Category: Work Life

Moving All My Stuff To Clanricarde Gardens With Larry The Drummer, 29 November 1988

OK, so I had clinched the deal to rent Clanricarde Gardens, collecting the keys on the Saturday…

A Busy Weekend Socialising, Hoity-Toitying At The National Theatre And Setting Up My New Flat, 25 to 27 November 1988

..but the reality was, I had taken on rather too much. I had a swathe of driving lessons booked (five lessons in three days, to use up my purchased block of 10), had agreed to do several stacks of exam marking for Financial Training and had arranged activities on several evenings…

…and was due to start work at Binder Hamlyn on Thursday 1 December…before which I was determined to move my stuff from Woodfield Avenue to Clanricarde Gardens.

My friends at the Hiway Driving School suggested that their friend Larry, who was a drummer and who had a drum-kit-sized van and liked to make a bit of extra dosh during drumming down time, might be willing to help me with the move. Larry stopped by to meet me (I think one day the preceding week). I gave Larry an approximate size of load, Larry seemed confident that we could manage that much in one van journey, so we agreed a fee and that Tuesday afternoon was a suitable slot for both of us.

Here is my note book page for that Tuesday:

Ambitious.

1.15 Schlep

Returning ASAP

The imperative for returning was because I had arranged to cook dinner for several of my South London-based friends at Woodfield Avenue that evening. I must have been out of my mind.

Transporting my stuff in Larry’s van proved to be a bigger logistical problem than either of us had bargained for. Specifically, once we started stacking boxes and crates of my worldly goods into the van, it became apparent very rapidly that it would be a snug fit to get the job done in two loads, let alone one.

I was convinced that we would need to do the second load on another day, as we both had evening engagements, but Larry was confident that we could do two circuits and still be back in good time. Larry was right.

One of the elements that made Larry right was his monumental strength and stamina at the schlepping element of the job. Especially at the Clanricarde Gardens end, where there are two flights of high-ceiling-house staircase to navigate. I lost count of the number of times Larry lapped me carrying stuff up the stairs. My guess is that he came close to managing two armfuls for every one I managed…and his tended to be heavier armfuls too.

Too big a job for Dumbo, even too big for his Chelsea Tractor friend in the street

He was a very nice, friendly fellow. Larry told me about his drumming during those few hours we spent together. I especially remember him saying that he had drummed with the Joe Jackson Band. So, on researching this piece, 30 years later, I surmise that Larry is most probably Larry Tolfree, who was the drummer with the band when I saw Joe Jackson at Keele in 1982:

After The Exams, Lots Of Fun At Keele, Late June 1982

Here is a track from Jumping Jive in which the drummer (whom I suspect is Larry Tolfree at that time) displays his considerable talents as a drummer:

I recall we did the full two rounds of removals in the space of four hours, allowing Larry plenty of time to get to his evening gig and me enough time to prepare dinner for six.

The other thing I recall was Larry’s extreme unwillingness to take more money than we had originally agreed. I wanted to give him double the money because it really had turned out to be double the job he originally bargained for. Larry insisted that it was his own fault that he had overestimated the size of his van. I insisted that it was my fault that I had underestimated (or not comprehensively stated) the size of the load. In the end, I think I persuaded him (reluctantly) to split the difference and take some extra money, but not double money.

Thirty years later, I’m finding it hard to imagine quite such a hyper-active day. I hope I had planned a relatively easy meal to cook…

…I’ll report on that and my actual transfer to Clanricarde Gardens in the next piece.

A Busy Weekend Socialising, Hoity-Toitying At The National Theatre And Setting Up My New Flat, 25 to 27 November 1988

Celebrated clinching the deal for the flat with Bobbie on the Friday evening, starting with an early evening visit to the National Theatre to see a platform talk about Kenneth Tynan. I think those Platform things were a new idea that autumn…an idea that is now more than 30 years old. Our first one had been Tony Sher some weeks earlier.

This Kenneth Tynan one was in the Cottesloe and was a really interesting, varied panel: Adrian Mitchell, Jonathan Miller, Edward Petherbridge, Kathleen Tynan and Irving Wardle.

As the diary says (if you can read it) we went on to the Archduke afterwards for dinner.

