Sunday February 22, 1981

 _. Sexagesima

Cold. We didn't venture out at Pine Tops. Spent the day sitting with Mum and Dad discussing the Stonehouse Inn. They visited the place again earlier in the week and and met George Deakin's daughter who showed them over the property. The land with it is vast. The entire estate is up for sale for £70,000. Ally is thrilled, as of course am I, of mucking out an ancient building unchanged since the 1930s. Who knows what treasures are to be found? They have an appointment to see Mr Osborne at the Yorkshire Bank at 3pm tomorrow. Our fingers are crossed in anticipation. A pub will give them an all consuming interest. The departure from home of four children must be a trauma for them and now, at 46 and 45, they are left alone, back where they started almost. 

Tonight: Saw Olivier in 'Khartoum' and Sir John Mills in 'Dulcima'. Bed at almost 1am. Snow fell in the afternoon, still on the ground, but not deeply laid. I can't do with it.

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Saturday February 21, 1981

 _. Bitterly cold. Active to a certain extent. Scrambled eggs at 11. Ally, beautiful. Isn't she always? Drove to Otley in search of a wedding photographer and found no satisfaction at Malcolm's. He charges £125 and selects all the photos himself. Back to Club St for lasagne [last night's left overs]. Onward then to Bingley and Curio Cottage Antiques where we bought a pine chest of drawers for £38 and a wash basin and jug in a blue and white floral design for £25. 

Saw Denny [Denise] at James Hill Travel, Horsforth, and paid out £85 as a deposit for our Ios honeymoon project. Thirteen nights on the Island and one night in Athens. Sounds exquisite but I will not rave about it until I'm sprawled in the volcanic sand clutching an ice-cold Moussaka-flavoured choc ice.

Ally and I to dinner at Pine Tops [pork]. A night in front of the telly with Mum and her willful knitting. Bed at 12:30.

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Friday February 20, 1981

 _. Lady Diana Spencer flew home from Australia and was hurried from the plane in the company of a 'high ranking' palace official, by-passing the usual customs procedures. She is already being royally treated. Later in the day, the Prince of Wales, accompanied by Lady D, watched as his racehorse collapsed and died whilst training in Berkshire. Both were in floods of tears. HRH didn't leave his beast until the vet arrived.

To Lidget Green at 6 for lasagne washed down with wine. A happy, relaxed evening 'at home', which it shortly will be. After the luxurious dinner she washed the dishes and allowed me to languish like a Roman emperor on the sofa, devouring the occasional grape, watching a snowy, flickering TV screen. 

Watched Huw Wheldon's marvellous account of Victoria and Albert's life at Osborne House in the 'Royal Heritage' series. Ally made an attempt to read 'The Murder of Roger Ackroyd' by dear Agatha [Christie]. One of her better books. I think she was sober when she penned that one. To bed after 12.

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Thursday February 19, 1981

 _. Dismal day. At tea I mentioned to Mama that Frank Dixon expects me to pay for the wedding cars and flowers. She almost choked on her Brooke Bond. Obviously, Mum and Dad want to contribute. I am, she says, worth every penny. 

Ally came over at 8 and we went to the Fox for a few sombre hours. She is upset and embarrassed about the confusion over the wedding finances, and thrown into a depression for the duration of the evening.

Back at Pine Tops at 10:30 to see Jim, Margaret, Mum and Dad. 

Prince Andrew is 21 years old today, but no public celebrations of this auspicious occasion took place. The Lord Mayor of York has petitioned the Queen to create her second son Duke of York, but of course she didn't do so. I'm not in the least bit surprised. It took HM six years after coming to the throne to create her eldest son Prince of Wales, and Princess Anne stands as much chance of becoming the Princess Royal as I do. And look at Peter Phillips? Why isn't he Marquess of Sussex?

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Wednesday February 18, 1981

 _. Refused to climb out of bed until I was forced to do at 7:30. Rushed around with a cup of coffee. To Leeds with James R. No Jennie - it's half term, you know. 

YP: Carol is growing steadily worse. So much so that Sarah took a half day to escape the asphyxiating presence of Mrs J. 

Much telephoning on the topic of our honeymoon. Too complex in fact to commit to paper. Besides, you don't want to be bothered with it, do you? Home at 6.

Ally came to dinner with very good news. She and Denise have between them fixed it for us to fly to Athens at 1:30am on June 28, then take a ferry [10 hours approx.] to Ios and our honeymoon hotel. By all accounts it is an island with no roads or motor cars. Sounds like paradise. Paradise maybe, but the money isn't. We are now committed to saving £350 in ten weeks. Denise is calling in tomorrow to collect a £50 deposit. I want you to know, the lot of you, that we shall take no precautions after June and so foreign holidays after 1981 might be numbered.

Mum and Dad went to Sue and Pete's until 10:30 and Ally and I watched an increasingly depressing 'Sons and Lovers'. She went off in high spirits just before Mum and Dad returned. Wedding cars are booked.

