Saturday August 27, 1977

Stuart (Newton) and Christine (White) were married at St John's (church), Yeadon, at 2pm. We only just made it to the ceremony after a somewhat farcical chase across Aireborough, and our arrival at the church coincided with that of the bridesmaids and other important personages.

Stuart & Christine

Sue, Pete N and I sat with Messers Ratcliffe and Mather, and Lynn and Dave B sat warbling behind. Christine looked very nice, Stuart looked petrified. A horrible sight to see a man so frightened. We needed a 'Scarlet Pimpernel' figure to perhaps come and rescue him.

The reception at the Colours Restaurant at Horsforth went off brilliantly. Home at about 7pm nicely stewed. David G arrived at Pine Tops just as we got in. His Ibiza pictures are incredible. Martyn joined us at 9 and we went back to Horsforth to continue the festivities, the happy couple having left for Scarborough some hours previously. More drink in larger quantities. Mrs White is a darling and I gave her a large kiss on leaving. Chatted with Linda and Andy. Very congenial.

Took Martyn to Ilkley and then entertained Dave G to 'home brew' until some ridiculous hour of the morning. Why do we do such things? Agreed, it's my Plantagenet nature peeping through from the depths of the Middle Ages. Edward III liked the occasional beer, you know.

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Sunday May 30, 1976

Sunday after Ascension. A wet, filthy day at Pateley Bridge. Up at 8.30. We have to pay 75p for each van on the camp site. Bloody diabolical. Hang about in wonderful Pateley-by-the-Sea until the pub draws us in at 12 o'clock. Have fish and chips first and run up and down the main street looking for a chemist so that Chris could buy some anadin or something to relieve tooth-ache.

Pateley Bridge isn't exactly Yorkshire answer to St Tropez but it serves a purpose.

Carol and Igor (I think that's how you spell it. You know who I mean don't you? The chap with the hunchback who serves as right-hand man to Baron Frankenstein?) are in the Crown. Have a few pints of lager and I watch the others playing darts until chucking out time at 2 o'clock. Don't talk to me about bloody British licensing laws.

Back to the camp site to see Christine & Stuart for a few hours. The three of us park next to Christine and Stuart's tent, and Chris cooks Pete and me a meal. Eat at 6.30.

A chill coming on undoubtedly. Pete says that we 'pen pushers' have no resistance to germs. He last visited a doctor nine years ago to be treated for a broken arm. I say that the job you do has nothing to do with resistance to chills. Some people get them, others don't. Resistance to illness is as much a characteristic of a person as the colour of their eyes and sex drive, &c. Pete refused to listen to this theory.
I know how Darwin must have felt.

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Saturday November 15, 1975

In keeping with tradition I do not emerge from my slimy pit until noon. Mum and Dad came in within seconds of my return to the Lands of the Living and inform me that they have just purchased two wardrobes and a dressing table! "Spend, Spend, Spend" isn't our family motto for nothing.

Carole gives me one last ring before departing to Leeds to wave bye bye to her hair and the best part of £13. The poor darling was near to collapse with fear.

I have a horrible afternoon. Everyone is arguing and rushing around as though they're on fire. I lock myself away in the lounge with the stereo and play records. One would think that I'd started the Third World War by the outcry which erupted. Putting a record on seemed such a good idea too, and if Hitler had had the same conviction when dealing with his Jewish friends as I had when spinning a few discs, he'd have been goose-stepping through Guiseley in 1940.

Carole rang at 6.30 to say the hair people refused to perm her hair and decided to cut it instead. She only spent £8.50, but was close to tears. I tell her I'm coming round to see the finished creation, and because of the rain Dad drives me to Maria's.
I like it. She looks different, but on the whole it's an improvement. She doesn't believe me, and storms about the house in a lousy mood shouting 'how can I face my friends with hair like this?' and 'Oh God, just look at it!' I tried to reassure her, but didn't do all that well really.

Whilst waiting at the bus stop to go to the Hare Dad passes in the car and gives us a lift. Mum says Carole's hair is very nice, and reassures her better than I ever could. Buy Mum and Dad a drink and stand with Christine and Stuart. Peter M and CB, Martyn and CD make a cheery foursome, and I can't help thinking that Martyn is next on Christine's list of suitors. We shall have to wait and see.

Carole and I keep arguing and then breaking down laughing, and all the others decide to go to the Cow and Calf pub. Carole and I go with Christine and Stuart and little Shirley. John follows up with Maria. We have no sooner got settled in the pub that Peter mentions going to a disco in Skipton. I say no, and Carole agrees. He goes with CB, CD, Martyn and Shirley. We all have a few more drinks and then go back to Maria's. I succumb once again to dog-disease and it grows horribly worse. By 2am I'm on the verge of collapsing. This really shatters my hopes of getting a four-legged, furry friend in the near future.

