Friday July 2, 1976

The boat trip to Cala Bassa proved a fantastic experience. Three men overboard; topless fraulins; & more booze than I've ever seen on a floating vessel before.

I sank one full bottle of champagne and one bottle of white wine. Vomiting over the side at one stage. A wild frolic on Cala Bassa beach. Several maidens were aware of my presence.

Tonight: met a lot of Spanish girls in the hotel and tried to communicate with them. Had quite a laugh. From Catalonia, wherever that is.

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Thursday July 1, 1976

Dominion Day, Canada. A fantastic, wet day. The chamber maids got us up at 10.30 or so, and I went down to write a few postcards. Send them all off except ones to Chris & Denise. The weather is cloudy and by 12 it's pissing down. At 12.30, Pete, Dave Glynn (the lad in the next room to ours) and I get a taxi in torrential rain to the harbour where all the Club 18-30 mob are awaiting the arrival of Miss Nottingham and Mr Smarty Pants. The rain gets worse and everyone is soaked through to the skin. We are told that the (boat) trip won't be run today and we're invited back tomorrow at the same time. Walk back to the hotel in the monsoon and take some funny photographs which I can't wait to see.

A typical Ibiza night.

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Wednesday June 30, 1976

One of those memorable Ibizan nights when Peter was sick. The Ibiza booze is sure going down a treat, folks.

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Tuesday June 29, 1976

See in an old copy of the Daily Express that England is sweltering in terrible heat conditions. Mum will be in her element. 90 degrees F!

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Monday June 28, 1976

A nice Ibizan day followed by a typical Ibizan booze-up. Have settled down to the routine of doing bugger all quite easily.

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Sunday June 27, 1976

Chris takes Pete and I to Manchester Airport and we arrived at about 2pm. A scorching hot day and the tarmac on the runway is virtually melting. Bid farewell to Chris at 3 o'clock or so and we sit for an hour waiting for the flight. I'm quite nervous about the whole thing.

The flight was fantastic and the views from 30-odd thousand feet were remarkable. Thick cloud on our arrival in Ibiza. It's boody ironic that we've come over a thousand miles from sweltering Britain to a place that's been cloudy and wet for the best part of a week. The hotel Pacific is great, but a sewage works seems to dominate the view from our balcony. However, I can assure you that Ibiza is a fantastic place. Never have I enjoyed a foreign holiday, or indeed a British holiday, so much. Forgive the brief entries over the next few weeks but I'm far too bust to bother writing anythging in detail. However, full services will be resumed as soon as possible.

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Saturday June 26, 1976

Scorching hot day. Get up at the unearthly hour of 8.15 and have breakfast with Mum, Dad, Lynn & Sue. I accompany Mum and Dad to Auntie Mabel's at Pudsey and then we drive her to Shipley, where she's staying with a friend until Thursday. The three of us call in at the Commercial afterwards and sit in the coolness of ther lounge until 3pm. Lynn and Dave joined us for the last one. Get slightly pissed actually and this becomes plainly obvious at 3 when Dave and I drive to Morrison's in the spitfire for a bottle on Cinzano to consume on the lawn. One of the rear brake-lights of Dave's car fell off & we drove back from Yeadon with me sipping Cinzano out of the glass brake light cover! Back onto the lawn until 7.30 when Chris comes to take me up to Peter's so I can hand over £80 for the holiday.

We had a drink in the packed Dyneley and then went to the Travellers' Rest on the Harewood Road (surely, Crimple?). Lynne, who also took Peter & Anne, drove into the Harewood House drive and received a slight nod of acknowledgement from the gatekeeper. No doubt he thought she was Princess Anne coming to make amends with her shunned Uncle George.

After much deliberation Lynne, Peter, Anne and I went to the Damn Yankee in Harrogate for a pizza - they were absolutely massive.

Anne seems to have come out of her seclusion somewhat and was very pleasant. Stayed at Peter's until dawn. Lynne drove Anne and myself home and my fond farewells were said. Staggered to bed feeling bloated after my enormous pizza.

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Friday June 25, 1976

Have a half-day and say bye bye to the Yorkshire Post and all its inmates until July 12.

