Sunday September 16, 1979

_. Up at 10 to mix cement again. Quite hungover. The brickies have now completed the footings of the kitchen extension. Lynn and Susan spent the morning scrubbing the interior of the caravan when it didn't really need it. The usual bacon sandwiches and soup was laid on. The whole atmosphere resembled war-torn Britain with everyone pulling together in comradeship and facing the hardship and toil together and without division. _______.

Rain came in the afternoon and we retreated to the caravan and an Erroll Flynn film on the telly. John was looking dejected at the thought of our imminent departure, and a silence fell. David had a sleep in the afternoon in preparation for the journey home. _______. we arrived home at 9, after having fish and chips in Grassington. Mum and Dad were strangely quiet. Dad has been a policeman for 22 years today, and is to receive a medal for long service.

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Saturday September 15, 1979

_. A warm, sunny day. Up at 9 to find John and Dave mixing cement among the heap of building bricks and sand. The two bricklayers are performing miracles around some windows at the rear of the cottage, and for a couple of hours I was put to work with a shovel and a plastic bucket containing soapy water. [Yes, soapy because the cement requires the elasticity that the Fairy liquid provides, apparently.] I'm horrified by the way the bricklayers treat their humble labourers.

Lynn took Ally and Sue in the mini to Stranraer to do some shopping but by 12 they were back. We went to a pub in Lochans for a drink and for me to wash away the cement from my tonsils. Ally was dumbfounded by the local accent and sat open mouthed. Lynn was from being at ease in the company of bricklayers and she took us off to Port Patrick where we sat in the sun with our drinks fighting off swarms of wasps. They must have taken a fancy to Lynn's Pernod. Things got so bad we retreated indoors. Afterwards we ate cheeseburgers and laid on the rocks. We went back to Lochans at 3:30. Riddled with guilt I took up a wheelbarrow and helped out for a couple more hours. The girls, in the caravan, concocted a dinner, which we sat down to at 6:30.

John really is loving our company. He must be very lonely up here. __________.

Just two pubs tonight: the Coachman's in Stranraer, really noisy, and a pub in Lochans - very rough. John was surrounded by young girls from the village. Being an Englishman he will be in great demand. The Scots are very plain and unattractive. Half of them look like Elvis Presley in his final years, and the other half resemble Presley in a state of decay two years after his demise. However, the Scots in Stranraer are more like the Irish, because of the vicinity. My last round in the pub cost me £4.50. Susan, at one point, had five measures of rum in her glass. Afterwards Ally and I sat outside in the spitfire talking about ourselves again. I said the YP would eventually be the death of me. We even discussed staying in Scotland when the others go home. Drink talking. ________.

Back to the caravan at 12 for more food. John emptied his pantry of all edibles. We all fell about in a drunken fashion, except Lynn who tuned into the BBC to watch 'The Picture of Dorian Gray'

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