Thursday May 3, 1973

June sends me a letter. She has tonsilitis but will be coming to school today. What a relief!

Go on the 8.30 bus. June arrives at 9.30. She sits with Linda who prceeds to tell June about my so-called "affair" with Christine. June pretends to be put out. Linda can be a bitch at times.

We go down to Rigg's at 12.15. She forgets the shopping list about eight times. Christine and Dave are astounded. She tells me, as we walk down, that our meeting at the Emmotts tonight will have to be cancelled because she has an exam tomorrow morning. I quite understand, and I tell her that I cannot go out on Sunday either because I am working. She laughs. Oh Lord, we can't go out until at least Wednesday of next week, and even then she is doing more exams and she may have to revise then as well. At least she is back.

Walk down to the bus stop at 4.30. Paul Cheetham and Sheilagh Thingy-in-the-lower-sixth are standing there. My bus comes. We kiss goodbye. Come home and have tea. Quiet evening in watching the television and reading.

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Thursday May 3, 1973

June sends me a letter. She has had tonsilitis but will be back at school today. God! What a relief! Go on the 8.30 bus. June arrives at 9.30. She sits with Linda who tells June all about my so-called "affair" with Christine. June pretends to be put out. Linda can be a bitch at times.



We go down to Rigg's at 12.15. She forgets the list about six times. Christine and Dave are astounded at her scatter-brained behaviour. She tells me, as we walk down, that our Emmotts evening must have to be cancelled because she has an exam tomorrow morning. I quite understand and I tell her that I cannot go out on Sunday either because I am working. She laughs. O Lord, we cannot go out until at least Wednesday of next week, and even then she is doing more exams and she may have to revise then as well. Ah well, at least she's back.



Walk to the bus stop at 4.30

Wednesday May 2, 1973

Get the 8.30 bus. Revise in the library until Mrs Lane arrived at 9.45. We start immediately with the two essays. I tackled the British one first which was: "Discuss the view that Appeasement was a policy which was bound to fail". Very good. I quoted both Randolph Churchill and Lord Avon. The European question was: "The decline of democracy in Germany was inevitable by 1930. Discuss." Finished both by 11.15.

June still away. Last night I wrote her a letter which I posted today. She should get it by tomorrow. Anyway, she's got to be back by Thursday. Sue has asked me to work tonight because Moody Martin has exams all week and he wants to revise.

Go down to the bus stop with Dave again. Home by 4.40. Go to work at 7.30. Sue also asks me to work all day on Sunday! This means I'll be working: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Think of the money? Go home at 12.30. Immediately to bed and sleep.. Please June, please come tomorrow.


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Tuesday May 1, 1973

Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones is 9 today. June still not at school. Get up at 7.40. Weather beautiful again (or perhaps I should say, beautiful as Sunday). The Glorious 1st of May! (or is that June?) Oh June, why aren't you at school? Life is hell without you.

Read Eden until 10. Then do "Balance of Payments" with Christine. Two and a half hours! What a mess we get into! She re-writes her essay 6 times. Get into a mess with the maths. Run down for the lunches alone. Have soup, crisps and sandwiches with Louise, who goes home at 1.30. Things aren't the same since she finished with Chris.

Read through Eden again until 2.30. Tomorrow is Mrs Lane's timed question and so in the afternoon I devour several important paragraphs of Randolph Churchill's "The Rise and Fall of Anthony Eden". Have a laugh with Christine. Walk to bus stop with Dave at 4.05. Awful without June. Miss the 55 and get the 35 with Dave. Get off at Yeadon. Dave goes to Ray and Marian's. I go to the record shop until the next 55 bus comes at 4.50. Come home and have tea.

Read Queen Victoria until 7.15. Go to CW. Sue and Toffer went to see some pubs yesterday but the state of them quite put them off. They are staying at the Chuck Wagon after all. Not a very busy evening. Toffer brings me home at 12 o'clock. We sit for ten minutes in the car talking about buying pubs. Come in and have some eggs. Go to bed and sleep immediately.

