Nogagate: Whatever Happened To…And Then Didn’t Happen To…Laurence Noga Of 3BJ? Mid January 1976

Laurence Noga – Goalie Extraordinaire.

The events of January 1976 happened so soon after the Watergate Scandal had unfolded, I don’t suppose it had yet become standard journalistic practice to attach the suffix “-gate” to any scandal. I don’t care – I’m calling this one “Nogagate”.

My diary note of Thursday 15 January 1976 starts with the phrase:

Noga leaving form.

Then, on Monday 19 January 1976, I open my diary note with:

Wrong about Noga. All OK.

How very contra reverse ferret of me. Professional journalism would not have been for me.

So what happened…I mean, something must have happened and then unwound. Was Noga believed to have been promoted or relegated, but actually staying in our division all along? Was Noga initially perceived to have scored an own goal but actually adjudicated to have made a great “on the line” save? Was Noga initially adjudged to have committed a sending-off offence foul but then reprieved by VAR (Various Alleyn’s Representations)? Was I the victim of a “false rumour/class prank”?

I didn’t mention people lightly in my diary, so in my mind, for a few days, this must have been THE big deal. Yet, I’m sorry folks, I now remember absolutely nothing about this.

Someone out there must remember roughly what went on. Mike Jones, for example, was the form master. David Wellbrook and/or Nick Wahla – you two were never far away from the mischief side of 3BJ life. Laurence Noga himself might vaguely recall this matter, of course. If indeed it ever was a real matter.

Here are the diary notes:

For those who like to refresh their memories with earworms from that time, here are three tracks (other than Bohemian Rhapsody, which was surely spent in our consciousness by then even if it was still Number One) from the top 10:

…and for the completists (probably just me and the 1970s TV savages) – here are the full extracts from those diary pages.

Intriguingly, it seems I spent that intervening weekend of Nogagate going through my ‘O’ Level choices with my parents. I have a feeling that the word “perspex” is a malapropism (perhaps deliberate) for “perplexed”. Did they really expect me to persevere with biology, geography and/or Latin? I could get all that at home.

Tuesday, 13 January 1976. Back at school. TV Are You Being Served? Ellery Queen, Pro-celebrity Golf, 48 hours.

Wednesday, 14 January 1976- All OK. TV film -Stewart Granger [Swordsmen Of Siena].

Thursday, 15 January 1976 Noga leaving form. TV World At War, When The Boat Comes In.

Friday, 16 January 1976 – Mum and Dad O-level choices, OK. Uncle Cyril [Barnett] marsala [which means that I went with Cyril and Marion Barnett in the back of their van to their Chalk Farm shmutter premises and they treated me to Marsala ice cream at Marine Ices afterwards].

Saturday, 17 January 1976 – Perspex parents. TV film, New Faces, Sale Of the Century, S.W.A.T. Squad, Upstairs Downstairs.

Sunday, 18 January 1976, classes is good. Paper could be published.! Auntie Doris [Marcus]. TV ?

Monday, 19 January 1976, Wrong re Noga. All OK. TV Ask The Family, Hello Cheeky, Walton’s.

Please folks, let’s solve the mystery of Nogagate collaboratively.

Me As An Engine: Twixtmas & The January Remainder Of School Holidays 1975/1976

Heinz Wolff’s 1975 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures (image used for identification) – click here to see all the lectures

I loved those Christmas lectures as a kid and I especially remember enjoying Heinz Wolff’s series that Christmas.

The only other noteworthy points from my diaries for that period are references to writing and finishing “paper” with Lloyd Green. This was probably my first independent writing (and in this case also publishing) initiative. I’ll write more about that in a couple of episodes time, when the initiative took off in mid January 1976. I should really liaise with Lloyd prior to writing it up, to see if he has any specific memories or even relics to throw into the memory pot.

For the completists among my readership (probably just me and 1970s TV addicts) here is the diary extract for that 17 day period before school started up again.

Sunday, 28 December 1975 – dined at Felds. Grandma Anne in the afternoon. Played Kalooki. Thoroughly Modern Millie.

Monday, 29 December 1975 – all OK. TV lecture. Played Mastermind Royale with Uncle George [May, across the road].

Tuesday, 30 December 1975 – shopping. Played with Andy [Levinson] in afternoon after lecture. Played bridge with Uncle Cyril {Barnet, next door].

