Sunday January 22, 1984

 3rd Sunday after Epiphany

5, Club Street, Lidget Green, Bradford

Baby slept until 6am which is amazing. Ally however woke at three and then again at 5 to listen for him. I went down in the dark to make pots of tea to find a thick carpet of snow outside. Cemetery Road was covered and a deathly silence hung over Lidget Green. It looked like the Brenner Pass. Samuel has been home for a whole week. He was fed and then slept and we went back to bed until 10am. He is such an amiable baby, and not in the least miserable. Slouched around half dressed until noon. Fried eggs and bacon and sat at the dining table watching the boys from the corner shop building a snow Yeti. A nurse appeared at 1:30 as Beethoven was belting out. Evidently, if you play Ludwig's tunes to a new baby they develop into mathematicians, according to the Americans anyway. She, the nurse, gave Ally the all clear and disappeared in her massive wellies into the white distance. We watched the second version of 'The 39 Steps'. Hopeless. I always think of Kenneth More as Sir Douglas Bader and expect his legs to fall off any minute. The heavy snow today deterred family visitors. We were pleased at this. Washed twelve nappies and changed Samuel numerous times. Sludgy yellow to green nappies. Ally had a nap after 6. Dined on roast chicken, brocolli, potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, &c. Saw the end of The Thorn Birds. The old cardinal snuffed it. The final straw was the Jimmy Young TV show where Greenham Common women heckled Lady Olga Maitland. ______. I would put the lot of them in Holloway and let them rot.  To bed at 11:30. Samuel did not stir and we drifted off into the grey oblivion.

-=-

Saturday January 21, 1984

 5, Club Street, Lidget Green, Bradford

Club Street from Cemetery Rd

Samuel started to cry at 1:30am and so we spent a couple of hours feeding and changing. His eyes are as big as saucers. ______. A midwife visited and remarked how well Ally looks. Today she wore her blue 'Margaret Thatcher' frock and looked positively skinny. The bump has disappeared over night. Sue, Pete and Christopher came at 2:30, and Sue held her nephew for the first time. Her bump is starting to show now and she took home Ally's maternity dresses. Good riddance. Over cups of tea we decided it would be nice to have further offspring in the autumn of 1985. Is this asking too much? My God, I'll be thirty.

A management agreement document arrived from David Tyne. We now have to write back and say 'yes please, we do want the Moorhouse'. Ally sniffs that the money isn't much different to the trainee wage, but I remind her that we can make £100 a week on food, plus the bonus we receive in June or July. Chris Wills collected £1500 for doing nothing startling. The Nasons went off at 3. We ate sandwiches. Ally slept on the settee and I covered her beneath a quilt. She and Samuel snored. Mum phoned. They have been doing a lot of walking in the hills. I am pleased. It sounds healthy. ________. To bed at 11:40. How much sleep will we get tonight?

-=-

Friday January 20, 1984

 5, Club Street, Lidget Green, Bradford

Samuel has a hairy back and shoulders, you know. I have to record these things because in ten years time who will remember? A freezing but bright day. A full washing line again. Sister Matthews came to see our son for the last time. She is on holiday next week and so we are to have another nurse. Ally felt quite at ease with the homely Miss Matthews. Perhaps we'll see her again some day. Samuel's tiny bit of umbilicle cord fell off too. Cards arrived from Bessie's cronies: Avril Hargreaves at Chilland Barn, and Margaret Hellier in Doncaster. My pay arrived from the brewery. £420 for doing absolutely nothing. I haven't set foot behind a bar since Christmas Eve. I find their kindness heart rending. Our society isn't all grab and coldness. Orwell's 1984 isn't here yet though David Tyne does look a little like 'Big Brother'. L. Gledhill phoned at 10 as I was washing nappies and says we can start at the Moorhouse on February 13, a Monday. This should give us a little extra time with Samuel first. I have to go to court in Leeds on Friday Feb 10th. Ally phoned Bessie who is flying to Jersey and then on to Guernsey to join Frank. She is dining with a pack of bankers wives tonight and is taking photos of Samuel with her. The knitting needles are continuing to click furiously at Winchester and at Horton-in-Ribblesdale. We discussed Samuel's christening. How about Mothering Sunday? Godparents are to be Lynn, Sue, and Dave G and Andrew._________. Will shall have to find the church at Hunslet and start the ball rolling. This evening: had salad. Watched a St Trinians film. They are masterpieces of British comedy. Bed at 11. Snatched a few hours sleep. Dropped off to the sound of Samuel breathing furiously in his basket. Is he reallyh ours to keep?

