Tag: Isle of Wight

Diary: 18 January 1985 to 20 January 1985

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Friday 18 January 1985

Snowed all day.
Made giant snowman.
Played with Mark. No school.

It wasn’t usual for the school close due to bad weather. It sounds like we made the most of it. My style so far in the diary has been understated, to say the least. If I describe the snowman as giant, it must have been big.

Saturday 19 January 1985

Some Snow Cold.
Built a snowman, watched
television, Caught a cold.

I have access to a diary my dad kept for the first part of 1985. We built this snowman in the school grounds. My memory is nothing better than hazy. I imagine children who lived nearby joining us to build the snowman.
Oh dear, I caught a cold. All that play outside in the snow came at a cost.

Sunday 20 January 1985

Very cold.
No Sunday School. Played
with Mark, Dad stayed home.

The church was St. John the Baptist on the outskirts of Northwood. The children were taken into a room to one side while the adults attended the church service. I have few memories of what we did. I imagine there was colouring in and making cards for special occasions. Did we not go on this day because it was too cold to walk there?
Why did I feel the need to say that my dad stayed at home? Where would he have gone without us? Having checked his diary, he worked most Saturday mornings and the occasional Sunday. He was a maintenance worker at Parkhurst Prison. Jobs he was doing this week include digging out footings and rebuilding walls.

What happens to the colours on the colour wheel when you twist the loop? Does it go white?

Diary: 14 January 1985 to 17 January 1985

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Monday 14 January 1985

Very Cold Snowy,
Wrote down spellings, English,
Maths, Country dancing.
I hurt my knee. Watched t.v.

How did I hurt my knee? I don’t remember country dancing as dangerous. It’s not a contact sport. There were more girls than boys in our class, so some of the girls had to take on the boy role and signify this by wearing a blue sash over their shirt. I was one of the those girls. I wonder what this says about me.

Tuesday 15 January 1985

Very Cold. Got G.S. Bag.
English. Maths, Practisised
our asemmble. Went to
Brownies, Nan came down.

A G.S. Bag? No idea. Was it given out at school?
Those spellings are so bad I’m cringing.
This nan was Connie Jones, who visited us most Tuesdays. She helped my mum with housework, like the ironing.

Wednesday 16 January 1985

Snowy Cold,
S.R.A. Music, knitting,
Singing, History.

S.R.A.? Having looked online, it was the reading comprehension programme which used colours. I remember Roger Red-hat; Billy Blue-hat; Johnny and Jennifer Yellow-hat. I do not remember The Old Man. You can still buy them today. Hundreds of thousands of children must have learnt to read using this programme.

Thursday 17 January 1985

Snowed Cold,
Went to Carisbrooke Castle,
English, Reading, played with
doll makeup.

I have the fabric page I must have bought in the shop at Carisbrooke Castle. Today I live a ten minute walk from the Castle. I’ve walked through that entrance many times.

Played with doll makeup? Me? My ribs are aching.

Diary: 11 January 1985 to 13 January 1985

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Friday 11 January 1985

Cold Dry
Spelling Test, Maths, English
Libary, Played Dominos

The shame of spelling ‘library’ as ‘libary’. Particularly as I went on to gain a MSc in Information Science in 2003. It counted as a professional qualification in librarianship.

Saturday 12 January 1985

Cold dull
Went to Newport with
Dad. Got a headboard for my
bed. Watched A film.

Did we get the headboard from MFI? I remember it clearly. It was dark pink in plush velvet, with wooden struts. Why did I need a new headboard?

Sunday 13 January 1985

Snowy Cold
Went to Sunday School.
Played tanks with Mark.
Watched television.

Day 13 and I finally mention my younger brother Mark. He was 7 at the time. He died in 2001, aged 23, of a heart attack. RIP. I have no memory of those tanks.

On 13 January 1985 soft rockers Foreigner got to number one with I Want To Know What Love Is, displacing Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas?

Diary: 7 January 1985 to 10 January 1985

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Monday 7 January 1985

Very Cold,
Went back to school,
done Math, English, P.E
Drawing. Watched T.V.