On the Saturday I collected the keys to Clanricarde Gardens and did some shopping. I remember spending more than a few bob in Tylers (which was up on Westbourne Grove back then) – I probably still have one or two of the items I bought that day – I’m pretty sure I am still on my first clothes horse, for example.

I also bought food for the Sunday, but the crowd that visited that day – John, Mandy, Ali Dabbs, Valerie and Bobbie would all have traipsed to Woodfield Avenue for that meal – I must have shlepped the grub from Notting Hill to Streatham Hill on the Saturday evening – the new flat was not yet fit for habitation.

What did I cook that day? Can’t remember. Bound to have been Chinese and/or South-East Asian food though…just possibly Southern Asian for that crowd. It would have been good, whatever it was, though I say so myself. I must have been knackered by the Sunday, though. What a week it had been.

Flat Hunting In Earnest, 23 to 25 November 1988

I mentioned in the previous piece that I had first sight of Clanricarde Gardens on 23 November:

Driving Lessons, Jilly Dinner & First Sighting Of Clanricarde Gardens, 21 to 23 November 1988

I’m not 100% sure it was in fact the first place I viewed. I have copious notes on some other places, most of which I have no recollection seeing. Here are those notes for those who like trying to decode expertly crafted ciphers:

So, judging by those pages of notes, I must have seen the place in Quebec Street and the Netley Street property before I saw Clanricarde Gardens.

Discerning decipher-folk night surmise that I was not overly impressed by New Quebec Street. Actually, the truth is, it made a real impression on me, but not in a good way.

The flat was above an Indian restaurant, on the junction of New Quebec Street and Seymour Street. I think the letting of it was the responsibility of the restaurant manager. That restaurant is (at the time of writing, late 2018) still an Indian restaurant, Zayna, a more up-market looking place now. I remember it was a bit of a red flock wallpaper sort of Indian restaurant back in November 1988 and the red look had been continued into the flat, which also smelt strongly of scent.

Frankly, I suspected that it might have been used as a knocking shop from the colour scheme, general decor and smell…not that I have ever personally been acquainted with the inside of a Marylebone knocking shop, you understand.

I also remember looking at the outside of the building and noticing a large crack in the outside wall of the flat; I wondered whether the strong smell of scent was intended to cover a smell of damp which seemed, to my inexpert eyes, inevitable given the size of the crack.

I don’t remember Netley Street – I think I gave it a very quick look ahead of Clanricarde Gardens that Wednesday as I’m pretty sure that Pam Russell at About Town in Holland Park had suggested that Clanricarde Gardens was a flat she thought would tick all of my boxes. I jotted Pam’s details at the top of the first page of my notes and I am sure that it was indeed she who found me my flat.

I do also recall seeing several others, as I felt I should have some other viewings by which to compare. I also felt that I needed to keep other irons in the fire, even though I had spoken with and sensed that Tony Shaw, the Clanricarde landlord was an honourable fellow who meant it when he said he would hold the flat for me for 36 hours.

I especially remember seeing a very utilitarian new build flat in Holborn and a couple of flats on Gloucester Terrace, one of which had a sort of mezzanine thing that I think had been used as a student digs for several people all packed in.

Actually Clanricarde Gardens was occupied by a trio of architecture students before me.

Diary says I met Caroline for lunch on that Thursday and that I went to Bramley Road to pick up some exam marking before seeing those Gloucester Terrace flats and I think also the Holborn one. I also arranged a second viewing of Clanricarde Gardens, for which Bobbie agreed to join me as a wise second opinion.

On my first visit I had spotted a pub just around the corner from Clanricarde, on the corner of Bayswater Road and Ossington Street, The Champion, so I arranged to meet Bobbie in there. I figured I’d get there first (she is always late) and that I could get some exam marking done while I waited for her.

While I was waiting and marking, on several occasions I was approached by one of the locals, asking me what I was doing around there and (when I told them my purpose) welcoming me and wishing me well. I decided that it was a very friendly neighbourhood with pleasant, welcoming people.

A few week’s later, when Ashley Fletcher visited me at Clanricarde Gardens for the first time, I discovered that The Champion was, at that time, one of the best-known gay pick-up pubs in London. The kindness of strangers, at least partially explained.

Anyway, Bobbie took one look at the place and said, “what are you waiting for? It’s a super flat – just take it.”