-=-

Thursday January 19, 1984

 5, Club Street, Lidget Green, Bradford

Before I forget - Samuel had his vitamin K injection yesterday. He was very brave and only squealed once. He was fed in the middle of the night and then slept until 7. I went out into the frost and ascended Paternoster Lane to collect a prescription for eye drops. Samuel has a weepy left eye which has matted. I slid around in the ice with all the folk heading out to work. What a blessing it is that I no longer have to battle my way into Leeds every day as in days of old. We had a leisurely breakfast sat at the table. Eating off trays does become a habit. In the middle of our repast a midwife appeared with a male nurse, and because of this my Rice Krispies went soggy. Sister Matthews gave Samuel his eye drops and inspected his umbilicle cord which bled slightly. It should have fallen off by now. Later, I added my son to the family tree. He is the fourth Samuel Rhodes in a line going back to about 1840. The last is of course my poor cousin Samuel ____________. 

We ate odds and ends and couldn't be bothered cooking anything. Ally had a fit of giggles writing to her aunts thanking them for presents. She was amused at some of the suggestions thrown in by me. Eventually she turned out a couple of run of the mill lettters. I went out to buy a loaf and a birthday card for Graham Smith. Ally phoned Charlotte Smith, who was delighted at our news. Isobel is three feet tall. Is this gigantic? Have the Smiths produced a monster? Ally then phoned Marlene. We were visited by Mary Moore and then John arrived at 8. He was without Janette. They have fallen out again. Saw 'Top of the Pops'. Paul McCartney is at the top. Saw David Attenborough on a mountain top. It would have looked nice in colour. Also watched James Fox play Orwell. An odd fish. Upstairs Ally fed Samuel all night. John, who left at 11, didn't touch the baby. Samuel is too tiny. 

-=-

Wednesday January 18, 1984

 Full Moon

5, Club Street, Lidget Green, Bradford

At 7:30 I was flat out in bed and dead to the world. Ally feeding our beautiful son. The boy has such eyes. If we could only know what he is thinking as he holds his mother's hand as he feeds. Mum phoned to say they are coming. I went out to buy cotton wool balls. It's slushy under foot still. Mum and Dad came at lunchtime and we toasted Samuel in Charles VII champagne. Dad took me to town as Ally fed the boy and he visited the bank and took me to the register office where I have Samuel certified. They have changed the shape of birth certificates. I came away clutching two copies. To Mothercare. I spent £141 on a pram (blue), and harness, &c. Dad was horrified at the price. He says my pram cost £15 in 1955, but then he only earned £9 a week in those days, and so it's all relative. We carried the boxes to the car and returned home. Dad isn't used to town traffic and he dodged in and out like James Hunt coming back to Lidget Green. At home we erected the pram. Mum says she will be able to have her pearl wedding celebrations at the Moorhouse. An excellent idea. We sat looking at the baby and he sat looking at us. ________. They left at 8 to avoid Les Gledhill who sauntered in at 8:30. He had me signing wads of documents. I am to take over the Moorhouse Inn on 2nd/7th February, but Les is so very vague. "You'll get about seven thousand-ish" he muttered. He stood looking at my books mocking the royal family. He then spent ages looking at my map of Sussex. I bet he's a lonely guy. Felt tired, but happy. Samuel slept until after 10 and Ally fed him in bed. He much prefers her left side to the right. 

-=-

Tuesday January 17, 1984

 5, Club Street, Lidget Green, Bradford

Bitterly cold, slushy. I went out to buy some copies of the YP. Samuel's birth is in both papers today. I collected Samuel's Konakion injection from the chemist. Dr Duck wants sister Matthews to administer it. We received a large knitted shawl from Auntie Mabel, and cards from her, from Sarah and Delia, and Auntie Annie, in Colne. I phoned Nellie Rhodes to tell her we have another Samuel (the father of the twins was a Samuel Rhodes, who died in 1928). Nellie says Edna fell last week and broke a leg. Auntie Hilda phoned and spoke to Ally, and I think she was surprised to find her at home and not in hospital. We can now expect a deluge of visitors. I don't mind. It will be great to show Samuel off. 

