_. I feel uneasy. My personal financial crisis will reach its climax tomorrow and I do not know what to do about Stockport at the weekend. I asked Susan and Pete if they want to take me there and unbelievably they agree. We decided to go on Saturday afternoon and return the following afternoon. I phoned Dave at 10:45pm but he didn't sound enthusiastic about my plans. Martyn is now a regular at the Hollywood & they had already arranged to take me to Rotters on Friday night._____________________.
YP: Sarah was off with a cold. She has lost her voice. She spent the whole day yesterday making gestures with those beautiful big eyes. The poor thing is meeting a bunch of guys from Scandinavia tomorrow. They are all staying in a large London hotel for a couple of nights. One large Nordic acquaintance has offered to pay Sarah's hotel bill, but she had declined the offer because she doesn't want to feel that she has to repay him in some way. I quite get the picture, Sarah.
Bumped into Jacq on Wellington Street. I promise to return her Bread LP, Genesis single and the shocking pink tie. I want none of them anyway.
Mum and Dad went to Lynn and David's tonight. I watched TV with Sue & Pete. 'Rebecca', and previous to this we sat through ninety pathetic minutes of England v. Ireland football. We won 4-0. To bed with a mug of Ovaltine at 11, and compiled this diary until 11:47. Bye Bye.
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20170206
Tuesday February 6, 1979
_. I have started to collect the coins bearing the inage of George VI that I find in my change because it is said that the Royal Mint is going to begin withdrawing them from circulation. Uncle Albert collected many pre-decimal coins in the 60s. It is hard to believe that in 1971 you could still get coins with Queen Victoria's regal bearing upon them in your loose change. Incidentally, King George VI died 27 years ago today.
Auntie Hilda, Uncle Tony and my cousin Diane came over at 8pm and stayed until after 2am. It was almost as if they had never been away and we all got on well together. Hilda has asked Mum to make Karen's wedding cake. Karen is marrying Steve at Pudsey on August 4. Diane is 15 and no longer the toothless brat. They haven't been here since 1976.
Uncle Tony is as silly as he ever was. He is standing as the Liberal candidate for Pudsey in the local elections in May, but I don't think he stands a chance of getting in. How can the Liberals be expected to get anywhere when the likes of the Rt Hon Jeremy Thorpe are allowed to roam, quite freely, around the countryside worrying sheep and old ladies? No, Tony, no.
We ate supper and drank ale and wine and talked of the days in Cornwall and Pudsey. Grandma Gadsby is in the asylum & so they can come here after visiting her. Mum invited them to her Thursday night orgy. Bed at 3am.
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Auntie Hilda, Uncle Tony and my cousin Diane came over at 8pm and stayed until after 2am. It was almost as if they had never been away and we all got on well together. Hilda has asked Mum to make Karen's wedding cake. Karen is marrying Steve at Pudsey on August 4. Diane is 15 and no longer the toothless brat. They haven't been here since 1976.
Uncle Tony is as silly as he ever was. He is standing as the Liberal candidate for Pudsey in the local elections in May, but I don't think he stands a chance of getting in. How can the Liberals be expected to get anywhere when the likes of the Rt Hon Jeremy Thorpe are allowed to roam, quite freely, around the countryside worrying sheep and old ladies? No, Tony, no.
We ate supper and drank ale and wine and talked of the days in Cornwall and Pudsey. Grandma Gadsby is in the asylum & so they can come here after visiting her. Mum invited them to her Thursday night orgy. Bed at 3am.
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Monday February 5, 1979
_. I think a thaw is underway. Struggled out to the YP with no enthusiasm at all. Discussed the party with Sarah and Carol J but neither went into great detail about what happened after my departure. Tony took Carol to the cinema at Shipley last night & Jacq was accompanied by Chris Ratcliffe! ______________.
Home at 5. Mum says she phoned Auntie Hilda [her sister] last night and that she and Uncle Tony are coming over here tomorrow night. Evidently, Tony's mother is an inmate of the asylum [Highroyds] and they are calling after visiting her there.
Not a word from Lynn and Dave. _______________________-.
Watched Monty Python's Flying Circus and took to my bed at 11:55pm. Reading 'Majesty' by Robert Lacey.
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Home at 5. Mum says she phoned Auntie Hilda [her sister] last night and that she and Uncle Tony are coming over here tomorrow night. Evidently, Tony's mother is an inmate of the asylum [Highroyds] and they are calling after visiting her there.
