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:
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.
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.
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).
“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.
You know that a posting really is for the completists, when the highlight of an 18 day period reads “met Petra in London – went to St James’s Park and Chinese lunch.”
I was doing the first of several intensive study periods at Financial Training in Latimer Road. That was a shlep from my parents house in Streatham Hill – a train to Victoria and then two tubes.
The courses were intensive but really just crammer courses from my point of view. Most of the material was already within my personal body of knowledge, but I needed to have that material readily to mind in forms that would get me through the exams.
Then I returned to work and was working, as oft I did, for Laurence Corner, which used NH for accounting services as well as audit.
Enough preamble, here are the diary notes, for the sake of completeness.
Saturday, 28 September 1985 – went to library and shops and did some work – stayed in evening worked etc.
Sunday, 29 September 1985– Lazyish day – did some studying – had lunch with folks – saw Grandma Jenny etc.
Monday, 30 September 1985 – intensive course today. Revised at home in evening.
Tuesday 1 October 1985 – test and more classes today – spent evening in revising (had a game of cards too).
Wednesday 2 October 1985 – exam today at FT – went ok – v. tired after – lazy evening.
Thursday, 3 October 1985 – got result of exam – did v well – went to NH [Newman Harris] before going to learner drivers course. Aarons [Lionel & Dina] we’re here in evening and spoke to Petra.
Friday, 4 October 1985 – last day of course – got away early – spent evening in.
Saturday, 5 October 1985 – met Petra in London – went to St James’s Park and Chinese lunch – spent evening at home.
Sunday, 6 October 1985 – lazy day – did some work, had big lunch etc.
Monday, 7 October 1985 – office ok – stayed in evening/did some work etc.
Tuesday, 8 October 1985 – work ok – did some studying in evening.
Wednesday, 9 October 1985 – office ok – went over to Andrea’s for dinner – very pleasant evening – feeling a bit ill though.
Thursday, 10 October 1985– work ok. Caroline for lunch – went to backseat drivers in evening – not feeling too good.
Friday, 11 October 1985 – work (VL) [Laurence Corner] ok – had an easy evening in.
Saturday, 12 October 1985 – did some studying/shopping/taping etc – stayed in evening worked etc.
Sunday, 13 October 1985 – lazyish day – did some work etc – big lunch etc, lazy evening in.
Monday 14 October 1985 – office ok – VL. Easy evening – did some studying etc.
Tuesday 15 October 1985 work ok? – VL – stayed in evening – did some work/study.
Image generated to my specification by Nano Banana 2 Lite (Google Flow)
I think it was dad’s suggestion, having seen a promotional flyer.
I sort of wanted to learn to drive, but also sort-of realised that I had no need for a car, nor the means to buy and run one, until I had qualified, which was three years away at least.
Thus, I joined a municipal “learner drivers course” that taught you everything you ever wanted to know about driving but were afraid to ask…but didn’t take you anywhere near an actual motor vehicle to actually learn to drive.
I sort of liked the course and sort of recognised its futility.
It was more interesting than doing my Financial Training homework…
…actually, probably a similar level of uninteresting but at least it was differently uninteresting.
I seem to recall that one or two of the people on the course with me were quite interesting, in that they were rather different form most of the people I got to meet through my University and then working life.
I referred to it as Learner Drivers Course in my first two diary entries, before switching to my nickname for the course:
The Back Seat Drivers Course.
Dad probably rued the day he recommended that I take this course, as I am sure I pointed out his minor breaches of the Highway Code from the safety of my back seat whenever I spotted same as his passenger. Serves you right, dad.
Image generated to my specification by Nano Banana 2 Lite (Google Flow)
The diary is not very revealing for these two weeks in September 1985, but it gives an idea of the early stages of my full-time working life. More than work colleagues, I was socialising with friends from Keele, school and BBYO. Mostly the latter at that stage of the proceedings, by the looks of it.
Wednesday, 11 September 1985 – office ok – stayed in evening – spoke to Hayward [Burt, my successor as Education & Welfare officer at Keele] most of the evening.
Thursday, 12 September 1985 – office – busy etc. Stayed in evening – uneventful day.