Useless information: Francis Pym, the ex-foreign secretary was presented with a grandson of the same name born on Jan 11. No important babies have arrived on the same day as Samuel. He is utterly unique. Today he is dressed in blue and as he lays asleep he has a Rhodes look about him. Probably the infant JPH springs to mind. I will have to consult my albums.

Sister Matthews came in a flurry of snow looking like a female Santa Claus and she bathed and weighed Samuel. He wasn't at all disturbed by the water but scowled and frowned when stripped of his nappy. Marita phoned. We have pinched her name. Samuel is on her list of baby names. I went out and bought an EP for the announcement. Other children have such ghastly modern names. The girls are all Leanne Louise and the boys Darren. Hopeless. Very tired tonight. I fried liver and onions, Yorkshire puddings, &c. 'Dallas' was on but we didn't watch. Ally phoned Auntie Mabel, Harry Miller, Gill (who says Philip and Carol are expecting issue in June or July), then Bessie phoned us. She's been buying again. Samuel must be one of the best dressed children in the western world. Bessie believes in spending her money while she can. I hold by that. To bed at 11. Baby was restless. Ally blames her 'faffing' and we didn't sleep before 2. Dirty nappies abound. Samuel howled and only stopped when over my shoulder. I paced the bedroom to give Ally a break.

-=-

Monday January 16, 1984

 5, Club Street, Lidget Green, Bradford

Blizzard, but thaw later. We had a good night with Samuel (who fed at about 3am I think). He slept then until his 'breakfast' at 8. During the night he vomited some pinkish blood. Sister Matthews came at 11 and said Samuel might have a vitamin K deficiency (one in 10,000 babies is so deficient and it's more prevalent in boys). He may need a jab to reverse this. Sister Matthews sat and chatted amicably for an hour and when she went in walked Dr Duck in heavy boots and talked about the use of contraceptives. (Gynaecological redaction). I walked out to the chemist for something for Ally and slid around in the slush. I phoned the YP and had Samuel's birth placed in the YP and EP tomorrow. Spoke to Sarah who was pleased, but surprised I hadn't phoned sooner. Sue phoned, then Mum, then Auntie Mabel, who says she posted a package today for something for Samuel. I felt exhausted and fell asleep on the settee. Samuel sleeping peacefully in his cot. At 7 Les Gledhill phoned and spoke to Ally. 'When can you start?' he asked. And 'Why Samuel?' It's because we like the name of course. It looks as though we'll be at the Moorhouse Inn very soon. Gill phoned at 9:30.  We went to bed at 10.

-=-

Sunday January 15, 1984

 2nd Sunday after Epiphany

5, Club Street, Lidget Green, Bradford

Bessie woke me at 9 to say Ally had just phoned to say she can leave the hospital between 10 and 10:30. Elation. I scurried around stripping the double bed and putting the bedding into the washing machine. Bessie ran around with a duster and we sat with tea and toast. Frank's cold continues. He is glum. We sat looking out at the snow and debate whether the car will make it through. If I have to hire a husky and three mountain sherpas I'll see my wife and son at home today so help me. We went at 10 and found Ally looking wonderful packing up the tons of knitwear offerings. I made three trips to the car with the floral offerings. Finally, at 10:30 a nurse carried our son downstairs and we drove home in something of a blizzard. At Club St I carried Samuel from the car and into the house. A splendid, unforgettable moment. We snapped around with the camera and I took lots of shots of Samuel with his Grandma Dixon. Bessie was over the moon. Frank wouldn't touch the baby because of his cold, silly because the poor infant must be breathing in the germs. Soup and sandwiches. Lynn, Dave and the girls arrived at about 2, and Frank and Bessie set off home at 2:30 into the white and oblivion. Poor Bessie hates living so far away. They phoned at 7 to say they were safely home. They have spoiled us since Thursday. Busy afternoon. Sister Matthews came to inspect Ally. Lynn left just after 4. Katie is most definately no longer a baby. If she'd been a boy she would have been Samuel Lawrence.

 (Gynaecological redaction). 

The snow disappeared when they hit Northamptonshire. Mum phoned too. They are coming in the week. Watched The Thorn Birds. Stupid. Ally slept. Saw the news. Prince Edward has glandular fever. Tony Benn is to stand for Chesterfield. Samuel had hiccoughs for the first time and was sick.

Saturday January 14, 1984

 5, Club Street, Lidget Green, Bradford

Club Street (1984).

