Sunday July 13, 1975

7th after Trinity. It really is amazing how refreshing a night out at a discotheque can be. It is perfect exercise and I'm sure that one could go on the dance floor at midnight feeling stodgy and short of breath and leave at 2am feeling something like a cross between John Conteh and Erroll Flynn, i.e. perfectly healthy and full of vitality.

Dave L and Christine D were brilliant last night. You should have seen the wrestling match they had on Ilkley Moor! I'm saying no more on the subject.

See in the Sunday Express, that the Duke of Leinster, Britain's longest serving duke, is to make his debut in the House of Lords later this week at the age of 83. He inherited the peerage in 1922, but has been unable to sit in the Lords because he was an undischarged bankrupt until recently.

Don't go for a lunchtime booze with Chris due to lack of funds, and watch TV all day. Carole plagues me again, and I have to go round to 'George's' to shut her up. I can see that she isn't going to be easy to get rid of.

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Saturday July 12, 1975

Up very late and have lunch almost immediately. Dave B comes round in the car and he persuades me to go along with him and Lynn to Bradford on a boozing/shopping spree. (Well, he didn't persuade me at all really. Actually, I invited myself along, but I always think a diarist should be allowed to use a bit of poetic licence.) John and Maria came along too, and the five of us had to squeeze into Dave's little car.

The girls went off shopping for an hour and we three went to the Queen's. Played a few records on the juke box and consumed a few pints, and met the ladies at 3pm outside Chelsea Girl, which was quite a nice arrangement.

At 4.30 we went back to George's. Sorry I keep calling her Maria. I sometimes forget. Meet a friend of hers called Caroline who prefers to be known as Carole. Good looking, but not quite right in the head - rather like ____in character. At 7pm she, that is Carole, rings me and more or less asks me out. I say she can join us at the Hare & Hounds for a few drinks, but make no other suggestion at all.

Lynn and Dave continue to kid everyone one about being engaged, and she's wearing a ring costing 8p! Poor Chris was so stunned he had to sit down!

Dave L took us to the Cow & Calf pub and at 10.30 tghe inevitable happened and we went downstairs to the disco. We all had a great time, and Christine D, Carole, Dave came back to Pine Tops for coffee. It was foggy and raining over the moor tonight.

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Friday July 11, 1975

Worked 5pm-11pm tonight. Went straight down to Wikis afterwards. It looks horrid when one's sober, and only Lynn and Dave were in. They were pretending to be engaged, and everyone at the Hare seems to have taken it in. Home at 2am feeling a bit merry.

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Thursday July 10, 1975

Another sunless day. Hot and damp and completely overpowering. Oh, I didn't mention that on Monday David L arrived home and he will be knocking about with us until the new term starts in September. He rang me on Monday night for a chat. The poor chap will be horribly bored, and he's only getting £5 social security.

Work was OK today. At lunchtime I got yet another £2.99 T-shirt. It makes three in three weeks. Some cheese and onion sandwiches didn't go down too well, and I sat for an hour with a cup of tea to recouperate.

Saw in the YP that typhoid, cholera, rabies, diphtheria, influenza, and many more succulent diseases are currently running havoc in Majorca. No doubt the travel agent will contact us for instructions about innoculations and things. Is it worth going on holiday for two weeks to come home only to drop dead?

Christine rang me this morning. She got on about the party I'm having on July 26. I knew from the way the chat went that she wanted to bring someone. I said 'bring just who you like', and she replied: 'will you mind?' I retorted: 'No'. She blurted out: 'Well, you should do!' I knew she was thinking of bringing Roger - who knocks about in the Hare - but neither of us mentioned names. We didn't have to. She is a little beggar, isn't she?

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Wednesday July 9, 1975

A damp, dark and humid day. Horribly hot and unpleasant. Remember, with horror, that I am working nights on Friday, which means no boozing session with Sarah. Please, for God's Sake, please do not think my life revolves around the consumption of alcohol. It doesn't. I could go to the Hare & Hounds and just drink water and be just as happy, because the society and the friends are all that matter really. No doubt ______ would think differently. No one likes a drink better than me, but it isn't number one on my list of priorities.

