Thursday September 17, 1981

 _. Pay day. I received a tax rebate, at long last. £68.70. Went out at lunchtime feeling like a millionaire. Bought a 'Haddon Hall' tea saucer for our set, and Agatha Christie's 'Murder at the Vicarage'. Ally is obsessed by the super-sleuth, Hercule [Poirot], and is ceaseless in her reading.

Dismal at the YP. 'Mrs Slocombe' is still in Gstaad with 'Jimmy Carter'. Sarah went off to a Yorkshire Post Literary lunch where the guest speaker is Topol, of all people. Kathleen, still not smoking, was in a foul mood. She went on and on pulling Bradford to pieces. OK, it aint Naples or Venice, but is it on a lower level than Leeds? 

I am told that Lord Boyle of Handsworth is dying and so I spent some time putting his file in order.  The poor man's been eaten away by cancer, but he has kept going.

King Arms, Tong.

Home at 6 to Ally and lasagne. Then into a steaming bath. My mother wouldn't approve. She insists that it's dangerous to submerge oneself into hot water straight after eating.

To Pudsey at 7:30 to the King's Arms at Tong with Jill, Tim, Karen, Steve, Diane, Paul, Hilda [drinking pints], Tony, Geoff Elmer, Margaret, Eugene, Tracy, &c. A drunken evening. I was drinking pils lager. Back at 11 to the Sanderson pile for a couple of hours. They all had a curry [of which Ally partook], and I found myself smoking.

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Wednesday September 16, 1981

 _. I could now be watching a party political broadcast by the Labour party, but I'm not. I have left the room. 

News: The Liberal party have formed an alliance with the SDP. So, it looks like Roy Jenkins will be prime minister in 1984. I don not think Mrs Thatcher will rellish a united opposition, when the present official opposition under Mr Foot is such an easy push over. 

Lichfield: best dressed.

Royal News: The Prince and Princess of Wales are going to Klosters in the New Year. The Queen's assistant press secretary, Anne Wall, has resigned to become an extra Woman of the Bedchamber. Over at Kensington Palace Princess Margaret has made it known that she would like to marry again, one day. Lord Lichfield has been voted the 'Best Dressed Man of the Year'.

Phoned Ally. She says he senile Welsh boss 'smells of human excretia', and has had an accident in his Welsh underpants.

Phoned Mum. her hair, she says, is now curly.

The girls in the office today are morose. Sarah is low. Her dullness is due to the rising mortgage rate. Kathleen, unsmiling, was sucking on 'Victory Vs'.

Home at 6. Chicken soup and sandwiches. Dave G phoned at 8:30. He informs me that Billy recently visited Soho, and the delights of a sauna. Oh dear.

We made a lasagne for tomorrow, and read.

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Tuesday September 15, 1981

Len Murray: in rags

 _. Busy day. Study Mrs Thatcher's wonderful Cabinet changes. I hope that Mr Tebbit will stick his boot into the trade unions. I'd like to see Len Murray in rags, on his knees, begging for his life. Have I spoken recently about the Social Democrats? A Mori poll published in the Times yesterday says that the Liberal party, in alliance with the SDP, could win an overall majority at the next general election. I loathe the very idea of such a union, but this outcome would be better than the Labour alternative. I despise David Steel, but can easily envisage Shirley Williams and Roy Jenkins wielding power. The Liberal party conference:  John Pardoe [who is he?] suggests that Roy Jenkins asked to join the Liberals, but that Steel advised him to see what Shirley, David and Bill [Rodgers?] were doing first. Implausible. God Save Mrs Thatcher. I am very happy with the Conservative Government and hope it goes on and on.

My father-in-law's 54th birthday. We posted a card with a cheque for £5, but otherwise didn't hear from Chillandham Cross.

We had an enormous dinner. Meat, mounds of dumplings, cauiflower cheese, Uncle Tony's home-grown beans. No wonder I'm stacking on the weight. 

