Tuesday July 5, 1983

 Up at 7. I see Mary in Mrs Greenwood's garden and went out to see what is going on. Looking in the window we see Mrs G on the floor, Mary went off to find Sammy. Inside I found her conscious but cold as marble. I dialed 999 and an ambulance came and took poor Mrs G to the BRI. Will we ever see her again? I went up to Duckworth Lane to meet Ally at lunch and to the Traveller's Rest. The kitchen, we were told, is undergoing renovations, and so sandwiches were the only thing on the menu. Ally cannot wait to escape from Derek. Ally's replacement, the man-hater Glenys, has bought her a plastic duck to float in the bath. We have christened him Darren. Annie (Whincup) called me over to look at a problem door and she broke down when I told her I had found a job. She has been worrying about us. Before coming home Ally visited Mrs Greenwood on the ward and found her asleep and didn't attempt to wake her. She said her name a couple of times with no response. This evening she was annoyed with herself for not asking a nurse to check on our recumbent neighbour. Sam and Bill Greenwood appeared at 7:30 to say that their mother had 'passed away' at 6:15. Ally wept, She is convinced that the old woman was dead when she saw her but that she wasn't discovered until tea time. Poor Ally might have been the last person to see her alive. Mary came over and sat with us for half an hour. Poor 'Britt'. Gone just 10 days before her 95th birthday. 

Hot night. Couldn't sleep.

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Monday July 4, 1983

 Very hot. I roasted myself in the sun. One would think we were in the Greek Islands. Bought Ally three Chrysanthemums and a bottle of lemonade. I can be incredibly generous at times. Mrs Greenwood's door is open and smell of urine and disinfectant is hideous. Her son, Sammy, arrived and told me that his mother wants to go live in an old peoples home. Ally visited Pam Nason in the BRI. Later: watched 'Minder'. John Habgood is to be the next archbishop of York. Ally to bed at 10 and I followed.

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Sunday July 3, 1983

 5th Sunday after Trinity

At breakfast we decided to venture to Guiseley. Lynn wants to borrow Ally's dresses to take to Wales. At lunch Ally had a fit of giggles and spluttered tomato soup everywhere. I wrapped a tea towel around her neck and she looked like a gigantic infant. Saw the start of the men's final at Wimbledon but left after 5 minutes. In Bradford the Polish bus conductor explained to us that the driver had failed to turn up and he gave us a lecture on the power of trade unions. We were a captive audience. To Guiseley for 3:30 or so. Dave and John were working on John's car and Lynn was furious. We sat in the garden with Lynn and Janette and Frances & Katie. _______. John and Janette had been up to Lochans last week for the usual orgy of booze and insanity. It now costs £6 to get into the Coachman's Inn. Janette says Alec has been to Yorkshire to try and get a job as an ambulance driver. We dined with the Bakers. Lynn says she'll miss us when we go to Middlesbrough. On to Sue and Pete's and then home for 10:30. 

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Saturday July 2, 1983

 Ally had a good clear out and bagged up old clothes for the local Oxfam shop. I went about with a trowel and re-potted most of our plants in readiness for our departure for Middlesbrough. I also played with the lock on the door. It now opens like a dream. Ally sat outside with an Agatha Christie and moved the chair up and down the tiny garden to follow the sun. We had cheese on toast and watched the tennis. Martina Navratilova beat a young American with braces on her teeth. Dined on chicken with all the works. A hot evening. We sat up late. Watched the late film 'Summer of 42' which was slow and Ally cried off and went to bed. A cat is using our garden as a lavatory. I thought they were supposed to bury it?

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Friday July 1, 1983

 Dominion Day, Canada

Birthday of the Princess of Wales

The Princess of W is 22 today and returning from Canada. At breakfast I arranged to see Ally at lunchtime. Her friends liken us to a pair of doves. On saw me walking her to the bus stop the other day and remarked that no other husband in the whole of Bradford would do such a thing.__________. Shaved and neatly clad I met Ally at lunch and went to the Traveller's Rest. It's a common thing now. Ally has a thing about meat pies. The place was full of students in robes and gowns and I surmise they have been receiving their degrees. I walked her back to the AHA via the maternity wing and we looked at the visiting times (Pamela Nason is in and expecting to deliver on Sept 9). Kisses. At home I watched McEnroe beat Lendl and Chris Lewis of New Zealand beat Curren of South Africa in an excellent match which lasted three hours until 8pm. Lewis is unseeded and 36,000th in the world placings. Phoned Mum to say we will go to Horton next week. Phoned John and then Jill E. Tim is away but they might come here on Thursday. She says Karen's expected date of delivery has been moved from Aug 28 to Sept 19. If she goes on like this we'll be having our Tubby first. Mum says our baby is an 8lb boy with dark hair and blue eyes. Don't all babies start out with blue eyes? 

George Thomas has been created a viscount. He is a bachelor sod it. Viscount Thomas of Tonypandy? Bed after a bath at 10. Ally's Mr Miller has been in touch and we have to go to Bramley next week. We'll do Edna and Nellie at the same time.

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Thursday June 30, 1983

 Cool. Lay in bed a little late. Eggs, &c. Ally to the doctor on Paternoster Lane and I waited for her on a bench in the Methodist churchyard. It's a striking classical building dating back to 1805. Ally seemed to be in for ages and came away having had her blood pressure checked and being weighed. She is 8st 6oz. The doctor pressing her tummy says her uterus is size 11. We walked home together. I have received 2 cheques, giro cheques, from the unemployment people. -- £45. I am going to spend, spend, spend, as Viv Nicholson said. It's the clinic this afternoon where she's having blood tests.

