Colder, Dull Dad went shopping in Newpo- rt, got some video’s, watched Supergirl, Krull, and Space hunter.
Finally, some details! Supergirl starred Helen Slater in the title role. Krull is a sci-fi adventure which apparently has a cult following. Spacehunter is a space Western set in the early 22nd century. I wonder who chose them. They are not genres I gravitate towards now.
Saturday 23 February 1985
Cold, sunny. Watched television, Played games with Mark, Dad went shopping in Newport Sunday School party.
I went to a party! But so did lots of other children I expect.
Sunday 24 February 1985
Sunny, Went to Sunday School, Did some of my mosiac. Watched television, Dad went out to the pub.
What material was the mosaic? I have dim memories of cutting out pieces of coloured paper and glueing them into place.
Cold, Windy Mum went to Work, Played with Mark, Watched t.v. Half term at school.
Was this one of those half term days when you didn’t do much but the day flew by anyway?
Tuesday 19 February 1985
Windy, Cold Went to Nans, Played with Philip and had some pancakes. Watched television.
My cousin Philip, born in 1968. He would have been 16. He lived in Oxford with his parents and older brother. Were they also present on this visit? Why didn’t I mention them? So glad someone made pancakes. The toppings were less sophisticated back then. It was sugar or a squeezy Jif lemon, or both if you were lucky.
Wednesday 20 February 1985
Cold, Went to Hannahs for the day, had a bike ride. Watched t.v. Dad went out.
Was this when Hannah Cundall lived in Gurnard, or was she still near the Stag Inn on the way to Newport? So glad I got a day out of the house. I’m feeling oppressed by the monotony of my life back then. Did I feel that way when I was 9?
Thursday 21 February 1985
Dull, Cold, Went to Southsea with Nan, Mark, Mum and Dad. Watched t.v.
Two consecutive days out of my house! Going to Southsea would have meant taking the Hovercraft from Ryde. Did we go shopping? This was many years before they opened Gunwharf Quays. Perhaps we lingered in the amusements near Clarence Pier. Interesting that my nan came too. Did my mum feel she couldn’t cope without my nan alongside her?
Cold, No School, Mum went to Work, Watched t.v. Ann Cut Mums hair. Played with Mark.
Why didn’t we go to school? It wasn’t snowing, so it can’t have been weather-related. Was it due to industrial action? If my mum went to work, who looked after me and my brother?? My nan probably came on the bus from Newport to keep an eye on us. At least, I hope someone did. Ann was Ann Price, a friend of the family. She lived higher up Oxford Street, on the even side of the road. She also cut my hair. Did we sit in her lounge, or was it her kitchen? I did not look forward to hair cut day.
Saturday 16 February 1985
Cold. Watched television, Dad went shopping, Played with Mark.
Two consecutive days of playing with my brother. If only I had added some detail. Did we play Lego? As well as the normal Lego that everyone knows, we alse had a lot of copycat bricks, in an off-white colour. They didn’t snap together in the same way. No doubt they were cheaper. My dad worked full time and my mum worked part time. We weren’t impoverished, but the choice was often ‘buy cheap’ not ‘buy quality’.
Sunday 17 February 1985
Cold, but sunny, No Sunday School. Watched television. Dad went out. Did Butterfly embriodry
Very Cold English, Maths, Singing, P.E, Reading, Watched t.v. Dad stayed at home
According to my dad’s diary, he was on a course of antibiotics.
Tuesday 12 February 1985
Very Cold, But Sunny Wrote are spellings, English, Maths, Music, Project, No Nan, Went to Brownies
Brownies took place in the Church Centre. Our Brown Owl was called Jayne. I can’t remember many of the activities, but I do remember some kind of “emergency” pack, containing 10p for a phone call and a piece of string. I had no use for the pack, but at least I was prepared.
Wednesday 13 February 1985
Very Cold. Went to Cowes to practice our music festival, Progect, Watched Zig Zag, Country Dancing.
One thing I have never possessed is any form of musical talent. My contribution to the music festival must have been limited.
Thursday 14 February 1985
Cold. Spelling test, Maths, Late home for dinner, games, Reading, Knitting, Watched t.v.