Friday, 13 September 1985 – work ok – had lunch with Ashley [Michaels] – had a lazy evening at home.
Saturday, 14 September 1985 – went shopping etc – did very little today – stayed in evening.
Sunday, 15 September 1985. Lazyish day – big lunch and lazy afternoon – collected Grandma Jenny – lazy evening.
Monday, 16 September 1985 – Rosh Hashana – shule morning – lunch, then to [Doreen & Stanley] Benjamin’s for supper – quite nice.
Tuesday, 17 September 1985 – Rosh Hashana – shule morning – big lunch and lazy day at home.
Wednesday, 18 September 1985 – back to work – ok. Stayed in evening.
Thursday, 19 September 1985 – work ok – kept busy. Had a lazy evening at home.
Friday, 20 September 1985 – work ok – went over to Anil’s [Biltoo] in evening – cooked huge Chinese meal and then went out for a drink.
Saturday, 21 September 1985 – went to shops etc – went over to Andrea’s [Dean] in evening for dinner -> Mandy Green’s party – stayed at Andrea’s.
Apologies that I don’t remember much about this party. I think Mandy Green lived out Croydon/Sutton way at that time, which might explain why staying with Andrea afterwards made sense. I expect it was all good fun.
Sunday 22 September 1985 – returned home – lazy day – had Chinese lunch. Met Jilly in evening – had drink and then Chinese supper.
I love the notion that I had a two Chinese meal day. Chinese lunch will have been with my parents. Probably at Mrs Wongs in Streatham at that time. Drink and Chinese supper with Jilly would no doubt have been in Chinatown. Unusual for me not to name the restaurant. Probably Yungs, Mayflower or Joy King Lau in 1985.
Monday 23 September 1985 – last day in office before course – tied up loose ends et cetera – stayed in evening.
Tuesday 24 September 1985–1st day of course – had to leave early to go to Col Nidre.
I am not going to write a great deal about my three apprenticeship years, autumn 1985 to autumn 1988. I had decided to qualify as a Chartered Accountant while I decided what I wanted to be when I grow up.
I succeeded in qualifying as quickly as possible but, 40 or so years later, I have yet to decide what I want to be when I grow up.
To facilitate the process of qualifying as quickly as possible, I returned to my parents’ house after leaving Keele. That decision probably didn’t much help my emotional state, which was a sense of “going backwards” from the highs of being Union sabbatical for a year to the mundanity of regular working life for apprentices in their 20’s.
Still, I didn’t find the studying too taxing [did you see what I did there?] so I was able to read a lot – my leisure reading focus being on play texts from the Westminster Library on Marylebone Road – and go out with friends to theatre, cinema, concerts and restaurants.
I was also able to help my parents out financially, contributing to the household bills, at a time that dad was looking to retire but signally failing to sell the shop.
Enough context – there’ll be diary extracts and articles about signature events.
Monday, 2 September 1985 – first day of full-time employment – went okay – stayed in evening.
Tuesday, 3 September 1985 – work OK – had a lazy evening in after.
Wednesday, 4 September 1985 – met Caroline for lunch today and went out with John [White] and Vicky [I cannot remember her surname, only her nickname] in evening –> Yung’s -> film Insignificance
Thursday, 5 September 1985 – office ok – went over to Martin and Barbie Wilson’s house [Petra’s father and step-mother in Burgess Hill] for evening.
Friday 6 September 1985 – work okay – had a drink with [work colleagues] Mike & Sandra [King] after – went home – lazy evening in.
Saturday, 7 September 1985 – lazyish day – taping – shops – easy evening in also.
Sunday, 8 September 1985 – lazy day – [Uncle] Michael came round – Chinese lunch – sorted things in the afternoon and lazy evening in.
Monday, 9 September 1985 – work ok – went to Annalisa’s for lunch – had an easy evening in.
Tuesday 10 September 1985 – work ok – went to meet Annalisa after work – went to Gate to see Three Strindberg plays -> Italian meal after – very pleasant.
OK, that evening in Notting Hill Gate seeing Strindberg and eating Italian food needs its own article.
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.
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:
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..
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.
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.
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…
…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 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…
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.