Wednesday, 31 December 1975 – got new shoes. TV lecture, Three Men in a Boat, Trapeze, Happy Birthday Columbia. Saw In New Year!

Thursday, 1 January 1976 – Dined at La Pistola. TV, Carry On Again Doctor, The Picnic, Supermind.

Friday 2 January 1976 – played with Andy in morning – Mastermind Royale *evening. TV The Good Life.

Saturday 3 January 1976 – Finished first paper. TV Mask of Sheba, Best Of Upstairs Downstairs.

Sunday, 4 January 1976 – classes good. TV MASH, Romeo and Juliet.

Monday, 5 January 1976 – Andy morn, snooker afternoon. TV, Ask the Family, Z Cars, Disappearing World.

Tuesday, 6 January 1976 – had haircut. TV, Are You Being Served?, Ellery Queen, Fawlty Towers.

Wednesday, 7 January 1976 – Meeting morn. Lloyd Green afternoon. [Presumably both to do with the paper] TV And Mother Makes Five, Morecambe and Wise, Tomkinson’s Schooldays.

Thursday, 8 January 1976 – went to Brixton. TV When The Boat Comes In.

Friday, 9 January 1976 – Went to Alan’s [Cooke] – great. TV England Games? Walt Disney, It Ain’t Half Hot Mum, The Good Life.

Saturday 10 January 1976, played with Andy. TV Caprice, Upstairs Downstairs.

Sunday, 11 January 1976 – classes good. Dined at Felds. Kalooki 7p. TV MASH.

Monday, 12 January 1976 – shopping in the morning. Andy afternoon. TV Ask The Family, Z Cars, The Waltons.

Who Knows What I Was Up To Over Christmas 1975?

While technology can enable us to read the Herculaneum Scrolls, despite their c2000 years of antiquity and the fact that they were burnt to a crisp…some elements of my juvenile diaries are beyond redemption.

No idea what sort of cheap pencil I was using at the end of 1975, but very little of it survived on the page. The headline picture is the best that photoshop can do with it – the image below is what it really looks like.

Fortunately, judging by the readable entries around it, we can surmise that I was enjoying Christmas at home with my parents very much and watching lots of TV.

Trawling the TV listings for Christmas Day, I’m pretty sure I will have watched:

On Boxing Day, dad and I would have gone for a walk together after lunch, but not before I’d watched Let It Be in the morning. Almost certainly I’d have watched Disney Time in the afternoon and we’d all have watched the Mike Yarwood Christmas Show together in the evening. Almost compulsory, was the Mike Yarwood Christmas Show.

The following day I think I can make out the words “Played With Andy”, which means I probably went to the Levinson’s house. I can also just about decipher (Carry On) “Don’t Lose Your Head” as the TV viewing that evening.

I’m Camembert! I’m the big cheese!…

…as Kenneth William’s character, Citizen Camembert, put it. Well the jokes most certainly were cheesy.

Is This The Real Life? Is This Just Fantasy? – The End Of Christmas Term 1975/76 At Alleyn’s, Including The Demise Of Headmaster John Fanner

I have only an impressionistic memory of the shock that ran through Alleyn’s School on that day in mid December 1975, when we were told, I’m pretty sure it was in Assembly, that our headmaster, John Fanner, had died. It was sudden and unexpected – he had gone into hospital for a seemingly routine operation.

My diary entry for that day is a little strange. Written in ink at a time when I was mostly writing the diary in pencil. A couple of question marks as well:

Tuesday, 16 December 1975 Mr Fanner died yesterday. TV Invisible Man, Are You Being Served? Gym?

Are You Being Served? – with a question mark – is the correct title for that programme. But “Gym?” for the International Gymnastics that followed it feels like a discombobulated diary entry, perhaps not really remembering the extent to which I watched those programmes.

I didn’t know Mr Fanner well. In fact, my only other diary mentions of him are in the first month of my “career” as a diarist, January 1974, when I was relieved of my travel money by a local rough (probably a Billy Biro) on the way to school and was sent to the Headmaster to report and obtain temporary financial relief – see 14 & 15 January entries in the piece linked here:

The First Couple Of Weeks Of My Second Term At Alleyn’s School, 6 to 22 January 1974

I suspect that my January 1974 episode was my only interaction with John Fanner, apart from, perhaps, an occasional “nodding acquaintance” gesture in the corridor.

