_. Ally phoned me. Mr Dixon returned to Winchester with her house keys and so he's sending them back to Leeds this evening by Red Star. Ally came to the YP at 5:30 and we ate at Salvo's, where we shared a table with another couple. We decided that the guy is a solicitor, and the girl is his secretary, and they are definitely screwing. Funny how one can spot these things at a dinner table. From here we went to collect Ally's keys. Onto the Commercial. I was dead on my feet. Back at home I collapsed in a chair. Sue and Pete, we are told, are visiting the vicar on Saturday.
-=-
20200321
Sunday October 7, 1979
_. 17th Sunday after Trinity
Sunny. Got out of bed at 11am. Dressed to kill in readiness for the afternoon extravaganza at Delia's.
Went down the lane and bought a couple of bottles of dry Martini before going on for the 55 bus. I stood at the bus stop until 12:45 and no buses came my way. I phoned Sarah from Guiseley and Barbara Wheeler was despatched to rescue me.
The lunch party had it's hilarious moments, but I was generally uncomfortable with the presence of Bill North, who dominated the proceedings. Intrigue was rife and Sarah was all whispers lending a Louis XIV Versailles atmosphere to the afternoon. Delia was brilliant and as usual lavished her adoration upon me. The women seriously out numbered the menfolk, who stood huddled together for protection, arses to the French window away from Bill. I sighed with relief when Leeds's answer to Larry Grayson made it obvious he fancied poor Richard.
At about 4 we went next door to Richard's swimming pool. I remember very little of the aquatic antics but am told that I made several spectacular dives. Janet was very amusing and we discussed diaries and whether they are worthwhile. Indeed they are. [Go on, agree with me]. People began to disappear by 5 o'clock and I was the last survivor. Sarah cast off her regal attire, and clad in dressing gown and carpet slippers, we sat, feet up watching tv.
Bill Collis came in and sat darkly brooding in the kitchen chewing on a chicken leg. I said goodbye to the lovely ladies when Ally arrived at 7:30 to take me to Karen and Steve's. Out in Pudsey with Karen, Steve, Jill and Tim to celebrate Karen's 20th birthday. To the Railway pub, and the rough dive where Ally's car aerial was ripped off on a previous visit. Back to Karen's for a Chinese takeaway, but I was three sheets to the wind, and blame drinking in the afternoon. Home at 1am. Knackered.
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Sunny. Got out of bed at 11am. Dressed to kill in readiness for the afternoon extravaganza at Delia's.
Went down the lane and bought a couple of bottles of dry Martini before going on for the 55 bus. I stood at the bus stop until 12:45 and no buses came my way. I phoned Sarah from Guiseley and Barbara Wheeler was despatched to rescue me.
The lunch party had it's hilarious moments, but I was generally uncomfortable with the presence of Bill North, who dominated the proceedings. Intrigue was rife and Sarah was all whispers lending a Louis XIV Versailles atmosphere to the afternoon. Delia was brilliant and as usual lavished her adoration upon me. The women seriously out numbered the menfolk, who stood huddled together for protection, arses to the French window away from Bill. I sighed with relief when Leeds's answer to Larry Grayson made it obvious he fancied poor Richard.
 |
| With Richard's motor. |
Bill Collis came in and sat darkly brooding in the kitchen chewing on a chicken leg. I said goodbye to the lovely ladies when Ally arrived at 7:30 to take me to Karen and Steve's. Out in Pudsey with Karen, Steve, Jill and Tim to celebrate Karen's 20th birthday. To the Railway pub, and the rough dive where Ally's car aerial was ripped off on a previous visit. Back to Karen's for a Chinese takeaway, but I was three sheets to the wind, and blame drinking in the afternoon. Home at 1am. Knackered.
-=-
Saturday October 6, 1979
_. To the YP from 8:30 to 12:30.
Dave L came over at 7:30. My heart sank when he said he fancied seeing a film. We went off to Bradford but 'Quadrophenia' was the only film showing, so we ignored the crowd here and went on to Leeds, where, as if by providence, the film 'Alien' has already started, and so we stood, quite forlorn, outside the cinema, rattling the loose change around in our pockets. I took Dave to the Ostlers and then Whitelocks, but Dave wanted cockles and mussels and the 'prawn man' was nowhere to be seen. So off we went to the Commercial at Esholt, but the new landlord doesn't stock seafood, so onward to the Hare & Hounds. Poor Judith looked hideous. _____. On to the White Cross at 10:50 for a final drink with Sue, Peter, Gus and Johnny. Nights out with David are always great fun.
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Dave L came over at 7:30. My heart sank when he said he fancied seeing a film. We went off to Bradford but 'Quadrophenia' was the only film showing, so we ignored the crowd here and went on to Leeds, where, as if by providence, the film 'Alien' has already started, and so we stood, quite forlorn, outside the cinema, rattling the loose change around in our pockets. I took Dave to the Ostlers and then Whitelocks, but Dave wanted cockles and mussels and the 'prawn man' was nowhere to be seen. So off we went to the Commercial at Esholt, but the new landlord doesn't stock seafood, so onward to the Hare & Hounds. Poor Judith looked hideous. _____. On to the White Cross at 10:50 for a final drink with Sue, Peter, Gus and Johnny. Nights out with David are always great fun.
-=-
Friday October 5, 1979
_. Contacted Dave L. We have decided to venture out tomorrow. It is shameful the way we have allowed our meetings to fall into abeyance since his return to civilization in July. .. or was it August?
