Tag: Newman Harris

Left My Job At Newman Harris, Moved To Clanricarde Gardens And Started Work For Binder Hamlyn Management Consultants, 18 November to 1 December 1988

The end of 1988 was a momentous time for me. I’ll have quite a lot to write about those weeks on Ogblog.

The brace of events I am recalling in this piece, reflecting briefly on that time thirty years later, are the core happenings. I changed job and moved house within the space of a couple of weeks.

Clanricarde Gardens

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

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

I shall write up my flat hunting experience on a separate piece in the coming weeks. Suffice it to say here that my Clanricarde Gardens flat was the first place I saw and that I liked it straight away.

It was only the fact that I had nothing with which to compare it that kept me flat hunting for several more days. I have some interesting yarns to tell about some of the other places I saw. I asked to take a second look at Clanricarde Gardens on the Thursday and took Bobbie Scully with me to help me decide. “What are you waiting for? Just take it,” is a reasonable paraphrase of her sound judgement.

By way of context, I should explain that I was renting, not buying in late 1988. Some friends at that time thought I was bonkers by not jumping on the home ownership bandwagon “before it is too late”. But then some friends suffered some serious negative equity for several years after jumping on that bandwagon when it peaked back then.

Unusually, when I decided it was time for me to buy, in 1999, it was also an opportune time for the owners to sell, so I was able to buy the flat I had been renting for over 10 years. Try before you buy.

From Newman Harris To Binder Hamlyn Management Consultants (BHMC)

Again, I shall write more in separate pieces about these events over the coming weeks.

With the benefit of hindsight, taking just eight working days off between jobs with a view to:

  • finding a flat to rent;
  • moving into that flat;
  • learning to drive;
  • seeing friends and family in relatively large quantity;
  • going to plenty of theatre & stuff;
  • doing exam marking for Financial Training to help pay for all that…

…was a little ambitious, to say the least.

I rather like my only diary note on the day I started at BHMC:

Started at BHMC today – drink at lunchtime

Frankly, I probably needed a drink after that fortnight. But what a very 1980’s tradition for a new joiner at a City firm – the drink at lunchtime.

At Binder Hamlyn (BDOC) c1992

BHMC soon changed its name to BDO Consulting (BDOC). Five-and-a-half years after I joined the firm, Binder Hamlyn “merged” with Arthur Andersen (AA) and I concluded that the latter firm would not like my hairstyle. Michael Mainelli, who had not recruited me to BHMC but with whom I was mostly working by then, felt similarly about not wanting to persevere in Andersens, although not for hairstyle reasons…

…and thus Z/Yen was born.

I don’t remember meeting Michael on that first day or two at Binders – my memory of meeting him really starts at the Christmas lunch on 14 December. But Michael is pretty sure that he at the very least spent a few minutes saying “hi & bye” to me (probably to check that I didn’t have two heads or something) before packing me off the following week on a tough assignment with Save The Children Fund…from which the rest is history.

Reflecting On Those Weeks And Events

Further, when I look at my diaries and see what else I did during those momentous weeks, I still see many familiar names and activities.

Here are just two examples.

I went to Jacquie and Len’s place for dinner with Caroline on 30 November 1988. Janie and I are going to dinner at Jacquie’s tonight (1 December 2018) and only a couple of days ago, Caroline got in touch to arrange a get together.

27 November 1988, had John, Mandy, Ali, Valerie and Bobbie to lunch

I’m still in touch with most of them and am seeing John on Monday.

Those two momentous things I did in late 1988 have in essence been sustained for thirty years and still going. Also many of the people who were central to my being back then are still there too.

So I shall soon write up the many and various events of those frantic weeks.

Some of the tales will be about characters who entered my life only fleetingly – such as Larry the Drummer, the larger-than-life character I met through the Streatham Hill Driving School people, who became Larry the Man With A Van to help me move.

But some stories will benefit from the reflections of those people with whom I am still very much in touch.