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Sunday November 9, 1975

24th after Trinity. Remembrance Sunday. Believe it or not, I was out of bed at 9.30 this morning, an all time record for this year. I never see Sunday until noon, but it is of course Remembrance Day. Had breakfast with Mum and Dad and then watched the age-old wreath laying ceremony at the Cenotaph on the BBC. Her Majesty did her usual bit in her traditional style, and the Prince of Wales, Duke of Kent and Prince Michael deposited similar objects of mouring and the foot of that "empty, uplifted tomb". The Duchess of Kent was in the 'royal box' at the Home Office.

The Andy-Linda engagement is on everyones mind today. Linda told me last night that we should all be thinking about settling down now that she and Andy had set "the ball rolling". I think Christine White and Stuart may well be next to get hitched, but as far as the Rhodes family is concerned I cannot hear wedding bells for at least a couple of years yet._______.I am happy for them both, and my wishes for many years of happiness go with them.

I linger about waiting for Carole to ring me all day. By 7pm I'm giving up hope but at 7.45 she rings saying the relations have kept her from the phone all day.

I meet her at 8.20 and we nip into the Hare which is completely dead. I'm sick of the place and after half an hour we leave. She is such fun, and we walk to Menston village, playing in the leaves on the way and acting about on the roundabout in the park. We arrive at the Menston Arms in a state verging on mild hysteria. Why is it that we always end up screaming with laughter when we're in the open air? Inside pub lounges we are quiet as mice. After a pleasant drink in the Menston Arms we go back to the bus stop near the Hare where I get a bus at about a quarter to eleven.

Carole's birthday is looming on the horizon and I'm still no wiser about what to buy her. It's far too near Christmas for comfort really, and the thought of having to find all those presents is somewhat daunting really. The monetary aspect is OK, but my imagination does not extend to gift-buying.


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Saturday April 26, 1975

Dad decorating the dining room aroused me from my slumbers at 1pm. Mum came in from the hairdressers and we had lunch immediately. Susan rang Peter to question him about last night and I couldn't help thinking how obnoxious and yak it would be to know a female would be ringing to get all the gruesome details off you the morning after. Let's hope I'll never be in that state.

Saw Maura and Marian last night, and Sandy Lawson. Indeed, it was my night for women. The most enjoyable __at Wikis for ages.

I'm glad I've been able to catch up at last with the diary. It's now about 6.30pm on April 26, so order is once again restored.

A beautiful day really. Cannot understand our weather. One week it snows, and the next week we are struck by a heatwave.

For 52 years the Queen Mother has been a member of our Royal Family. This day in 1923 the Duke of York married Lady Elizabeth Bowes Lyon and all's been well since. A true milestone in the history of Great Britain.

To the Hare at 8.30 and the gang go to Addingham on a minor pub-crawl. These are getting more regular as of late. Have a laugh with Christine White and Stuart (Newton), who are tremendous fun. Back to Pine Tops to see 'The Third Man'. A good film which always makes me think of Dad. He likes it so much.

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Saturday October 26, 1974

Lynn has the usual horrid task of getting me up at 7 o'clock. I go through the usual rigmarole of refusing all food, and laying helplessly on the dining room floor. Get the bus after 8 and arrive at the YP before 9.

See in the paper that Lord Ulster continues to be a cause for concern. He'd have died by now if anything terrible was going to happen at all. Sarah and Carol say he isn't going to survive, but I completely disagree.

Intend leaving at 12, but Nigel, who used to work in the Library, comes in and keeps us talking until after 12.30. Don't get in for lunch until nearly 2.

Pork and apple sauce is awaiting my inspection. John begins decorating the kitchen ceiling & the record player sings merrily to us all from the dining room. Can't think of anything worth doing this afternoon so I suppose I'll have to read quietly in a corner. However, at 3 I decide to go for a lay down in order to make me fit for the oncoming onslaught of tonight.

Sleep for 3 and half hours and John wakes me at 6.30. In my half dazed mind I thought I had slept through until 6.30am - relieved to discover otherwise. John goes off with Carol, Linda and Andy, probably to the Hare & Hounds.

Chris picks me up at 9 and we both go the Hare, where Lynne and Peter M have been waiting for half an hour. Lynne and I drift into a corner near the juke box. John and Andy sing along to the records in a drunken fashion.
Talking with Linda I hear that Phyllis Whitethighs and her boyfriend from York are too serious to describe. She even hinted that it may even mean a Christmas engagement. Chris was stunned when I disclosed this secret to him. Peter, Chris, dearest Lynne, and me move on to the Commercial where I see the chap who went out with Diane Rushworth whilst I had my affair with Helen Taylor. We were ages in remembering where we'd seen each other before. Peter takes Lynne home at 10.30. Chris comes home for coffee.

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