Tag: Petra Wilson

Monty’s Cosy Office, A Latke-fest Weekend In Keele & Hard Labour In A Finsbury Park Factory, January 1986

Latkes by Dall-E.

Monty Mendelson (forgive me if the surname is not spelt correctly) was a manager at Newman Harris who worked primarily for partner Lesley Cohen, whose office was in an office building in Wigmore Street, around the corner from the main Cavendish Square office. Monty at that time looked after one or two clients in Stanley Bloom’s portfolio too (Laurie Krieger’s “empire”, if I recall correctly), which might explain why I got to use his office in his absence.

The other possible reason is that the computer room was in the Wigmore Street office and I was the designated youngster who was supposed to try and sort out the problems that the departing “computer manager” had failed to sort out.

Monday 6 January 1986 – Work ok today – in office all day. Pretty uneventful day. Got to use Monty’s office which is cozy. Had a lazy evening at home reading mostly.

Tuesday 7 January 1986 – Uneventful day at work – still got Monty’s room – a cushy number. Spent the evening at home reading a book etc.

Clearly this role in Monty’s office felt cosier and cushier, to me, than real hard graft at clients’ sites doing actual accounting work. Who knew?

Wednesday 8 January 1986 – In office this morning (Monty’s) – met Kate [Fricker] for lunch – went to Cinecittà [see below]– pleasant enough lunch. Went to Laurence Corner in afternoon – ok. Lazy evening in – watched some TV + read etc.

In the 1970s and 1980s, London was home to a very famous, eccentric Italian restaurant called Cinecittà, located right behind the old Debenhams department store at 74 Welbeck Street, on the corner of Henrietta Place in Marylebone.
It was highly memorable for its unique setup:
The Concept: It was a theatrical, self-service Italian restaurant designed like a movie studio lot.
The Decor: Diners could choose to sit and eat their meals inside various novelty “movie sets,” most famously including a full-sized vintage train carriage booth.

Google’s AI mode

Thursday 9 January 1986 – Spent the day at Laurence Corner – ok. Had a quiet evening in – watched some TV etc + read books.

Friday 10 January 1986 – Went to office today – did budget for CAA [Concert Artiste’s Association]. Had a drink with Mike [King], Sandra [soon to be or just became King]+ Terry [errand “boy”] after work. Went up to Keele – pretty tired etc. Had dinner + earlyish night.

Saturday 11 January 1986 – Got up reasonably early – had breakfast at [the] SU. Went out in afternoon – saw Ali [Dabbs], Pitty [Graham Pitt], L54 [Alan Gorman, Pete Wild, Hayward Burt] etc – went on to Hanley. Saw “Plenty” at cinema + then went for drink – decided impulsively to eat at Hanley Garden + get cab home.

Sunday 12 January 1986 – Rose quite late – after getting papers etc. Ben [Benita Wishart] came over for latke “lunch” etc – went for walk in woods in the dark. Lazed some more – had dinner watched a lot of TV + turned in.

Monday 13 January 1986 – Returned to London from Keele. Work OK – in office all day doing bits of this + that. Pretty tired though – had a quiet evening in + early night.

Tuesday 14 January 1986 – In office today – pretty uneventful day all told. Stayed in this evening – got a few odds & ends done.

Wednesday 15 January 1986 – Work OK – nothing very exciting happened. Stayed in evening.

Thursday 16 January 1986 – Went to Sam Phillip’s factory today – fairly hard work. Went on to Andrea [Dean]’s in evening – for booze, fondue etc. Very pleasant evening with that crowd. Stayed over there.

Friday 17 January 1986 – Set off to Finsbury Park (Sam Phillip’s) – worked in factory all day – pretty tiring – had a quiet evening at home + earlyish night.

The First Weekend Of 1986, Including Noises Off by Michael Frayn, Savoy Theatre

From The Daily Telegraph 13 January 1986, via my Newspapers.com subscription

Here’s the diary extract for that weekend starting with Friday:

Friday 3 January 1986 – Went in to the office this morning – finished Ashley’s files. Met Caroline for lunch – went to Effes [meaning Efes] – v pleasant. Had a lazy evening at home + a fairly early night.

I’d forgotten that I sometimes treated Efes in Great Titchfield Street as a lunch place in the Newman Harris Cavendish Square days. My recollection was as a “soak up the beer after work” place, as I said in my write up of the Z/Yen Seasonal Party there, many years after the 1986 visit:

Z/Yen Christmas Do At Efes Restaurant In Great Titchfield Street, 15 December 2000
Update: Caroline remembers Efes as a lunch place more comprehensively than I do – even recalling that her luncheon of choice was No 13- chicken shish. Extraordinary powers of recall, that.

Saturday 4 January 1986 – Lazyish day – went to the high road in afternoon to library etc after lazing for most of the morning. Petra came over late afternoon – went up to town – saw Noises Off – very funny evening, went for late Italian meal. Came back to stay + late night.