Very cold and snow. I was awake at 9:30 without a hangover despite the half dozen pints last night. Bacon for breakfast. Frank full of cold and restless. He said we should go out and so off we went in the red Mercedes and ended up at the Smith's Arms at Beckwithshaw, a Viking Tavern. Snow fell. We had soup and sandwiches. Back home tired at 3 and then to the BRI for 4 to see my wife and son. Joined by John, Janette, Lynn, Dave, Sue and Peter. They all came in to peep at my new found love. Sue was so enthusiastic _____. I have always said that newborn infants are always like poached eggs but my son doesn't fall into that category. He is a masterpiece. Ally looked great but Lynn says she looked 'peaky'. Cruel of her. All back to Club Street except Lynn and David, for gin and tonics. Frank and Bessie really took to Christopher. They all left in a flurry of snow at 6pm. I packed things for Ally and went to see her and Dave Watts at 7:30. Roads like ice. Treacherous. Vehicles were crashing everywhere. I spent three quarters of an hour with my favourite loves and then waited at the hospital until 9:30 for Frank who struggled to reach me in the snow. A slow drive to town. We ate at Giuseppe's Backyard. Steak today instead of veal. I am very relaxed with my in-laws. Who would have thought it? Frank used to terrify me years ago. We spoke about Ally and they both say what a brave little thing she has always been. So independent.

-=-

Friday January 13, 1984

 5, Club Street, Lidget Green, Bradford

My first day,  full day, as a grown up Daddy. I retired to bed at 11 last night after having visited Ally at 7:30. Baby had his hair washed and I held him for a full hour. Ally expressed her dissatisfaction with the Chinese ward sister. I have taken great exception by the way Fran O'Brien phoned (last night) telling me I have to go to Middlesbrough today to see a policeman about the September massacre at the Why Not. This morning I went into town with Frank and Bessie and we bought masses of flowers and trailed around the market. Frank was vicious. He has a cold and was in no mood to walk. I went to Samuel's (jewellers, appropriately enough) and bought Ally a gold locket costing £57. Who cares? My God, she's worth it. For lunch we drove to Thornton and sat in a deserted pub. I had scampi. Bessie had a chicken leg, and Frank sat patting a fat poodle. Back home I went to see Annie Whincup and Phyllis Beale. The latter is an old moaner. To the hospital at 4. Just me and the four grandparents. Samuel is very much like his uncle Andrew. He has skin like a peach and the most beautiful black hair. He slept contentedly. Ally was cheerful and bright and so pleased that she can feed him. We all returned here and had gins and tonic and sandwiches. They all chatted away nicely. My misgivings about a possible Dixon/Rhodes clash of personalities passed away. I went to see Ally from 7:30-8:30. Out at 9 to the Red Lion with Dave Watts. We endured the child-like Chris Wills. Elaine was busily bashing on her organ. I am surprised to discover they are both younge than us. Saw Sheryl and little Enid. Home at 12.

-=-

Thursday January 12, 1984

 5, Club Street, Lidget Green, Bradford

The most magical day of our lives. I was asleep by midnight and was awakened by Ally with stabbing pains in her back. She was in agony, and the pains were coming at 10 minute intervals. We were determined to keep out of hospital as long as possible after yesterday's fiasco. At 5:30 I called an ambulance and Ally was taken out horizontally into the frost. In the panic I forgot to pick up Ally's notes, and so after dropping Ally the ambulance driver brought me home to collect them, and then I returned to the BRI in a taxi (£1.30).  (Gynaecological redaction). The nurses or midwives were generally a good lot but one was antagonistic throughout because Ally refused an injection for the pain. This made Ally all the more determined to get through the birth naturally. At 1:14pm a large, pink boy was forced out. He was born in a kaleiderscope of colour. Turquoise umbilicle cord, and crimson placenta. I was choked at MY SON'S arrival. We all wept. The student midwife burst into tears too. Samuel Lawrence Dixon Rhodes weighs 7lb 12oz  and is 20 inches long. He has black hair, blue eyes (of course), healthy, long-limbed, and an absolute miracle. The rest of the day is a blur. No words can capture the scene. We sat until 4 and then Mum and baby went to Ward M4 (room 4). Mum and Dad came to pick me up and I gave them a peep at their grandson. Back at Club Street Frank and Bessie came at 6. Ally phoned her Mum and Dad, Lynn, Sue and the brewery from the labour ward at 2:15. Mum and Dad left at 9 and Frank and Bessie took me to the Pizza House.

