_. Sunday after Ascension
Hot. Marathon breakfast for the Pudsey mob who had slept over. They did a good deal of laughing at the naughty books Christine B sent me years ago, you know, the Janet and John type books, with the pervy inscriptions inside. Karen, Steve, Jill, Tim, Diane and Paul left after 11, or was it 12?
Back to Club St for 7 for carrot soup, and liver casserole. Ally, too exhausted, went to bed leaving Dave and I watching a film entitled Sweet William. Bed after 12:30.
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_. Ally went for a sun-ray session. She returned looking sexy and tinted. We had breakfast with Dave G. Afterwards he helped Ally make a coleslaw. I went into Lidget Green to do some shopping for tonight's orgy.
We went to the Brown Cow at Horsforth [Stella Artois, &c] and then on to see Denise and pay our honeymoon insurance money. We called at Pine Tops and then went to Charles the tailor in Menston [my suit], and back to Club St for 5:30.
Our house party began at 9. Karen, Steve, Jill, Tim, Diane, Paul Edwards, Sue Pete, Jacq, Paul C, Eileen and Steve Burnip, Anne Goodyear, Lynn, Dave, Rachel Judson and Garry, Gillian and Tom, &c. Not a full list by any means because people saw the party from the Kebab take-away across the road and joined us, plus Ally's cronies from the AHA. An excellent night. Warm too, and the overflow of revellers poured into the front garden [probably because we don't have a back garden]. Good to see some YP people. Horribly pissed. All a bit of a blank.
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_. Muggy again. Ally and Lynn spent the afternoon shopping in Leeds. Ally had a fitting for her wedding dress and Lynn went crazy in Mothercare. At 2 I met then at Stylo where we were fixed up with wedding shoes.
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| Dave G. |
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_. Ascension Day
Had a restless night. Up at 6:45 feeling uncomfortable, unrefreshed. We'd been to bed leaving the sitting room windows wide open to all the thieves and crooks of Tranmere Park.
Pine Tops is to be advertised for sale at £38,000 in Saturday's YP. It is a bit steep, don't you think?
Phoned Ally at 7am. She wants me to meet her in Bradford at 5pm so that she can show me a suit she'd like to wear as a 'going away' outfit after the wedding reception. Butterflies have started. Just four weeks to go now. Last night Mum said how much she'll miss me after June 27. I've been with them throughout their married life, the first to arrive, and the last one to leave.
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| Dave L. |
Primarily to take the air Ally and I walked to Mucky Willie's for a couple of drinks. She looked incredible in her very short pink mini skirt, and dangling gold earrings.
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_. Stonehouse: Joyce phoned to say they had received a letter from the solicitor yesterday, and now the sale is in official hands. Mum and Dad are going tomorrow morning.
Sticky, thunder too. Mum says it shook the house this afternoon. Home at 6. Saw Lynn and Frances on Hawksworth Lane. [F was of course strapped in the back seat of the car in her bonnet, and was scowling at me through the window].
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| with Jackie and a rasher of bacon. |
Saw 'Private Schulz'. Drank whisky. Went to bed at 11:30 with a plate of salad sandwiches.
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_. Up at 7:45 and out at 8:45. Ally waved me off, pressing her face against the glass panel on the door, making hideous, ghoulish faces. Obviously I arrived at the YP late. The bus service is in a state of collapse. One would think we were living in Somalia or an Eastern bloc country.
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| Lady Diana. |
Ally came to dinner. Avocado prawns and then chicken. I mowed the lawns and put undercoat on the kitchen door. Ally stayed the night.
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_. Bank Holiday in UK, USA & Canada
More bloody rain. Spent the dry bits in the water-logged garden tying up bedraggled honeysuckle and climbing rose trees. Is this perhaps the worst May on record?
Ally and I attempted to make the lunch. Mama remained reclining upstairs, and Papa was trundling around in a romper suit looking like a working man's Winston Churchill. The kitchen was submerged in cauliflower cheese and we somehow managed to use every pan whilst cooking. Mum sat there musing at our inefficiency. However, the food was delicious when we eventually served it up.
Ally drove me to the YP at 5 for my evening shift. A dull and very quiet night. Polish Joe came to see me looking for a photo, and two hours later a peculiar looking sub-editor came in asking for an atlas. That was my evening's work, other than the filing of course. Phoned Ally a couple of times and afterwards took a taxi to Ash Tree Cottage. My driver was something of an authority on road construction, and gave me a lengthy talk on the history of Leeds slip roads, by passes and dual carriageways.