I sensed that he was a kind man and realised, even at the time, that this was far more of a shock for the teachers than it was for most of the pupils. It was the day before we broke up for the school holidays and I don’t remember dwelling on the matter once school was out.

Others with whom I am in touch 50 years later might have more insightful memories of this event. Mike Jones, for example. Simon Barton for another.

The rest of my diary in the run up to Christmas is unsuitably mundane:

Wednesday, 17 December 1975 broke up. Good report. TV Superstars, Benny Hill.

Thursday, 18 December 1975 played with Andy [Levinson]. Went to library. TV $6 Million Man, Likely Lads, Mastermind, Carry on Christmas.

Friday, 19 December 1975 – Lloyd’s [Green] in morning. TV Pot Black, The Good Life.

Saturday 20 December 1975 all ok. Andy afternoon. TV film German something or other? [Mosquito Squadron]

Sunday, 21 December 1975 – no classes. TV last Upstairs Downstairs, Al Capone.

Monday 22 December 1975 Andy all day. TV Invisible Man, Are You Being Served? Mastermind.

Tuesday, 23 December 1975 – meeting today. Andy afternoon. TV Carry On film [Carry On Up the Khyber], Liver Birds.

Wednesday, 24 December 1975 lovely Christmas eve, Andy all day TV Oliver Twist, Jim’ll Fix It, something something [Dick Emery Christmas Show] and Porridge

Not much insight there.

I have used the opening line from Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen as the headline for this piece. That record was part of the soundtrack of our lives that late autumn and Christmas.

But my earworm that season was the other record that did astonishingly well. Actually, not just an earworm – loads of us in the Alleyn’s School playground (and other playgrounds all over the country) tried to emulate its nonsense:

Perhaps you had to be there.

For those who are desperate to hear/see Bohemian Rhapsody again and don’t know how to use a search engine:

Two Weeks Towards The End Of The First Term Of My Third Year At Alleyn’s, Including THAT Football Match 9 December 1975

Not A Matter Of Life & Death – Far More Important Than That! We had some fine footballers in my year at Alleyn’s – I was not among them.

Sunday, 30 November 1975 – performed play. Very good. Mug taken good. TV Upstairs Downstairs.

I have no idea what the play was, nor why my mug shot was taken. Presumably something at cheder. Any mug shot from that performance is (probably mercifully) lost in the mists of time.

Monday 1 December 1975 all OK. Goodies & Waltons.

Tuesday 2 December 1975 – swimming good. TV Invisible Man, Musical Time Machine.

Wednesday, 3 November 1975 CCF Picture Lecture. TV Superstar, Our Man Flint.

I have no idea whether the picture lecture was something to do with CCF (Combined Cadet Force) or unconnected.

Thursday, 4 December 1975 – drama cancelled, came home early. TV $6 million man, Mastermind.

Friday 5 December 1975 – all OK, TV Tom & Jerry, Pot Black, The Good Life.

Saturday, 6 December 1975 – school morn. Finished play fitting. TV sinking film The Last Voyage.

Sunday, 7 December 1975.– Classes good, lost 7P [at kalooki] boo-hoo, all OK.

Monday, 8 December 1975 – Auntie Alice died last night. Grandma Jenny came to stay.

Alice in the 1950s

Auntie Alice was Grandma Jenny’s sister. Alice had lived with Grandma Jenny for as long as I could remember – indeed quite possibly since before I was born. Alice suffered from hyperkyphosis, which in those days we referred to as hunchback, to such an extent that it caused her respiratory issues. In truth I only really remember her ever sitting in her armchair doing very little. But she was a sweet lady.

Tuesday, 9 December 1975 – goalkeeping – great achievement, TV Superstars, Time Machine.

Yes, I have found it. The sole reference in my diaries to my football playing “career”. My epic goalkeeping performance in an end of term house match. If memory serves, it was my house, Cribbs, v Duttons. My house was playing merely for pride (which might explain how I ended up in the team at all), whereas our opponents needed the win for top of the table glory.

My goalkeeping will not have looked anything like this

Presumably Cribbs had injury/absence issues which resulted in my being selected at all. Presumably Paddy Gray (our Cribbs skipper) knew enough about my two left feet to conclude that I could do the least harm, or even vaguely be of use, by having a go in goal.