The first day of term at Northwood County Primary School. This was my final year at primary school. In those days, on the Isle of Wight, you went to primary school until you were aged 9. (We call this Year 4). Then you transferred to a middle school for four years (Years 5 to 8). In 2011 the Isle of Wight reorganised its education provision to a two-tier system and did away with middle schools.

Tuesday 8 January 1985

Snowed.
Made a Snowman, School.
Maths English Drawing
Watched t.v. Spellings.

It implies I made a snowman before going to school. Did I make it in the small front garden or the larger back garden? I imagine waking up, opening the curtains, and seeing the ground covered in snow. Not a sight we ever took for granted.

Wednesday 9 January 1985

Cold but dry.
Drawing, English, Maths,
Watched t.v. played a
game.

The lack of detail is killing me. What was the tv programme? What was the game? Who did I play it with? Who won?

Thursday 10 January 1985

Cold, Dull.
English, Poem, knitting, Maths,
Played Dominos.

Did I write a poem? Or read someone’s poem?
Looks like we were knitting in school. I had knitting paraphernalia at home too. My nan (Connie Jones) was a keen knitter. For many years she knitted our school jumpers. I remember being measured up in the summer holidays, and new school jumpers would be ready for the start of term in September.
That should be spelt Dominoes of course. Were they a Christmas present?

Diary: 4 January 1985 to 6 January 1985

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Friday 4 January 1985

Dull
Watched Superman 2.
Played with lego and a game.

Superman II was released in cinemas in 1980 so I must have watched this on television or VCR. The film is rated a PG. My parents must have considered it suitable. I wonder how much time they spent on this decision? As much time as my partner and I spend when considering what our daughter can watch?
My diary is very factual. I just state what I did. I rarely say whether I enjoyed it. Is this typical for a 9 year old?

Saturday 5 January 1985

Cold Sunny
Took all the decorations
down. Played game.
Watched television.

We were a family that followed tradition and took down the Christmas decorations on Twelfth Night. Did the lounge seem bigger with the Christmas tree packed away? We had a plastic tree, not a real one. The tree lasted for 35 years and at the end was rather bald.

Sunday 6 January 1985

Snowed cold
Went to Auntie Lillys and
Uncle Jack. Played lots
of games.

It snowed. The Isle of Wight has a very mild climate. I remember little snow from my childhood.
Auntie Lilly and Uncle Jack were my dad’s aunty and uncle. They lived in Binstead.
I used the word ‘lots’. I’m going to interpret this to mean that I had an enjoyable day. I expect we played board games and card games. I remember Great Uncle Jack teaching me to play Rummy and encouraging me to hold my cards close so no one could see them.

Those giraffe jokes are terrible. Did I think they were funny when I was 9?

Diary: 31 December 1984 to 3 January 1985

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Monday 31 December 1984

Dull, Watched t.v.
Played a game

I decided to start with a summary of the weather. I continued this for every day of the diary.
It doesn’t sound like the most thrilling New Year’s Eve, but I was only 9.

Tuesday 1 January 1985

Cold dry
Nan came down, played a game
Uncle Chris came down, went to
MFI. A.Sheila came with are presents.

Uncle Chris was my dad’s younger brother. He had a car. My dad didn’t, and I never knew why. 
MFI was a chain of furniture shops which lasted from 1964 to 2008. I remember it being “cheap and cheerful.” Did we buy anything?
Aunty Sheila was my dad’s aunt. She lived in Cowes, two miles away. Did we get presents for New Year? We would have got Christmas presents from her the week before. Are/our: I was only 9. Look at my neat handwriting.

Wednesday 2 January 1985

Cold dry. Nan came down,
played games.
Watched television.

I refer to both my dad’s mum and my mum’s mum as Nan throughout the diary. This was Connie Jones, my mum’s mum. Her husband Bob died in 1981 when I was 5. She lived by herself in Newport, three miles away.

Thursday 3 January 1985

Cloudy Sunny
Watched television
Played with lego and a game.

Was it more cloudy or more sunny? Or an equal amount of both?
The perennially popular Lego. What game did I play? I wasn’t big on details back then.