Monday June 1, 1981

 _. Bank Holiday in Rep. of Ireland

Ally went to work and 9 but Dave and I took a leisurely breakfast before joining her for lunch at the Reservoir pub, Chellow Dene. We sat with pints and prawn sandwiches from 12 until 2. Ally went back to labour for Derek Jenkins at 2, and Dave and I scaled Squire Lane, beneath a hard, burning sun. Back at Ash Tree Cottage we had pots of tea and blasted some 'Police' on the stereo. Dave, very quiet, is worried about Garry. He forked out Garry's £300 for their forthcoming holiday, and has yet to get it back. He also says that Garry might not be able to get to our wedding because it clashes with Mr & Mrs Barratt's Atomic wedding anniversary, or whatever. 

Bus to Leeds with Dave at 4. He got the 4:30 train to Stockport. I did the YP 5pm-12. It was quite dead. Home to Guiseley with a comical taxi driver who assumed that because I live on Hawksworth Lane I must be a pools winner. 

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Sunday May 31, 1981

 _. 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?

We took Dave to Pine Tops for an audience with mother. This went on longer than expected and we didn't leave to peep at the Stonehouse Inn until 4. The sun had disappeared and a gloom descended, but it didn't detract from the beauty of Thruscross. David was non-commital. We didn't go into the pub. A ratty little man [Jack], and a young man in Wellington boots [Granville] were surveying the acres and eyeing us suspiciously.

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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Saturday May 30, 1981

 _. 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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Friday May 29, 1981

 _. 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. 

Dave G.

To the railway station at 5 and collected a bearded Dave G from Stockport. To Pine Tops for dinner. Dave had his first showing of baby Frances. We all over-fed, so much so that our drinking capacity was severely impaired for the night. At 8 we went to Chaplin's [that used to be the Belfry]. A silly, bitty, place, with numerous bars, and full of pimply 15 year-old youths. Saw Dave Porritt, and Robert [Janet Simon's ex]. We went on to Mucky Willies. Dave is worried about Garry, who is slow in paying up his £300 holiday money. Mr Barratt is having second thoughts. Back at Ash Tree Cottage Dave occupied a bunk in the pig's room.

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Thursday May 28, 1981

 _. 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.

Dave L.

To Leeds with Jim R. To Lidget Green at 6. A warm, muggy evening. Dave L came at 8:30 bringing Rowan, his Gordon Setter. I immediately began to splutter and dribble into my lager. My allergy to dog hairs. It was a gasping couple of hours. He left at about 10 to get a good night's sleep. He has a busy day at school tomorrow inseminating the pigs.

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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Wednesday May 27, 1981

 _. 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]. 

with Jackie and a rasher of bacon.

Mum was sipping whisky, she says for her chill. Dad was being objectionable saying he is going to devote his time re-laying the patio instead of turning his attention to the house interior. Silly sod. Ally [who entertained Catherine Brook for lunch] phoned enquiring about my cousin Jackie's address, for a wedding invitation. I phoned Auntie Eleanor, who gave me Jackie's new number. She [Jacqueline]
moved into a new flat on Saturday and was busy decorating. She says she is coming without Peter to the wedding.

Saw 'Private Schulz'. Drank whisky. Went to bed at 11:30 with a plate of salad sandwiches.

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Tuesday May 26, 1981

 _. 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.

Lady Diana.

Just Kathleen and I at the office. She was in her usual fluster. Details of the royal wedding were released today. Lady Diana will leave from Clarence House in the state coach, whilst Charles [weather permitting] will travel in an open landau. After the marriage, and once again, depending on the weather, the Prince and Princess of Wales will travel back to Buckingham Palace in the landau, open to all snipers, H-block sympathisers, and psychopaths who will converge upon the capital for the spectacle. And let's not forget right-wing Turkish terrorists. How brave our royal family are. The Queen insists upon close contact with the public and has made it known that to cocoon her in armour plated vehicles would defeat the whole object of monarchy. All the same, I suspect that security people will be experiencing severe attacks of diarrhoea in the final weeks leading to the wedding of the century. In other royal news, Lady Romsey gave birth to a future Earl Mountbatten of Burma on May 15.

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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