Friday April 23, 1976

Good Old Saint George's Day. Get to work at 8.30 and spend an hour altering Harold Wilson's file. He doesn't look like a Knight of the Garter at all and I can't help wondering what made him accept the honour. During his premiership no hereditary peers have been created and political honours have not been looked upon in a good light, and now he goes and accepts the highest honour 'bestowable' by the Monarch.

Ring David L at 7.30 and Sandra says he was taken to hospital a few hours before - something wrong with his heart! The whole Lawson house is in uproar and so I quickly vacate the line - promising to ring tomorrow for a further bulletin. David - a heart attack!! Horrific and nauseating.

I inform everyone in the Hare & Hounds except CB who is down with tonsilitis. Leave Carole at 11 and go to the Cow & Calf with Pete M and Martyn Cole. First night out with the lads in ages. I never usually desert Carole. Get intoxicated and don't remember much about the night at all. CD and Carol Smith were with us.

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Thursday April 22, 1976

Work was uneventful and I'm not going into great detail on that miserable subject.

Carole rang twice this evening and both times asked me what was wrong. I insist that all is well, but she feels sure I'm wanting rid of her.

John came round at 9 o'clock for a bath. The Macdonald central heating system caved in over Easter and subsequently the Mac family are parading round Ridgeway smeared in four days supply of filth.

Mum and Dad went out for a drink but returned and 10.30 with fish and chips which John also endulged in. Sue also cut John's hair.

Hear on the midnight news that Uncle Harold is to become a Knight of the Garter after all. No doubt the left-wing rabble of the Labour party will find this is something they can get their teeth into, but uncle is a scheming old lad. A man cannot be Prime Minister for sixty years without picking up some of the tricks of the trade.

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Wednesday April 21, 1976

The Queen, 50. Do not hear the alarm clock again and Mum wakes me at 8.20. To Leeds with Jim Rawnsley and study the national newspapers immediately upon my arrival at the YP. The Queen's party at Windsor went on until 3am today - and at 2.40am Her Majesty's time of birth - she was dancing around the Waterloo Chamber with the Duke of Edinburgh.

Some papers criticised Mr Callaghan for not attending and I can only see this as a snub to the Queen. Uncle Harold Wilson and Thatcher attended and even Edward Heath. She is already a legend in her own lifetime and it's hard to imagine how we could ever manage without her.

Meet Carole at 8.10 but only have one drink in the Hare before returning to our place for a coffee. She is behaving quite differently today bit I pretend I haven't noticed. She is doing her utmost not to be 'lovey dovey' and too serious with me.

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Tuesday April 20, 1976

Back to work which is busy and frantic. See in the papers that Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon are to attend the Queen's 50th birthday party at Windsor this evening.

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Monday April 19, 1976

Wake up at about 11.30 with Carole and Jackie. Feel horrible and revolting with hangover. I was the last person up drinking and the birds were chiruping like hell at 6.30am when I finally submitted to the call of the bedroom.

Jackie gets a lift into Bradford to start work at 12.30 and Carole and I walk home. Yes, we walked all the way to Guiseley along the Rodley canal which brought us out near Esholt Sewage Works on Hollins Hill. Did nothing but argue all the way home and she kept referring to the way in which I treated her last night. She dislikes the way I 'carry on' with other women and says that I don't 'give a damn' for her. I put her straight saying it is obvious that she thinks more of me than I do of her and that she is obsessed with the idea of us having a permanent relationship whatever the cost. My feelings, or lack of them, mean nothing to her & she professes her undying love for me when I've never once offered anything in return. This situation cannot go on. I tell her I enjoy her company but insist that I do not love her and this depresses her. The whole situation makes me sick.

She comes up at 8.50 and we all see 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly' - not a good film, and I'm itching to see a programme on ITV about George III narated by the Prince of Wales. Bed at 12.30 and sleep like a log.

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Sunday April 18, 1976

Easter Day. To Blackpool with Chris & Christine and Carole, of course. Not going into details though we did have a riotous time. Left for Blackpool at 8am and returned at 9.30pm.