And although, if I recall correctly, Michael Mainelli and I didn’t actually meet until I had been at the firm for a couple of weeks…

…1 December 1988 was, technically speaking, the date we started working together. So happy thirtieth anniversary, Michael.

Pearl factory, Wuxi, China

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

Left NH & Co. SB took me for lunch…

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

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

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

…Shabby chic pub with worn-in tables…

…which surely applied back then too.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Three Weeks Of Easter Holidays, London & Keele, 1985

Having run myself down in the early spring of 1985, doing the Keele Students’ Union sabbatical thing, I took a bit of a break during the Easter holidays and then returned to Keele for a relatively calm period before the storm of my final term.

“Holy Week” & Passover Resting/Convalescing At My Parents House

Of course Holy Week had no meaning in my family, but the week or so in question was the run up to Easter and the Easter weekend. It coincided with Pesach (Passover) that year.

Monday 1 April 1985 – Lazy day – went shops – stayed in mainly taping, reading and feeling low.

Tuesday to April 1985 – Lazy day in – taped, read etc – feeling grotty and lazy. Stayed in evening also.

Image borrowed from Amazon, where this book can be procured.

Strangely, although the diary is silent on this matter, I very clearly remember reading Something Happened by Joseph Heller during that particular Easter break. It didn’t cheer me up, but I remember finding the book jaw-droppingly good. I had loved Catch 22 and had not expected to be that impressed by Heller’s so-called difficult second novel. Something Happened is a much under-rated classic in my opinion, but I digress.

Wednesday 3 April 1985 – Went to town [West End of London] today – went Newman Harris & Co – Caroline [Freeman, now Curtis] for lunch – shopped etc. Lazy evening in.

Thursday 4 April 1985 – Went to Edwina [Green, doctor] in morning. Went to Dad’s shop in the afternoon and had an easy evening in.

Friday, 5 April 1985 – Did little today – went for a [traditional bank holiday, with Dad] walk etc. Had a nice dinner and watched TV etc. – lazy day.

Saturday, 6 April 1985 – Easy day – did some taping etc – went to seder that evening with Grandma Jenny. Very pleasant evening.

Sunday 7 April 1985 – Lazy day – nice lunch – went to Briegals [Jacquie, Len, Hilary & Mark] afternoon and evening – had a nice time there.

I’m trying to remember whether the Briegals were still in Wembley at that time (I think so) or had yet drifted further south to Swiss Cottage. Mark will no doubt let me know. Were smoked and pickled fishes involved? It’s hard to imagine that they weren’t, but 1985 was before the competitive aspect of herring feasting had been formalised.

Pickled Herring Of The Year Competition and Other Delights, 12 October 2016

Monday, 8 April 1985 – rose quite late. Had a nice lunch. Went to Auntie Frances [Harris] in the afternoon. Lazy evening in on phone and in front of box.

No doubt Angela, Vivienne & John (Kessler) will also have been there – this picture is of the former two a few years earlier in Auntie Frances’s flat:

Returning To Keele & Preparing For The New Term

Tuesday, 9 April 1985 – rose quite early – Winfred [May – neighbour & Mum’s friend] came over for lunch. Petra [Wilson] came over – returned to Keele – had dinner and early night.

That will have been the first time that my parents encountered Petra. I recall that dad was quite taken with her and that mum didn’t have a clue that we were going out with each other, probably because mum was so weird still about that sort of thing. Mum – I was 22 years old FFS.

Wednesday 10 April 1985 – rose late – lazed around. Went shopping in afternoon. Met Ashley [Fletcher] had a drink and stayed in. Lazy evening.

Thank goodness. Another Ashley mention to keep Ashley happy.

Thursday, 11 April 1985 – rose early – Union Committee in morning – lazy afternoon – went to union. Had a drink with John [White] in evening and then home for dinner, etc.

Friday, 12 April 1985 – Lazy-ish morning. Rose late. Had lunch – went SC – busy afternoon and evening – had nice meal etc.

If any of you Keele alum detectives can fathom what SC means in this context, please help me out. I am clueless.