As football stalwart Nigel Boatswain would tell you:

some idiot was playing in goal for Cribbs. He didn’t have the faintest idea what he was doing in goal, yet somehow he managed to keep saving the ball and we couldn’t get the ball past that idiot.

I know that Nigel would put it in language of that kind, because that’s pretty much what he said to Johnny Eltham, on one occasion in the 2010s, when we were all gathered for dinner. Johnny replied,

yes I remember and yes I remember who the goalkeeper was…he’s sitting next to you.

Nigel recalls that his team won, so is convinced that they got past me eventually. My recollection is that Paddy Gray decided, towards the very end of the match, that our best chance of keeping a clean sheet was for him to swap in a more competent goalie for the last few minutes…it might even have been himself. It was during those last few minutes, while I was grazing in the long grass trying to stay out of trouble, that the winning goal was scored.

This is a bit like the story at the end of Tom Brown’s Schooldays, when Tom Brown captains his team to a glorious narrow defeat at the hands of the MCC, yet is carried aloft by his teammates because of the narrowness and glory of the defeat.

I’m glad to have found this small yet oft-remembered moment in my diary and I’m glad to see that it occurred in 1975, which was my annus mirabilis sports-wise, what with my quarter-final victory at fives…

An Uneventful Day Playing Fives, 9 June 1975

…it’s a minor miracle that Johnny Eltham still talks to me, now I come to think of it…

…and my hat trick bowling for 2AK, as part of our tournament-winning performance at cricket that summer:

The Day I Took A Hat Trick At Cricket, Alleyn’s School, 9 July 1975

But enough about my single year of sporting glory.

Wednesday 10 December 1975 – no CCF. Grandma Jenny stayed again. TV War Film [Ice Cold In Alex].

Thursday, 11 December 1975 – drama good. TV $6 Million Man, Water Rats, Mastermind, Q6

Friday, 12 December 1975 – all OK, TV Pot Black, The Good Life.

Saturday, 13 December 1975 – Party went well, good fun.

I have no recollection of this party. Possibly an end of term party at the school. I’d have thought I’d have named the friend whose house party it was, had it been a friend’s house party. Anyway, whatever it was, wherever it was, it went well and was good fun according to my diary, which I suspect is all that has survived as a written record about that particular party.

A Week At Alleyn’s School Featuring Sergeant Musgrave’s Dance by John Arden, 23 to 29 November 1975

Sergeant Musgrave’s Dance was the first Alleyn’s School play to feature its own girls. The school had just started to take sixth-form girls that year.

I am not writing up this “50 years ago” series with a view to running contemporary parallels, nor am I reading my juvenile diaries in advance of writing the next episode.

It therefore came as a pleasant surprise today (21 April 2026) to stumble across the Sergeant Musgrave’s Dance reference, as, just the other day, I spent time at Lord’s with John Fry – brother of Tom Fry, who played the eponymous lead in 1975.

John might choose to extract and share some memories and 50-years-ago reflections on that production from his brother Tom.

I’m delighted to be able to report that my two word diary review of the 1975 production was:

Excellent performances.

That indicates, as I remember it, that I thought more of the production than I did of the play. I am pretty sure that my parents profoundly disliked the play and wondered why it had been chosen.

I have subsequently read most of Arden’s plays and tried hard to get my head around them. My conclusion is that I like the idea of Arden’s plays and the ideas in them, far more than I like them as works of drama that I could imagine enjoying on the stage.

According to Michael Lempriere’s Scribblerus review, the original idea had been to produce Julius Caesar, but that was cancelled for technical reasons. Possibly the fear of Alleyn’s School kids inappropriately shouting from the audience, “infamy, infamy, they’ve all got it in for me” and such like, at key moments during the drama.

More seriously, and with far more balance than my two-word review, here is Michael Lempriere’s review in full:

As is the case for almost all of that term of school, the rest of my week is only sparsely covered in my diary:

Allow me to translate:

Sunday, 23 November 1975 – classes good. Feld’s row [This might have been an early rebellion by Grandma Anne in the matter of Mr Feld’s borscht tasting watery and her accusation that he was watering it down]. (Fortunately?) won 10p [at kalooki]. TV Upstairs Downstairs

Monday, 24 November 1975 – OK. TV Goodies, Waltons.

Tuesday, 25 November 1975 – all OK. Great film (mouse film) [The Mouse On the Moon], Musical Time Machine.

Wednesday, 26 November 1975 – all OK. CCF great. Went to Sergeant Musgrave’s Dance. Excellent performances. [The irony of CCF being great ahead of seeing Sergeant Musgrave’s Dance might have been wasted on me then but is not wasted on me now].

Thursday, 27 November 1975 – drama good. TV $6 Million Man, Get Some In, Q6

Friday, 28 November 1975 – all OK. TV Tom and Jerry, Invisible Man, Pot Black, Porridge

Saturday, 29 November 1975 – school OK. TV Jerry Lewis film, very good. [3 Ring] Circus.

Half Term, Then Three More Weeks At Alleyn’s With Little To Say About School, Late October To Late November 1975

Alleyn’s School in 1922- OK it wasn’t THAT long ago

I really was saying very little in my diaries at that time, apart from documenting my TV viewing, which perhaps hold some interest for some readers.

I was clearly still enjoying drama and tried to enjoy CCF, despite not really being the type. I vaguely recall being made to try a bit of rugby that year, which I absolutely hated and Alleyn’s was in fact ill equipped to play. I think it was an experiment based on the notion that, once the school went co-ed, its chances of shining at football would be much diminished.

I recall trying to avoid house rugby as much as possible by playing fives whenever I could, but I had obviously resolved almost to stop writing about my sporting activities that term.

I wasn’t listening to much popular music that year, either. But the following song was an earworm then and can become an earworm again for you if you let it. It does remind me of that time and brings some of the vague memories back.

Listen while you skim my almost content-free diary entries. You’ll need something to stimulate the senses.

Sunday, 26 October 1975– Classes OK. Went to Felds. TV Carry On Laughing, Upstairs Downstairs.

Monday 27 October 1975 – nice day. TV Goodies, Waltons, Ghost Story.

Tuesday 28 October 1975 – OK, had haircut. Benny Hill great. Dr No!!! [This was the first time that film was shown on UK television, so it will have seemed like a big deal. Hence the exclamation marks!!!]

Wednesday, 29 October 1975 – went to Grandma Jenny. TV Carry On Cleo, Rule Britannia, Cooper, Face the music.

Thursday, 30 October 1975 – all OK. $6 million man, Get Some In, Morecombe & Wise.

Friday 31 October 1975 – mum went to hospital. Bonfire. TV Tom and Jerry, Invisible Man, Sykes, Porridge.

Saturday 1 November 1975 – all OK. Went with “Auntie” Winifred [neighbour] with dogs. TV Dick Emery, Kojak, No Honestly.

Sunday 2 November 1975 – classes OK, lunch at Felds, mum and dad went out.

Monday 3 November 1975 – went back to school. TV Goodies, Waltons.

Tuesday, 4 November 1975 – all OK TV Tarzan.

Wednesday 5 November 1975 – good speaker? TV Carry On Screaming, Cooper, Face The Music, Till Death Us Do Part.

Thursday, 6 November 1975 – OK. Drama good. TV $6 million man, Ken Dodd, Get Some In, Q6.

Friday, 7 November 1975 – OK. TV Tom and Jerry, Invisible Man, Sykes, Porridge.

Saturday 8 November 1975 – OK. TV Doctor Who, Basil Brush, Dick Emery, early night

Sunday, 9 November 1975 – classes play. TV Carry On Laughing, Upstairs Downstairs, FBI Story.

Monday 10 November 1975 – all OK TV, Angels, Waltons.

Tuesday, 11 November 1975 – swimming good. TV film good James Garner, Debbie Reynolds [How Sweet It Is (1968)].

Wednesday, 12 November 1975 – lecture. CCF good. TV Carry On Spying, Cooper, Rule Britannia, Face The Music.

Thursday 13 November 1975 – drama good. TV $6 million man and Get Some In Q6 is rotten.

Friday, 14 November 1975 – music good. TV Invisible Man, Pot Black, Porridge.

Saturday, 15 November 1975 – school. After Grandma Anne. TV Dick Emery, Kojak

Sunday, 16 November 1975 – went to Southend. Dined at El Cordola. TV Carry On Laughing, Upstairs Downstairs.

Monday, 17 November 1975 – all OK. TV Goodies, Odie v good, Waltons – a goodie goodie program.

Tuesday, 18 November 1975 – got cold. TV Big Film – platinum robbery [The Biggest Bundle Of Them All], Musical Time Machine.

Wednesday, 19 November 1975 – all OK. Mum and Dad went out. TV Superstars and Cooper, played Monopoly. [Unnamed babysitter will have been one of the Aarons youngsters, almost certainly].

Thursday, 20 November 1975 – OK. Drama good. TV $6 million man, Get Some In, Q6, Miss World, Fiddler onto recorder. [That will be Cyril Barnet’s recording of Fiddler On the Roof in Yiddish.]

Friday, 21 November 1975 evening rows. [Must have been a family gathering at Grandma Anne’s I think. Unless we had our own mini domestic. TV Tom and Jerry, Invisible Man, Pot Black, Sykes, Porridge.

Saturday 22 November 1975 – exeat. Morning table tennis [that must be at Andy Levinson’s place]. Evening saw Iolanthe. [Was this at school or was it at Sadler’s Wells? I can find no reference to it in Scriblerus, nor in a press search for autumn 1975 come to that].

I could use a bit of help with writing up this period. Any memories from people who were in my orbit at that time will be gratefully received.

Four Term Time Weeks: Little Of Note Except For Mystery Operations & Leaflets With Mr Jenkins & Controversy Over Controversy, Late September To Late October 1975

Operations? Leaflets? It could only be Mr Jenkins.

I’m hoping that some of my Alleyn’s schoolmates can disambiguate the handful of words in this four week period that might refer to interesting stuff going on at school. Frankly, I’m flummoxed.

Here’s the transcript of my multi-coloured scribbles, mostly documenting my TV viewing, but the passing comments on goings on at school might trigger some memories.

Sunday, 28 September 1975 – Dined at Feld’s. TV Upstairs Downstairs.

Just in case anyone wants an explainer for the quirky eatery that was Feld’s – here’s one I wrote earlier.

A Few Days In London Between Keele & Manchester, 14 to 19 December 1980

Monday 29 September 1975 – all OK. TV Goodies, Angels, Waltons.

Tuesday, 30 September 1975 – went swimming. Got cold. TV Tarzan.

Wednesday 1 October 1975 – uneventful day. CCF.

Thursday, 2 October 1975 – did operation leaflet. TV Two Ronnies, Man About The House, Morecombe & Wise.

Friday, 3 October 1975 – uneventful. TV Invisible Man, Dad’s Army, Liver Birds.

Saturday, 4 October 1975 – Exeat. TV Generation Game, Dick Emery, Kojak.

Sunday, 5 October 1975 – went to classes. In top class.

Monday, 6 October 1975 – OK. TV Goodies, My Son Reuben, Waltons.

Tuesday, 7 October 1975 – swimming good. TV Tarzan.

Wednesday, 8 October 1975 – CCF terrible. -> Callow?. It’s A Knockout best day.

Thursday, 9 October 1975 – drama good. TV Two Ronnie, Man About The House, Morecombe and Wise.

Friday, 10 October 1975 – all OK. TV Tom and Jerry, Invisible Man, Dad’s Army, Liver Birds, Fawlty Towers.

Saturday, 11 October 1975 all OK. TV big film / Bad Day At Black Rock, Dick Emery.

Sunday, 12 October 1975.– Went to Angela and John’s for tea.

Monday, 13 October 1975 – had more slides from Jenkins. TV Goodies, Reuben, Waltons.

Tuesday, 14 October 1975 – uneventful. Swimming good.

Wednesday, 15 October 1975 – OK. Corps very good. TV It’s a Knockout Final – we came fifth.

Thursday, 16 October 1975 – OK. Delivered leaflets. TV Two Ronnies, Get Some In and Morcombe & Wise.

Friday, 17 October 1975 – speech day, half day. TV Invisible Man, Liver Birds, PC Penrose.

Saturday, 18 October 1975 – OK. TV [Secret Of The] Incas, Dick Emery, Kojak.

Sunday, 19 October 1975 – classes. TV Upstairs Downstairs.

Monday, 20 October 1975 – TV Goodies, Waltons, Controversy.

Tuesday, 21 October 1975 – swimming good. TV Tarzan and the Fountain of Youth.

Wednesday, 22 October 1975 – CCF good. TV Carry On Doctor, Rule Britannia, Tommy Cooper & Face The Music.

Thursday, 23 October 1975 – drama good, TV Two Ronnies (last in series), Get Some In, Morecombe & Wise.

Friday, 24 October 1975 – field day (CCF) TV Tom and Jerry, Invisible Man, Sykes, Porridge, Fawlty Towers

Saturday 25 October 1975 Half term. TV Basil Brush, Doctor Who, Bruce Forsyth, Film [Judith], Dick Emery, Kojak, No Honestly.

Here’s my list of questions:

  • what do I mean by “operation leaflet” on 2 October, “had more slides from Jenkins” on 13 October and “delivered leaflets” on 16 October?;
  • who was “Callow” – who seems to be the source of my feeling terrible about CCF that day? Parenthetically, I sense that CCF was not for me, but my dad will have told me to “man up” about it, which resulted in me trying to make the most of it after that.

As for Controversy, I remember those programmes. They were compulsory viewing in our household. Here’s a link to an explainer. I have embedded the clip below.

The thing I remember more than anything else about this Controversy programme was my mother’s obsessive hatred of anyone pronouncing that word “contro-versy” rather than, as she asserted, the proper pronunciation, “controver-sy”. I still wouldn’t dare pronounce it the “wrong” way, even to this day – that would be too controversial by far.

Welcome To 3BJ, The First Three Weeks Of My Third Year At Alleyn’s, Ending With My First Sighting Of Fawlty Towers, 7 to 27 September 1975

Mike Jones ponders our imminent arrival in his class – thanks Mike for the photo

I’ve been finding it difficult to start writing up my third year at Alleyn’s; 1975/1976. My diary for the 1974/1975 academic year was full of juicy details of my activities.

But it seems, after all the excitement of my 1975 summer, I returned to school in September 1975 in a different mood – at least in the matter of keeping my diary. I’m needing to rely more on my fading memory for this period of my life and hope for some informed comment from readers.

For example, whereas I wrote down the “cast list” for my 1S and 2AK years, I had “grown out of” doing that by the 3BJ era – which is a blithering shame.

Also, I think I was under the parental…by which I mean maternal…cosh, having made a mess of my year end exams that summer and finding myself in a B stream class. “Get the back up to the A stream,” was the familial message, with some new rules at home to encourage homework and discourage loafing.

You wouldn’t have messed with my mum either. Cruel spectacles.

I’m not convinced that sparse diarising was entirely necessary in my mission to do better at school that year. But the diarising was more sparse and the school results were better.

Here are the first three weeks of September:

I realise that most of that is beyond legibility and/or interpretation, so here goes with my best efforts.

Sunday, 7 September 1975 – Rosh Hashanah [Jewish New Year, day two in this instance].

Monday, 8 September 1975 – uneventful day.

Tuesday, 9 September 1975 – last day [of school holidays. Not the end of the world.] Stuart and Andy [both from our street – Stuart Harris was not a relation and was a Whitgiftian, Andy Levinson was a fellow Alleyn’s pupil].

Wednesday, 10 September 1975 – first day [of school]. 3BJ. Mr Jones.

Thursday, 11 September 1975–1st proper day at school.

Friday, 12 September 1975 – school good. TV Dad’s Army, Liver Birds.

Saturday, 13 September 1975 – school morn. After library. TV Gambit, Dick Emery, Kojak.

Sunday, 14 September 1975 – Kol Nidre [evening prayers to herald the Day of Atonement] in evening.

Monday, 15 September 1975 – Yom Kippur [Day of Atonement].

Tuesday, 16 September 1975 – catching up only today.

Wednesday, 17 September 1975 – uneventful day. Good results school.

Thursday, 18 September 1975 – more good results. TV $6 million man, Two Ronnies, Man About The House.

Friday, 19 September 1975 – uneventful day. TV Dad’s Army, Liver Birds, Stanley Baxter III.

Saturday, 20 September 1975 – school morning. TV Generation Game.

Sunday, 21 September 1975 – no classes. Dined at Feld’s. TV Upstairs Downstairs.

Monday, 22 September 1975 – school OK. TV Goodies, Angels, Waltons etc.

Tuesday, 23 September 1975 – did swimming good. Telepathy. TV Pink Panther

Wednesday, 24 September 1975 – swimming. Went to Aviv meeting [one of mum’s charities. I cannot imagine why I went with her, unless dad had something on that evening and mum didn’t want to fork out for a sitter!].