Gillian rang me at 7.30 just as it was beginning to rain, and I took it upon myself to scrounge a lift. Her Mum brought us to the Hare & Hounds, and we went our separate ways once we were in. John walked down with 'George' and Christine came on the bus. Peter was in too.

CB and me get on like a house on fire and I will always be fond of her, but I think I've made a bit of a fool of myself over her. Leave the Hare at 9.30 and have one in the Commercial. It's far too hot and we leave at 10.20. Peter M drives me home.

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Tuesday July 8, 1975

Kathleen came back to work today. She looked years younger with her new haircut and bronzed body. I only hope her holiday has cheered her up a bit. Sarah goes off on a half-day and so we can't indulge in our usual ale swilling practice.

I go off on a birthday card buying expedition at lunchtime. Denise will be 19 on July 10, and although she has been living in sin with the dirty old branch manager from WH Smith Ltd, Bradford, I do not see that as a reason for ignoring the occasion.
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On the subject of birthdays, June is 19 years old today. Somehow I think she should be older really. Still a teenager, and we haven't been going out for two years! A horrible brat she is.

'George' invited us round to her place at 8 for a few drinks, and John, Lynn, Dave, Sue, Peter and me all indulged. Stayed until after 11, and the little dog made my eyes run, and nose water. Or was it the other way round? George's Mum tried to keep us, but we shook her off, nicely. Home and in bed before 12 after beans on toast..

It's odd how I do not love Christine any more. It just goes to show how immature I am if I can discard someone and cool off completely after only a matter of weeks.

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Monday July 7, 1975

The weather has changed. Heavy cloud everywhere, and I'm of the mind that summer for another year is over.

Went to the Ostlers at 12 with Sarah for a few drinks. I thought somehow that I'd be embarrassed facing her after professing my undying love for her, but I feel nothing of the kind. She said that the only thing which prevented her coming home with me was the fact that she was working on Saturday morning. This sounds feeble, considering that I would go to the end of the earth for her if she asked me to, but we all love one another in different ways, don't we? The Ostlers was quiet and we didn't see David. I'll say just one more thing today. Sarah is gorgeous.

Historic evening: Mum and Dad went out for a drink and came back with the news that Dad is going to resign from the police force and they are going to apply for a pub somewhere. No doubt the chief constable will be besides himself with grief when he hears the news. It's no use him thinking about the chief's feelings. If Dad isn't happy he should hand in his helmet and collect his cards. A pub will of course mean bye bye to Pine Tops - our home for five years - but Mum says she's always been a wanderer, and five years in one place is probably as much as she can tolerate.

Bed at 12 after the Family Council fell through.

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Sunday July 6, 1975

6th after Trinity. A beautiful day. The hottest one yet this year. Went down to the Commercial with Chris and John. Andy and Linda were stood in the car park with Carol, and so too was Dave B. It was really too hot to do anything. Even drinking was a strain. The so-called Bradford Jet-Set were cluttering up the place - as usual - and the snobs who gather in that place every Sunday afternoon are disgusting. I see no pleasure in standing about watching Jason park his Lancia in a sticky corner. No indeed.

Mum and Dad came down for a quick one at 1.30, and at 2 we came back to Pine Tops and had greasy Harry Ramsden's fish and chips on the lawn. Chris came up so that Dad could sign his passport photographs.

Lynn, Dave, Dad, Sue, Pete and John played 'badminton' on the lawn, and I put 'badminton' in inverted commas because what I saw looked like a re-enactment of the Battle of Waterloo, or a cross between the Normandy landings and the riots at this year's European Cup Match! It was too hot for me. I kept falling into a darkened lounge and looking in on a Bette Davis film.