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Monday April 30, 1973

Feel really terrible. Both John and I have stomach upsets and suspect it was the beer we had last night. Oh, how uncomfortable it all is! 1st day back at school after Easter. June did not come. The first day back is always miserable! Did Economics.

Do excuse me but I'm in a pretty rotten mood. I have to revise Anthony Eden and the Dictators 1930-39; Germany 1919-39. I also have to complete by Balance of Payments essay - and ALL before Wednesday morning.

And June didn't turn up today. She said nothing about it last night. What can be wrong with her?

Sit with Louise for lunch. We share a tin of cream of chicken soup. She got all the meaty bits! I love those juicy bits of chicken, but no, she had to have them. Louise and Denny were talking about me in sign language this afternoon. I'm not sure but I think it was something about the holiday. Oh June! Why can't you be coming on holiday? You are an Angel. How can I look at another girl after looking at you? But, I do realise that Angels can only be looked at, and are not for earthly love. I would have to ascend into Heaven in order to understand you.


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Sunday April 29, 1973

Low Sunday. Get up at 9.30. Early for Sundays. Beautiful day. Hot sun. Unfortunately I have to sit and do my international trade essay - from 10.30 till 1.30.

After lunch I go out and cut all the lawns. The birds were singing. The sky as blue as Wedgwood.
Oh why can't they weather always be like this?

Come in and sit with John who is watching "Goodbye Mr Chips", the film made in 1783 starring Charles Boyer, Mae West and Dame Laurence Olivier, etc. "Wot a load 'o rubbish". He then goes on to watch the 1903 version of "The Diary of Anne Frank", the girl who lived for 2 years in an attic cupboard and was eventually found by the Nazis, convicted and put to death for being a Jew. What a way to spend a hot, Sunday afternoon.

Mum makes tea of salad and then goes for a ride with Father. The girls go to Ally's for a couple of rounds of Badminton. John and I prepare for out trek to the Emmotts. I have a bath. Dave rings at 7.00. I am still in the bath. John takes the message that Dave isn't going out. I think: "what the bloody hell's wrong with him?" I get out the bath and ring Dave. I persuade him to come out. He picks me up at 8.10. Arrive E.at 8.30. June arrives simultaneously. E. very full. June looks delightful. We go on to the Tudor Bar, Burley, at 9 o'clock. Very posh, but full of teeny-boppers. Don'y like it very much. Came back to E. at 9.50. Stay an hour. Dave takes June to Horsforth. We secretly follow her to Featherbank Lane. She mustn't want us to see the house where she lives. She's so sweet. Come home at 11.10. Mum and Dad and the girls just retiring. John and I watch television. Come to bed at 12.30. Wore my new "bunny" for the first time. June thinks it's cute.

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Saturday April 28, 1973

Get up at 10.0 and go to Leeds with John. I buy another jumper. He gets a "lumber jack" type jacket - £7.

Continue with Queen Victoria by Cecil Woodham-Smith. Victoria and Albert was one of the greatest romances of all time, others include (to quote Frankie Howerd) "Anthony and Cleopatra, Romeo and Juliet, Nelson and Lady Hamilton, Robin Day and himself...." etc.

Oh what a darling Victoria was! The more I read about her (and I've certainly seen a lot) the more I believe she was the greatest person flung-out by the 19th century. Prince Albert was responsible for lifting the monarchy above politics. William IV was a rabid Tory and Queen Victoria was an equally keen Whig - but Albert soon put a stop to her involvement in politics. The raised the Royal Family far above the vulgarities and cunningness of politics. This was his greatest achievement. Since then no sovereign has ever identified himself/herself with one particular political body. Therefore, why do certain people shun the Queen and Royal Family simply because they are socialist? Such persons are purely naive. The Queen represents EVERYONE, and not simply the well-to-do and Conservative classes.