So the next morning I signed and sealed the deal with Pam in that pokey lettings agency on Holland Park Avenue, above Tootsies (now, as I write in 2018, Giraffe).

That Clanricarde Gardens decision was a good decision.

A few doors down, picture linked from (and clickable to) Philip Wilkinson’s wonderful blog piece about our street

There is a superb blog piece about our street by Philip Wilkinson – click here.

Driving Lessons, Jilly Dinner & First Sighting Of Clanricarde Gardens, 21 to 23 November 1988

One factor that nearly prevented me from getting my new job with Binder Hamlyn Management Consultants was the fact that I did not drive. As part of my “deal”, I promised to take driving lessons and try to qualify as a driver as soon as possible.

So, the Monday after leaving Newman Harris, I enrolled at the Hiway Driving School in Streatham Hill and commenced my lessons. 11.15 on 21 November was the first time I ever took the wheel of a real car.

I’d love to report some tales of derring do and/or some scrapes and/or some near misses, but I’m afraid that my transformation from non-motorist to motorist was pretty much an anecdote-free affair.

That week I had a lesson every morning before going on to do something else. Most of that something else was a combination of exam marking for Financial Training and flat hunting. In the matter of flat hunting, I was advised, at that time, to study the classified ads in the London Evening Standard as soon after publication as possible, in order to track what was going on and to jump in to see a place or two if I saw anything I fancied.

Hence, I imagine, the driving lessons mid morning, enabling me to pick up the paper early lunchtime, after my lesson.

On the Tuesday evening, Jilly came over for dinner after work. 6:30ish is the only timing indication in the appointment diary. I cannot remember where she worked at that time (was it already the Barbican Centre by then?) but my diary helps me to recall that she lived in a flat in Nether Street, Finchley. I remember us finding that street name funny.

Nor do I recall what I cooked for Jilly that evening, but I’ll guess it will have been one of my Chinese and/or South-East Asian specials. I do remember that Jilly was full of useful advice for the flat hunting and that her advice was timely, as I had pretty much drawn blanks from my classified trawls those first two days.

I think her advice included “ringing up some agents in the areas I fancied and asking them to get on the case for me” – in other words, to look at agent ads as well as the classifieds. I labour this point because, I’m pretty sure, that is the method that got me to Clanricarde Gardens (and some other places) the next day.

Thanks, Jilly.

Jilly Visiting me At Keele, c1984

Update – Jilly responds:

I found [your diary entry] a little hard to read; when it talked about “dinner” with Jilly, I had to read it three times before it (dinner) stopped looking like “I am vinyl”, but eventually, I realised what I was reading about.


Gosh, that was a long time ago, and yes, I remember living in Nether Street, when, I think, I was working at Green Moon PR Agency.


I must admit, I can’t remember much about the flat hunting advice, except that I probably would have told you to be very quick about going to see something that you liked the look of, especially in those days before mobiles, email, and the like.

So, on the Wednesday, through an agency whose name has escaped me, but I recall it was located above Tootsies Restaurant on Holland Park Avenue, I saw Clanricarde Gardens for the first time and was so taken with it I thought I had probably found what I was looking for first dips. It was only the fact that I hadn’t yet seen anywhere else, combined with the fact that other agents were on my case now and leaving me messages at Woodfield Avenue, that kept me viewing for the rest of that day and the next day.

I shall write a piece about some of the strange places I saw, once I have dug out some more notes, as I am sure I have a note pad on this topic as well as my diaries.

My Last Day At Newman Harris – Eating & Drinking To The Fore, 18 November 1988

Left NH & Co. SB took me for lunch…

NH & Co is Newman Harris & Co, SB is Stanley Bloom. I don’t recall where we went for lunch.

Had leaving do in eve. Drinks at Phoenix. Meal at Melati.

I’ll write more about Newman Harris elsewhere no doubt. The Phoenix on Cavendish Square was often the pub of choice by virtue of being the nearest, not the dearest. Thirty years on, a Google search finds the description…

…Shabby chic pub with worn-in tables…

…which surely applied back then too.

Melati was one of my favourite South-East Asian eateries back then – gone now it seems:

https://www.allinlondon.co.uk/restaurants/restaurant-1104.php

The location would have pleased the several South-East Asian colleagues I had at NH&Co and also would have pleased me as an echo of my “leaving do” ten years earlier when, as a 15 year old finishing my first holiday job, at NH, we went to a Malaysian restaurant named Rasa Sayang – I believe long gone and unrelated to any current restaurant of that name.

