Saturday August 3, 1974

Mum wakes me at 12 with the news that Andy is waiting for me -she's not too pleased that I'm going out drinking on an empty stomach, though she doesn't give Andy that impression. To the Commercial with Andy, Bruno and Keith, then the Emmotts, then the Dyneley Arms. Back to Bruno's for spaghetti on toast and listen to the Beachboys Greatest Hits LP. A and I then go on to Dave Brown's in order that A can buy some cheap jewellry for Linda's holiday present. Have a good laugh. Back home for 5.

Denny comes with Lynn at 6.30 and we book a taxi, or I should say 2 taxis, for 8.45. All leave for Pudsey - John, Denny, Carol and self in one car, and Susan, Peter, Ronnie and Lynn in the other.
Super party. Jackie looks great, and we have a good time with Neil, her fiance from Xmas. Never will I criticise Peter Nason again. He may be shy but he loves my sister more than I could have imagined. If I ever see a couple who love each other like that again I will be surprised. Drink until about 3am, though Auntie Eleanor was a large dampener on events when she separated the sexes into different rooms at 3. Sit with Peter getting him drunk and to take his mind of Susan, who is slightly ill with drink. Finally sleep after 6am, and wake up at 10.30am Sunday morning.

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Friday August 2, 1974

Typical Friday. To Hare & Hounds and Wikis. John is enraptured by Carol Smith, whom he asks to accompany him to Jackie's 18th birthday party tomorrow. Poor Denny was not with us tonight. She rings and tells me she is babysitting for her wealthy friends with the £46,000 house.

Andy, Bruno and Keith came straight to Wikis from their Cornwall holiday. Poor Bruno seemed peeved about John and Carol and he questioned him about how long they'd been going out. Not an outstanding evening and the only highlight was the rude attitude of Chris Ratcliffe______.

Home with Keith after 2. Arrange to see Andy in the Commercial tomorrow afternoon. Should be a laugh anyway.

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Friday July 12, 1974

Quite a nice day. YP as usual. To the Hare and Hounds at about 8 with Chris (who comes at about 9.30!), Christine W, John, Andy, Dave Baker and Carol & Linda S, etc. Ring Judith at a quarter to nine and I say I'll meet her outside the Hare at 9.30.

I enjoy going out with Judith Beevers because Keith is so infatuated with her. Move on to the Black Horse at Askwith, though J and I get lost on the way - arriving 10 minutes after everybody else. We have them on saying we ran out of petrol in a lay-by in some desolate spot. Nice time until 10.30. Back to Pine Tops for coffee.

(PS Saw Mum, Dad, Lynn, Sue, Alison and Christine all set off for Spain this afternoon - hate parting with Mum. Even at 19 I feel too attached to leave her for any length of time.)

J and I sit listening to records, whilst the others, John included, watch a rotten old film on the tv. No lively spirits at all in our crowd. Everyone goes at 12 - J included. Party tomorrow - Yippee!

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Sunday July 7, 1974

No doubt you've already decided that Miss Bottomley wouldn't keep her appointment at the Emmotts tonight, which we more or less decided upon on the evening of June 30. Well, you're quite correct in your assumption. The ruthlessness of that female beggars belief.

John and I go to the Emmotts at 8. See Keith who remarks upon the fact that we rarely go out on Sundays. He disagrees with our plans to change the date of the party to Saturday. We leave him standing at the bar, staring down the blouse of the barmaid, who I think is a new fixture in the Emmotts, not having had the pleasure before now. Joined by Bruno, who dislikes this nickname intensely, and dear Carol and Christine W. Chris of course comes very late. Leave the E at 9.30 having decided that June and Susan were not going to honour us with their presence. Hell, I must rid myself of this infatuation for a female on whom I have not laid hands in 11 months!

Go to the Commercial at Esholt: very nice evening. Carol is a darling and quite shows poor CW up. Move back to the Station on Henshaw Lane. Never been here before, but find it very interesting. Chris brings John and I back to Harry Ramsden's where we partake of fish and chips which are much improved on last time. Home at 11.30. Loathe Sunday evenings.

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Friday July 5, 1974

Blimey, you ought to see Guiseley Railway Station since it's been 'done up' for the great event next Wednesday. After all, it isn't every day that His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, KG, etc, etc, arrives on the platform of our small, yet cosy station. It would be interesting to discover when the last royal visit to our neighbourhood took place.

