Monday July 22, 1974

Denny and Marita come and see us at 9. They help to prepare for the return of the family later tonight. Poor Marita falls in love with one of my paintings - and I give it to her. I cannot resist making people happy (big headed swine that I am). Promise Marita that I'll take up painting again because she insists that I have a talent in this field. Miss Akroyd is also thrilled by Wyndham-Logg. Hell, I'm too good to be true. Home they all come after 11. Not as sun-tanned as I would have thought, but they all look ever so well. Mama is rather quick-tempered, being very tired, and we sit about talking until after 1. They say the resort wasn't as nice as the Italy holiday but they loved it all the same. Good to see them after 10 days. -==-

Friday July 12, 1974

Quite a nice day. YP as usual. To the Hare and Hounds at about 8 with Chris (who comes at about 9.30!), Christine W, John, Andy, Dave Baker and Carol & Linda S, etc. Ring Judith at a quarter to nine and I say I'll meet her outside the Hare at 9.30.

I enjoy going out with Judith Beevers because Keith is so infatuated with her. Move on to the Black Horse at Askwith, though J and I get lost on the way - arriving 10 minutes after everybody else. We have them on saying we ran out of petrol in a lay-by in some desolate spot. Nice time until 10.30. Back to Pine Tops for coffee.

(PS Saw Mum, Dad, Lynn, Sue, Alison and Christine all set off for Spain this afternoon - hate parting with Mum. Even at 19 I feel too attached to leave her for any length of time.)

J and I sit listening to records, whilst the others, John included, watch a rotten old film on the tv. No lively spirits at all in our crowd. Everyone goes at 12 - J included. Party tomorrow - Yippee!

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Saturday June 29, 1974

Up at 9.30 when Dad makes me a coffee, but I don't drink it and fall back to sleep until 11.15. Only Lynn and I are home for lunch with Mummy and Daddy - a 'bit of nice steak' which is cooked too perfectly for an iliterate editorial librarian to recount. Go to a party in Baildon with good old Dave, who rang at 7.30, and of course Andy, Linda and Chris. Get rather kettled with the strong punch, and Dave brings John and me home at 3am. Before the party we went to the Hare, then the Fox & Hounds. Very enjoyable evening, and it was nice seeing Dave again. -==-

Sunday June 23, 1974

2nd after Trinity. Cousin Jackie comes for the day, arriving for lunch at about 12.30. The driving lessons at 2 are quite satisfactory, though I cannot imagine myself as a driver next week. Poor Jackie is separated from her sailor boyfriend, Neil, who is on naval duties in Malta until mid-July. She invites us all to her 18th birthday party on August 3 and she orders us all to bring an escort of the opposite sex. No doubt Denise will accompany me. On the subject of Denise, when I rang her tonight I found very great difficulty in understanding her because of a terrible cold which distorts her voice completely. I do hope she will have recovered by Friday when she leaves for Spain. This Spain business is ridiculous. It's nauseating to think that________.

Mum and Dad take Jackie home at 10pm, and John, Lynn and I see Lord Peter Wimsey on tv. The final part of 'The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club', and it was very good. Also see 'MASH', then go to bed and read until 12.30.

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Saturday June 22, 1974

Mum wakes me at 7.30. Get the train and arrive at the usual time. Work quite nice and home for luncheon at 1 o'clock. Sit with Lynn, Sue and Peter in the afternoon whilst Mama and Papa go shopping to Morrisons.

Read through all my old correspondence and find all manner of gems, including written sexual advances from Christine Braithwaite, and horrid letters from the foul Pamela Barlow, who thinks she's a reincarnation of Mary, Queen of Scots.

Invite Dave Lawson to a party we're going to have on the night the clan leave for Spain. I do suppose he'll come. Go to the Hare at 8. Denise is babysitting tonight and her absence will no doubt result in a boring night for me; but I am wrong, and thoroughly enjoy it. See George and Jane who are quite anti-social and almost ignore us. Chris comes late accompanied by Christine W, whose hair is almost solid with all the lacquer. Andy and Linda are good fun. Move on to Otley, with Chris driving, and then back to Pine Tops where Lynn is entertaining her boyfriend, Ronnie, Nigel Lister and Chris Dibb. Mum and Dad have a laugh with Andy and we play records till about 12.30. Chris gets funny about his car, and expects it to run like a Rolls-Royce, which is impossible. They are all gone by 1. We retire to bed leaving the house like a bomb has hit it.