I cannot remember who joined me for the 1988 leaving do, but I shall list a few names of those I am pretty sure would have been there. Ashley Michaels, Mike and Sandra King, Dilip Vora, Terry, Duncan, Lelash Shah, Varsha Yadav…

…perhaps someone who was there and who has a phenomenal memory will stumble across this piece and help fill in the details.

A Surprisingly Quiet Week, 31 October to 6 November 1988

I led a pretty lively existence between passing my accountancy finals and starting the next major chapter of my life, but this particular week was surprisingly quiet – at least as far as my diary is concerned.

I remember the function at Chartered Accountants’ Hall quite well, writing some 30 years later. I didn’t feel a strong sense of affinity or identity with that group, nor did I feel that I had achieved all that much in qualifying, other than a stepping stone to bigger and better things. Whereas some of the people I chatted to at the function seemed to be in thrall to their achievement and to the physical symbols of the profession…which I suppose was the main purpose of the function.

My meeting with Brian Fraiman on 2 April would have been in his capacity as client and mine as professional; I was doing a small assignment for his legal firm, Fremont, at that time. Our subsequent engagements have all been the other way around.

I do not recall the Enterprise Forum evening at all. It won’t be anything to do with the modern Tory Party Enterprise Forum thingie, which didn’t even exist back then. Goodness knows what this 1980s Enterprise Forum even was.

I used to visit Grandma Jenny after work fairly regularly – probably not noted in the diary every time – but these particular weeks I made more notes than usual and my Thursday visit gets a mention.

I’ll write more about her on a more appropriate occasion than simply one of my after work visits towards the end of her life. She was lovely.

Grandma Jenny no doubt gave me some chicken soup from a tin and at that time was possibly still able to make something substantial for me to eat, although she was going blind. I probably helped her to wade through her post, which was mostly requests for charity which she could ill afford but which she acquiesced to if the ask was right; about half of the requests.

Work, Andy Levinson & Watching Football, Possibly The Horse & Groom In Streatham, 28 & 29 June 1986

Saturday 28 June – Worked hard today – went to Levinsons briefly – [squiggle] etc. Mainly work.

Sunday 29 June – Did exam in morning – went to G [Grandma] Jenny in afternoon – watched cup final early evening – went for drink with Andrew after – met Mary etc.

I was working hard at that time, doing my accountancy exams (presumably that Sunday morning thing was a self-administered mock) while working full time and helping to bring dad’s business (he had sold the shop in Feburary) to a graceful closure with the tax authorities.

This was still less than a year after I left Keele; my diaries suggest that I almost exclusively spent my spare time with old friends from Keele apart from my work crowd and some of my old BBYO crowd.

This reference to spending time with Andrew Levinson is the first reference to an old friend from the street or school in 1986 (unless I’ve missed saomething on the skim).

It might well have been Andrew who told me about the sad fate of Wayne Manhood, which I misremembered as something that happened about a year after I left school…but I have it on authority now that it happened about a year after I left University.

“Mary etc.” I think must be a lovely young woman I knew at Keele named Mary who kept popping up wherever I happened to be in that first year after I left Keele. I remember bumping into her when I was doing accountancy courses in Latimer Road and also that she ended up in Streatham for a while.

I dread to think where Andrew and I went for that drink and therefore where Mary etc. were also hanging out back then – our end of Streatham was not great for pubs and I doubt if we wandered far. Horse and Groom most likely – it’s had a makeover fairly recently (he writes in 2020) but was well grimey back then.

Not this type of grime…

…but no doubt you get the gist.

Keele Education & Welfare Officer In Training: University Of York (Education), University Of Reading (Welfare), University of Keele (Resit Result Appeals) & University Of Life (Beer Tasting), First Half September 1984

University of York, Goodricke College by David Dixon, CC BY-SA 2.0

Training Week: York & Reading

The National Union Of Students (NUS) provided training courses for sabbatical officers in September. I think all four of us (Kate Fricker, John White, Pady Jalali and me) went on at least one or two. Here are my diary entries about my week:

Monday, 3 September 1984 up early – Bobbie [Scully] dropped me at Stoke. Met Kathy [from the North Staffs Poly Students’ Union if I recall correctly] and went to [University of] York for Education and Representations (E&R) Module.

