Sunday May 18, 1980

_. Sunday after Ascension

Woke up at 8am to swig lemonade. The sleeping arrangements were fun. Ally and I in one single bed, Sue and Pete in the other single bed, Jill and Tim in the double bed, and four more, Karen, Steve, Phil and Denise underneath the piano. We all surfaced at 10 for tea and toast and a photographic session in the garden. Ally went off to work at the Belfry at 10:30, and we tidied things and returned home.

I had poached eggs then took the garden in my shorts where I hung in a deckchair until evening. Marlene, Frank and the children appeared at tea time with the intention of showing us his cine film of Lynn & Dave's wedding, but a bulb exploded in his projector and the plan was thwarted.

Ally arrived at 3:30 in a blue spotty dress. She was far from disappointed at the lack of a film show. She has a peculiar phobia about anything celluloid. Capturing Ally on film is as rare as a shot of an osprey nesting or of Margaret Thatcher picking her nose. The Harwoods went off at 8 towing their caravan behind them, and were replaced by Hilda and Tony. By 11 I could stand no more and took to my bed.

World news from the Sunday papers: President Giscard D'Estaing and Leonid Brezhnev are meeting in Warsaw to discuss Afghanistan and other international affairs. No doubt the Russian leader has taken along his usual squad of randy air hostesses - he has a passion for them according to a recent report.

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Saturday May 17, 1980

_. Steve Sanderson is 22 today. Up at 10 and straight to Ally's for 11:30. She was scantily clad, and cleaning the house for tonight's 'gala'. I spent over two hours taping a heap of my records and at 1:30 we drove to Halifax, of all places, for a quick drink. We found a pub full of drunks and I found myself standing at the bar next to a little old man propped up farting and belching at a phenomenal rate. Ally was amazed that she now lives so close to Halifax. She kept repeating the name over and over again, almost under her breath, as though she'd just stumbled upon Naples.

At 5:15 we drove to Headingley and the delights of Salvo's. Joined by Sue, Pete, Chippy, Dave W, Frank, Mick Hodgson, Tony Smith, Gus, we queued outside until 7. We ate too much, and sat in the car groaning. We drank half a litre of wine each and made one Hell of a racket. The bill came to £48. Oh dear. On to Mucky Willie's in Lidget Green where we were met by Dave L, Karen, Steve, Jill, Tim, Phil, Denise, Jacq, Paul, Catherine [from the AHA], & her boyfriend, Dave. I felt very uncomfortable after all that food. Dave L suggested I drink something with peppermint. This did help. A party at Club St afterwards. Lynn and Dave came at midnight. I told Dave I'd paid Lynn £15 for her attendance, and he believed me. Everyone danced.

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Friday May 16, 1980

_. Hot and sunny. Dave L phoned tonight. He cannot make Salvo's tomorrow but says yes to the party afterwards.

A significant event at the YP. Eileen's departure. I showed her to the revolving door and waved her goodbye. Standing in the sunshine the tears soon dried  on my pale, haggard face as I watched her, broken with emotion, disappear onto a bus bound for Dewsbury and the obscurity of motherhood. Sarah had avoided the office today. She hates goodbyes.

Steak and salad for tea, interrupted by the arrival of my Harwood cousins. Mark is now almost 13. Frank says he is going down to the Shoulder tonight with some fellow male campers [they are spending a few days in a caravan in a farmyard in Hawksworth]. Sue and Pete decided to accompany them, but I declined.

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Thursday May 15, 1980

_. Ascension Day

Out at lunchtime for a couple of hours with Eileen and the library girls in commemoration of the termination of her employment. As usual, and in keeping with YP library 'outings' it was a flop. Little merriment was had and we walked back to the YP after 2 hours. Sharon will send a fresh breeze through the cutting files.

Phoned Peter tonight and he picked me up at 8. We collected Gus, Frank and Dave W. To the Shoulder. Something of a booze up. Dave looked like a lobster, from sun burn, and was in agony. We had to drop him off at home on the way to Oakwood. A girl called Julie came onto me: 'Ooh, you don't look 25', she pouted. I bought her a Britvic orange and we stood giggling in the bar. Home long after 2.

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Wednesday May 14, 1980

_. The 'Day of Action' by the TUC. No comment.

A night out with Ally to the Fox and Hounds, the New Inn and Oakwood Hall. We had fish and chips and Ally admitted it was her first hot meal since last Thursday. She starves herself.

At Oakwood we were horrified to discover that the place is for sale. The closing of yet another poignant chapter. Another curtain running down on the great pageant of life. We didn't get round to dancing, but rarely do. We left early [1:30am] because I had an attack of tenacious mucus. But, as far as Wednesdays go, it was a good night. Ally drove back to Pine Tops like Davina Galica, and hiccoughed all the way.

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Tuesday May 13, 1980

_. Hot, again. Susie and Pete went off to see a solicitor and signed for the house on West End Terrace. Peter returned and sat brooding in an armchair watching Mr Attenborough's 'Life On Earth' - yet again. I suppose one is allowed to 'brood' when one has signed away ones life for the next quarter of a century or so. The sight of a puma mauling a couple of zebras to death did nothing to lighten the mood.

Mum and Dad went to see Lynn and Dave and returned at about 10.

Tomorrow is Len Murray's 'Day of Action' in protest against Margaret Hilda's administration. Meanwhile, the General Secretary of the TUC is lounging in a Madeira bar, smoking his duty frees, and reading all about Britain grinding to a halt in a three day old copy of the Daily Express. For me, and the majority of the nation, it's business as usual.

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Monday May 12, 1980

_. Very hot. Back to work. Went to my dentist. Whatever happened to Hough? He disappeared without a trace. My teeth are Ok until November 10. My appointment was at 5 and Lynn met me ten minutes later and she drove me home.

TV: 'Not the Nine O'clock News' followed by 'Catch 22', a nauseating film.
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