Meet David B at Whitelocks after purchasing a new pair of trousers and a t-shirt in near tropical conditions. I am not one usually over-awed by the heat but the weather this afternoon is just too much to bear. Home at 3.30 and sit on the lawn with Dad listening to Pennine Radio.

Mum makes strawberries and fresh cream for tea which go down a real treat. Ring Lynne at 7.30 to hear her views on how the evening should be spent. To my horror Mrs Mather tells me Lynne is still working and says she'll ask her to ring me back. Working at 7.30pm in this climate! Poor, misguided lady. She rings at 8 o'clock and says she'll drive over for 9.

We go to the Hare & Hounds where we meet Chris, Peter, Anne, Andy and Linda. (Linda nearly killed Andy when she heard of what took place on Wednesday and says _____).

Another sideline to Wednesday evening is that Peter says he'll not touch one drop of alcohol when he's in Ibiza next week. How ridiculous. This will have to be knocked on the head. Move on to the Red Lion at Burley-in-Wharfedale and see John and Maria who come in at 10.30. We all stand outside and have quite a pleasant time really. Lynne wanted to move on to a disco but when she, Peter and Anne got back to our house the whole scheme fell through. Eventually Lynne and I went for a walk around Tranmere and sat drinking coffee at 3.30am. Yes folks, another late night.

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Thursday June 24, 1976

Carole rang me at work to wish me a nice holiday and she tells me she is going to live in London and get a job down there within the next few weeks and that I'll never see her again. Both Peter and Chris have seen her and Denise with Chris Denby - so I think poor Carole is just inventing stories about seeking her fortune in London to get on my tits.

John comes at 8.30 and we watch 'Monty Python' for the last time. At 9 the two of us go to the Hare for a quick one and he brings Maria down at 9.15. Mum and Dad come in at 10 o'clock and the five of us have a pleasant family 'piss-up' - excuse the crudeness today, but we all have these moments don't we?

Mum and Maria are getting along like a house on fire. __________________. John was saying that the house is just about ready although they don't want to move in before August. They'll definately be in before baby arrives.

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Wednesday June 23, 1976

Out to Grassington and then onto the Miners' Arms at Glasshouses (surely, Greenhow?) with Chris, Peter M, and Andy Graham. The latter mentioned is indeed a rare sight in public life these days without the ever watchful Linda Smith lurking somehwhere in the shadows.

Peter got terribly drunk and the so-called highlight of the evening was the return journey when Andy seriously attempted to uproot every sign post between Bolton Abbey and Guiseley. Chris had about ten road signs stacked in the back of his van by 1.30am and I found the whole operation ridiculous and not in the least amusing.____________.

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Tuesday June 22, 1976

A warm, pleasant day - not that I see all that much of it locked away in the Yorkshire Post offices. However, a smile plays upon my lips when I think where I'll be this time next week.

Get home at 5.15 and devour a long awaited, much needed meal. See the 6 o'clock news on the BBC: the Queen greeting President Giscard d'Estaing at Victoria. Keeping up with the old 'Entente Cordiale' and all that. It's intriguing to know that the president can speak fluent English and we all know that the Queen can speak fluent French, and so in which language did they chat? The president and his wife both descend from Louis XV King of France. If I'm not mistaken, I think the Queen descends from Louis XV's grandfather, who was father of Henrietta Maria, wife of King Charles I. (I shall look into this more closely).

After tea I venture onto the lawn where I am sitting at this very moment compiling this diary. A warm, typical June day - even at 7pm. Heard from Tony today. He's busy all week and doesn't think he can make it until Friday. I won't have any cash before Thursday anyway.

John comes round at 7 o'clock and we drive down to Silverdale and look at his house through the windows as he isn't in possession of the keys yet and besides, it's too late to collect them from the site manager. Things seem to be coming along nicely but he's in no great hurry to move in.

Give Lynne a ring at 9.15 and Mrs Mather enquires: "Oh, is that Stephen?" It is so embarrassing when that happens. The silence lasted for about 20 seconds and then I asked to speak to Peter, but she says he's at Chris's. Lynne was out, of course, with Janet in Harrogate.

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