The four of us and Lynn & David go on to Jackie's party in Pudsey. Very crowded. I drink all night. Carole is quiet and I see very little of her. Lynn and Dave go home quite early & so too do Chris & Christine. A bloke stripped off and danced about in his naked condition much to the mixed amount of amusement & embarrassment of the party goers.

Stay up all night and sleep in Auntie E's double bed with Carole and Jackie. We were all clothed and only shared because of the bed shortage crisis. Quite funny really.

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Saturday April 17, 1976

Carole comes at lunchtime and after ten minutes we all pile into the Toyota and Dad takes us, Sue, Pete and Mum to the Commercial for a 'liquid lunch'. Devour a couple of beef and onion sandwiches and two or three pints of lager.

John calls in at 10 to say that Maria is undergoing a hair cutting operation in Guiseley. I shudder at the thought because Maria has such attractive hair and to think that a maniac armed with a pair of scissors is tearing away at it brings a I tear to my eyes.

It's back to Pine Tops at 3 o'clock for turkey, cauliflower and the lot. Even white wine.

Carole and I walk to the Hare at 8.30, and are joined by Chris, Christine, John and Maria. Maria looks horrible, like one of the 'Black & White Minstrels'. Her lovely waves are gone completely and only short, fuzzy curls remain. Ghastly.

Move to the Swan at Addingham. John wants to go to Jackie's party tomorrow but Maria absolutely refuses to go.

John brings me home at 11.30 and I set my alarm clock for 6 o'clock - a daunting thought indeed.

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Friday April 16, 1976

Good Friday. Nice, warm, sunny day. Rise at 9 o'clock and have a leisurely breakfast with the radio belting out its joyous tunes.

Read 'Queen Anne' by David Green until after 11. She must have been a bit of a lesbian because her 'carrying on' with the Duchess of Marlborough and Lady Masham were far from stable relationships.

Carole comes at 12.30 and I begin making the lunch. Fry chips and attempt to fry some 'fish balls'. Do fish have balls? Mum comes in at 1.15 and we eat. Not a pleasant lunch and I'm relieved when Dave B comes and offers to take us out for something to wash the meal down with.

Go to the Commercial. Just Lynn, Dave, Carole and I. Have a few pints of Stella outside in the sun and feel sick. Dave then drives us to Grange's and I book the Blackpool trip for Sunday.

Back to Pine Tops where 'The King and I' is on TV. I can't tolerate clapped out musicals and so Carole and I walk into Guiseley and call in at a sweet shop for a few bars of chocolate.

Get the 4.30 bus to Leed and have a quiet night at the office. Leave on the 11 o'clock 35 bus after a dead night. Home for midnight. Working nights next on April 25 - Low Sunday, aptly enough.

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Wednesday April 14, 1976

Go down to the Hare & Hounds on the 8.10 bus and meet Carole outside. John comes in with Jimmy Macdonald and we boys have a laugh together. Carole mopes because she thinks I am ignoring her and says I should perhaps have left her at home and had a night out with the lads. I am sure she thinks I contrived to meet John and Jimmy, but it was purely coincidental, and after all, why can't I have a chat with my prodigal brother? I'm not tied to Miss Phillips's apron strings.

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Thursday April 15, 1976

Sorry about this pals, but when you try writing a diary a week after the actual event it does tend to become a little confusing and I'm afraid that this week Thursday comes after Tuesday and before Wednesday. Confusing I know, but it makes a change.

Do nothing all night. See 'Top of the Pops' with Mum. The only interesting item of the day. Carole didn't ring and all in all it's been most ordinary and mundane.

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Tuesday April 13, 1976

Meet Carole at 6.30 in Guiseley and go to the library where I collect 3 books: 'Queen Anne' by David Green; 'The First Moutnbatten's', and the first of the Palliser novels by Trollope. Walk her to White Cross and then get the bus home. I am bored with her and cannot see the relationship lasting the month out. Being bogged down with the same girl - no matter how nice - is not a situation I rellish, and I need to get out of it soon.

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