Friday August 10, 1979

_. Gruesome headache. Did very little all morning and sat at my desk feeling sick and shattered. Kathleen is away, at Auntie Mary's funeral, which is convenient. I sat at my desk, with my feet up blatantly reading volume 2 of Churchill's 'History of the English Speaking Peoples' and praising God that Mrs Mary McHale had chosen this day to be reunited with her dear husband Tom. R.I.P.

To lunch with Sarah and Eileen to Da Mario's for pizzas. Shared a table with a couple of wasteful creatures who poked and prodded at their food with a total lack of interest. I felt nauseous. Leaving the restaurant we bumped into Jacq at a bus stop. ___________.

This evening Ally and I decided upon a pub crawl. We did the Hare and Hounds [I spoke to Judith], the White Cross, the Shoulder of Mutton, the Commercial [Annie and Ron Lindley have gone taking all with them]. Home at 10:50 to watch the Marx Brothers in 'Duck Soup' - excellent. Bed at 1:20.

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Friday January 26, 1979

No hangover, for a change. My day at the YP was nauseating. The NUJ are all back to work.

Phoned Christine. She is working at the Fox tonight. She hasn't phoned me since before Christmas and says it is because her boss is bugging her appliance. I have been through this sort of thing with her before. For months I can receive a phone call every day, and then suddenly they dry up, and I have to make the effort. She knows I will always be around, on hand. My services only come to the fore at times of loneliness & misery. I don't mind this. We have an unwritten agreement.

David L came at 7:45 and we went to the Fox. Sat at the bar until 10 reminiscing. We always talk about days gone by. Things like the vodka party with Serena in Worcester, Oh, and the female usherette with the torch at Yeadon Cinema in the power strike of 1971. Christine amused us too.  She improves with age, does the creature. Her hair is the most exquisite masterpiece this side of the Louvre. How can a girl with so much beauty not believe in God?

At 10 Dave's stomach was crying out for food and so we went to the Commercial for jars of mussels in vinegar.He had 2 jars washed down with lemonade. Annie, the landlady, took one look at me and exclaimed: 'Oh look. Shirley Temple's had his curls cut off''. I don't think I've been down to the Commercial since Jacq and I made regular Sunday lunchtime trips.

I accidentally knocked David's glass off the table and gave Annie's cat a shower. Outside, the sky was so clear. David made an attempt to show me the Great Bear and the Plough but as usual I was over-awed by the great firmament.

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Friday August 11, 1978

Moon's first quarter 21:06

Something of painful day in the rear. It's going to take fortitude, faith, and tremendous courage to keep battling on over the weekend.

I forgot to mention that in yesterday's Daily Express they published large black and white photographs of Princess Margaret holidaying in Italy with a new geezer, Mario d'Urso. It's Sarah's view that any new men in the life of the princess will now be received with approval at the palace because anybody is an improvement on Roddy Llewellyn. I disagree. Can you imagine a Court Circular from the future listing 'Princess Margaret, the Mrs Ronald Biggs' for instance?

Carole phoned this afternoon to enquire after the state of my bum. She was her usual warm self and we chatted for ten minutes. She and Fogarty are going to Es Canar in Ibiza in September. My God, who'd have thought she'd be doing this after last October's nightmare? I haven't seen Carole since June when Jacq, Sarah, John Mac and I went to Harrogate.

By this afternoon it came to pass that I have caught a dreadful cold. I broke the world sneezing record while stood on top of a pair of ladders filing pictures. However, I'm not going to let it deter me enjoying myself this evening.

David L and Jacq collected me ~ he'd picked her up at the Station Hotel ~ and we went to the Black Bull, my first visit to Otley since Christmas. From here we went to see Lynn and David and Lawn Road. Dave L was very impressed by the decor. It will be so good when it's all finished. Lynn looked very tired.

David L wanted his seafood and so we dashed to the Menston Arms in search of the 'Prawn Man', but were out of luck. Our last hope was at the Commercial where Annie (Lindley) supplied us with jars of mussels. She enquired after Mum & Dad, who never go out these days.

Jacq and I told Dave that we will definitely go to see him at the Barn Motel, Hockley Heath, Warwickshire. Jacq suggests we combine this with a visit to Derek & Carol Sate. Derek may be taking the boat out. __________.

Back at home Mum almost bit my head off for some reason and stormed off to bed. I watched the end of 'Tale of Two Cities' starring Ronald Colman. Very old and sad.