Ally was wrapped in a dressing gown reading 'Ten Little Niggers'. We drank cocoa and had chocolate cake.
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| At Thruscross. |
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| Pine Tops: for sale sign erected |
Back to Pine Tops for the usual chaos of a John and Maria visit. Catherine has started to walk. John said she got going in Stranraer yesterday just before heading south. A 'for sale' sign has been erected on the front lawn. To think Pine Tops is to go after all these years.
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_. Ally was up and out at 9am, trundling off to the metropolis for the first of a series of sun-ray sessions. I lay buried in the pink marshmallow of her bed until she returned at 11:30. She'd also been for a fitting for the bridesmaid dress she'll be wearing at Catherine & David's wedding on Sept 5.
We went back into Bradford but our expedition was largely unsuccessful. We did a good deal of squabbling in the street, and disagreed on most things. I did manage to buy a pair of jeans and a good shirt. Shopping isn't an easy pastime.
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| The Oddfellows: poker incident |
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_. Felt more than slightly ghastly this morning, and exhausted.
To Ash Tree Cottage at 6. A Ripper extravaganza dominates the BBC. Phoned Dave G. We have decided to throw a party on May 30. A pre-wedding thrash. I have put the word around the office, and believe it or not, some show an interest. Michael Brown, Sue Pape, Bob Cockroft, Rachel Judson, &c. Whether they'll turn up is another matter.
Bed at almost 12.
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Up at 6:30 so that we can have a birthday present opening session. I gave her earrings, some unpronounceable perfume from France - 'Eau de Mitterrand' or something, 'Ten Little Niggers' by Agatha Christie, and of course a large, romantic birthday card, a tipsy rat in a champagne glass, you know the sort. Unusual for me. Ally bounced around like a little girl, her eyes shining gloriously.
I headed for the YP and Ally came and collected me at 12:30 and we went to the Bank Wine Bar in town, and had quiche and salad, and a litre of rosé wine, in a dark, cosy corner. We went shopping afterwards, more earrings, two records, and she found a mini skirt which will look good with the tanned legs.
Rain by 4. To Ash Tree Cottage and then to Burley-in-W to see Lynn, Dave and Frances. They bought Ally two nice plants. Ferns I think. The two of us to the Hare & Hounds at 9:30 for gigantic Porterhouse steaks and another litre of wine, this time red.
Back to Pine Tops. Saw Jim and Margaret but were too pissed to speak.
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| Auntie Elsie. |
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| Auntie Annie. |
Ally and I went over to Colne to visit two of her aunts. First to Elsie, her father's sister, who is very grand. It was the first time Ally had set foor in her house. Uncle Ernest, who didn't have a clue who we were, poured me a large whisky. They have bought us an electric deep fat fryer as a wedding present. On to see Auntie Annie, Frank's other sister, and Uncle Bert. A sweet, old couple. He suffers from Parkinson's disease and can hardly move. They gave us a mirror, but say it's for Ally's birthday. For a wedding present they are buying sheets.
Home to Ash Tree Cottage at 12.
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_. Full Moon.
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| Ash Tree Cottage. |
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_. Rain. Walking through town at lunchtime, looking in the window of an electrical shop, I saw, on the telly there, Princess Anne leaving hospital with baby Tracy. The infant is yet to be named. Elizabeth is bound to be in there. Kathleen says Joanna. I say Kathleen. In the end the opinion of the office is that it's wide open.
Mum and Dad went to the Stonehouse and had a showdown with Joyce and the shifty, Godfrey. Hands were clasped and shaken, yet again. These queer little people are obviously ruled by the moon.
Saw Ally tonight.
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_. 4th Sunday after Easter
Steve Sanderson's birthday. Another substantial breakfast at 9. Charlotte is obviously 'cutting down' on her food intake. Back to the Dales, but in Graham's car, in search of Malham. We took a few wrong turns and finished up at Aysgarth and then Hawes at 1:30. By now we were hungry, but several pubs refused us food because of the hour. We were there, in the street, howling like injured wolves. Graham, in booming tones, told one landlord that he much prefers Lancashire. Oh dear. Back to Club St we finished off the carrot soup, made a salad, and then the Smiths disappeared. We have agreed to make a return visit to see them in Hampshire.
Ally and I, alone at last, opened a bottle of red wine, and then phoned Mum. She was greatly distressed. She took Mabel, Marlene and Frank to the Stonehouse yesterday [without Dad], and Joyce turned on Mama threatening that if they don't come up with the money and quickly within the next few days, they'll sell the pub to a more willing buyer. Depressing.