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Wednesday June 19, 1974

Today marks twenty years of happy marriage for Mum and Dad. She receives a large bouquet of flowers from Dad, and I think they are both happier now than they have been in years.

Go to the Emmotts at about 8. Joined by Chris, Andy and Laura, who is much improved since she's been having regular sex again with Martin. Ring Judy and she says she'll come up. I wait until 10 and stand at the bar drinking on my own, because John and the gang had moved on. The girls, Judy and Jackie, come at 10.15 - and I feel as though I shouldn't have bothered asking them to come. Feel quite fresh, and they think that my drinking so much is shocking. Home in a TR6 after fish and chips - and bed immediately. Not with the girls, but quite alone.

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Friday May 31, 1974

Very hot day. Go to the YP and discover that I am working tomorrow morning and therefore decide to take a half-day today. Quite pleased at being able to escape from the dismal office, and I drift into Leeds where I purchase a new pair of shoes from Ravel, with my new Barclaycard of course. They cost me £9.99. I piled onto a 55 bus, reading the latest edition of 'Private Eye' which features the recently ennobled Mrs Marcia Williams, or Lady Falkender, or whatever she calls herself. Home after 2. Sit with Mama and Papa on the rear lawn with a cup of tea. Take a bath at 4 and get ready for the Chris and Laura celebrations. John and I get the 6.30 bus to the Emmotts and I begin with a double whisky, one pernod and orange, and a Drambuie. George and Jane and many more come at 7.30 and we leave at 8 coming back in the coach ten minutes later to pick up 5 silly females whom we had left behind in the toilets. Darling Denise is completely enraptured by my braces and we feel slightly fresh when Keith passes a bottle of sweet Martini around the coach. Arrive at Kiko's just after 9. Wonderful place, but the enjoyment is marred by my inability to get drunk, but I certainly tried my best to do so. The place is very Polynesian with plastic palms adorning the walls and floors. See Joe and Anne Grunwell, who cannot believe that I am 19. Get back to the coach at 2. Home at 3. Chris was sick on the floor, and I laughed because he threatened us all before-hand about being ill on his precious and expensive bus.

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Wednesday May 29, 1974

Up at 9.30. Brilliant day. Lynn and Sue take Mum into Bradford for the day and I go into Guiseley calling in at the library and pay a visit to the bank in order to question them about Barclaycard. The cashier scowled when I said I was 19. Buy 2 pork chops and an Express where I read that Princess Richard of Gloucester is 'probably' having a baby. She hasn't been seen in public since the end of April. Received a letter from Denny in answer to the one I wrote to her on Saturday - hilarious. I love her. She quite surprised me this afternoon when she rang from work to see what my reaction was to her passionate letter. We had a laugh about it. I made Papa his lunch at 2, then leapt in the bath in preparation for my rendezvous with the Virgins of the Yorkshire Post, namely the library girls. At the YP a letter awaits me from Austin-Clarke, which is even more ignorant than the first one he sent me. Kathleen makes a quick exit, wishing to avoid my protestations. Go to the Wellesley with Tony Kelly. A very busy evening. Home at 12. Mum awaits my arrival and I show her my latest obscene letter. She is furious and says she'll ring the swine tomorrow, but I manage to deter her. She tells me that Uncle Bert had his foot amputated yesterday and Dad especially looked most sad. Mind you, Dad becomes deeply emotional at most things. I'd hate to think that my brother would one day be undergoing such an operation. In fact I'd rather die first. I am very close to my brother. We've been virtually inseperable since birth. -==-

Wednesday May 22, 1974

Dad wakes me at 11.30 - such a nice feeling that I don't have to go to the YP until Thursday night. Hear on the 10.30 that Ball, the man who tried to kidnap Princess Anne in March, has pleaded guilty and the chap is to be detained in a mental hospital 'during Her Majesty's Pleasure', which is quite appropriate. The swine sent a ransom note to the Queen demanding £3m. Lunch at 1.0pm.