Did the spelling test include the word ‘project’? On Tuesday I got it right. On Wednesday I lapsed back to progect.
My nan Connie Jones was born in 1919, making this her 66th Birthday. She is buried in Carisbrooke (Mount Joy) cemetery, alongside my grandad Bob Jones, who died in 1981 when I was 5. What Jumble Sale was that? Did I but anything? There were often jumble sales at the Scout Hut on Wyatts Lane.
Saturday 9 February 1985
Snowed, Dad went shopping in Newport. Played with Mark. Read a book Watched television.
Sounds like my dad went shopping by himself, without me or my brother or my mum. It’s hard not to read too much into this, given how their marriage ended.
Sunday 10 February 1985
Still Snow, But icey. Went to Sunday School Played with Scrabble and Sindy Watched t.v. Read a book
My brother, Mark, had an Action Man and I had a Sindy. At some point we swapped them. We were both satisfied with the swap and never swapped back. Sindy was a British rival to the American Barbie.
Fog then sunny Maths, did progect on sheep. reading, P.E, got a note Watched television.
That project on sheep sounds exciting. Northwood Primary School was on the edge of the village, surrounded by fields on two fields. There was a dairy farm at the bottom of Oxford Street. On a couple of occasions the cows would get into our back garden after the hedge was cut too low, and we had to get the farmer to round them up. Was the note something to do with PE? Was I injured and unable to take part?
Tuesday 5 February 1985
Sunny Went to Brownies, Nan came down, Maths, Wool, weaving. reading, Played Music, English.
The sheep project continued with wool and weaving. I’ve never liked holding wool in my hands. Perhaps I’m sensitive to lanolin.
Wednesday 6 February 1985
Dull, Damp. Dad went out. Came home to dinner. Maths, English, Singing, Music, Played games, Watched Zig-Zag County Dancing
Where did my dad go on a weekday? To work, surely? His diary shows he spent the day at work, finishing footings. What a strange thing to write. Maybe he went out in the evening. I wasn’t good at putting things in the diary in sequential order. Coming home to dinner would have been unusual, although it was only a two minute walk up the road.
Thursday 7 February 1985
Rained. Home dinners Maths, English, Made something for mum, drawing. Colouring. No Gym, Watched t.v.
Home dinners again? Maybe there was a problem with the kitchen. I made ‘something’ for mum. Aaaagh. More detail. Her birthday was December, so not sure what prompted it. We were probably just doing what we were told by the teachers.
drizzle, Windy, Class 3 did asembble, Spelling Test, Singing, Libary, Maths, read, Played with Mark.
I was in Class 3, but I was actually in Class 4. Except there were not enough children to make a full year, so they made us repeat Class 3! Did this have any impact on my education? They wouldn’t get away with it these days. In 1976 and 1977 there were fewer births than deaths, a rare occurence. I was born in the academic year 1975-76. See how the blue line for births goes into decline after the early 1960s.
Saturday 2 February 1985
Cold Breezy Played with Marks fort. Went to Annas party won some games, Videod Doctor Who.
This would have been Anna Smallwood’s 9th birthday. She lived on Wyatts Lane, Northwood. I won some games did I? Was this the year I cheated at Pin the Tail on the Donkey?? The blindfold had not been pulled far enough down and I pretended it had been. I could see where I was aiming. I put the pin just to the right of the spot so no one would think I had been cheating. The shame. And I spelt videoed correctly the week before. This was Season 22 of Doctor Who. Colin Baker was the Doctor. In Season 24 (1987) the companion was a character called Ace played by Sophie Aldred. I had a crush on her in a way that did not make sense at the time.
Sunday 3 February 1985
Dull, No Sun Went to Sunday school Played with Mark, Watched television. Dad went out
Was there a day in my childhood I did not watch television?
For anyone interested in Sci-Fi, Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics were introduced in 1942.
There was a new Number 1 this Sunday: I Know Him So Well by Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickson.
Cold, Windy, Wrote our spellings, English, Maths, Music, P.E, Watched t.v., Mark’s friend came down.
Who was my brother’s friend who attended this after-school play date? Was I jealous I didn’t have a friend of mine there too? Looking back at the first month of this diary, I had no friends in the house. Perhaps I’ll blame it on the cold and the snow.