Phoned Susie to talk about Thursday but she was far from enthusiastic. She tires so easily and is in bed by 9:30. She's been out with Peter and Jim to buy a pram.

Ovaltine and Charles II. Bed at 10:30.

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Monday September 14, 1981

 _. Boiled eggs. To the YP. 

News: The prime minister has sacked the Cabinet 'wets'. [James] Prior goes to Northern Ireland as secretary of state where I suppose Mrs T hopes he'll be bombed. Sir Ian Gilmour returns to the 'back benches' as does Mark Carlisle. Lord Soames is out and Lord Thorneycroft has been put out to retirement. [Norman] Tebbit is now Employment secretary, and a lady, Baroness Young, becomes Leader of the House of Lords. Is this a first?

The horrid boy who fired blank shots at the Queen in June has been jailed for 5 years. Khalid Aziz has been sacked from 'Nationwide'.

Phoned John and Maria to confirm our visit to Lochans on Sept 25. Phoned Lynn, and then Sue, but it was much too late to speak to her. She's always in bed at 9.

We had left over roast chicken and salad and polished off the Riesling. Alison to bed with Agatha Christie. She's book mad.

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Sunday September 13, 1981

 _. 13th Sunday after Trinity

We had a restless night. Ally wasn't comfortable. We were up at 8:30. 

Phoned Lynn. Frances is to be christened on October 4 at Burley. The vicar has requested that all godparents should preferably be confirmed. None of us are. She says Chris Ratcliffe is going to Scotland on Sept 25, and thinks we shouldn't go. I say we should, and will phone Maria tomorrow. Mum is having Sue & Pete for lunch.

Ally made scrambled eggs and then put a chicken in the pot. She is bursting with activity. 

We drove to Pudsey at 2. Wilsby was deserted and so was Jill's at Valley Rd, so we phoned Mum to be told the Gadsbys were at at Pudsey St Lawrence Cricket Club's Donkey Derby. A village affair. We went along an I won £2.50 on a donkey. We sat on the damp lawn and had ice cream. Karen, Steve, Jill, Tim, Diane, Paul, and Marlene and the children. Then back to Wilsby until 9. By 9:30 were were at home. I was pissed. Had roast chicken washed down with Riesling. Watched Robert Hardy as Churchill, then plunged into a bath. Bed at 12.

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Saturday September 12, 1981

Harrogate: 1981

 _. Up at 8:30 raring to go. In Harrogate for 10:30. Ally looking for a dress for Jill & Tim's wedding. We had a frustrating hour without success. She saw a pink silk suit costing £70, but didn't buy. Most of the mannequins were dressed in 'Lady Di' style, and all the shops were the same, apparently. So, from Harrogate we drove to York where she found a pink dress covered in white tulips, and for only £11 at a shop called Sarah Coggles. Very sexy.

In York we went into the wrong pub, which was rough, and had cold steak and kidney pie, and vowed never to eat out in York again. We have yet to find a decent pub in the centre of York. The locals were alien and looked to be part of the criminal fraternity. Pagan in fact. Heavy tattoos, &c. And even the women looked like rugby prop forwards. Ally, bless her, asked if the large building dominating the city was the 'cathedral'. I just gave her a black look. 

On to Leeds and the shops. Bought nothing. Home with aching feet. Out at 7 to a run-down wine bar and then Pizzeria Mama Mia's on Manningham Lane for scampi and lasagne. Ally had a corn on the cob which oozed over her frock. Home at 9:30.

Dame Edna on the telly. Hilarious. A good day.

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Friday September 11, 1981

_. Marlene 36. YP. Penny Austin-Clarke accused me of 'sciving' yesterday. Some people are very perceptive, aren't they?

The Alexandra.

Spoke to Ally briefly. We decided to go out tonight. By 7 we were at the Alexandra in Harrogate [a Berni Inn]. T-bone steaks. Very romantic. We walked around Harrogate afterwards and decided to come back to the shops tomorrow. Whatever became of the Damn Yankee? I couldn't find it anywhere.

Home at 11.

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