To the Hare and Hounds with Dave Lawson at about 8. (John too, of course). All the gang join us. Move to the Yorkshire Rose, a pub that I do not like, but John says that the ale is exceptional. I haven't yet acquired a taste for the stuff yet (joke).

Everyone goes to Wikis except Dave, who receives unfavourable reports from his sister. See Andy Dale, who is no longer at Loughborough College of Ed - very pleasant chap. Gets very __at about 1.15 - Carol, Bruno, Christine W and Chris having gone. Peter Mather is hardly the sort of person to sit holding hands with across a candlelit table, if you know what I mean, and John takes the initiative to leave before the closing hour. A lovely warm evening. Home at, on, or in the region of, 2am.

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Sunday May 26, 1974

Sunday after Ascension. A very hot day. Lynn, Mum and Susan sit on the back lawn with Christine Dibb and John and I prepare to be carried off to Apperley Lane by the young 'get up and go' girls. They collect us the Alfa Romeo at 2.30 - Mum and Sue couldn't resist coming onto the drive for a quick nosy. We sit watching tv - a horrible film - then listen to records. Judith and I take Louis for a walk and I get covered in filthy horse-flies in the woods at Esholt. Having had no lunch you can imagine the starvation which I was subject to, and this prompted me to make a suggestion about fish and chips. Judith and I went to the nearest fish and chip shop in the Alfa Romeo and we came back laden with that greasy delicacy which has sustained the working classes for about two and a half centuries. Those females are certainly a pair of poor liars. They must imagine that John and I are demented or something. However, we are going to play them at their own game - should be rather fun. They bring us home at 7 and refuse to join us this evening for Andy's birthday celebrations. Meet at the Yorkshire Rose again. Andy is 18 today and he must have been drinking for three or four years now. The law breaking swine. On the whole it was rather a hysterical night out - we did all the pubs in Otley and surrounding areas, coming back to Wikis to find it closed. Carol S and Bruno make a good couple, much to the heartbreak of Chris, who fancies Carol far too much. All back to Keith Brown's. Horrrible. Laura made the coffee which was quite nice. Bed at 2. -==-

Saturday May 25, 1974

Wake at 8.00am. Feeling quite lively and in very good spirits. Decide to go to the YP immediately before having time to change my mind. Arrive at 9.15 to fins Sarah quite surprised because in my note last night I said they'd see me when they'd see me, or something. Janice was her usual silly self. Nice seeing Carol again. Never did I think for one minute that the day would dawn when I'd be missing her, but I must admit she is very likeable and quite motherly, and most unlike Sarah, who arouses quite different emotions within myself - if she only knew! Think of Judith last night and hope to God we'll see each other again. But I see no use in worrying about it - I've done far too much worrying over females. The papers are full of Marcia Williams becoming a life peeress. God! Wilson will be knighting his tailor next! Meet Chris at the Hare and Hounds at 8.30. Ring Denny who tells me she is going with her lover to the Stone Trough. I am horror struck when she says she is going to Bridlington with him for 2 days. I tell her not to go and she sees the light. She says that tonight she will finish with the blackguard - she's only known him since last Saturday! Judith rings and invites John and I to Apperley tomorrow for a record session in the flat. Of course we'll go. I can hardly wait. Meet at the Yorkshire Rose. We all go on a pub crawl taking in the Royalty, Malt Shovel, and the Hare and Hounds. Bruno brings John and I home at 11.30 - due to the extension because of the Bank Holiday, and I must admit I was rather drunk. -==-

Saturday May 18, 1974

Lynn and I go to Bradford where I spend £9.50 on a beautiful cheese-cloth shirt and a pair of trousers - long overdue. In Smiths we see Denny working in the travel agency and we spend an hour with her. Lynn and Denny get on so well together it's s shame they don't meet more often.