Saturday 13 April 1985 – rose quite early went to Chester for the day – lunch – Toy Museum – drinks etc. Stayed in evening had a nice dinner etc.

I do remember an enjoyable day trip to Chester with petra, but I don’t in truth remember the Toy Museum there. Perhaps the place wasn’t all that memorable as it permanently closed down some years ago, as I write 40 years on.

Sunday, 14 April 1985 – Rose quite late had nice food went for a walk, etc. Big meal in the evening – did little. Nice day.

Monday 15 April 1985 – More or less worked all day – sorted some things out. Petra and I went for a very nice walk after. Lovely evening.

Tuesday, 16 April 1985 – Took day off – went Mainwaring. Shops – did some work etc. Ashley popped in. Lazy evening very pleasant.

Don’t panic – The Mainwaring Arms is still there in Whitmore.

Picture borrowed from the Google Review – click here or the picture to visit it.

I don’t find it extraordinary that my mood was clearly much better when recuperating at Keele in Petra’s company, compared with convalescing at my parents’ place. But what I do find interesting is how clearly the changed emotions ring out (and how well my memory can be triggered forty years later) by so few words in my diary entries.

Wednesday, 17 April 1985 – Easyish day in office – union committee morning – Petra went home – easy evening – walked with Annalisa early eve, stayed in evening, early night.

Thursday, 18 April 1985 – Fairly light day in office today – did a little work in the evening. Ashley and Co came around – cooked them a meal etc.

Friday, 19 April 1985 – Busyish day at work getting odds and ends done. Went over to Kate’s in the evening – got drunk and stayed late.

Saturday 20th of April 1985 – Rose late – shopped with Kate – did a little work and then did disco [with John White] in evening.

Sunday 21 April 1985 – Stayed in most of the day – saw Kate and Annalisa for a while and did work on birth control leaflet.

I really must get around to putting up some more “John & Ian Disco Playlists” after the success of the Bust Fund Disco one. Watch this space.

A 1984/1985 Keele Students’ Union Bust Fund Disco Playlist

Interesting that, in April, I was still referring to the publication that became “Sexplanations” as a birth control leaflet, as it became more than that between April and its publication in June. Watch this space for that too.

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

Photo by Kieran White from Manchester, England, CC BY 2.0 – image not Paul’s actual car I hasten to add…

I was working, I was going out a lot, I was making, receiving and listening to mix tapes for and with Paul Deacon – I even found time to do some studying it seems, according to the diary.

Let me transcribe and explain the highlights of that first week of August

Monday 1 August 1983 …met Marianne [Gilmour] for lunch…

Wednesday 3 August 1983 …Paul [Deacon] came over in evening…

I attribute Paul’s wonderful Summer 1983 mix tape to around this time. I have posted two pieces about this mix tape with embeds of the tracks – you can click through the image links below to see those:

Paul Deacon’s Summer 1983 Mix Tape, Side One, c.August 1983
Paul Deacon’s Summer 1983 Mix Tape, Side Two, c.August 1983

Thursday 4 August 1983…had Chinese lunch [probably at the wonderful Lee Ho Fook No 2 in Macclesfield Street] with the chaps

“The chaps” would be my fellow Newman Harris accounts clerks, several of whom were of Chinese origin – mostly Chinese Malaysians

Friday 5 August 1983…work OK – drink after with Michael …

…Michael King, who would doubtless have joined us for the Chinese lunch and who ended up marrying Sandra, who was one of the Chinese Malaysian clerks. We might have deemed her to be “one of the chaps” back then – she was, I think, the only female in that clerks’ room at that time

Saturday 6 August 1983…met Jilly [Black] in eve – went Rasa Sayang – v nice

In Soho, but not to be confused with the Rasa Sayang currently (40 years later) in Macclesfield Street (coincidentally, I think where Lee Ho Fook No 2 used to be) – the Rasa Sayang I frequented back in the 1970s and 1980s (thanks again to my Chinese Malaysian holiday job colleagues) was on the corner of Bateman Street and Frith Street. Mentioned in the book Waterloo Sunrise as a place frequented by students…well, yes!

