Hayward Burt sitting in MY Barnes L54 chair
Having survived a visit to London with Petra in her car…
…my diary for the next few days has an end of era tone to it.
Saturday, 29 June 1985 – returned through night – slept in – went to town late – cooked John [White] and Petra [Wilson] a meal – John and I did last Sixties [Soul] disco. Went down well.
Sunday 30th of June 1985 – Rose quite early – Ruth’s folks – Petra’s car – breakfast – visited Ruth – Pitty [Graham Pitt] came over for dinner.
John and I have very happy memories of doing those sixties soul discos. It was kind of Pady Jalali (Social Secretary) to award us the end of Festival Week slot as a last hurrah.
If you are wondering what one of our Sixties Soul Discos might have sounded like, please feel free to click the image above – or here – for a YouTube Music playlist curated by me and John in the style of those discos.
Some people described our discos as Northern Soul style, but in truth they were more mainstream than that, not least because Keele’s record collection at that time had few “rare grooves”. Our soul discos always went down well, as confirmed by my assessment in my diary.
Ruth’s Parents, Petra’s Car & Hospital Visits
I have already told the tale of Ruth, Petra’s close friend, having been hit by a car in the street, in a piece named “Something’s Wrong…”
I should hasten to add that Petra was not the errant driver in the Ruth incident, as evidenced by Petra being elsewhere (with me) at the time of the accident. More seriously, Petra proved to be a very constant friend to Ruth during her recovery, in hospital, as my late June/early July diary attests. We (or at least Petra) visited Ruth almost every day, except when we were out of town.
I also remember that Eddie Slade, the Senior Tutor, visited Ruth in hospital to see how she was and to inform her in person that she had won an academic prize that year. A lovely touch, I thought then and still think now.
In truth I remember little about the visit from Ruth’s parents. The fact that I blurt the phrase “Petra’s car” between the phrase “Ruth’s folks” and “breakfast” suggests that something once again happened to (or in) Petra’s car, as part of that expedition. Lost in the mists of time from my memory, that one. It can’t have been as dramatic as our near death experience on the Marylebone Road.
Monday 1 July 1985 – lazyish day – signed on, shops, went to hospital., Cooked Petra meal.
Tuesday 2 July 1985 – easyish day – office briefly – Petra packed – I went to Kate’s [now Susan Fricker] for a while – hospital – cooked Petra a meal etc.
Wednesday, 3 July 1985 – sorted things out – went to hospital – then walk round lakes etc.
Thursday 4 July 1985 – easyish day – rose late – went to Trentham Gardens in afternoon – hospital – dinner etc.
Friday, 5 July 1985 – Easy day – office briefly etc – went to hospital – had dinner – went union and then onto L54 to see John, Hayward etc.
Saturday 6 July 1985 – Rose late – shopped – went to hospital – cooked nice meal etc.
I think Trentham was a bit of a crumbling old ruin back then, but I suppose it was one of the few vaguely local attractions near Keele.
I don’t remember John staying in Barnes L54 at that time, but he must have done. My guess is that John had already given up his flat (room) in town and wanted to stick around Keele a while longer. I’ll also guess that it was Alan Gorman who had departed early and therefore had left space for John to squat in L54 a while.
I had lived in Barnes L54 for two very happy years – Autumn 1982 to Summer 1984.
It was strange visiting that place for the last time – especially with Hayward Burt sitting in MY chair and all – have I mentioned that bit before?
Postscript – Actually my very last visit to L54 was the following week, where I saw Kate, Pady, Hayward and [Chris Spencer] Farm. That evening will have been my last visit:
