Category: Work Life

Three Weeks, Two Keele Visits & An Inspection Of Paul Deacon’s Gear: Mid November To Early December 1985

Paul Deacon showing off his gear – picture (post 1985) from Paul’s FB images

This period of my life was all about keeping my head down at work and spending as much time with old friends as work and study would allow.

Friday, 15 November 1985 – work okay – met Caroline [Freeman] for lunch – farewell drink for Norman – up to Keele in evening.

Saturday 16 November 1985 – lazyish day. Went to L Block & Thorns – helped Petra with essay etc – dinner in etc.

L Block Barnes was my old flatmates, Alan “Great Yorkshire Pudding” Gorman, Pete Wild and the usurper of my favourite seat, Hayward Burt.

My seat. that was my seat, Hayward.

I cannot imagine what Petra’s essay was about, but as she was first year law at that time, it is safe to say it would have been something criminal, tort or contract. It’s also safe to say tat she would probably have got by without my help.

Sunday, 17 November 1985 – lazyish Sunday – did some work etc – decided to stay over – did so – v nice weekend.

Monday 18 November 1985 – returned to London. Work OK – did some work in the evening etc.

Tuesday, 19 November 1985 – work ok – stayed in evening – did little.

Wednesday, 20 November 1985 – all day at ST [Setty Textiles] – okay. Quiet evening – reading etc.

Thursday, 21 November 1985 – felt absolutely lousy today – spent day at ST. Stayed in evening feeling yucky.

Friday 22 November 1985 – work ok – feeling a bit better today – quiet evening in.

Saturday 23 November 1985 – went to shop with dad briefly -> library -> shops etc. Went over to Paul [Deacon]’s in the evening – inspected his gear.

Paul was, at that time, getting deeply into DJ-ing – I think from memory at radio Kings – the Kings College Hospital radio station. “His gear” will have had something to do with taping and/or DJ-ing. Paul might just remember.

Say something, young Paul! This picture also “borrowed” from Paul’s FB picture stash.

Sunday 24 November 1985 – stayed in all day – worked – had lunch – read and did a bit of taping.

I’m pretty sure that my autumn 1985 taping would have primarily been to do with classical music rather than contemporary music. I have recording lists but not dated ones. I’ll be doing some trawling of those at some point and might add some YouTube Music playlists to point at the stuff I was listening too around that time. I do recall that Mahler started to enter the frame around then. This classic 1948 Vienna Philharmonic recording of Mahler 2 conducted by Bruno Walter was one of the first versions I picked up.

Monday 25 November 1985 – at Setty most of the day today (office for a while). Quiet evening in.

Tuesday 26 November 1985 – work ok – stayed in evening – did some work etc.

Wednesday, 27 November 1985 – work ok – went over to Andrea [Dean]’s in the evening – went out for a meal etc.

Thursday 28 November 1985–Setty ok – went to backseat drivers class in the evening – ok.

Friday 29 November 1985 – work ok – met Caroline for lunch – went to Keele in evening.

Saturday 30 November 1985 – did little today – visited some people etc – meal in evening etc.

Keele didn’t look exactly like this in the winter and absence of Nano Banana Lite 2’s help.

Sunday 1 December 1985 – lazyish day – did some work etc – visited some etc – stayed over.

Monday, 2 December 1985 – went down to London – Setty warehouse for the day – ok – early night.

Tuesday, 3 December 1985 – work ok – Setty – stayed in evening – did some work etc.

Wednesday 4 December 1985 – Setty ok – stopped off at office – met John Boy [White] (inadvertently met Pete Roberts) for drinks & a meal.

Thursday, 5 December 1985 – at Setty today – skipped backseat drivers today – felt tired.

Friday, 6 December 1985 – work ok – stayed in evening – did some work etc.

Highs and Lows In Cardiff & London, Including A Dolls House by Henrik Ibsen At St Stephen’s Theatre Space, Early November 1985

Inside of St Stephen’s Reimagined by Nano Banana Lite 2 on my instruction.

Sunday, 3 November 1985 – not a very nice day – mum and dad went to aborted wedding – I did exam (had Chinese after).

I have no recollection of this aborted wedding incident and cannot imagine whose intended wedding it wasn’t. I sense that mum in particular was upset by the business.

Monday, 4 November 1985 – office ok – I suppose – quiet evening at home.

Tuesday, 5 November 1985 – work ok – lazy-ish evening in.

Wednesday, 6 November 1985 – office ok – took folks out for Greek meal in evening (anniversary).

Not just any anniversary – it was their 30th wedding anniversary. A Greek meal might have been more appropriate for the 20th (China), but I’m sure they thought that me taking them out was a pearl of a gesture.

Thursday, 7 November 1985 – work ok – went to backseat drivers class in evening.

Friday, 8 November 1985 – Odd day at work – Sujen send off at lunchtime – long lunch! Went to Cardiff [to visit Jilly Black] in evening – Italian meal etc.

Saturday, 9 November 1985 – Earlyish start but did little – day went quick. Went to see Ibsen Doll’s House and for Chinese meal in evening.

OK, I have managed to find a newspaper clipping about that Doll’s House production in Cardiff. It seems we attended the last night.

Doll's House Argus Doll’s House Argus 1 Nov 1985 South Wales Argus (Newport, Gwent, Wales) Newspapers.com

From another mention in The Argus it seems we parted with £3.50 each, back when £3.50 was real money for a cushioned pew and a cup of cold coffee, unless Jilly’s student status entitled us to a discount.

Strangely, I remember the production as being rather good, although it was somewhat surpassed when Janie and I saw Janet McTeer, Owen Teale & John Carlisle in A Doll’s House more than 10 years later – unfair comparison, I know, I know.

A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, The Playhouse, 27 December 1996

Sunday 10 November 1985 – early start – went to Polly’s for lunch – left in afternoon – quiet evening at home.

I seem to recall that Polly was a charming young woman with a strident Welsh Nationalist boyfriend, which seemed super-cool at the time.

Monday 11 November 1985 – work ok – studied in evening for home exam.

Tuesday 12 November 1985 – work ok – did some academic work in the evening.

Wednesday 13 November 1985 – busyish day at the office – lousy journey – did home exam in evening.

Thursday, 14 November 1985 work ok-ish – felt pretty low in evening – didn’t go to drivers class.

Don’t worry about me, dear reader – I went to Keele for the weekend the next day and that made me feel happy again for a while. Until the next episode…

The Rest Of October 1985: Work & Some Lunches/Evenings With Friends & Colleagues

That would take a bit of careful eating in Cavendish Square. Image by Nano Banana Lite 2 from Googe Flow on my instruction.

Mum & Dad must have been away at that time; they got into the habit of going away late October into November after dad retired – although this would have been their last holiday before he retired. I might be able to work out where they went etc from their old photographs from that period – I haven’t yet excavated that part of the family photo archive in any depth.

Petra popped down to London a couple of times during that period, I see and indeed recall.

I’d also started socialising a bit with work colleagues, I see.

Monday, 21 October 1985 – office OK – did some studying/stayed in evening.

Tuesday, 22 October 1985 office OK – did some work in the evening etc.

Wednesday, 23 October 1985 – work okay – went over to Andrea’s after work for nice meal very pleasant evening – stayed over.

Thursday 24 October 1985 – office OK – went to salt beef bar [Presumably The Brass Rail]/Cavendish Square for lunch. Went to back seat drivers class in evening.

Friday, 25 October 1985 – work ok – went out to lunch with Hayden, Spencer & Ming – Had a lazy evening in.

Saturday, 26 October 1985 – did work in morning – shopped afternoon – met Petra [Wilson] in evening – went up west (St James’s Park -> Mayflower) > my place.

Sunday 27 October 1985 – saw Petra off – lunch – went to Grandma Jenny in the afternoon. Early night.

Monday, 28 October 1985 – work ok – did nothing in evening.

Tuesday 29 October 1985 – office ok – stayed in evening.

Wednesday, 30 October 1985 – work okay. Met John Boy [White] after work – drink – Chinese – etc. Very pleasant.

Thursday 31 October 1985 office ok – went to backseat drivers in the evening – ok.

Friday 1 November. 1985 – work ok – met Caroline [Freeman, now Curtis] for lunch – had a quiet evening in.