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| The Bankhouse. |
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| The Strid. |
Later, to Leeds and met Sue, Pete, Barbara and Frank Makin and Fiona [Ally's bridesmaid]. Sue and Fiona had a fitting for their bridesmaid dresses, and Pete, Graham and I went to buy Ally a new stylus for her record player.
Home to Club St at 6:30. Took Anadin. Felt better. Barbara, Frank and Fiona left, and we and the Smiths had a sing-song around the piano. You name it, we sang it. On to Pizzeria Mama Mia's [Manningham Lane]. A long dinner.
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_. A fun packed day. Kathleen, becoming increasingly madder, predicts that I will be departing the library staff within the year. No men, she says, have ever stayed long on the staff after marriage. Obviously, I am going to require more money. Let us hope the Stonehouse project comes off. It could be my salvation.
Home at 5:30. Mum and Dad had a good afternoon with George and Joyce and Co at the Stonehouse. The old boy promised them a piano each and told them a tale about 'Witchy Waite's Chair'. All good stuff. Mum and Dad were in high spirits.
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| Princess Anne and Tracy. |
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_. To Club St at 6. Had fish and chips. Ally is going mad cleaning in readiness for Graham and Charlotte's arrival. We watched 'Top of the Pops' and then went shopping to Morrison's.
Dave G phoned. He's coming May 28-29, and so we have decided to throw a party, a belated birthday party combined with a pre-nuptial orgy.
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| Bessie, not Mrs D. |
Mum and Dad saw Mr Houldsworth at Barclays Bank, Otley. He seemed very interested, but hasn't given the go-ahead as yet. He would like a timber survey.
Church news: the Pope is making very slow progress.
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| Mad Turk shoots Pope. |
Back to this morning. I forced Ally out of bed at 6:50 because she had to do something with the mounds of bread in the kitchen. Her ears have gone into decline now. She can hear nothing, and as I sat with my humble breakfast looking across the table at her I could hear the wax squelching around in the labyrinths of her gorgeous ears. She left for Bradford at 7:50. Dave B came shortly afterwards with the Oliver, Kitchen and Flynn report [he's been looking at it to make a structural survey]. Jim Rawnsley is on business in London and so I went to Leeds with Dave. A hot day.
Frank D phoned Mum and told her to make an appointment with a Mr Houldsworth at Barclays Bank, Otley. She did as directed. Frank has had a word with him, and they are seeing him at 10:30 tomorrow. It's now in the lap of the Gods. I do not think Frank would have set this up if he didn't think they stood a chance.
Denise has sent me a bill for a further £15 for the Ios honeymoon. I phoned her at 3. She had been to lunch with C. Ratcliffe and Lynne Mather and they'd just been talking about me. My ears were burning.
Had a couple of talks with Ally. We are like Mrs Thatcher and Helmut Schmidt these days. Watched 'Private Schulz'. Bed 12.
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_. Mum phoned me at 1:30. Clive Osborne at the Yorkshire Bank isn't prepared to give them a loan to purchase the Stonehouse Inn. Banks, he says, are not lending money on licensed premises.
Later at 8pm Dad spoke to Frank Dixon who says the Yorkshire bank have mishandled the whole thing and assures him that he will find them a a good business manager. Dad was embarrassed contacting Frank, but I do not share his qualms. Doesn't this world function on the lines of who you know, not what you know?
Ally came at 7:30. We had a drive around Menston and Hawksworth. Back at Pine Tops Ally baked three disastrous cakes, and a heap of brown bread. Indigestion.
Tension tonight after a day of nail biting terror. Ally stayed. Bed after 12:30.
A judge was murdered today. Quite a rare thing.
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_. Ally is feeling slightly better. She drove off in the coughing, spluttering Audrey at 7:50.
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| New president: Mitterrand |
The IRA exploded a bomb close to the Queen at a Scottish oil refinery at the weekend.
Home at 6. Dad is now full of woe about their prospects of taking the Stonehouse following a telephone conversation with Clive Osborne. The bank manager is grumbling about the valuation and is demanding the accounts, &c. They're seeing Mr Osborne at 11 tomorrow. Mum phoned her 'friend' Joyce and asked for the accounts. She wasn't happy.I smell a rat.
Phoned Ally at 6:30. Graham Smith and Charlotte are coming at the weekend. We are told that Charlotte has shed 2 stone.
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