-=-

Wednesday January 11, 1984

 5 Club St, Lidget Green

Something is happening. (A large gynaecological redaction). I made a pot of tea and we debated whether we should ring the hospital. The sight of blood has made us uneasy. At about 6am Ally phoned the maternity unit for advice and they told her to go in. Heavily laden with luggage we went to the BRI. They put us in labour room 7 and we sat holding hands for two hours or more. Time stands still in hospital. I phoned Bessie and Mum with the news but by 10 I was beginning to regret it because Ally's contractions had ceased. Ally was good and calm and not in the least violent. At 11 they transferred us the the ante-natal ward, put out to grass, apparently abandoned. Dr Duck appeared and sent Ally for a scan, to which poor Ally went in a wheelchair, and I was sent home until visiting time at 4. Dad collected me in the rain at 12 and we joined Mum for some hideous fish and chips. We collected Ally at 5pm, by now slightly 'put out'. She had spent three hours in an overcrowded ambulance en route to the scan, and looked very pale. Home. Mum suggested a hot bath to 'get things going'. They left after a meal at 9:30 and we took baths. I was dead to the world and fell into a coma next to my large, pink,  and only true love.

-=-

Tuesday January 10, 1984

 5, Club Street, Lidget Green, Bradford

The snots continued unabated. My £1.95 medication is neither use nor ornament. Ally woke with a hunger and at 9 I went out and bought a hot, brown loaf and the Daily Telegraph. We had boiled eggs upstairs, Ally balancing her tray upon her vast protrusion. We took hours to dress and drift downstairs. The waiting coninues. A bit of a strain. We decided to go buy a baby bath, a chair, and bucket for the dirty nappies. Wrapped up like mountaineers we went to Mothercare and spent £25 on these provisions. All our purchases are blue. This in no way means we expect a boy. We just didn't want white. After an hour in the soggy town we staggered back to the car. Ally like an overweight pug as she panted her way up Darley Street. At 2 she went to her mothercraft class at Odsal. 

I concocted a fish pie and listened to records at full throttle. I cannot do this when Ally is in. Her aversion to noise is growing worse. We listen to everything at a whisper. Ally was back at 3:30 and we ate half an hour later. Phoned John. The holiday was fine but he didn't enthuse. The temperature in Majorca was in the 60s. I told him that David Watts wants a dormer plastering. John needs some good indoor jobs. Later Dave Watts phoned to say he's found two family Bibles, and can he bring them? Ally told him no, tonight, and says we'll let him know. Mum phoned. Her cold has gone. We watched 'Dallas' and retired to bed. Ally sat reading 'The Moonstone' and I lay dribbling from the nose. To sleep after 12. Come along son/daughter.

-=-

Monday January 9, 1984

 5 Club Street, Lidget Green, Bradford

My cold persists. Ally says baby will not come because he can hear me coughing, sneezing and sprogging. I got up early and went out into the frost to buy a newspaper and then made breakfast for Ally and climbed back into bed until 12. L. Gledhill phoned at 10 and spoke to Ally. He cannot understand why the baby hasn't arrived and asks whether we have our dates right. Ally responded 'yes', to which he replied 'Oh you can recall the night in question, can you?' Well, of course she can . (It was an afternoon actually). He says D.Tyne sees no impediment in our taking the Moorhouse, but we have to see the chief first. 

Rachel Ward.

We pulled up chairs closer to the fire. Ally buried beneath a Wilkie Collins book and I looked at the diaries of Harold Nicolson, but only half-heartedly. Watched the news. The Prince and Princess of Wales are in Liechtenstein skiing surrounded by 48 million photographers on the slopes. They will never be allowed any privacy. The heat from the fire put us both to sleep and we lay beneath our books until after 3. Auntie Hilda phoned to say she is thinking of us. 'The first one can be two weeks late, you know', she said. I winced. Looking ahead this week I see that we have a Friday the Thirteenth. Oh God. Will baby come then? We ate salad and I sat chewing like a rabbit. This cold will never go. A night in front of the TV. Watched Coronation Street. Most of the cast seem to have disappeared. We also watched another episode of The Thornbirds with Richard Chamberlain as a randy, unconvincing priest. Rachel Ward also stars. Miss Ward is Lord Dudley's niece. A bonnie lass. Watched a profile of John Wayne by Barry Norman. He was the epitome of the American man. Big, pushy, promiscuous and vulgar. They struck a Congressional Medal of Honour for him. He died the day Ally started working for Derek. To bed at 11. Ally sat reading The Moonstone, and I buried myseld beneath my quilt.

