Saturday October 21, 1978

Sun rises 07:34 Sun sets 17:56

I came out of my coma at approximately 8 o'clock this morning. I thought, once again, that my end had come. These feelings of forthcoming doom, yeah of death, are recurring and on an increasing and alarming scale.

I took Jacq into town where she had to show her face at Dacre Son & Hartley and I got a bus home for 10 o'clock. Had a cup of tea with Mum and Dad and then fell into my wondrous bed until 3pm when I was awakened by Lynn on the phone wanting Alison's number. She wants to ring to discuss details of the wedding next week. I went back to bed until 5.

I emerged to have tea and within minutes Lynn and Dave arrived from Pool (in Wharfedale) and she was sobbing like a baby. The worst has happened. John P called off the wedding this morning. Alison will be distraught. Lynn had spoken to Mrs Dixon, who had only been told ten minutes before. The situation is terrible. _________________________.

I was out to Leeds again at 7:30 and Jacq and I went to the George where Haydn and his friends were gathered before heading to another party. Neither of us were in party spirits. Tiredness from last night and the sad news from Winchester just seem to have flattened the whole evening.

We went back to the Y.W.C.A and drank fruity punch and watched Iranians, Greeks, and other various nationalities leaping around to Boney M and the delights of 'Rasputin'.

At 2am and after a 5ft Persian homosexual had asked me if I wanted to dance with him, I sent Jacq to bed and proceeded to walk home. It was almost 5am, and drizzling slightly, when I fell through the door. Knackered.


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Saturday August 26, 1978

Sun rises 06:03 Sun sets 20:01

Up at 10. Sarah made me scrambled eggs on toast. I felt slightly worse for wear. Sarah and Delia fussed over me. They went to the Ilkley Antiques Fair at 11 and dropped me at home. A quick change of clothes and I went back to Leeds to meet Jacq and Trixie at the Dragonara. First I went to the Y.W.C.A to pay my respects to Hayden, who begged me to find him a surgeon who might perform a head transplant on him.

Went with Jacq and Trixie to Whitelocks. We sat from 12:30 until 3 in the pleasant atmosphere of one of Leeds's finest and most ancient taverns. Afterwards we went to Trixie's room at the hotel for even more drink, and finally, at about 5:30 we left for Guiseley.

John and Maria had been round in the afternoon but we just missed seeing them. After dinner with the family we took Lynn & Dave to the Drop where we celebrated the coming wedding, minus 2 weeks. Pernod dribbled everywhere. Lynn was quite overcome by it all and had to go sit outside.

Back to Pine Tops afterwards.

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Saturday August 12, 1978

Sun rises 05:41 Sun sets 20:30

I had a bit of a rough night and didn't get much sleep before about 4am. Sneezing, wheezing, coughing and gasping all night long. A few tablets and cups of 'Lem Sip' eased things a little and I finally nodded off. Up with the larks at 9:30 feeling much better.

At about 11:30 Dad, Sue, Pete, John and I went to Leeds and met Dave B, Richard & Chris B, and Mr & Mrs Henry Baker, and Mandy B outside Young's dress hire where we were fixed up with morning suits for the wedding. ___________________.

Home at 1:30. John took some lunch with us. Just like old times in fact. John really was on top form today and had me rolling about in hysterics in Young's.

Afterwards I went with Lynn and Dave to Lawn Road and finished daubing emulsion on the bathroom walls. Dave was near to collapse and at one point he was to be found in a medium sized heap upon a roll of carpet in a bedroom. We returned home for dinner at 6 o'clock.

Jacq's been to Scarborough today with 'the crowd' from the Y.W.C.A. She phoned at 7:30. Sue, Pete and I met her in Guiseley and we had a quick drink at the Station Hotel. They both drank Tequila! On to the Crown (Yeadon) which was dead, and then to the Westbourne at Otley where John and Maria were supposed to be supping. They never materialised. The pub is revolting and rough. Karen Cole was there. Making a quick exit we ventured to the Clothiers, which was also thoroughly miserable. I just failed to enjoy tonight. We all came back to Pine Tops to watch a late night film. ________.

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Friday August 4, 1978

New Moon 02:01

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother is 78 today. I do believe that in six years time she will be the longest lived Queen Consort. Queen Mary was 85, and Queen Alexandra was 80. No Queen of these Isles has lived longer.