Tuesday, 4 September 1984 – E&R module in York (okay). Got back to Stoke, went to Kathy’s for a while. Came back to Keele.

Wednesday, 5 September 1984 – Got up really early to go to [University of] Reading for Welfare Module.

Thursday, 6 September 1984 – Welfare Module in Reading (v good indeed). Got back to Keele late and very tired.

Friday, 7 September 1984 – Tired today – cleared some of the backlog of work – ate in McDonald’s in evening.

Saturday, 8 September 1984 – Went shopping in morning – did some work in afternoon – went to Wolstanton to meet Vera [sic – Veera Bachra] in evening.

Sunday, 9 September 1984 – Rose late. Went in to office to clear work in afternoon – went over to Kate [Fricker]’s for meal in evening.

I thought better of the welfare course than I did of the education and representations one. I think I felt I had previously acquired most of the negotiation skills and possessed the requisite common sense that the first course was trying to impart. Whereas the welfare one steeped me in some techniques and protocols that hadn’t occurred to me before and stick with me to this day, not least the notion that volunteers and sabbaticals should signpost and refer, but not attempt to advise and/or counsel.

I remember Phil Woolas being quite heavily involved in at least one of, if not both of, the courses. He was NUS President at the time and went on to a ministerial career in the Labour Governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

I had forgotten that Veera Bachra had remained in The Potteries even until then and that we kept in touch into my sabbatical year. She had been my neighbour in Barnes L Block for a couple of years and became a good pal, as described in several Ogblog pieces (this link all those tagged Veera). I do wonder what happened to her subsequently.

Eating with Kate Fricker, more often at my place than at hers but on this occasion at hers, was a fairly regular occurrence throughout our sabbatical year.

Aftermath Of Resits Week

Reinforcements: Annalisa de Mercur, picture thanks to Mark Ellicott

I had been primed to be ready for a constant stream of people through my office, primarily those who had failed their resits and wanted help with appeals and/or pastoral care. It’s just as well I’d been primed.

Thus spake my diary:

Monday, 10 September 1984 – Busy day getting ready for the onslaught etc – Kate came over for a meal in the evening.

Tuesday, 11 September 1984 – resit results came out today – extremely chaotic and exhausting day. Worked till quite late.

Wednesday, 12 September 1984 – Appeals business all day. – Annalisa arrived as reinforcements. – came over for a drink in evening.

Thursday, 13 September 1984 -very busy day with appeals etc. Worked till quite late. Annalisa came over for dinner in evening.

Friday, 14 September 1984 very busy with appeals today – Bobbie arrived early in the evening. Went to Pinocchio’s for dinner and came back.

Saturday, 15 September 1984 Bobby left early. I got up quite late – went shopping with Kate – worked in afternoon – Annalisa and I went over to Kate’s for dinner in evening.

Sunday, 16 September 1984 – Got up fairly late – came into office for afternoon etc. Had Kate and Annalisa for dinner in evening.

Would you believe that Pinocchio’s is still an Italian Restaurant, albeit rebranded Pasta Di Piazza with decent enough reviews still. For sure it was one of the better places in Newcastle0-Under-Lyme in 1984.

Annalisa was on my Education Sub-Committee and very dedicated to the task she was too. Coming up to Keele, to help with appeals week, was over and above the call of duty, as were many of Annalisa’s sterling efforts that year.

Progressing From Appeals To Beer-Tasting

Ale be seeing you in all the old familiar places…

The appeals process continued into the early part of the following week, after which attention switched to the vexed question of beer.

In particular, under our new bar regime, we were very keen to offer real ales on a regular basis and had settled on the ballroom bar as a suitable location (actually the only suitable bar) for the storage and serving of such beers.

Other Ogblog postings, previous and to come, attest that we committee folk were quite traumatised by the process of dismissing the bar managers and the subsequent appeals processes. But I confess that we did enjoy the several field trips and organised tastings by the breweries that were courting us for business in that latter part of the summer. The diary leaves me in no doubt:

Monday, 17 September 1984 – Very busy day indeed with these appeals. Worked till very late.

Tuesday, 18 September 1984 extremely hectic last day of appeals, etc, – cooked. Came down to union and got pissed at John Smith’s expense.