Go to the Emmotts with John and sit with Martin V-B until 9 when Chris finally decides to arrive. Almost immediately we go outside to get a bus to the Hare and Hounds - we see Andy passing, and we tell him we are going to Menston and he says he'll take us - Keith rockets past us, skidding in the rain. Go to the H & H until 10.30.

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Friday May 17, 1974

Woken up by Dad at 1.15pm! Mum comes home expecting to find the lunch prepared but is sadly disappointed by the sight she receives. Dad is working at 2, so you can imagine the hurry he was in. A boring afternoon and go to the YP as usual. Hear on tv whilst in the office that 30 or so people have been blown to bits in Dublin. Kathleen worked until 10 - and I'm sick of writing about work.

Taxi at 12 to Wikis. Groping about in the subdued lighting I stumble upon Chris and John at a table and then saw Peter Mather, who bought me a drink, Andy and of course Linda, Christine W and Laura. To my surprise I see dear Denny, and we, that is Chris and I, have fun playing with the large zip on Denny's suede jacket. On my way to the bar I bump into Judith, of Apperley Lane fame that is, and we drift into a corner with a couple of glasses and laugh at Philip C and Paul, who come over to try and 'break us up'. At 1.30 she takes me back to her place where I drink coffee and play with a little dog. But no 'goings on' if you know what I mean. Lift home at 3 and she doesn't even let me kiss her goodnight, but we exchange telephone numbers and she says she'll ring me next week. Bed at 3.10.

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Sunday May 12, 1974

4th after Easter. Good lunch and feel like a lazy afternoon, which unfortunately cannot be because of driving lesson. I do quite well, but John makes terrible errors throughout the whole of his lesson. It was entertaining anyway.

Mum and Dad go to Marlene's at about 5, and Sue is at Peter's all day.______. I think the boy will shake off his shyness and insecurity within a couple of years.

See tv all evening. Read Mrs Fitzherbert by Anita Leslie. The poor soul married George IV in the 1780s but was never acknowledged in law. Socially however she was always given royal precedence. Bed at 12.


"Waterloo" by Abba.

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Saturday May 4, 1974

Mum gets me up at 9 and I go to Leeds on the 9.20 55 bus. Kathleen, Anne and Janice are working, and I do my usual routine until 1.30 when I go, leaving horrid little Janice to fend for herself. I wander out into the Headrow and find myself deep into a march of the Leeds Communist Party, which is hardly my cup of tea. My intention is to go to Burton's Arcade, but the heat, crowds of communists, and my lack of patience makes me decide not to bother.

Home after 3 and have a couple of chicken sandwiches and two beers. Mum, Dad, Sue, Peter, John and one of Dad's police friends are watching the FA Cup Final between Newcastle and Liverpool. Princess Anne presented the cup to Liverpool who win 3-0. The poor princess looked disgusted when the crowds were singing their own version of the National Anthem.

At 6.15 MM rings. He says that David, Marita and himself are going to the ABC Cinema in Leeds and asks me to join them. I say I'll ring Marita which I do at 6.30 after first contacting Chris. Marita picks me up at 6.45, with her mother, and we then get David, then MM. We go see 'The Great Gatsby' - starring Mia Farrow and Robert Redford. The others hate it, but somehow it doesn't have the same effect on me, and I enjoyed it. We all go back to MMs_____. Marita looked dead. David seems to have something wrong with his eyes. Marita brings me back at 1.30.

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Friday May 3, 1974

Off all day. Go to Morrison's with Dad and get the weekly supply in. Poor Mummy is still ill and remains in bed until lunchtime. A warm afternoon, but do absolutely nothing at all. Go to the YP on a 33 bus, but do not get to the office until 5.15 and Kathleen, who is chatting with one of the lads, doesn't seem too pleased at my lateness. She goes at 5.30 and I carry on until midnight. An excellent evening and hardly no interference from any of the lads, except one who wanted pictures to illustrate an article on alcoholism, which I couldn't find anywhere.