At 7 I ring round and make plans for the evenings entertainment and Chris says we'll meet at the Hare and Hounds. I ring Denny and tell her to be at Menston for 8. Chris rings back and says: 'We've changed plans, Mig,' which annoys me, and he says the venue is switched to the Dyneley Arms. However, I say that John, Denny and I are going to the Hare and Hounds and we'll probably see Chris later on at Wikis. At the H and H Denny is furious and says that Bruno brought her down and then drove off leaving her outside the pub. But we do enjoy ourselves and John sits with George Waite and Jane Lockyer and the latter gets horribly drunk and sits weeping in the centre of the Tudor Lounge much to John's amusement. Denny and I sit by the juke box and are joined by June's friend, Lorraine, and Christopher North, who I don't like. Lorraine tells me that June got in to Bingley College of Education, which is very nice. Whilst I was 'pointing Percy at the porcelain' Lorraine attempted to extract information from Denny, who played along with the game superbly. I came back and made Denny laugh by telling Lorraine that D and I were 'just good friends' followed by a knowing look and a titter. Lorraine was sent packing her suspicions aroused. No doubt June will soon know of my night out with Denise Akroyd, her arch-enemy. We walk to Wikis, and John follows on the bus. Denny and John are the first to dance, and Chris comes over alone at 12. At 2, Denny is picked up by 'an old friend' of the male sex, who proceeds to monopolise her for the remainder of the evening. Chris, having nowhere to go, comes to our place where I set up the camp bed in the lounge. I collapse in bed at 3 and sleep until 11.30.

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Monday April 15, 1974

Bank Holiday Monday. Rose at 10.30. Sunny but somewhat cold. See a 1953 film "Young Bess" about the early life of Elizabeth I. Quite entertaining but absolutely wrong factual detail.

At 2 John and self go to 21, Victoria Drive, Horsforth, the home of Chris. We stay all day. John, being quite tiresome, watches a Tarzan film purely because Chris and I want to watch something on the other channel. However, we had a tremendous laugh and ventured to the Fleece at 8. Joined by Pete, Bruno, Linda, Christine W and Andy at 9. All back to Chris's at 11. The Ratcliffes came home at 11.30 from Lancashire and the merry little clique disintegrated. I find Mrs Ratcliffe and tremendous character & I stood for 20 minutes discussing the neighbours with her. My sole consumption at Chris's was one gin and orange. Peter brought us home at 12. Uncle H was drunk in our dining room, and Mum, Dad, Sue and Peter were all on the way. I had 2 large gins with orange and some beer. Uncle H fell on the stereo and smashed the lid - Sue was in pain with laughter and poor Peter thinks our family is mad. At 2am I am sitting with Uncle H, cigarette in hand, listening to all his worries, etc. He thinks I'm neglecting Sam on purpose, but why should I visit a strange relative in an asylum for no reason at all? He was sick and I cleared it all up. But the room smells like a sewage plant, or worse.

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Saturday April 13, 1974

Terrible day. Cold, draughty weather. Rise at 11. Mum is going berserk with anger. Evidently, in my haste to devour a sizeable supper last night, I, inadvertantly of course, turned off the cooker timer which made a bugger of the fat turkey sitting within. At 10.30 Mother discovered the bird uncooked, and of course I was blamed. I left the house quickly, in order to escape the wrath of Mama, going to Guiseley library again, and collecting several loaves from the bakery. After lunch Chris rings and we meet in Otley at 3.15. Chris is half an hour late. An incredibly cold afternoon. Lynn and I complain constantly about the weather, and Chris drags us into a tatty riverside cafe where he devours several horrid egg sandwiches. Lynn says the coffee tastes like washing up water, and after several sips I quickly agree with her. The three of us sauntered near the river before returning to the bus station. Bid farewell to Chris. We agree to meet at the Emmotts at 8. John and I caught the bus to the Emmotts. Chris was already propping up the bar, and Pete joined us after half an hour. The four of us were herded near the door and thousands of people kept cramming in. Andy and Dave Baker (Bruno) came half an hour after Pete. We then went to the Westbourne at Otley, which Chris hated, but everyone else had a tremendous time. Pete was in his usual sarcastic mood, and inevitably, Chris suffered. A bar extension until 11.30 enabled us to get rather drunk. Bruno was nearly copped by the police near Harry Ramsden's, but he took s side-street thereby shaking them off. Home after an exciting evening. -==-

Friday April 12, 1974

Good Friday. Dad wakes me at 10am. Lynn is watching the television, Sue is at work, and so are Mama and John of course. Terrible weather. Chris and I intend going out after lunch, but I expect he won't want to wonder out in the deluge which lashes down upon the whole area. Yorkshire is prone to this obscene weather. Mother and Father bought lunch - fish and chips - at 12.30, and Mama surprised us with a pair of spectacles which she needs for reading - and they look quite nice on her. Mr Ussher, the chemist, thinks they make her look extremely intellectual.