Wednesday, 19 September 1984 -Very tired today – took it fairly easy. Got pissed at Allied Breweries expense tonight.

Thursday, 20 September 1984 – Tired and not very industrious today. Went to union in the evening and had to buy own drinks – didn’t stay long.

Friday, 21 September 1984 -Still a bit shattered. Went over to Kate’s for meal in the evening.

Levity By The Lake

Keele Student’s Summer Working In London 1983, Part Four: Twixt Kenton, Centre Point, West End, Streatham, Friends & Family, September 1983

Centre Point Snooker Hall – This Picture “Borrowed” from the Crossrail Learning Legacy

My last few weeks of work that summer were a busy time. I was mostly working on Laurie Krieger’s various enterprises during the second half of that summer, which included Price Buster Records in Rupert Street (the one bit of the Harlequin Records empire he retained), Leisureplay (which was an arcade games business) and Centre Point Snooker Hall (depicted above), which at that time he was expanding also to include a gym venture, one within Centre point and the other out east (Barking if I remember correctly).

I spent most of my time for him pulling together various accounting records at the empire’s nerve centre – a modest former retail unit in Kenton. The team there was governed by a wonderful administrator named Marge who had a trusty part-time assistant (Jean I think), occasionally interrupted by Laurie’s former majordomo Mossy (Mr Moss) who ran Leisureplay and the occasional visit from Laurie himself.

You’re a young man. What do you think of this idea…

…he’d say, bouncing some new commercial idea off me. I usually didn’t much fancy the offer, but would always caveat my answers by saying that I’m probably not his target audience.

…yes…alright, but do you think young people in general will go for that?

…Laurie would often persist. He was a relentless entrepreneur.

The previous summer I had endeared myself to Marge and the team at Kenton by proving to be more than useful at the daily quiz on Radio London, which seemed to please them no end:

Winner, Winner, Radio London Pop Quiz Winner, Seven Singles – Summer 1982

Anyway, we’re here to talk about the tail end of the 1983 summer in this piece, so here are the diary pages and some comments/links to explain the interesting bits

Wednesday 31 August…Marianne [Gilmour’s] for dinner

Thursday 1 September…met Jilly [Black] went on to proms..

My First Night At the Proms: Me, Jilly & Claudio, 1 September 1983

Sunday 4 September 1983…[Uncle] Michael for lunch [he’d have visited my grandparents’ graves as was traditional at that time of year]…Paul [Deacon] came over later.

Friday 9 September 1983 – …helped Mum – Jacquie, Len & Mark [Briegal], Michael & Pam [Harris] came over for dinner – v nice

Sunday 11 September 1983 – Stanley & Doreen [Benjamin] came over for lunch – went over to Wendy’s [Robbins] in evening.

Basically the Jewish holidays Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur dominated these weeks.

Monday 12 September 1983 – Busy day Kenton – went out with Caroline in evening.

Tuesday 13 September 1983 – Finished P/B [Price Buster] today – went to office. Took mum and dad to The Rivals in eve.

The Rivals by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Olivier Theatre, 13 September 1983

Friday 16 September 1983 – busy day of work – lunch with Ashley [Michaels]…

Saturday 17 September 1983 – Yom Kippur – broke fast with G Jenny & Uncle Louis [Barst]…

Sunday 18 September 1983 – Nice lunch – Wendy came over in afternoon…

Tuesday 20 September 1983 …went to Annalisa [de Mercur’s] for lunch – went out with Jilly in eve – Pastels [was that a wine bar or something?] -> Joy King Lau [a favourite Chinese restaurant near Leicester Square]

Wednesday 21 September 1983 …worked late – boozing with Mike [King] till late

Thursday 22 September 1983 Felt grotty today! [see worked late / boozing till late the day before – what did you expect, kid?] Went to lunch late with [Sandy] Yap…cold coming on [this all reads a bit self-inflicted to my older eyes forty years later]

Friday 23 September 1983 – Last day. Went Stockpot lunch Yap – after work Phoenix -> Mayflower for feast – v nice.

Mayflower – was excellent – now closed – image “borrowed” from Hungry Onion.

Either I was now seen as part of the team or the gang wanted to make absolutely sure I was gone. You, dear reader, can decide.