Sunday 7 August 1983 – went to Anil’s [Biltoo] 21st in afternoon & evening – much booze

Anil, cousin Shahil Soniassy and me, four years earlier to the day

…and now the second week…

Monday 8 August 1983 – …met Simon [Jacobs] for lunch,,,

Wednesday 10 August 1983 – …Paul [Deacon] popped over in evening

Thursday 11 August 1983 – …Chinese lunch…

Friday 12 August 1983 – …had drink after work [that will have been with “the chaps”]

Saturday 13 August 1983 …did academic work. Watched films in eve…

…film watching will have been on the TV with dad. Judging by the on-line listings, I think we saw The Last Married Couple In America followed by Arsenic & Old Lace.

I must say, reading this 15 August diary entry caused me to make a sharp intake of breath and sense that “oh no” feeling I no doubt had at the time. In truth I only vaguely recall Paul’s car being stolen from outside our house, but I suspect that Paul has stronger memories of it. Any thoughts to share on that, Paul?

1982 Summer Subsides: Sandown, Spurs, Shule & Sleepy Start To My Second “P Year” At Keele, Late August To 3 October 1982

Sandown Park, photo by 80N, CC BY-SA 2.5

21 August 1982: “Went To Sandown Park In Afternoon, Very Nice”

As part of my summer job that year, I was doing a fair bit of work for Laurie Krieger’s businesses – a link that sustained through much of the 1980s for holiday jobs and beyond for several years after Keele. Laurie had recently divested Harlequin Records and was entrepreneuring with several other interesting things in the 1980s.

I think Laurie and Betty had been invited to some sort of guest enclosure charity thing and at the last minute couldn’t go. Laurie gave me the tickets. It was too last minute for me to rustle up a date, so I took my mum with me.

This was my first visit to the horses since Mauritius three years earlier:

Another Day At The Races In Mauritius, This Time In the Press Box, 12 August 1979

I remember having a very enjoyable afternoon. We were both utter rubbish at choosing winners (I have never got the knack of betting on horses – I’m not sure there is one).

Sandown 21 August 1982 TelegraphSandown 21 August 1982 Telegraph 21 Aug 1982, Sat The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Mum and I probably read the above tips in the Telegraph before we set off.

On one occasion, after I had placed my bet on a horse with a name that rang true to me, we went down to the paddock to see our picks and I remember mum saying:

I think yours is limping…

…which it was, to which I said,

…maybe we’re supposed to have a look at the horses BEFORE placing our bets.

These are the ways some of us learn our lessons. Mine all came in last or second to last. I don’t think mum’s did much better. Mercifully, we were only betting pin money because we knew we were rubbish.

The next day, Sunday 22 August:

Doris & Stuart [Kent – second cousins from Grandma Anne’s side of the family] popped in unexpectedly. Paul came over in the evening.

I think Doris & Stuart told us how going to the races is supposed to be done, but my next visit wasn’t to be for another decade or more, so I don’t suppose the advice helped me much.

Late August Early September – Not Much Going On – Some Socials As Well As Work

25 August 1982 – Work OK – went to Pam & Michael [Harris – aunt & uncle] in evening for coffee etc.

28 August 1982 – Birthday – shopped in afternoon – Drew [presumably Andrew Levinson] came for dinner in evening.

9 September 1982 – Not bad day at work – lunched with Michael – went to pub after work briefly.

10 September 1982 – …pub after work…

11 September 1982 – Footy & Barbie

Football has not played a large part in my life, but on this particular day it most certainly did.

Saturday 11 September 1982 – Played football in morning – went to Spurs in afternoon with Duncan -> David’s barbeque party – came home late – a very nice day

We (by which I mean some work friends/colleagues plus some of their friends) played some sort of rudimentary five-a side game in a North London park local to Duncan (out Finchley way if I remember correctly), before going mob handy to see a fairly star-studded but perhaps a little superannuated Spurs lose. I have even managed to find a clip from that very match.