Lazy afternoon. Go to the E. at 8. Andy, Linda, Christine and Bruno (whom I haven't seen since that fantastic day at the Motor Show). Before long, MM, Marita and Denny (looking considerably thinner), and David all drop in to see us. David was in very high spirits and he think he tries to ignore ____when he can. Life for poor David must be ghastly. I do not rellish the idea of dragging ____around whenever I go out. Denny, Marita, Christine Jennings and MM are going to the Continent in July. The 'Jet Set' move on after half an hour, and we then go to the Malt Shovel in Menston where we encounter the parents of Linda and Christine W. One of Christine's aunts was drunk. At 10.30 we all go back to Andy's. Mr Graham is a character! Bruno brings John and I home at 2. Supper and bed at 3.

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Saturday October 20, 1973

Awakened at 6am by Mrs Ratcliffe. A very cold morning - typical autumn. Waiting outside the Fleece at 6.45, after breakfast of bacon and mushrooms, and it's dark until 7.05. MM is given a lift to the Fleece at 7.10 by his father. The coach arrives not long after. As usual, the seats are far too close together and my knees and neck have to suffer a gruelling 4 hours agony.

Feel very nostalgic when the coach stops in Leicester - it was here where June and I stopped on our way to see the 'Trooping of the Colour' in June.

Arrived London at about 12.30. MM rushes off to Earls Court where he promised to meet Dave at 12. Of course, David didn't turn up, and MM wandered around the Motor Show until 4.30 when he bumped into Philip Cartwright loitering near the Range Rovers.

Andy, John, Chris, Bruno, and myself go to the Tiger Bar on Tower Hill for a so-called lunch which lasts until 2.0. Beer and ham butties - super. By 2.30 we are at the Motor Show after a tiring journey on the underground, where I was accosted by an undesirable gentleman. The puff got off at Kensington, which was of great relief to me.

Spend three hours viewing the new motors. The Rolls were adorable - especially the Rolls Royce Corniche convertable. At 5 we all rushed to Piccadilly - absolutely starved to death. Bruno is on the verge of collapse. By 6 we are settled in a good restaurant - but the service was terrible. The lights of Piccadilly are fantastic - I've never seen London on a night before. Well, I have, so to speak, but that was in 1968, and I don't remember much.

At 8 we are back in the Tiger Bar. To my knowledge I drank five Pernods, four Cinzanos, 1 whisky and a pint - you won't believe it, but I wasn't even drunk. Chris wasn't feeling too well and he was also quite sober. Everyone else was quite gone.

Saw a beautiful tart, almost naked, dancing to "Ooh That Lady" by the Isley Brothers. She was in a cage suspended in the air.

The singing on the coach was amusing but disgusting - all the other passengers were sober and our party was something of an embarrassment. Photographed at Leicester. Meanwhile, Philip C was sick on the coach - but it was the very pleasant smell of pure Pernod!

Back in Horsforth for 4am. Deep, deep sleep.

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Friday October 19, 1973

The girl of the week is undoubtedly the delightful Laura. My heart goes out to the darling creature tonight, wherever she may be. And if I know Laura, she could certainly be in some places!

But first, a note of tragedy. The two month liaison of Mr Christopher H. Ratcliffe and Miss Marita Fountain is over. The couple, who met at a party in August, separated after nasty scenes in a high-class bar last Sunday. It's the worst thing to happen since Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor separated last July.

My last day at BP. Totally unmoved.

John and I go to the Emmotts where we are joined by the gang. See Dear Denny, who enjoyed herself tremendously on a four-day official visit to Barcelona. She was with the German boyfriend. Sit with Ivy for half an hour, and then with darling Laura, who is hilariously drunk by 10. She joins Bruno, Chris, Andy and myself for a series of dirty jokes - she comes out with several pearls of her own.

The laugh of the month came when Laura tells us that she has a 19 year-old pet rabbit who lives in the garden and drinks warm whisky on his daily helping of porridge! I die with laughter. Within minutes Marita confirms this tale, adding that the pet is also in the 'Guinness Book of Records'.

Alas, poor Laura, in her drunken state, accepts a lift from two strange men, and we don't see her again.

Marita was unmoved at the fact that Chris had finished with her. Indeed, she gave Chris, myself and Chris Ashton at lift to Andy's house. We leave at 11.10 and I stay the night at Chris's. Listen to Tamla, in bed, on headphones.

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