John went round to 'George's' this evening, and I stayed home with Mum. Dad was working at 10pm. Saw a 1955 film on BBC2 about the last few days of Hitler's life. A German film it was, and a lot better than Frank Finlay's portrayal.

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Saturday July 5, 1975

I cannot really understand where my hangover is this morning. After all I drank last night it's a miracle that I'm not permanently damaged from the stomach upwards. My liver loo, cannot have enjoyed the bashing it received. After all, what's my liver done to me to deserve that. Poor Sod.

However, though I have no hangover, I do feel really tired and shagged out. The tennis men's singles final was on the TV this afternoon and I nearly fell into a coma watching Arthur Ashe beat the hell out of Jimmy Connors.

At 5pm I disappeared to my room and slept upon my bed until 6.30. I awoke feeling a good deal better, and refreshed.

Joh staggered me this evening when he said he was going to Maria's - sorry, I mean 'George's' - for the evening and not going out for one single drink at all!! This is incredible.

Chris rang and I said I'd see him at the Hare at 8.30. After seeing Barbara Stanwyck in 'The Titanic', I was surprised to see Chris calling for me in his Dad's car.

We went down to the Hare, where we were joined by Mr Mather, and we thought we were in for a boys' night out. However, Helen and Carol are in and they join us. Gillian takes a few photographs of us lads in the car park, and I can't quite get over just how crude that girl can be at times. The five of us move on to the Black Bull in Otley for a few, and come back to the Hare at 10.30 for a last look at the place before closing. Carol, Chris and I go on to Harry Ramsden's for fish and chips, and I'm home for 11.30. Spend the next hour or two watching a weird Julie Christie film on the BBC with Mama.

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Friday July 4, 1975

Independence Day, USA. Don't worry. It's now a beautiful Sunday afternoon, and I'm sat on the lawn in a stone cold sober fashion. However, it does say Friday at the top of the page, so I won't mess about any longer. Here goes: I met Sarah on the bus at 7.30, and we had to meet Carol on Broadgate Lane. We decided not to bother about the Fleece, which is too far down the road, and so we started off in the Stanhope - a tatty looking place by anyone's standards. We got off on the right footing, and I had a pint of cider, Sarah had half of cider, and Carol half of lager. Sarah was the epitome of loveliness as usual, and we continued in this pattern of alcoholic consumption in the King's Arms, Black Bull, Brown Cow, Grey Horse and the Queen's Arms. Carol and I varied it a bit in the Brown Cow by having Stella Artois, and then in the Queen's I had a whisky, and Sarah a gin, because they'd run out of cider. After the Queen's I remember very little in order. Sarah and I staggered up to her place, and I definately remember falling over once. I also remember telling Sarah that I loved her, and that was why I worked 'at that bloody place'. She bundled me onto a bus, but two stops further on I climbed off and tried to find her, but arrived instead on the main road. Luckily, or so I thought, I got a lift to Guiseley, but unluckily, the driver was homosexual, and he put his hands on me. Punches were exchanged, and I climbed out of the car. Ghastly, I know. But what can you do about a thing like that? Got home at 12.30, and then walked down to Wikis. Lynn and David were in, and I fell flat on the floor in drunkenness. A fantastic evening though, and I hope Sarah won't be offended by anything I've said to her. I meant it all, anyway.

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Thursday July 3, 1975

Another gorgeous day. We haven't had a drop of rain now for about five weeks, and it's absolutely fantastic.

Sarah Elizabeth Collis and I go to Whitelocks again, where we meet David B. Those two get on with one another like a house on fire, and David amuses Sarah really phenomenally. The two of us stagger back to work in the blazing heat and we don't tell Carol or Eileen that we've been out together. They believe what we say, though we do slip up occasionally, but quite unnoticed. A real darling, Sarah is. We're doing Town Street tomorrow night, so don't blame me if the writing on Friday's page is illegible.

See TV all evening, including 'Top of the Pops' which is full of rubbish.

I'm not writing any more now, so you can just get lost, the lot of you.

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