Go to work at 7 o'clock. Sue is still in pain following her fall from Polo yesterday morning. Had a laugh with Pauline - we devoured soup followed by ice cream with butterscotch sauce and several beers. Toffer played his Woodstock LP. A HATEFUL recording indeed. Pauline agreed that it was completely lacking in taste. She sat reading until 1.30. Came home at 1.50. Lynn was alone. Her boyfriend, Chris, had been here until 11.30. Mum and Dad were at Auntie Hilda's with John and Susan. The Gadsbys go to the Continent tomorrow. At 2am they arrive home. Have coffee then go to bed.

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Friday April 27, 1973

Get up at nearly 10 o'clock. Have a bowl of cereals. It's unusual for me. Have a cup of coffee while glancing at Queen Victoria in the lounge. Much more interesting than George III.

Oh, I must do my Economics. I keep putting it off and putting it off. It will be too late if I leave it any longer. I MUST DO MY ECONOMICS AFTER LUNCH!! Grief, it's 11 o'clock and I have to ring June. She will be waiting. Oh no! Lynn is on the phone. I'll tell her to get off the line and then I'll ring June.

I rang her but no one answers. I will keep ringing until I am satisfied that she has forgotten. On reflection, did I promise to ring her today, or was that yesterday?

Deep in sorrow I continue with my Economics. Work all afternoon.

Go to the CW at 7 o'clock. Sue fell off Polo this morning. She feels as though she's broken her back - Poor Girl!

Very busy evening. Bored and tired by 12.30. Come home and read Mrs Woodham-Smith's Queen Victoria Vol. 1, 1819-1861. Marvellous! The Lady Flora Hastings Affair is so interesting - how can one imagine in these days of the 1970s that idle gossip at court in 1839 could bring down a government? Queen V is such a character. My heroine in history. If ever I have a say in the naming of a daughter of mine - she will be called Victoria.

Come to bed at 2.

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Thursday April 26, 1973

Got up at 10 o'clock. Had a terrible boiled egg which was under done. The hardest thing in the world to cook must surely be a boiled egg. You can't tell whether it's cooked or not until you cut the top off - when it's too late.

At precisely 11 o'clock I ring June at the Horsforth phone box. She sounds so much younger on the telephone. We decided to meet at Rawdon Library at 3 o'clock. Ring off at 11.30. Lynn is in the bathroom which prevents me getting washed. Go downstairs and find a card waiting for me from Rawdon Library. They have a book reserved for me which I requested in November: Queen Victoria by Cecil Woodham-Smith. Should be interesting.

After lunch I prepare for my journey to Rawdon. Go on the 2.30 55. Arrive 2.50. Go to Cleggs and buy some sweets. June arrived 5 minutes later. She's such a darling. Go to the library where we sit for nearly ninety minutes. I look through an electoral roll for 1853 and find my great-great grandfather who owned a draper's shop in the Marsh, Pudsey. I collect Queen Victoria and a book of horror stories. We go into the park. The day is brilliantly sunny with a fresh, excited breeze. We sit until nearly 5 o'clock. We go to the Post Office. I put £22 into my account. My birthday money plus £4. We walk to the bus stop. Go at 5.20. Kiss goodbye until tonight.

Have tea and look at some more Economics. John has decided to come out with me. We leave at 7.50. Mum walks with us on her way to the hairdresser. Arrive at the Emmotts at 8.25. June arrives simultaneously. Chris, Mick Lea, Denny, and MM arrive. They later go down to Esholt to see Mum and Dad. June and I have a serious talk. She asks me whether I think 3 months is too long for us to carry on. I am dumbfounded and disagree. I ask "what will happen in September?" She replies: "I will write to you every day." It must be love if we can plan 5 months in advance! At 10.40 we bid farewell to Ivy and go for the buses. John goes to the chippie. Our bus comes at 11.10. Kiss goodbye again. Home by 11.40.