Not a word from Lynn and Dave. _______________________-.
Watched Monty Python's Flying Circus and took to my bed at 11:55pm. Reading 'Majesty' by Robert Lacey.
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Sunday February 4, 1979
_. Up at 11:30 for breakfast. We discuss Lynn _______________________. Peter N came here at 3:30. I watched a programme on the BBC about the Bronte Sisters which was dull and morbid. Also watched a play 'The Voysey Inheritance' at 8. Bed at 1am. Feeling tired and dreary. A full day of TV cannot do us any good.
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Saturday February 3, 1979
_. Peter predicted last night that dear Mama would 'play Hell' with me this morning because of Susan's condition. He was very accurate in this assessment. Susan, very pale and feeble looking, was pampered and spoiled this morning. I cannot help thinking that some grave miscarriage of justice has taken place. According to my mother I am a "lazy, good for nothing wretch". This outburst came about because I said I didn't want to go with Dad to the supermarket to do the weekly shop. How many men my age willingly go out buying tins of beans on a Saturday afternoon?
At 12 John came in with JPH. It was a surprise. We haven't heard from him since the New Year. Maria came round later, looking quite massive but happy and well. Sadly, John had cut his own hair and he strongly resembled a Russian dissident.
At 5:30 Marlene, Frank, Auntie Mabel, Mark & Deborah arrived. Later joined by Margaret & Jim, Chippy and Debbie, and Lynn and David. A late arrival was David Greenwood. Lynn immediately took him into the dining room and they sat listening to a LP of 'The Desert Song'. John Hanson and all that. _____________________________.
At 11pm Chippy, Sue, Pete and I took off to the party at Kirkstall of Jacq's friend, Linda, where Sue & Pete left Chippy and I after only ten minutes. Sarah came over and gave me a big kiss and Carol J informed me that Tony and Chris R were present. Chippy and I had a bottle of cherry wine and we swigged it from the bottle neck like Irish navvies. I gave Jacq a £1 for more booze. ______________. After an hour C and I decided to leave. We were back at Pine Tops at some late hour and Mother's party was still going strong. David Greenwood was still sat there. Lynn was very drunk.
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At 12 John came in with JPH. It was a surprise. We haven't heard from him since the New Year. Maria came round later, looking quite massive but happy and well. Sadly, John had cut his own hair and he strongly resembled a Russian dissident.
At 5:30 Marlene, Frank, Auntie Mabel, Mark & Deborah arrived. Later joined by Margaret & Jim, Chippy and Debbie, and Lynn and David. A late arrival was David Greenwood. Lynn immediately took him into the dining room and they sat listening to a LP of 'The Desert Song'. John Hanson and all that. _____________________________.
At 11pm Chippy, Sue, Pete and I took off to the party at Kirkstall of Jacq's friend, Linda, where Sue & Pete left Chippy and I after only ten minutes. Sarah came over and gave me a big kiss and Carol J informed me that Tony and Chris R were present. Chippy and I had a bottle of cherry wine and we swigged it from the bottle neck like Irish navvies. I gave Jacq a £1 for more booze. ______________. After an hour C and I decided to leave. We were back at Pine Tops at some late hour and Mother's party was still going strong. David Greenwood was still sat there. Lynn was very drunk.
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20170205
Friday February 2, 1979
_. Brilliant sunshine, but thick snow. The place resembles Gstaad or Klosters, or wherever it is where the toffs go for the winter sports. I kept expecting to see the likes of the Shah of Iran and Angie Dickinson to come skiing down the lane.
Left work at 12 and at one Chippy came up and we went down to the asylum to meet 'Flu', one of his workmates. On the way out of the asylum grounds we encountered a female inmate with slashed wrists, clutching a large shard of broken glass. Her blood was so thick it resembled raspberry jam. People can be so squeamish about blood, can't they? On we went to the Junction at Otley for the duration of the afternoon. Saw lots of old pissed friends and had about five pints. Chippy was reeling and swaying by 4 o'clock. Otley men are positively Neolothic, aren't they? Long hair. Long beards. Big hairy arms and loud, inaudible voices. You wouldn't think that Guiseley was just around the corner.
At 5 I was at home for bacon sandwiches with Mummy & Daddy. Susan was looking very sophisticated in a new skirt and blouse.