-=-

Charlotte & Graham Smith with Oscar.

Sunday January 8, 1984

 1st Sunday after Epiphany

5 Club Street, Lidget Green, Bradford

The cold continues. I mean my cold and not the weather. Ally brought me tea and toast to bed and I remained beneath the sheets until 1pm. Felt rotten. Like gallons of water in my head. Downstairs in my dressing gown I sat dribbling in an armchair. Watched a film starring Peter Ustinov and co-starring the ghastly Melina Mercouri, who is now attempting to steal our Elgin Marbles. 

Susan phoned to ask about Ally's progress. She says Peter cannot stop worrying about us. It isn't like Peter to become excited about a baby. Feel honoured. Charlotte Smith phoned quite out of the blue to ask 'today is the day, isn't it?' How peculiar, they haven't answered our letters or tried to contact us for a long time. Ally spoke to Graham S and she could hear Isobel in the background. Ally phoned Bessie who snatched up the phone after only one and a half rings. They dined with Peter Gaffikin last night and played silly party games. For one game they had a name pinned to their back and had to match up with a partner. Bessie was CLEMENTINE and had to match up with 'satsuma'. I think I would have looked for Winston. Is this an omen? Ally came away chuckling. We haven't told Bessie of any of our chosen names, of course. 

Ally has a touch of back ache. We sat later watching The Thornbirds. Ally has just finished the book of that name by Colleen McCullough which she started reading at the Linthorpe. Have you noticed how my brain slips from one thing to another like a bee in a rose garden? To bed at 10 to escape Esther Rantzen on the BBC. Felt slightly better.

-=-

Saturday January 7, 1984

 5, Club Street, Lidget Green, Bradford

Club Street.

After a sweaty night I woken up with a cold. Sneezing and spluttering everywhere. Ally washed a batch of nappies and I hung them out on the washing line to dry. It is a sight I thought I would never see. We have run out of food supplies and so we ventured out to Duckworth Lane at 12:30. Wet, windy and cold. I spent £1.95 on something to dry my galloping mucus. Back at home I fell asleep in an armchair watching John Wayne play Genghis Khan. Ally made a lasagne. I didn't enjoy it. It was like eating cardboard. My sense of taste and smell has died. Ally's emotions are all haywire. At the slightest excuse and with (illegible) encouragement she bursts into tears. It is a traumatic time for poor Piglet. I was still collapsed in the chair at 8pm and so I decided to go to bed. Ally needed no prompting either. Just as we retired Gill phoned from Coleford. It's so good to know that everyone is thinking of us. She says Matthew was in hysterics on Christmas Day. I took a pill and had a large glass of rum. According to Dr Duck tomorrow is the day.

Oh yes, Auntie Mabel phoned this morning (as I was hanging out the nappies) and she had a long chat with Ally. Uncle Jack (Paine) would have been 68 tomorrow. She says that babies are like apples and they only drop when they are ripe.

-=-

Friday January 6, 1984

 5, Club Street, Lidget Green, Bradford

Epiphany comes and goes without any signs of the baby. Ally is agitated. She isn't the type to wait placidly and now the due date has arrived she wants the whole business over with. Frayed tempers. People phone throughout the day to enquire about developments. Sarah phoned to say that Kathleen is in a flap about it. Lynn phoned too. She says the best way to bring the baby on, according to Dr Jacques, is to have furious sexual intercourse. No chance of that. Instead, Ally polished the brasses and heaved the vacuum cleaner around, to no avail. We ate liver and onions on trays in front of the fire. Bessie phoned to say they are at the Lyndhurst Park Hotel tonight and dining with the sickly Dr Gaffikin tomorrow. She leaves phone numbers where to contact her. Gaffikin knows too much. He's in the Rotary Club with Frank. Sat down to a quiet night at 8:30 when the door opened to David and Jean Watts, who want to see how the baby bump is developing. David looks extremely nautical with a 'full set'. They want Samuel too, but David fancies 'Ian'. Ugh. We don't reveal Clementine. That is to be a surprise. They stayed until 11 and we discussed genealogy, the NHS and yes, christian names. They went, and we watched the beginning of a film, so old - John Gielgud looked like a 17 year old. Bed. Read Harold Nicolson's diaries.