Tuesday 29 January 1985
Rained, Windy, got easter egg, Went to Brownies, Nan came down, Maths, story, Reading. Proget. got a tooth care kit
Another Easter egg in January? Perhaps it was a small Cadbury’s Creme Egg. They were introduced in their current form in 1963.
We seem to have started a project on looking after our teeth. Not really compatible with lots of chocolate. When I was 8 I had a general anaesthetic to remove lots of my baby teeth as they weren’t coming out properly. The dentist made the decision my mouth only had space for 28 teeth, not the full 32. I remember waking up with lots of blood in my mouth.
I never think of fog and wind as going together. I have learnt it is called advection fog. The things you learn when you start a blog.
Thursday 31 January 1985
Windy, Cold Maths, Singing, S.R.A, knitting Watched tv, No gym. Had my hair cut.
Like most schools, the hall had gym equipment attached to the walls which was pulled into position when needed. The hall must have been in use for something else that day. For some of my childhood my hair was cut by Ann Price, who lived further up Oxford Street on the even side of the road. She had a boy called Kevin who was older than me. She had a daughter who was younger than me, possibly named Jayne. We went to Ann’s house for the cut. It lacked sophistication, but might have been all we could afford.
Cold Windy, Raining, Spelling test, Did our play, Reading, Libary, P.E., Redd a book. Dad videoed A tv programme
I can’t spell read, but I can spell videoed. Typical for a nine year old? Was I performing in a play? Not something I would do these days.
Saturday 26 January 1985
Windy, Overcast, Watched t.v, played Monopoly, Dad went out, Mark played a game with me. Had some toffees.
Another Saturday when dad had to work, in his job at Parkhurst Prison. Looking at his diary, he was setting up for concrete in the yard. Was it one of those games of Monopoly that lasts for ages and ends in a disagreement and someone going off in a huff?
Sunday 27 January 1985
Raining. Cold Went to Sunday School Dad went out, watced t.v. Played with Mark
Work again for dad. He was covering up brickwork and removing tiles. I played with my brother a lot but we didn’t have an easy relationship. We were either getting on well together or we hated each other. There was a time in our teenage years when we barely spoke. If I had known he was only going to live to the age of 23 would I have treated him differently?
I love the information box about robots: they were supposed to do all the boring jobs for humans but at the end they control the world. Anyone for Artificial Intelligence?
Raining most of the day, Stayed home with a cold. Watched television. Played lots of games
I don’t remember many days off school due to illness. I loved going to school. Some children enjoy school because they get to play with other children. Part of me was like that, but mostly I loved to learn.
Tuesday 22 January 1985
Sunny, got easter egg Stayed home from School. Nan came down. Mum went to work. Played a lot of games Watched t.v.
An Easter egg in January. Why? Easter Sunday wasn’t until 7 April. That’s so random. Did my nan bring it with her? She must have looked after me when my mum went to work. My mum worked at the church centre in Northwood (later demolished to build houses) preparing the Meals on Wheels for Cowes and Gurnard. It’s only taken me three weeks to mention my mum.
Wednesday 23 January 1985
Sunny, Cold, Went to school, Music, Maths, SRA, Watched Zig Zag, Coloured. No country dancing.
Did I miss the country dancing? It must have been notable that we didn’t do it. Zig Zag was part of the BBC Schools programming strand. I found these episodes on YouTube. Massive flashbacks. A television set was wheeled into the classroom. The first episode is about the Norman Conquest. The Bayeux Tapestry as a comic strip. Genius. I do like Sheelagh Gilbey’s jumper but I wouldn’t wear it myself. I’ve always been fascinated by the Battle of Hastings and the Bayeux Tapestry. My interest must have started with this programme.
Thursday 24 January 1985
Raining, Windy, Colourin, Maths, Read an S.R.A Story, English, Played Kick Donkeny, and Robin-hood
I’m feeling such joy that I mention Kick Donkey. We couldn’t afford Buckaroo so we had Kick Donkey instead which was the cheap version. In the sitcom Father Ted, Buckaroo is Father Dougal’s favourite game but Ted hates it and wants to play chess instead. My favourite piece was the water bottle (canteen.)
Debbie Pledge 