friends enquired about how she was getting on. However, it is clear that mum also wanted people to ask how she was getting on which many did.
Rev Kenneth F Elworthy
KFE refers to Rev Kenneth F Elworthy who was the junior Minister at St Peter’s Park Lane at that time. Born in 1943, Rev Elworthy entered the Methodist Ministry in 1966. He was sent to Park Lane by the President of the Methodist Conference and had a specific focus on young people and students, serving as chaplain to the University of East Anglia. One thing he became known for was a “Punch and Judy” show although he only took this up after his time at Park Lane. After leaving Norwich, he went on to serve in Gant’s Hill and the Isle of Man. He appears to have died on the Isle of Man in May 2019 following a long struggle with Parkinson’s disease. He was married to Heather and they had three children Peter, Nicola and Tabitha, see Chapter 124.
On this occasion, mum noted that he asked her about Tricia (P for Patricia) but did not ask how mum was herself. Frankly, I can understand why he didn’t as mum was one of those people who responded to the question “how are you” honestly and often at great length! Unlike other Ministers, I think he was wary of being drawn into a close relationship as confidant and friend. Rather, he suggested that mum seek professional counselling at the St Barnabas’ Centre, see Chapter 114. Personally, I think this was a very appropriate suggestion but not one that mum followed up I fear.
St Barnabas
Established as a centre for Christian healing in 1974, the St Barnabas centre still provides non-denominational, multi-faith counselling. However, according to their website, they are no longer accepting new clients.
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) table 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.
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. 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. Indeed, she had had a few nights without taking any. She also varied the dose of the long-acting amitriptyline between one and two tablets and the dose of the senna-containing tablet from one to three.
S-Level Physics
I was in my first term of lower sixth at the Hewett School, see Chapter 118. I was taking A levels in pure maths, physics and chemistry and had been asked to also consider taking two S-levels including in physics. One other boy had been asked as well although I think more were added later. We had our first lesson for this after school. I noted that we tried to solve two problems. I commented that they were hard and took us an hour and a half.
James Jarvis
James refers to James Jarvis. He was extremely bright and often came ahead of me in different exams. In 1976, he won subject prizes in biology and additional mathematics. Then, in 1977, he won the subject prize in physics and also the Harmer Memorial Prize for Mechanics. In 1978, he won the subject prize for pure maths. He and I did S level lessons together. However, from memory, he got an inexplicably low grade in one of his A levels. According to the 1978 examination results booklet, he gained five A levels in applied maths, pure maths, pure and applied maths, physics and chemistry. He gained a distinction in physics and a merit in pure maths. According to that year’s prizegiving leaflet, he went on to study physics at university in London, see Chapter 118.
My Father
My parents had separated in 1973 and, at this point, dad was living and working in Birmingham, see Chapter 114. I noted that I got a letter from him and he also phoned. He was not the world’s greatest correspondent so it was relatively unusual to get a letter from him. A phone call was less unusual. He would phone for major events, such as birthdays, and would also call spontaneously for no apparent reason!
Money for a Party
At this point,, the relationship between mum and dad was particularly acrimonious and they could argue about anything, particularly money. Dad did pay mum a fixed amount per month but the amount this should be was fiercely disputed. In addition, dad would give us money and/or buy us things directly and I am sure this annoyed mum who would have rather had all the money come through her. She felt that dad played the role of fairy godmother while she only bought “boring” things. I was planning a party on the coming Saturday, see Chapter 122, and I noted that I had asked dad for money for this.
Everard Mascarenhas
I was planning the party jointly with 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. We were holding the party at his house.
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.