At around 11 a party of ladies came inspecting the place on a guided tour and I displayed a large selection of coloured photos of Princess Anne's wedding on my desk to give them something to rave about. I never fail to satisfy these visitors, and the guide never suspects that I am only doing these things in order to make his tour all the more exciting.

At 12 I get a taxi on account and get out near Wikis. Find John drunk inside, and see Chris being pestered by Helen, who immediately accosts me and makes me buy her a drink. I pick up two girls and at 2 they take me to their flat on Apperley Lane in a white Alfa Romeo, if that is how one spells it, and Philip Cartwright and Paul also come. At 3 Philip brings me to Hawksworth Lane. John was mad at not being invited.

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Thursday May 2, 1974

My half day. Before going to the YP I promise to __ Mum the lunch, because she wanted to stay in bed because of a bad head. At 12 I leave the YP and get a pound of steak in Guiseley. Come home and make Mum her lunch, and then Dad comes in at 2 and I make his. Do the cleaning up and housework in general then sit with a book feeling slightly miserable. Mum gets up and joins me in the lounge - Dad sleeps in the chair until 4. The boredom of the afternoon makes me do something really insane; ringing MM and asking him if he'll accompany me to the cinema - and probably Marita. He says he's revising for the 'A' levels but asks me to contact Marita, who may well be interested in my offer. Ring her at 5.15 and she consents to being my chaperone for the evening. We meet at 6.20 and go see 'The Adventures of Barry Mackenzie' - which I saw about six months ago in Leeds. I love the film and Marita was also very much amused by Barry Humphries, who never fails to reduce an audience to hysterics. Film ends at 10 and I walk home, having fish and chips on the way - home at 10.30 which can't be bad at all.

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Tuesday April 30, 1974

Rose at 7.30. Very warm and sunny. Surely, today must be the best day we have experienced this year. Very busy and at about 3 Kathleen was furious about missing pictures of Billy Bremner which for some reason are in London! Janice was a bitch all day and I was relieved to get away from her at 5. Anne and I walked down Wellington Street in the warm sunshine which was a fantastic feeling after being cooped up in the YP all day long.

See the state visit on the 6 o'clock news. Queen Margrethe positively dwarfed the Queen, who was 7 or 8 inches smaller. The Queen was in powder blue and the Danish sovereign in canary yellow. Feeling furious that no consensed showing of the visit is on tv tonight. Evidently the BBC think that the sporting activities of Jack Charlton, and the prospects of having Francois Mitterrand as President of France, is more important than the visit to this country of a foreign head of state.

Do the lawns with Dad and find the lawnmower sadly dilapidated since I last saw it. Tv in the evening is, as I've already said, dead, and I turn, in my boredom, to 'Have his Carcase' by Dorothy L. Sayers.

I am working on Friday night and am taking Thursday afternoon off and when I told Helen this she look like she'd been told she had six months left to live. Sadly, my Fridays will be spent at the YP for several weeks now. Bed at 12.

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Saturday April 27, 1974

Rise, if that is what you can call crawling out of bed with a hangover, at 7.45. Lynn and Sue say I look 'shocking' and I certainly feel it. Work was terrible and I was glad to get out at 11.55. Walk to the station with Anne who tells me she is leaving in June. I tell her that the YP will not be the same without her, but she laughs and thinks I am making fun of her. The poor devil is going to Cheshire to do social work or something of that type of charitable nature.

Have lunch and listen with Sue and John to 'Radio 5' which isn't so funny as it was last week.

Capt Mark Phillips is the victor of this years Badminton Horse Trials and I watched the final stages of the tournament on tv this afternoon. Capt Phillips rode the Queen's horse, and Her Majesty gave the cup to her son-in-law. Princess Anne was fourth I think. The Queen looked remarkably fashionable again and over the past 2 years everyone has noticed that HM is becoming more and more well dressed.

John goes to the H & H and Mum and Dad go to Burley. The girls go out and leave me alone with the tv. See 2 good films and read 'Have his Carcase' by Dorothy L. Sayers, which is another edition of the Lord Peter Wimsey saga - very good. Bed after 1am.

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Wednesday April 24, 1974

Up at 7.30. Morning passes quickly and I get a bus home at 12. Carol had some bad news this morning. I think her grandmother died, or something. Janice and I were sitting with her when she received a phone call. She was upset.