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Tuesday February 17, 1981

 _. Woke up at 7 feeling tired and unhealthy. I'd had a rotten dream about people leaping from the 37th floor of a large tower block. It wasn't me leaping but I could see and more particularly hear others doing so very clearly.

Busy at the YP. Phoned ten numbers from the back page of the Times for Greek holiday brochures, but then Ally phoned to say she's found a holiday for us on Paros [flying at 1am Sunday 28/6/81], but then Denise phoned to say she has found accommodation on Ios, but still looking for a flight. So we can go with either one. Ally came home laden with brochures at 7:30 and we rummaged fruitfully. She looked quite devastating tonight.________. We also discussed wedding photographs and decided that on Saturday we will go to Otley in search of a lucky photographer. She left at 10:45 in Audrey [the car]. I drank weak Ovaltine and took to my bed at 11:30. Look at Peter Sellers again. Mum is worried about Dad. I think she thinks he is unwell.

News: The Social Democrats have raised £25,000 from the general public and a new HQ. Lady Diana, we are told, is now in Africa contemplating her position. Tomorrow, no doubt, she'll be spotted in Skegness. Princess Margaret and Roddy Llewellyn are in Mustique. Forty plus young people have died in a fire in Dublin.

-=-

Monday February 16, 1981

 _.Washington's Birthday Observance

Sunny and bright, &c. At the YP I telephoned my great-Aunt Anne to thank her for her engagement card. She sounded quite chirpy. She must be almost eighty I'm sure. I then phoned Denise to inform her of my 'news' and asked her to fix us up with a honeymoon on the island of Ios. She said I would be distracted by the nudity there but that Ios is one of the most unspoiled Greek islands. She was thrilled about the wedding and sought permission to tell MM the news. It seems I am now a celebrity.

Home at 6. Mum and Dad are very dull and do not enthuse about Scotland, which is odd. Normally I'd be listening to tales for weeks on end. I expected a visit from Ally at 8:30 but she phoned much later to say Graham and Charlotte Smith had phoned her and kept her for ages and then her mother had phoned afterwards and so didn't see the point in coming over for just a couple of hours. Evidently, her brother Graham had bumped into the Smiths in Winchester and told them of our news. They [the Smiths] are coming to stay with Ally in May.

To bed with the Peter Sellers biography at 11:30. Feeling groggy.

-=-

Sunday February 15, 1981

 _.Septuagesima

Andrew Dixon, my future brother-in-law is 17 years old today. A Spring-like, warm day. Ate fried and grilled things again for breakfast. Ally, armed with buckets and cloths, headed out to car and spent and hour cleaning and polishing. She also took all the grime off Dad's ailing car, which surely cannot last much longer. I am never good in situations like this. Washing cars has never been at the top of my list of favourite pastimes. I would do anything to get out of it. Fortunately, Ally didn't expect me to help.

We later watched Spike Milligan in 'The Bed Sitting Room' or something, which was hilarious. Mum, Dad, Hilda and Tony came in after tea looking wan but pleased with the visit north. Hilda and Tony very impressed with Corner House Cottage. To bed at 1am.

-=-

Saturday February 14, 1981

 _. Valentine's Day

Ally and I exchanged cards. Up at 6:30 splashing around in the bath before making scrambled eggs and bacon for my precious Ally. She spent hours dressing, and by 8:30 I was a little concerned. I wanted to be at the office on time. We went to Burley-in-W to collect Lynn and then on to Leeds where they deposited me at the YP and then went off on a shopping expedition. The little turquoise car disappeared along Wellington Street and for some minutes I could hear the girls squealing with delight and glee at the prospect of a whole day in the metropolis, buying up the contents of the shops therein.

Boring at the YP. I made my escape at 2 and joined Ally and Lynn at Jacomelli's where we had a couple of drinks. Ally pulled out a brochure and showed me pictures of her dress and the bridesmaid dresses. I know it's very bad luck to see a bride in her wedding dress before the ceremony, but does this count? On to Burley to deposit Lynn. We called on Sue and Pete and Ally showed her the dress she'll be wearing. Back to Pine Tops for 5.

We had liver and onion gravy with Yorkshire puddings, by the flicker of candle light. Snuggled like lovebirds watching TV afterwards. To bed by 12.

-=-

Friday February 13, 1981

 _.To Leeds from Bradford. Very busy day until 5:30 when I left and met Dave B on Wellington Street. He brought me through to Guiseley to collect some step ladders. I opened an anonymous Valentine's day card which had been left by Ally on her way to Burley. Dave is very quiet these days. He sat, almost glum, on the drive home. It might be the pressure of business which, thank God, I am totally without. 

At Lawn Road I painted a bedroom ceiling a pale green. Ally was painting in a cupboard so I didn't see much of her. We had fish and chips with Lynn and Dave and left at about 10 o'clock. They wanted me to carry on and put gloss paint on a window but I chickened out. Felt buggered. 

Back to a deserted Pine Tops with Ally. Mum and Dad had left for Scotland with Hilda and Tony. We watched TV and went to bed at 12:30.

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