Thursday, 25 September 1975. Got CCF [Combined Cadet Force] kit. TV Two Ronnies, Man About The House, Morecombe & Wise.

Friday 26 September 1975 – uneventful. TV Invisible Man, Dad’s Army, Liver Birds, Fosters Tower [sic – that can only be Fawlty Towers]

Saturday, 27 September 1975 – school morning. TV Dick Emery, Kojak.

Hard to believe that I didn’t even register the name Fawlty Towers correctly when I first saw it.

It was the episode about The Builders and I remember it tickling me no end. My parents didn’t like it much. Dad found Basil Fawlty irritating, reminding him of some of the twerps he had to deal with in running his business. You can decide for yourselves, if you hadn’t made up your minds already – see embed below.

An Uneventful Week (Apart From Watching The Test) Before Starting My Third Year At Alleyn’s, 1 to 6 September 1975

So much wrong with that technique – but the enthusiasm is there for all to see

After all the excitement of my summer, I went into a very subdued diary mood for some weeks/months after our return.

This diary page, which covers the week between returning from Europe and school restarting, sets the tone.

It barely needs transcribing, but I am a diligent transcriber:

Monday, 1 September 1975 settled in. Watched test. Went to library. [TV] Angels, The High Chaparral.

Tuesday, 2 August 1975 – uneventful day. TV Tarzan, New York, Quo Vadis.

Wednesday, 3 August 1975 – uneventful

Thursday, 4 September 1975 – uneventful

Friday, 5 September 1975 – uneventful

Saturday, 6 September 1975 – Rosh Hashanah [Jewish New Year].

I think we need to do some more forensics on that cricket photo. Here’s a link to the test match scorecard. The umpires were Tom Spencer and Dickie Bird (whom I had the honour and pleasure to meet once – some 40 years after the events of this piece):

A Visit To Leeds For Yorkshire v Middlesex, Headingley, 8 to 10 June 2015

I’m 98% sure that the umpire on the TV screen is Tom Spencer and I’m 100% sure that the wicket-keeper was Rod Marsh, who kept all day that Monday.

The unmistakable stoopy stance of Umpire Spencer on the TV screen.

But who batting? Yes, me, obviously, in front of the screen. I mean on the screen. I have narrowed it down to being John Snow or Barry Wood and I think the answer is John Snow. Cricket lovers – chime in with your thoughts.

It was an unusual match, as they had put aside six days for that Oval test match, used all six but still ended up with a draw.

I sense that even I lost interest after a burst of watching (and having my photo taken), probably quite early on the Monday.

Anyone know what game this is/was?

As an only child, one of my favourite pastimes was working out how to play solitaire versions of the board games in my collection. I have no idea what this game was, let alone how I had worked out a solitaire version of it. My favourite solitaire game was my very own version of Cluedo – the conceit of the solitaire version is long-since forgotten but I remember being fascinated by it for some while.

I suspect that the test match was on the TV while I was indulging in this additional activity. In that respect, I don’t suppose I have changed much, although the additional activity has changed.

As for the TV viewing – I don’t remember the TV drama Angels about student nurses at all. But I certainly remember The High Chaparral. My dad was very keen on it too. Do you fancy getting the theme tune stuck in your head – only click the YouTube embed if you do.

On rehearing The High Chaparral theme, it sounds very much like Joe Meek’s extraordinary instrumental Telstar (famously performed by the Tornados), in the style of Elmer Bernstein’s wonderful theme music for The Magnificent Seven.

I learn, on doing a little further research, that the resemblance between The High Chaparral theme and Telstar has been discussed at length over the decades. One surprising thing, to me, is that I didn’t notice the similarity when Paul Deacon first played me Telstar, which must have been around or very soon after my High Chaparral watching era.

Ironically and tragically, Joe Meek never saw the royalties for Telstar, as a French composer, Jean Ledrut, sued Meek for plagiarism – without success but to some extent understandably – on account of La Marche d’Austerlitz.

Meek died just three weeks before that law suit was found in his favour. Thus he never got a chance to test his own claim against David Rose, who composed The High Chaparral theme, if indeed Meek would have chosen to try such a claim.

Thoughts on these matters will, as always, be much appreciated, whether from my contemporaries or indeed from anyone who stumbles across this page and has a view on any of these topics.