Mid To Late September 1982 – Some Socials As Well As Work Part Two, Plus Some Shule & Mum’s Ungodly Fall From Grace

Sunday 12 September 1982 – Angela & John [Kessler – cousins] came to tea. Paul [Deacon] came over in evening.

Friday 17 September 1982 – Lunched with Marie-Anne [Gilmore] – last day at work – went to pub after with the lads – came home quite early.

Sunday 19 September 1982 – Shule in morning [Rosh Hashana – Jewish New Year] – nice lunch, lazy afternoon. Pam & Michael came over in evening.

Tuesday 21 September – …met Jimmy [Bateman] in evening

Wednesday 22 September – went over to Wendy’s [Robbins] for the day -> Grandma’s -> Croydon etc. -> got home quite early.

Thursday 23 / Friday 24 – did some work/taping …Paul came over in evening.

Saturday 25 September – went up to meet Caroline [Freeman] for lunch…

Sunday 26 / Monday 27 September – …Col Nidre…Yom Kippur [Day of Atonement] – mum fell down stairs.

I shall write up the Paul and Wendy tapes from that late summer separately.

Mum’s ungodly fall on Yom Kippur was entirely due to her choosing not to go to Shule (in those days I was still going to Shule on such days to keep dad company). Apparently she put the Col Nidre prayer books on the stairs in advance of putting them away, forgot they were there and slipped on them.

Irony.

We spent the next couple of days nursing mum.

Dad very kindly agreed to take me up to Keele and then return home – my parents’ plan had been to drop me off on their way to the Lake District for a short break.

30 September 1982 – I Return To Keele In The Dad-mobile

Finding the above diary entries makes me realise that the “dad’s ultra-embarrassing moment” that I wrote up as a 1981 memory, was in fact on this day in 1982. I have redrafted that piece accordingly – in any case I have subsequently been reintroduced to Cathy who was the protagonist in dad’s sort-of #METOO moment. If you haven’t read that story before it’s probably well worth a click/read if you want a laugh.

My Top Embarrassing Parent Moment At Keele, 30 September 1982

30 September 1982 – Rose early – left for Keele – arrived, lunched – dad left 2:00ish. Did some unpacking & a little work. Went to Union in evening – OK. Pete’s [Roberts] for coffee after.

Keele Prior To A New Academic Year: Calm Before The Storm 1 to 3 October 1982

Friday 1 October – did a little work – shopped etc. Went to Union in evening. Disco etc. v quiet

Saturday 2 October – did quite a bit of work – got some things sorted out. Went to Union in evening. Quietish time.

Sunday 3 October – stayed in most of the day – did some work. Went to Union in evening. Very quiet indeed.

Have no fear, dear readers, if this calm before the storm makes you think that my P3 year might have been a bit dull. The story starts to get more interesting pretty rapidly from 4 October 1982 onwards!

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

NT In Evening With Party, 18 August 1982

National Theatre, From Wikimedia Commons

My recollection of this evening is thin to say the least. My guess is that it was an impromptu works outing, the diary simply reading:

Work busy – went to NT in evening with party

I am pretty sure we didn’t see a show. Danton’s Death was showing at the Olivier at that time but I’m pretty sure I didn’t see that and in any case I don’t think they even put the show on that Wednesday evening.

I am similarly sure that I didn’t see the production of The Caucasian Chalk Circle at the Cottesloe back then. My Cottesloe days were still way ahead of me.

In any case, had I seen a play I am sure I’d have at least noted what we saw – I was already enough of a theatre freak for that. So we didn’t see a play.

No.

I think we must have gone to the NT as scavengers that night. The press night for the Lyttelton production of Way Upstream, scheduled for that night, infamously had to be postponed because a water tank flooded.

Newman Harris had a fair smattering of luvvie clients so I suspect that we were invited along to help mop up, hospitality-wise…certainly not to help mop up the Lyttelton Theatre itself, I’d have remembered that better.