-=-

Thursday January 5, 1984

 5, Club Street, Lidget Green, Bradford

Ally is much better. No longer niggly and tiresome. No signs of impending motherhood. We were up early and out in the rain at 9:30 to Paternoster Lane where Ally saw Dr Duck. She came out in perfect health and has been told to wait patiently. The doc says Ally will not be allowed to wait longer than 13 days. It seems like eternity, but we know our child will come before January 21. At home I sat buried beneath my newspaper but the peace of the day was shattered by the telephone. It was Les Gledhill who asked to see me at the Red Lion at 2:30. Quiver, quiver. Is our destiny secured? I went out and cleaned the car after sweeping up the leaves that have clogged the pathway since autumn. In fact the garden looks horrible. It's like Greenham Common. Cheese and biscuits. My wife says I am a sloppy eater, but then she loves to criticise. 

We went to the Red Lion at 2:30. Felt most uneasy. The Willses kiss, cuddle, suck and chew and sit upon each other all for public display. I really think that Elaine thinks she's a latter day Brigitte Bardot or Pamela Stephenson. He (Chris) is like one of the dogs they possess and jumps at the snap of her fingers. L. Gledhill came and took us into a corner and told us that the Moorhouse Inn is ours. He only has D.T.N. Tyne to see and give the word, and we can have the place when our baby is about three weeks old if everything is ok. I find Les G such an easy man to get on with. He has treated me very well and I cannot complain about my Christmas break. However, he has to justify my name on the payroll and so we have to take a holiday from Sunday when hopefully Samuel/Clementine will be thinking about putting in an appearance. Ally is over the moon. Samuel Smith's have been very good to us and we can not have wished for better, fairer treatment. Chris and Elaine were lurking in the background and after L.Gledhill's departure they came to glean information. Chris says, somewhat cruelly, that Pirie at the Moorhouse was thumped, or 'done over' last week. Hardly the most tactful thing to say to Pirie's successor.  We left at 3:30 after seeing Jean and Enid - always pleasant. 

We sat at home with a drink looking at the Christmas tree (yes, it's still up) discussing our good fortune. Phoned Horton. Mum is full of cold and has been in bed since we left on Monday. She sounded awful. Phoned Glynnie. He and Lily leave for Acapulco (?) on Monday. He is calling in here after his two weeks in the sun. Ally spoke to Lily. Sue phoned for a bulletin. Her baby is now due on June 10. It's another 12 month pregnancy. Marita phoned to see if we fancy having a gathering before Dave L's return to South Elmsall on Sunday. Awkward. Pleasant chatter. I have so much in common with Marita. She never changes. Dave L is taking his mum to see them tonight. The Matthews residence is like Chatsworth. 'Horatio Hornblower' . Bath & bed at 9:30.

-=-

Wednesday January 4, 1984

 5, Club Street, Lidget Green, Bradford

Ally: grizzly bear.

Fine, yet frosty. Ally was in a tetchy mood all day and we put it down to nerves. She was unbearable this morning. It's like living with a female Neil Kinnock. Quite intolerable. We were awake at 5am and by 6 I was compiling a letter to Les Gledhill asking 'please could you give us the Moorhouse?'  By 8 the letter was posted. I ventured out in the snow at dawn like Capt Oates to find a newspaper. Cecil Parkinson's mistress has given birth to a daughter. The Rev Jesse Jackson dominates the news. He clearly copies the late Martin Luther King and is very theatrical. Breakfast was volatile and eggs were almost thrown. We went out and sat in the car where I demolished the inside mirror. More Shakespearian tragedy. We sat there with a large tube of glue (like so many young people today), and managed to secure the rear view mirror back in place. We went to town and came back two hours later with sanitary towels, nappies, feeding bottles and cotton wool balls. Ally wore a very large brown pullover and looked like a grizzly bear. We had some funny looks. If you want to go out and get noticed take a gigantic, pregnant woman with you. She slept in her bed from 3 until 6:30pm. I sat and finished Margaret Thatcher by Penny Junor. Recent biographies, or those of the living are seldom very good. Who was it that advised 'never read a book that is not a year old?' Was it Ralph Waldo Emerson? Fish for dinner. Ally only ate it because I enjoy it. Feet up afterwards. The baby kicked away viciously, and Ally sat with her orange juice splashing around in the glass. We have, so it seems, created a rugby prop forward. 'Coronation Street' - Elsie Tanner has left and gone to live in Portugal, saying goodbye to the cobbles forever. Saw the wonderful (Alan) Whicker. I could watch him until the cows come home. This week he was on the QE2. Ally would hate it - the social climbers abound. Bed by 11. Ally is calmer and all is forgiven. She is sitting in bed with a smile upon her face.