Nice lunch. Just Mum, Dad and self. Quite infuriated that Barclaycard hasn't let me know anything. I wanted a spending spree at the weekend and unless I get a card this will not be possible.

See 'Coronation Street' on tv. Anne Walker was playing Lady Bracknell in 'The Importance of Being Earnest'.

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Thursday April 18, 1974

Rose at 11. Decide to make resolutions. 1). Never to go the Emmotts again; 2). Not to post a letter to June, and to try and forget her. Lynn and Sue are in the bath, seperately of course, which prevents me from bathing until 11.30. Mr Little and Stuart come and collect Stuart's dart board, which he left on his last visit in February. The little horror had no shoes on his feet! Later: Mum, Dad and I go into Guiseley and I browse around the library for half an hour. Get no books.

Go to the YP at 5. All the girls gone, except Kathleen that is. We have a very quiet night, and I find it very enjoyable. Kathleen and I discuss my career over a coffee and she thinks that journalism is what I should aim for. She intends making inquiries in that direction.

Whilst filing I notice that Richard Crossman, the Labour MP, died on my birthday and think it strange that little publicity has been given to the fact. The Express recently said he had cancer, but that is all.

The cheerful man who does sporting activities, I can't remember the name, kept yelling: "What would you do if an important person dies?" However, my capabilities cover the personalities side of the library, and it's things like Turkish politics, etc, which I find worrying. The cheerful sporting character laughed when he discovered that I was going home by taxi, saying: "I knew from the very start that you had class." Kathleen went at 10.15 and I held the fort alone until 12. Taxi came at 12.15. Home by 12.35. All expenses paid as well!!


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Thursday April 11, 1974

Up at 9 o'clock. Decide to go with Lynn to the cinema this afternoon. The weather is deteriorating slowly, and by Saturday will shall be six feet under the snow no doubt. British weather never fails to let us down at Bank Holiday time. At 10 I go into Guiseley to get a birthday card for Judith, who is 19 tomorrow - find an amusing one. I make a call at the library and glance at the first volume of the diaries of Bruce-Lockhart, who died in 1970. They seem quite interesting, but I've read Nicolson's diaries for the same period, dealing with the Duke of Windsor, Mrs Simpson, Sybil Colefax and all that lot. Glance at the Times whilst in the library and see that the Earl of Snowdon made his maiden speech in the House of Lords yesterday. He spoke on disabled services or something equally mundane. He didn't make the same mistake as Lord Harewood, who made a very controversial maiden speech on hanging or something. Princess Margaret came to Harrogate today, arriving at Yeadon of course. Unfortuntately, Lynn didn't want to accompany me to Yeadon so I decided not to bother going on my own. Anyway, I only saw Princess Margaret the other month, and she won't have changed very much I do suppose. At 2.15 Lynn and I go with Mama and Papa to Yeadon. They go to Morrison's whilst Lynn and I go to the cinema. See 2 horror films which last until 6.30. Lynn is rather terrified, but I am unmoved. The trouble is that my imagination doesn't begin to work until hours after the film is finished. Horror films are often more gripping in the dead of night. -==-

Monday April 8, 1974

Up at 9 with Mama. Dad does some washing for her and busies himself in that irritable way which never ceases to niggle me. The poor man can never just sit down and put his feet up. He is always messing about in the name of so-called 'useful activity'. However, Dad also hates the way I lounge around all day. "Why don't you find something to do?" is a favourite phrase of his.

At about 10.30 I go see Mrs Perfect, whom I have neglected since February '73. Howwever, she still is the same old gossip. A kindly old soul really, but I do suppose I could walk into her abode and say I'd changed sex and joined a circus as a high wire entertainer and she'd still say: "I always knew you'd fit into that sort of life perfectly, Michael. It is important to create an interesting existence early in life, isn't it?" Really I do suppose that she's a typical snob, but I don't mind snobby people at all. I'm certainly not perfect. Well, not quite perfect yet, so I cannot pass judgement on others.

Go to Guiseley Library. Get a book "Elizabeth of Glamis" by David Duff - a pictorial biography of the Queen Mother. Sit about all evening reading it.

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