I wonder who was in that “party”? Probably a similar bunch to those I nailed in a short piece about the Phoenix & football from 10 days earlier…

Phoenix & Football With Fellow Workers, Newman Harris, 6 & 7 August 1982

…except some of the more senior folk might well have joined us midweek – Stanley Bloom even, possibly, as he had taken over a chunk of Harry Newman’s luvvie portfolio.

Phoenix & Football With Fellow Workers, Newman Harris, 6 & 7 August 1982

6 August 1982 – Work OK – went to Phoenix briefly after work.

The Phoenix was the best pub for the staff of Newman Harris in Cavendish Square, with the sole criterion to determine “best” being “nearest”. We went there a lot. It transpires that my friend from later years, Charles “Charley the Gent Malloy” Bartlett, worked nearby back then and similarly frequented the Phoenix.

7 August 1982 – Played football in afternoon/evening. Got home quite early.

A plan no doubt hatched in the Phoenix the night before. Who were the football nuts at that time? Dilip Vora I should imagine. Duncan was often the ringleader for that sort of thing. Mike King – had he started yet? If so it would have been before he was always too busy with Sandra to join in this sort of activity. Lailash Shah – probably. Roy Patel I think was too senior/important/old to join in with our weekend activities. Ashley Michaels possibly would have done, though.

It won’t have been great football, but I seem to recall such events also turning into impromptu opportunities for a few beers and sometimes a barbeque, although the diary note implies that this occasion was lower key than that.

On Return From Keele, “Hair Brutally Severed”, Early Summer 1982

Ronnies – Photo with thanks to Graham Gower Collection 1972

On return from Keele University in late June, but before starting work in early July, I sorted myself out, including, by the looks of it, a hair cut:

Thursday 1 July 1982 – had hair brutally severed – went to G[randma] Jenny in afternoon

I suspect I treasured my student mop, while recognising that I needed to look “young professional” for the summer weeks of work.

I never much liked having my hair cut.

My childhood memories from Ronnies in Leigham Avenue, Streatham (depicted above) involve my mother cajoling me into going to the place.

Under normal circumstances, a very patient, younger barber named Oliver would cut my hair while distracting me with the sort of chatter that kept a reluctant kid calm.

But occasionally Oliver would not be available and Ronnie himself would cut my hair. I didn’t take to Ronnie’s methods, which invariably (probably because I was an unwilling participant) seemed painful and not to my aesthetic taste. Mind you, my aesthetic taste at that time would have been to have hair as long as I possibly could get away with and on no account to present myself at any barber shop.

My haircut reluctance probably upset my mother a good deal, whose father, my Grandpa Lew, had been a barber all of his working life.

Grandpa Lew & Grandma Beatrice, both sadly predeceased my birth

My good friend Rohan Candappa had a much happier relationship with his hair and wih his barbers – he even wrote a performance piece about it: The Last Man Cave…

…here’s a cut from a performance of it (did you see what I did there?)

But Rohan’s early visits to the barbers would have been in Thornton Heath and Bromley – not Ronnies of Streatham.

I am pretty sure that Oliver had left Ronnies before my childhood ended. I am not sure whether Ronnies was still there in 1982 (knowledgeable folk on the Streatham history FB group might be able to confirm), but I have a feeling it was still there and that I probably went there for my brutal severing.

I don’t think I’d have made a fuss about it in that post-Keele cut of 1982. I took my revenge in my diary – suspecting that, at some stage in the future – say 40 years hence – I could publish the diary entry and the phrase “brutally severed” would no doubt take off as “a thing”, once and for all to expunge the despised hair-cut from the cultural canon.

I raised this matter with Rohan Candappa the other day, who suggested that Brutus Severus would be an excellent light-hearted name for a modern barbers. It’s probably just as well that Rohan’s days in advertising are now over.

Sadly, I have no pictures from 1982 to depict the exact “before and after” look, but I do have some from two or three years earlier, which probably will give the casual reader a reasonable idea and will give old friends a recognisable glimpse back in time.

Before Severance
After Severance