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Thursday October 6, 1977

Squash with Sarah. I don't ache quite as much as I did last week, but still feel as though it isn't for me. I despise physical exercise and all that goes with it. The sweaty changing rooms, the showers, rowdy young men who can only talk about football. It just isn't Michael Rhodes. But, as I told Tony on the phone on Tuesday,  Sarah and I play squash quite simply for sexual reasons. Yes, the game is over by 7.30 and it gives us three or four hours afterwards to indulge in more normal activities in the lounges of pubs _______.

Sarah: discussed relationships

From the Leisure Centre we went to the Commercial where we sat in a corner and discussed our relationships. She talked about Lynne Mather, and looked me straight in the eye and said: "you had me worried there because I thought you were going to go off and marry her." She told me she could never marry because it would be a crime to inflict herself on some poor man. I said she was talking rot, but she stuck to her guns, adding how "sweet" it was of me to be so nice and understanding. ________.

We saw Annie (Lindley) who said I was paralysed on Saturday. We also had a few words with American Carol (Shires) who told me she is going to marry in May. She looked painfully thin and ill, but was friendly and enquired after the whole family. We came back home for coffee (or was it tea?) at 10.30 and saw David's engagement party photographs. Sarah sat and screamed with laughter at them.

The Duchess of Kent suffered a miscarriage - as expected and is to remain in hospital until early next week. What a damn shame. So the three royal Silver Jubilee babies are reduced to two. Ah well.

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Thursday September 8, 1977

Miserable bloody weather. I had a rare half day and managed to escape at 12. At lunchtime I went with Sue, Peter and Uncle H to the Commercial where we had roast beef and dripping sandwiches and a few pints. Mum and Dad came in at 2. Annie (Lindley) sat on my knee and we laughed our heads off.

Annie Lindley.

Uncle H, being alcoholic, is pissed as a frog after three pints, and to make matters worse he bought a bottle of whisky from the bar to take back for a further session.

Later we were joined by Edith and Ernest and knocked back ginger beer, wine, whisky, lager and beer. By 7 o'clock we were all canned and some of the party were complaining of hunger. Within minutes we were at the Hare (where Judith was playing at barmaids) on our way to the Flying Pizzatoo at Burley-in-Wharfedale. The restaurant was jam packed and we seemed to be waiting hours for our food.

Harry's changed a good deal since April. He's older and not half the fun he once was.

We all went back to Edith and Ernest's at about 11 for glasses of his cloudy pink champagne, but the end of the night was ruined by Uncle Harry's behaviour. At 12.30 he stormed out, packed his pathetic belongings and was away down the lane with his dog, Tan, telling me to 'piss off' and that he will never come back to Yorkshire. Isn't it a terrible thing? Mum came home with a raging headache.

Dom(inic) Melville arrived at some late hour to say he had seen Harry walking towards Rawdon and wanted to know if there was anything he could do.

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Sunday August 31, 1975

14th after Trinity. Up at lunchtime again, as is traditional at weekends. Mum makes a cooked breakfast and then departs to the Commercial where she is under training for her future bar experience. John and I go down at 12.30 to be joined by Andy, who is on his own without Linda, who is of course on holiday in Torquay with Miss Carol Smith and Miss Christine White. __________. Mum looks a natural behind the bar, and Ron and Annie are really good to her. Ron even suggested that I should go down to get a bit of practice in, and he said "you might as well come here and make mistakes than make things hard for your Mum and Dad when they're in a new pub." A tremendous offer for him to make.

At 1.30 John goes off on a picnic with 'George' to Grassington, and I help collect the glasses for Mum to wash. When they call 'time' Dad and I stay behind to discuss things and we have a few drinks on the house before coming home at 3.30. Lynn and Dave are watching an old Kenneth More film and we then all dig into a salad. I have my usual Sunday afternoon sleep in the bath, and lay on the bed viewing the ceiling for half an hour or so. John doesn't return from his picnic and I make my own way to the Hare at 8.30. Andy arrives at the same time, but the turnout is unusually low. Just Andy, Christine D, and Carole, who comes straight from Norfolk at about 9 o'clock. John and 'George' do make a flying appearance, but when I say flying I mean flying. Judy, with whom I was once very close (see Diary, May 3, 1974) calls in at the Hare, but doesn't speak, and neither do I. The remaining four of us move on to the Fox in Andy's car, where we stay for the last drink. After depositing Christine at home we come back to our place for a coffee. Andy seems to think we should arrange another camping expedition before the end of September, but I fear the weather won't hold out much longer. The smell of autumn is already in the air. I sit snuggled up against Carole on the sofa. __________.Andy took her home at about 11.30 and I retired to bed.

This pub business is exciting me. The Menston Arms may well be ours before the month of September is out, and I'm building my hopes on it. However, Ron was saying it's better to get a poor pub and build it up because you can only go one way then. A pub with a good reputation is a good deal harder to retain in the same standard.

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