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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Thursday August 1, 1974

Good day at the YP. Have one and a half hours for lunch in order to go into Leeds to obtain a copy of Uncle Bert's birth certificate for Aunt Jadwega - who needs it in order to be naturalised a British citizen. I am disgusted with the authorities for not allowing poor Auntie to have a passport. She's just as much an Englishwoman as Mama, and besides, anyone marrying an Englishman ought to become British immediately. Get the certificate at the registrars in Park Square. He was born at 110, Swinnow Rd, Bramley, on January 17, 1926, the son of Albert Rhodes and Ruth Ellen, formerly Upton. Very interesting. Home at nearly 6. Post the certificate on to Nottingham, where Auntie is waiting eagerly with open arms for her ticket to Poland and home.

To the Hare and Hounds after 8 with Denny and Marita, Dave Lawson, etc. Quite a nice evening but expensive for me. Marita, bless her heart, was drinking brandy and Babycham, at 37p a shot. Back to our place before 11 to see 'Cinema'. Chris wasn't very talkative, and I was quite nicely placed between a cushion and Denny. A few martinis went down smoothly.

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Wednesday July 31, 1974

Bored all day. Sleep on the bus coming from the YP and collapse over the tea table, listless and over-heated at about 6.

Dearest Denny rings after 7 and we almost decide to go out tomorrow night, but decide to wait until the time comes to see how we feel. Have a bath at 9 listening to the American 'Top 20' on Radio Luxembourg - some of the records were quite good, but otherwise it was mediocre.

Sit watching tv and drinking martini with Lynn. An interview with Glenda Jackson. Bed before 12. Sit reading Queen Mary (which was due back on July 25), and almost doze to sleep. Auntie Eddy (Jadwega) rings at 12.30 in a panic about Uncle Bert's missing birth certificate. She rings me because I am the family archivist, and expert on births, marriages and deaths. I say the certificate was last seen in the possession of Grandad, who died in September, so I suppose Grandma has it. Evidently, the authorities refuse to give Eddy a passport until she becomes a naturalised Englishwoman. I promise to get a copy of the birth certificate from Leeds or wherever the Bramley records for the 1920s are kept. Bed and sleep after 1.


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