Tonight: Out to the Shoulder with Sue, Pete, Chippy, Debbie, Flu and his girlfriend. A pleasant evening around a crowded, wet table. Chippy insisted on playing a ridiculous game and as usual I made a balls of it. Debbie is a very attractive thing, only 17, and I cannot help thinking that she might actually prefer me to Mr Ash. Haha. Tony and Chris R were also in.
Home at 11. Susan was very drunk. Brandy, I fear. she had fallen over in the snow. She was horribly sick until about 2am. Peter and I sat with her upstairs. The scene resembled the Vigil of the Princes from the lying in State of King George V in January, 1936.
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Left work at 12 and at one Chippy came up and we went down to the asylum to meet 'Flu', one of his workmates. On the way out of the asylum grounds we encountered a female inmate with slashed wrists, clutching a large shard of broken glass. Her blood was so thick it resembled raspberry jam. People can be so squeamish about blood, can't they? On we went to the Junction at Otley for the duration of the afternoon. Saw lots of old pissed friends and had about five pints. Chippy was reeling and swaying by 4 o'clock. Otley men are positively Neolothic, aren't they? Long hair. Long beards. Big hairy arms and loud, inaudible voices. You wouldn't think that Guiseley was just around the corner.
At 5 I was at home for bacon sandwiches with Mummy & Daddy. Susan was looking very sophisticated in a new skirt and blouse.
Tonight: Out to the Shoulder with Sue, Pete, Chippy, Debbie, Flu and his girlfriend. A pleasant evening around a crowded, wet table. Chippy insisted on playing a ridiculous game and as usual I made a balls of it. Debbie is a very attractive thing, only 17, and I cannot help thinking that she might actually prefer me to Mr Ash. Haha. Tony and Chris R were also in.
Home at 11. Susan was very drunk. Brandy, I fear. she had fallen over in the snow. She was horribly sick until about 2am. Peter and I sat with her upstairs. The scene resembled the Vigil of the Princes from the lying in State of King George V in January, 1936.
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Thursday February 1, 1979
_. Pay day, but most it isn't mine. K_____ is a frustrated old cow. She was dressed entirely in pink today and resembled a neurotic piglet.
Carol J and I went over to the Central at 5:30 [early doors] to the 'Welcome back to the YP all you sciving Lefty NUJ Reds' party. I had seen Jacq at lunchtime and she also put in an appearance tonight with a work mate from Dacre, Son and Hartley.
Carol and I were in high spirits and attacked the buffet upstairs - fooling around with the cheese sandwiches in dry bread rolls.
The usual journalistic mob was out in force. The highlight was Bob Cockroft's piano playing excellence. His repertoire included such rousing tunes as 'Jerusalem' and 'Abide with Me' . He was doing requests and I asked for Your Tiny Hand is Frozen [Che Gelida Manina] from La Boheme, but he said he couldn't play in German. I am still trying to work that one out.
At 8 I left this merry throng to join Pete N and Chippy at Highroyds. My bus journey was blurred by alcohol, and so was the remainder of the evening. From the asylum we went to the Shoulder where we met three buck-toothed neo-fascist females, who joined us at Oakwood Hall. Quite a laugh, but by midnight I was struck down by a hangover. Sad. Home at 2:15am in a snowdrift, but Chippy's car glided through it like a knife through hot butter.
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Carol J and I went over to the Central at 5:30 [early doors] to the 'Welcome back to the YP all you sciving Lefty NUJ Reds' party. I had seen Jacq at lunchtime and she also put in an appearance tonight with a work mate from Dacre, Son and Hartley.
Carol and I were in high spirits and attacked the buffet upstairs - fooling around with the cheese sandwiches in dry bread rolls.
The usual journalistic mob was out in force. The highlight was Bob Cockroft's piano playing excellence. His repertoire included such rousing tunes as 'Jerusalem' and 'Abide with Me' . He was doing requests and I asked for Your Tiny Hand is Frozen [Che Gelida Manina] from La Boheme, but he said he couldn't play in German. I am still trying to work that one out.
At 8 I left this merry throng to join Pete N and Chippy at Highroyds. My bus journey was blurred by alcohol, and so was the remainder of the evening. From the asylum we went to the Shoulder where we met three buck-toothed neo-fascist females, who joined us at Oakwood Hall. Quite a laugh, but by midnight I was struck down by a hangover. Sad. Home at 2:15am in a snowdrift, but Chippy's car glided through it like a knife through hot butter.
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