This evening out with Sue and Pete to the Fox and Hounds and the White Cross, which harboured the long lost familiar spectres of Chris Ratcliffe and Pete Mather. Chris showed me his holiday photos of Miami, including shots of Tony Brotherwood, in shorts, in Disneyland.
-=-
This evening out with Sue and Pete to the Fox and Hounds and the White Cross, which harboured the long lost familiar spectres of Chris Ratcliffe and Pete Mather. Chris showed me his holiday photos of Miami, including shots of Tony Brotherwood, in shorts, in Disneyland.
-=-
20200320
Thursday October 4, 1979
_. Up at 8 to find myself in bed in Bradford. Ally is attending a course at Minever House on East Parade in Leeds and so she took me to town in the spitfire. Chaotic traffic. Didn't reach the YP until 9:30. Sarah says: "And where do you think you spent the night?" She'd phoned home to be told by mother that I hadn't been seen since yesterday afternoon.
At 1 o'clock I went to meet Ally on East Parade. She has a £4 parking ticket. Traffic wardens are really the lowest form of life. On to Club Street where a man in a van has arrived from Winchester with furniture including the dreaded piano. Taking in the furniture was a doddle, but the piano not so easy. I kept looking over at the Victorian monstrosity and wincing. We reached deadlock on the doorstep and had it not been for a passing telephone engineer we would never have got it in the house. We also struggled taking a double bed upstairs. We had one drink in the pub across the road before heading back to Pine Tops for 5:30pm.
Maria and the children came to see Mama. Catherine was wonderful, but JPH ill and pale.
Out at 6:30 to Bradford where we joined Sarah and Richard [Burke] at the Alhambra to see Derek Jacobi in 'Hamlet', by Mr Shakespeare. An incredible, gripping performance which held me ecstatic for over three hours. Afterwards we went into the Vaults pub next to the theatre and found Derek Jacobi and Brenda Bruce [who played Queen Gertrude] propping up the bar.
-=-
At 1 o'clock I went to meet Ally on East Parade. She has a £4 parking ticket. Traffic wardens are really the lowest form of life. On to Club Street where a man in a van has arrived from Winchester with furniture including the dreaded piano. Taking in the furniture was a doddle, but the piano not so easy. I kept looking over at the Victorian monstrosity and wincing. We reached deadlock on the doorstep and had it not been for a passing telephone engineer we would never have got it in the house. We also struggled taking a double bed upstairs. We had one drink in the pub across the road before heading back to Pine Tops for 5:30pm.
Maria and the children came to see Mama. Catherine was wonderful, but JPH ill and pale.
Out at 6:30 to Bradford where we joined Sarah and Richard [Burke] at the Alhambra to see Derek Jacobi in 'Hamlet', by Mr Shakespeare. An incredible, gripping performance which held me ecstatic for over three hours. Afterwards we went into the Vaults pub next to the theatre and found Derek Jacobi and Brenda Bruce [who played Queen Gertrude] propping up the bar.
-=-
Wednesday October 3, 1979
_.Fog. Old Callaghan has suffered a trauma at the Labour party conference. It looks as though Wedgwood Benn will be leader of the mob within the next few weeks. As far as I'm concerned I'll be thrilled to see Benn at the helm because who in God's name will vote Labour in a future general election with that 'fiend' in charge of the party?
Ally and I had a night out tonight because her agenda for the next few days is crowded. First to the Shoulder of Mutton, then the White Cross, then the Drop, and finally Oakwood Hall. The DJ had a bit more about him than the usual stiff. I have decided hereon to drink pils lager, no draught ale. We left at 2:30am. To Club Street.
-=-
Ally and I had a night out tonight because her agenda for the next few days is crowded. First to the Shoulder of Mutton, then the White Cross, then the Drop, and finally Oakwood Hall. The DJ had a bit more about him than the usual stiff. I have decided hereon to drink pils lager, no draught ale. We left at 2:30am. To Club Street.
-=-
Tuesday October 2, 1979
_. To the YP at 5pm. I'd done nothing all day except spend Mum's money at the shops in Guiseley. Just a few purchases but the bill came to over £3. Real bandits aren't they in some of the smaller supermarkets? The owner of Dibb's in Guiseley must be a millionaire.
Mum and Dad came back from Scotland this evening whilst I was at the YP. When I phoned home she expressed horror at the amount of money we had spent on groceries. Susan and I had spent £30 on our weekly shopping. Mum says she spends about £12 on the four of us usually.
The YP was amusing. I dug out a photo of the Chilean Radical party leader Anselmo Sule, and dropped it quite accidentally on Gilberto's desk. He saw it and went off into a rage of abuse. It seems that Senor Sule is not universally loved by the Chilean population. Most Chileans, it seems, prefer to live elsewhere, to inflict their communism and anarchy on other countries.
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Mum and Dad came back from Scotland this evening whilst I was at the YP. When I phoned home she expressed horror at the amount of money we had spent on groceries. Susan and I had spent £30 on our weekly shopping. Mum says she spends about £12 on the four of us usually.
The YP was amusing. I dug out a photo of the Chilean Radical party leader Anselmo Sule, and dropped it quite accidentally on Gilberto's desk. He saw it and went off into a rage of abuse. It seems that Senor Sule is not universally loved by the Chilean population. Most Chileans, it seems, prefer to live elsewhere, to inflict their communism and anarchy on other countries.
-=-
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