Tonight Dave L came up at 8:30 and we went to meet Jacq at the Y.W.C.A and then went over the road to the George, opposite the (Leeds General) Infirmary. It was after 9 before we had a drink and so the evening was slipping quickly by. Dave quite liked the George and he noticed that most of the customers looked like hospital staff. He laughed that it 's an ideal spot to have a heart attack or bout of botulism.

(Botulism is something one gets from eating tins of John West salmon. "It's the cans that John West reject that don't kill you" &c. Dave is laying on a salmon sandwich supper at his party and intends displaying the serial number of the can on each sandwich. My God, aren't we a sick bunch?)

I was home at 11:30 and watched a bit of television. I've been grinning to myself all day because Jeremy Thorpe and three others have been arrested on charges of conspiring to murder Norman Scott between 1968 and 1977. That's buggered the Liberal party once and for all. Mr Steel definitely won't be wanting an election in October. The person I feel sorry for is poor Marion.

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Sunday July 23, 1978

9th after Trinity

Rain. Went to Leeds at 11:30 and met Jacq at the Y.W.C.A. We walked to Whitelocks and waited for Cheryl and Steve, the bloke who gave her a lift up to Leeds.

Just Jacq and I having a quiet drink until they rolled in at about 1pm. We had an hour there and then came home here where I gave them a few drinks. Mum was acting strangely and sat moping in the dining room.

Cheryl drank Cinzano. She wasn't as amusing as on previous occasions. She and Steve only see each other on Sundays. They left at about 3:30 and Jacq followed after tea. I feel listless.

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Friday June 16, 1978

Jacq had a party at the YWCA in honour of a party of Frogs who were passing through Leeds. I went straight round to her place from the YP and she washed my hair and gave me a clean shirt in her little room. Her room-mate is enormous ~ like a pregnant Indian elephant, or whichever type of elephant is the largest.

A couple of Greeks, a Scot and a Welshman joined us at the George tavern opposite the Infirmary where we made merry until closing time. The pub landlady resembles Hylda Baker.

Back at the YWCA I met Coun Mrs May Sexton, the principal or governor, or whatever they call 'em. She told me she would like to see capital punishment restored. So do I. It was a good, humorous party with loud pulsating music and sandwiches. We danced all night. At 4am I helped clear the devastation and at dawn I hitch-hiked home, completing the journey in a couple of hours.

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Monday June 5, 1978

New Moon 20:01

Jacq has been told by some of the inmates (at the YWCA) that the haggis is a four-legged rabbit-like creature that inhabits the Scottish Highlands. What a cruel and nasty leg pull to do to a fellow dosser, or 'down and out', or whatever they think they are at the YWCA.

Jacq has set herself the goal of making my greatness known to the general public. Discussing me with John Mac on Saturday they decided I'd be a decent sort of author. Er ...
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Friday April 28, 1978

Met Jacq at the Ostlers at lunchtime and had a couple of pints of shandy. _____. Once again I am just about destitute. A £5 note graces my pocket with no signs of any more booty getting therein before the next pay day. However, Jacq does have £5 of mine towards my 'Shirt Fund'. We'll see how it goes, anyway.

I worked until 5, got the train home, and then set out again for Leeds at 6:30 to meet Jacq! So stupid leaving Leeds in the first place.

We met at 7:30 and went to the Odeon to see 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' which is an exquisite film. Sarah and John Mac saw it on Wednesday and Sarah was so impressed she slept through the whole showing. I'd say it's one of the best films I've ever seen. Jacq was weeping. The film proved just too much for her.

Close Encounters ....

At 11 we were thrust out into the bustling streets of Leeds to discover no public transport of any kind. Hundreds of thousands of bingo playing OAPs were openly throwing themselves beneath the wheels of passing vehicles in the chaos and horror that followed.

I took Jacq back to the YWCA and set out on the long road home on foot. On Wellington Street I teamed up with an old boy from Yeadon and we walked along discussing trade unions, Northern Ireland and the French Revolution. In fact we walked for ten miles and only managed to get a lift when we were at Rawdon Crematorium. We were picked up by three lads whom I recognised from various pubs. They were pissed up. The driver couldn't find his gears, and when I commented on this he told me it was a stolen car and he hadn't quite got the hang of it yet. I believed him too. Typical isn't it, that I should go out on a Saturday night with my best girl to the cinema and end up being the brains behind the greatest armed robbery without even trying?

I went to bed with a glass of lager and sat rubbing hand cream all over my feet. Oh, it was bliss.

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