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Tuesday January 3, 1984

 New Moon

Waltergarth, Station Road, Horton-in-Ribblesdale

Waltergarth.

Katie Davina's first birthday. We woke up to snow at Horton and decided to leave for home very quickly and before we could be 'snowed in'. Mum missed breakfast and stayed in her bed complaining of a acheing back and congested chest. Dad was singing along to the Jimmy Young Show on the radio. Ally and I had boiled eggs. Very 'eggy' eggs, according to my wife. We packed up and left at about 12 and phoned Mum on our arrival home. They were very relieved that we had returned safely to Bradford. 

At 2pm Ally went to her her motherclass class at Odsal. She watched a demonstration by a midwife who bathed a doll in the bath, a bath without water in it. Her friend who was expecting a breech birth gave birth to a daughter on the Tuesday after Christmas. She came home after 4 in falling snow again. ________. I made some chips and whilst wrapping the potato peelings in an old copy of the Daily Telegraph I spotted the list of New Years Honours. The awful Alastair Burnet, a mere newscaster, has been knighted, lowering the tone. Lady Susan Hussey is made a DCVO. It is reported that the Queen has been angered by the usual flocking to Sandringham by the gentlemen of the press and she has asked for a withdrawal.___________.

A dark, frosty and white night. To think that John will be in his shirt sleeves in a Spanish discotheque. He says he wants to go to Lanzarote in the autumn to see John & Sheila, and that Sue and Pete are thinking of joining them. Ally says we should arrange someting for November. No mail at home. No communication from the brewery. We will write about the Moorhouse tomorrow. We cannot go hanging around like this and once the baby is here we need to get the ball rolling. I will be happier after hearing from Les Gledhill again. Bessie phoned - frost in Hampshire. Ally changed into her pink gown and slumped in a chair to watch 'Dallas'. We watched the news headlines at nine and then went to bed with Margaret Thatcher. The US presidential campaign is under way already. Jesse Jackson is a contender for the presidency and is currently strutting around the Middle East as if he owns the place.

Monday January 2, 1984

 Bank Holiday in UK & Rep. of Ireland

Waltergarth, Station Road, Horton-in-Ribblesdale

Dad at Horton.

Cold, wet and windy. Dad is 50, Mum is 49. Mum loves her birthday more than anyone I know and loves to include all the excitable children. We were up early to bid farewell to the Bakers after the handing over of presents and cards. We bought Dad a pullover, but so too did Lynn and Sue. Sue's, as usual, was knitted for a dwarf and didn't fit. She frequently purchases miniature items of clothing for very large people. Little Katie, who makes noises like a lion, opened her presents too. We have given Mum the tea pot and sugar basin featuring Hardraw Falls. Dad says we will go visit the falls with baby when we next come to Horton. 

Lynn and Dave left at 11 and Hilda and Tony walked in at 12:30 and we spent the afternoon eating (again) and drinking (again). Hayley is to be christened on January 29 and the vicar has specified to Karen that she can only have six people in church. Disgusting. Jesus Christ would not approve. We are told that Hayley would have been Ryan, if a boy. Hilda performed the old wives test of holding a dangling needle over Ally's bump. Supposedly, the suspended needle swings back and forth if a boy and if it goes round in circles then it's a girl. The needle today went back and forth, and so our child is a boy. Hilda says she's never been wrong. Dad, in excellent exuberant spirits, showed his contempt for this ritual by carrying out the experiment on all of us. I am expecting a boy, and Hilda is childless. Hers didn't swing either way. We sat until 10 when H and T returned to Pudsey. Tony is very wary of the stringent drink driving law enforcement. I sat looking at the Waltergarth deeds, fascinating paperwork  dating back to the last century. The strong wind blew the smoke back down the chimney and we sat with handkerchiefs over our faces like surgical masks. Much laughter. Bed at 12:30.

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