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Wednesday April 25, 1973

Got up at 9.30. Had no breakfast and started my international trade essay. Argued with Dad about the loudness of the radio. I said if I couldn't have it loud then it wasn't worth having on at all. Aren't I a spoilt brat? June rang at 11. We talked for 10 minutes and decided to go out tomorrow night instead of tonight. It helps to break the week up because after Thursday I will not be able to go out until Sunday.

Believe it or not, the weather today is beautiful. The sky is china blue. The birds are singing. But for many people it is too late. The workers are back to work today. I wish we could go to Bolton Abbey today, but I do suppose it could never replace yesterdays enjoyable excursion because it takes more than a sunny sky to make a day a good one.

Lynn and Sue made the lunch - turkey again!! I am counting now. It's four days of poultry. Continue until 12 with my Economics essay - how really terrible!

Go with Dad to collect Mum for lunch. See June's sister outside her house on Netherfield Road. She doesn't look anything like June or Sue. Poor Sue has a cold after yesterday's bath in the Wharfe. She won't be going to the Emmotts tomorrow.

After lunch I get my Economics out again but the sight of it is quite nauseating. Go have a bath after helping Mum with a broken washing line. Sit browsing through George III until tea time.

Lynn brings her boyfriend Chris home. They ask Mum's permission to go to a party at Yeadon. Mum says yes. Salad for tea.

Spend the evening watching the telly. I have decided to write to the Queen Mother congratulating her on being a member of the Royal Family for 50 years. I have only ever written to a member of the Royal Family once before, which was last August when I wrote to the Duchess of Gloucester expressing my sympathy of the death of her elder son. A lady-in-waiting replied. The Queen Mother is one of my favourite Royals. Always serene and charming. Surely, the best thing George VI ever did was when he married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon on April 26, 1923?

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Tuesday April 24, 1973

The alarm clock sang its merry song at 10 this morning. The sky was overcast but it was dry! My prayers have been answered. Had breafast at 10.30. Mum made John and I some sandwiches and I rang Dave at 11. He said he would meet us at the Station Hotel at 12. The same time as June and Sue B. John and I prepared for the fishing expedition. At 11.30 we set off for Guiseley. We sat on the seat outside the Albion Fisheries.

June and Sue came at 12.03. We all sat together waiting for Dave. Mum and Dad with the girls went passed in the car at the same time that Dave arrived. Bidding farewell to mother and co. we piled into the car and set off for Otley.

To cut a long story short, after driving for 2 hours around the wilds of Wharfedale (with June on my knee) we arrived at Bolton Abbey at 2. We had ice lollies at an old cafe, then walked alongside the river and played tig and made several attempts to push each other into the water - unsuccessful ones. We tried to walk to the Strid, where Dave had not been before, but an old man on a gate said it would cost us 4p each. It seems that the very air we breathe will cost us money before long! To register our protest we crept up a bank and walked to the Strid avoiding those little sentry-box type green huts where OAPs lurk with ticket machines, etc.

Dave accidentally smashed his spectacles in the loo - I can't think how. And poor Sue fell in some filthy mud and had to bathe - fully clothed - in the Wharfe in order to cleanse herself. She looked very self-conscious and uncomfortable. June was delightful, wearing green denims and my bush hat. We picked wild flowers together. The countryside was too perfect. We didn't fish once. No one bothered. At 4.30 we set off regretably for home. June and Sue got out at Grandways. I gave her a letter which I wrote on April 19. She's reading it tonight. Dave brought John and I to Guiseley. I hate leaving June who is becoming very attached to my knees. What a girl she is!

Went to the CW at 7. Busy as a "poor Saturday" which means very good for a Tuesday. Depressing evening and an anti-climax to the day. Came home from the CW at 12.30. Had supper and retired to bed. Toffer paid me £2. So it was a Saturday after all!!

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