Saturday 2 November 1985 – nice day. Met Petra in morning – went to Fortnum’s etc. – met Bobbie [Scully] in the evening – went to theatre [Sweet Bird Of Youth] and then for a meal.

I’ll write up Sweet Bird of Youth separately – that was some production.

My First Visit To Keele As An Ex Keele Student, October 1985

“Artist’s Impression” of Keele Hall by Nano Banana 2 Lite

There’s something a bit “Hotel California” about Keele. You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.

On 15 July 1985 I wrote in my diary:

…left Keele forever at lunchtime…

…but of course that wasn’t true.

A sizeable piece of my heart never really left Keele – or possibly I should say that Keele never left a sizeable piece of my heart. Moreover, by October 1985, I was back again, albeit just for the first of many visits, especially in that first post-Keele year.

I had been at Keele for five years, which I have written up extensively in Ogblog, more than 200 articles, starting with…

Getting In To & Starting At Keele University, 8 October 1980

…doing the Foundation Year 1980/81, Law & Economics 1981-1984, then an additional year as Education & Welfare (sabbatical) for the Students’ Union 1984/85.

During those first post Keele months – for most of the following year in fact – I visited Keele regularly. This October visit was the first of them, recorded in detail in my diary:

Friday, 18 October 1985 – rushed day at work – dashed off to Keele – had dinner at Petra [Wilson’s] – went over to Annalisa [de Mercur’s] and Kate [Fricker’s] flats – fairly late night.

Saturday, 19 October 1985 – got up late – did very little all day – went over to [Barnes] L49/L 54 – went to Pinocchio’s -> Ben’s [Benita Wishart’s] party / Union – another late night.

Sunday, 20 October 1985 – Got up very late again – left Keele. Got back to London tired and late.

From https://www.studentcrowd.com/hall-l1004515-s1043587-barnes-hall-keele_university-keele

In retrospect, I’m not convinced that those regular visits to Keele, at that time, were such a good idea. I wanted to maintain the relationship with Petra, although observation of others should have told me, and hindsight did tell me, that trying to keep that sort of Keele relationship going, with one of us being post-Keele in London, was not likely to last.

I also wanted to keep the many friendships going; in that regard I was far more successful. For many years, post Keele, most of the people I hung out with were my Keele friends. In several cases, the Keele friendships from 40-50 years ago are still the people I see socially today.

(He says, writing in Autumn 2026).

As I embark on writing up my diaries from those in-between years, late 1985 to late 1988, only a small number of the stories will have general appeal to Keele and former Keele folk.

I especially got into regular theatre and concert going during that late 1980s period. Some of my stories of that have appeal to the general public and the AI bots these days.

For example, the following article – a theatre visit with Annalisa in 1989 (I have already written up late 1988 through to late 2001), gets hits on Ogblog every day at the moment, and occasional real messages from real people with questions about it.

Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Olivier Theatre, 18 March 1989

But the Keele / recently ex Keele angle of this story from autumn 1985 will only occasionally be central to my 85-88 postings. When it is central, I shall share the pieces on Keelie socials, but otherwise leave it to retro-blog addicts, ex-Keele addicts and search bots to trawl Ogblog for the stories.

I plan to post articles from this 1985 to 1988 series over the next two-and-a-half to three years. Coincidentally, that is roughly the duration of a typical Keele undergraduate’s time at Keele these days.

“Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast.” Bard Harris image by Nano Banana on my instruction.

Studying & Working: Not A Lot Happened, Late September to Mid October 1985

St James’s Park in 1987. EuroAsia Vizion, CC BY 2.0

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.

Starting The Back Seat Drivers Course, 26 September 1985

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.

DAD: SO don’t care.

Two Workaday Weeks In September 1985, The Highlight Being A Two Chinese Meal Day

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.

Wednesday, 25 September 1985 – Yom Kippur.

My First 10 Days Of Full Time Work At Newman Harris & Co, Starting 2 September 1985

Harcourt House – Nigel Cox / Cavendish Square, W1 / CC BY-SA 2.0

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

Image borrowed from allinlondon.co.uk – click here for entry.

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.

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