I read in the Telegraph with some surprise and disappointment that Sir Harold Wilson will probably only receive a life peerage. The Earl of Dundee, hereditary standard bearer for Scotland, is dead, and so too is Lord Romilly, who succeeded to the title in 1905 and never uttered one word in the House of Lords. Francis Pym has been prattling on from the back benches and is apparently to be 'Chief Wet'. The PM has nothing at all to worry about as far as I can see. Watched Billie-Jean King at Wimbledon but missed the end. Ally went to the clinic and gave blood then came home, got a bit of grit in her eye crossing the road. Dr Duck says she is 12 weeks but Sister Matthews says she's only 11. Miriam Stoppard dates pregnancy from the first day of a woman's last period.

To bed at 9:30.

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Wednesday June 29, 1983

 We had porridge for breakfast which seems a strange idea for the month of June. I sat down and wrote to the prime minister commending her on the reinstating of the hereditary peerage.  As I bashed at the typewriter in walked Dave B and I gave him a coffee. He was chatty and asked about our training with Sam Smiths. He says that Frances asked her mum: "is Auntie Ally going to have a baby?" When Lynn said 'yes' Frances quipped "Oh I used to be one of them." David went on to a meeting in Oldham and I went out to post my letter. The news reveals that Michael Foot wants 20 new Labour peers. It is customary for the leader of the opposition to get about 6 or 7 in dissolution honours.

I racked wine and tasted most of it. Found it dreadful. Wimbledon on TV. I must admit I find I can watch tennis where I have never been able to do before. McEnroe beat Mayer with no tantrums. Made a cottage pie for Ally's return. The poor girl had spent the afternoon showing the ropes to her replacement.We ate in front of the TV. In two weeks all this will change. So looking forward to life at the Linthorpe. We retired at 10 and I was just opening Jane Eyre when the phone rang. It was Lynn babbling away. Mum and Dad have been down and are at John's for dinner. We're on the agenda next time.

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Tuesday June 28, 1983

 I walked into town at 10 and went to 'sign on' as they say. I asked the 17 year-old bundle of joy on the desk whether this is the first week that I might perhaps begin to live off the state. 'Yes. You might get a cheque on Thursday', she said, vaguely. I went to the railway station to enquire about fares to Middlesbrough. £7.60. I collected a Dales Rail leaflet for trains to Horton-in-Ribblesdale.  Walking home I spied an amusing piece of racist graffiti. ____________. I am in no way a racist. I wouldn't object if a daughter contracted a marriage with a Pakistani if she wished to do so, but the daubing on the wall gave me a chuckle on the way home. 

A letter in the Daily Telegraph criticises the PM's revival of hereditary peerages. I will write to the PM to give my support to her brave decision. I would like to see others raised to the peerage after Willie Whitelaw and George Thomas. Harold Wilson, yes. Callaghan and Heath, yes. Retiring prime ministers were always given an earldom. Disraeli gave a peerage to his wife. Margaret could also do this for Denis.

Watched Wimbledon. Virginia Wade was beaten. I had two odd phone calls from a giggling woman asking to speak to 'Alphonse'. 

I saw Phyllis from the end house and told her our news. Poor Bert is unwell but battling on. I hope I will be able to continue with my journal in Middlesbrough. I haven't been defeated before. When Ally came in we had frozen fish fingers. They weren't actually frozen when we ate them but they were in that state minutes before they went under the grill. The garden gate creaked and in walked Dave L en route to Caesar's nightclub for some tickets. We gave him a couple of drinks and told him our news. He isn't interested in babies but was pleased about the pub. His pig at school expects piglets any day now. We went to bed on his departure at 9:30.

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Monday June 27, 1983

 The second anniversary of our marriage. We met at lunchtime and went to the bank and the Traveller's Rest where we lunched on scampi (me) and steak and kidney pie (Ally). 

Spent the afternoon watching Wimbledon. Jimmy Connors was defeated. Mum phoned to wish us a happy anniversary and says they had two men staying there from Middlesbrough who know the Linthorpe Hotel well and say it's a big place in its own grounds. Spoke to Dad about the hideous Ronald Gregory selling his 'Ripper Yarns' to the Mail on Sunday for £40,000 or more. Dad is aghast.

Watched 'Minder'. Bed at 11.

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Sunday June 26, 1983

4th Sunday after Trinity

 Ally feels slightly better today, yet still queasy. We put the settee into the middle of the room and lay upon it like Romans. Ally snoozed but was frequently awakened by the canon fire from the Battle of Edgehill coming from the film 'Cromwell' on BBC1. A hideously biased film. Before the battle we saw Cromwell (Richard Harris) praying: 'Oh Lord thou knowest how busy I must be this day: If I forget thee, do not thou forget me'. This prayer was actually spoken by Sir Jacob Astley (1579-1652), who fought on the royalist side. The film shows frequent meetings between Cromwell and King Charles I which never actually occurred. Why do they meddle with the facts so?

Lynn and Dave brought the children at 5 for an hour. Frances insisted on taking down every book from the bookcase. Katie is fat and brown. I have never known a baby smile so much. We dined on pork chops. 

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Saturday June 25, 1983

 I slept late. Ally was awake at 7 and collected the mail, but I was sluggish and idle.

I expected to hear from Sarah after my visit to the YP on Wednesday. __________,

Ally had a salad and I sat and watched her eat it. Later I watched a 1979 Dracula film spoiled by the fact that the butler, or asylum administrator, is Chalkie White the Coronation Street dustman.

To bed at 12:30.

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