Saturday 24 September 1983 …went to Caroline [Freeman’s…now Curtis] party – stayed at Simon’s [Jacobs]…

Sunday 25 September 1983…left about midday. Had Chinese meal at home…

The Chinese meal at home was probably from Mrs Wong. Not quite the same ass Mayflower feast, but it would have been good enough. Anyway, 40 years later, Mrs Wong is still there…

…well, the restaurant is, possibly not the middle-aged woman who ran the place abck then…

…whereas Mayflower is gone.

Image “borrowed” from All In London

Keele Student’s Summer Working In London 1983, Part Three: Meeting Adagio Acrobats & “Visiting Andrea’s New Mansion”, Second Half Of August 1983

Stephen Williams / Bushy House, Bushy Park – – aka “Andrea’s New Mansion” – via Wikimedia Commons

Following the theft of Paul Deacon’s car from outside our house in Woodfield avenue, reported in the preceding piece…

Keele Student’s Summer Working In London 1983, Part Two: Work, Friends, Music & Car Theft, First Half Of August 1983

…one might have expected the week to have become less exciting as it went on – not a bit of it:

Here follow transcriptions and explanations of the highlights:

Wednesday 17 August 1983 – …Chinese meal for lunch – met Jim [Bateman]after work in Bloomsbury – quite pleasant. [This was no doubt similar to after work “meetings” reported previously]

Thursday 18 August 1983 – Lotsa work to do today – went to Daquise with Ashley [Michaels] after work in evening.

Ashley had an approved, private evening job arrangement with one of the firm’s client’s, Daquise Restaurant, to keep the books of account in good order ahead of audit. Over the years I went there with Ashley after work a few times – a symbiotic combination of mentoring and helping him to get his tasks done.

The things that made this arrangement interesting were the historic clientele of the restaurant (see blurb on the home page of the Daquise website), which had been going since just after the second world war, plus the original owners of the place, who had been adagio acrobats in the 1930s as part of a then famous act, The Ganjou Brothers And Juanita.

The Ganjou Brothers & Juanita, from Wkimedia Commons, on the same fair use basis.

The following wonderful video shows more, for those who like this sort of thing. Very slow start (the first two minutes is very dull) but after that the acrobatics is simply stunning and the “interview” hilarious:

Serge Ganjou was ever present at Daquise in those days, so I got to know him quite well on the back of my visits with Ashley. Serge’s wife, Juanita, was also there in the restaurant sometimes. Ashley and I were always fed on those occasions – I already had a taste for that sort of Central/Eastern European food.

Friday 19 August 1983 – Work OK – Chinese lunch – quick drink after -> [then on to] Andrea’s New Mansion – stayed over.

Andrea Dean a few years earlier

Andrea’s dad Paul headed the National Physical Laboratory, which resulted, around that time, in the family taking up rather grand residence within Bushy House.

I love the casual mention of it in my diary at that time, “->Andrea’s new mansion” as if I thought I’d get used to visiting folk in mansions. Mind you, forty years later, in the autumn of 2023, for one reason…

Gresham Society Visit To The Royal Tennis Court, Hampton Court, 14 September 2023

…or another…

…I guess I am now getting rather used to it.

I remember a good few fun parties and sleepovers at Andrea’s grand place – no doubt they will come up in future diary notes.

Saturday 20 August 1983 – …got back lunchtime. Lazyish afternoon – Mays [George and Winifred] came over in evening for dinner

Sunday 21 August 1983 – …Angela & Vivienne [Kessler] came to tea…

Angela & Vivienne 1980 at Auntie Francis’s place

I have no idea why (or whether) John wasn’t there. My diary squiggles are almost illegible, but I think he was away on business on that occasion.

The following week was very quiet by comparison:

Tuesday 23 August 1983 – …went over to Jilly’s for evening – most pleasant

Friday 26 August 1983 – drinks at lunch – went home – lazy evening [those were the days, eh? Half holiday ahead of a bank holiday]

Sunday 28 August 1983 – birthday – went to Inn On the Park for lunch – v nice.

All that ahead of a significant change in work pattern after the bank holiday, as I was then assigned to Laurie Krieger’s Harlequin, Pricebuster & Leisureplay empires. All will be explained in the next instalment.

That holiday weekend, my head was probably still full of adagio acrobats and mansions.

Stephen Williams / Bushy House, Bushy Park