Wednesday February 25, 1987

 Moorhouse Inn, Leeds

Leslie Gledhill appeared at lunchtime and I had quite forgotten about the letter of last Friday. It was he who brought it up and when I, with wrinkled brow and perplexed look, questioned his statement, he gasped and said I had taken it the wrong way and that he did not doubt our capabilities or loyalty to Humphrey Smith, his heirs and successors according to law. LG walked around looking at the proposed alterations and then expressed his view that we are in need of a change, which we know, because having done 60 per cent more trade this year than in '86 we will never surpass that figure and so it calls for fresh pastures. LG sais lots of pubs are currently available and mentioned the Star, at Mexborough, and one in Darlington. Ally came down with a chip sandwich and joined in the debate. LG gave us some complements that went right over Ally's head. "He says the same thing to everyone". Anyway the crux of the matter is that he wants us to move, for our benefit, and not for any other sinister reason. Off he went. We went upstairs and looked though piles of pub vacancy leaflets some dating back three years. Where do we fancy? Oh, dear.

Deaths:  George F. Tibbles, at Palm Desert, California, aged 73, composer and scriptwriter who set the cartoon character Woody Woodpecker's manic 'H-h-h-haa-ha' laugh to music.

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Tuesday February 24, 1987

 Moorhouse Inn

At breakfast now things are so bad - we have broken so much crockery that we are drinking tea from priceless commemorative bone china celebrating royal events down the years. King George V silver jubilee mugs, &c. Today for instance my morning cuppa was in the 1973 'Princess Anne and Mark Phillips' wedding mug. I asked Samuel who was the face on the cup, expecting a negative answer and he said: "It's Mrs Thatcher". Hoots of laughter followed. Such a bright child. He was on the right track.

Henry John Heinz II, who has died in Florida, aged 78, was chairman of the international food company founded by his grandfather and namesake in 1869 ...

Prince Edward is to leave for the Caribbean tomorrow for a nine day visit during which, as chairman of the Duke of Edinburgh's Gold Award 30th anniversary project, he is to visit Barbados and Grenada. His programme allows him three free days.

Monday February 23, 1987

 Moorhouse Inn, &c

Pepys.

Today is the anniversary of the birth of Mr Samuel Pepys. It is to him who we, and indeed you, owe the very existence of this humble journal. In the volume of words alone I did pass Mr Pepys's outpourings way, way back. Sadly, my worthless ramblings will never catch on as his did. I have had no plague, or Great Fire, or intimate conversations with the monarch, like wot he did. Dad has informed me that Uncle Arnold kept a journal until the very end. Dad thinks that I am so like his late brother. At 9:30 we went to the municipal swimming pool which was dirty and cold. We changed in a sticky changing room - Samuel and I - along with 73 schoolboys who I overheard gasping at the fact that I was wearing jeans and no underpants. I think it must be all part of my George Michael image. Samuel hated the water. The boiler was off, and so we had a tearful 10 minutes. He then sat with Ally and Clemmie as I did a few breathless lengths. Not quite Duncan Goodhew, OBE. More like Sybil Thorndike, DBE. Margaret Isabella did lunch. No staff from 5:30. I gave Mags the genealogical study of the Duchess of York for 12 year-old Tricia. It was a joy to do. Samuel has a a green nose. He went to school to tell Dermot all about his sub-aquatic inactivity. Poor boy. I could not swim until I was eleven or twelve. I made my first breathless splash at Guiseley baths in about '67 just after we arrived in the borough. The 20th anniversary of our move there falls on March 10. Just Ally and I tonight. Quiet. Dean Hemingway's girlfriend works in the office of Neil Balfour, the Tory candidate owner of Studley Royal, and former hubby of Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia. He's standing for Ryedale. Phoned Dad and Sue. She is better.

Deaths: Lord Talbot of Malahide, who has died aged 87, was the ninth holder of an Irish barony, created in 1831, and Hereditary Lord Admiral of Malahide and the seas adjoining.

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Sunday February 22, 1987

 Moorhouse Inn, Leeds, LS11 5NQ

Sexagesima

I have been missing my mother lately. I can go for days without any depression and then suddenly slump into a black, anxious mood where I question everything, and scornfully. Why are we here? Just to rot and provide the earth with fertilizer? ________. Supermarkets too, they can bring on a black mood. I can be pushing my trolley down the row of boxes cornflakes when suddenly I see Mum, clad in her anorak and scarf beaming around in Settle Co-op , the light glinting upon her specs. Obviously, I am the victim of some horrid neurosis brought on by grief. I look back upon those 'Pine Tops' days with such pain. We appreciate nothing until the the object of that appreciation is gone forever. 

To Temple Newsam where Samuel looked at the pigs. There was an especially ugly turkey. Back refreshed for 11:30am. Margaret Rushton worked. Margaret Isabella Young began here tonight, the daughter of our Mags.

From the Telegraph: "Percy Potter a retired headmaster, celebrated his 100th birthday this month, and for the benefit of an Eastern Evening News interviewer he recalled his early days as a teacher in Lancashire. In one lesson he wrote some words on a blackboard and told the children to use them in a sentence. One of the words was 'comfort'. He reported than when he was marking their work he found a little chap had put 'I've comfort rent'".

Deaths: Honora, Lady Rashleigh [nee Sneyd], widow of Sir Harry Rashleigh, and the Hon Ronald Leslie-Melville.

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