Despite having been going for best part of four years, Noises Off was still filling houses and still had an excellent cast: Christopher Godwin, Stephanie Cole, Hugh Paddick, Michael Cochrane, Colette Gleeson, Timothy Carlton, and others too numerous to make it onto the newspaper classifieds at the time. Probably my first sighting of those people and probably my first sight of a Michael Blakemore directed piece too.

I do recall finding the play very funny – especially the middle act. I am really glad to have seen the original production of Noises Off, albeit not the very first cast.

Sunday 5 January 1986 – Saw Petra off this morning – had a big Italian lunch with folks – watched an old movie in the afternoon and had a generally lazy time at home reading etc.

The old movie was The Four Feathers.

Seeing In 1986 From A Traditional Thames Vantage Point – Waterloo Bridge I Think

Nano Banana 2.1 has reimagined the scene for me based on my instruction, although I placed us, from memory, on Waterloo Bridge, but Nano Banana wanted us on Westminster Bridge

Tuesday 31 December 1985 – Had lazy day taping and lounging around – met Petra in afternoon – > John’s -> Poons -> bridge

“John’s” in those days was the flat in Bow that he shared with Mandy, Rachel and I think one or two others.

I don’t list the people who joined us for that meal in Poons and for the celebrations on the bridge afterwards, but it is just possible that either John or Petra will remember.

I’m pretty sure that John’s number one choice of Chinese in those days would have been Joy King Lau. I am guessing that Joy King Lau was full and/or had a longer waiting time than Poons, which I remembered (correctly) was immediately next door in Leicester Street.

Here is a link to my Joy King Lau/Poons proximity question.

My profound love of The Original Poons restaurant in Lisle Street came a little later – other Ogblog pieces might oblige with details of that ultra low key but very high grade Cantonese food place.

As for the bridge in question, my vague memory suggests it was Waterloo Bridge, not Westminster Bridge. I took up this matter with Nano Banana, which responded with the following image, which strikes me as a scene with a view of the Palace Of Westminster that suggests it is roughly where Waterloo Bridge might be:

I’m sure we were all better looking than the youngsters depicted, but maybe we weren’t.

Anyway, here is what I said about the hours following the tolling of the bell:

Wednesday 1 January 1986 – Wandered round the south bankside – took cab – Petra + I hitched back to Bow – bedded down at John’s – hung around at John’s a while in afternoon. Went & had something to eat in Covent Garden – saw Petra off – went home & had lazy evening + early night.

I can’t quite reconcile “took cab” and “Petra & I hitched back to Bow”. Something’s missing in that statement. Perhaps we took a cab to one place, where we dropped some people off, then we hitched the rest of the way.

JOHN! Can you disambiguate this memory?

Update: John White Writes…

My diary entry for 1.1.86 reads. TODAY FOLLOWING THE NYE REVELRY, WE SLEPT LATE. CHATTED TO IAN AND PETRA AND WATCHED TV. Exciting hey?


My thoughts on Poons was that it was posher than Joy King Lau so maybe we decided to spend a bit extra. I can’t remember the evening at all other than in the mistiest of tones. I am sure we stumbled around had a few drinks and as Big Ben struck kissed each other before getting home. Probs the night bus then.

I wrote back to John, suggesting that his 31 December 1985 diary entry might contain the vital missing information.

John writes:

No entry for 31.12.85 as we were out partying.

Big help, John. Thanks.

I asked Nano Banana to add John’s “canoodling notion” to the scene and provided it with Mark Ellicott’s famous picture of John canoodling from earlier in the 1985 year.

Thanks, Mark Ellicott.

And thanks, Nano Banana. Once you can fake authenticity, you’ve really got it made.

Almost The Very End Of 1985 – Mid To Late December

cc 2.0 Ian Capper / The Meliá White House

Saturday 7 December 1985 – Met Petra in morning – breakfast etc. (Lost handbag). Stopped off at shop – stayed in the evening.

I remember the “Petra lost handbag” incident quite well, but with some gaps. I think Petra took an early train down from Keele, having arranged to meet me in the morning and then go on to see her folks down in Sussex. We went to quite a swish place in Piccadilly for “brunch”.

Thanks to Gemini, I recall that the place was Richoux – written up and photographed in this Transatlantic article, although sadly no longer at 172 Piccadilly.

Petra and I got about five or ten minutes down the road when Petra realised that she didn’t have her handbag. We returned to Richoux to discover that the bag had gone.

Despair.

But wait!

A waiter said he thought he had seen another customer spot the left-behind handbag and thought that the gentleman had handed it in to the police. The waiter suggested that we visit the local cop shop.

In those days, that meant a short stroll to Savile Row. And in those days, only very limited questions were asked of Petra to prove that she was the owner of the bag.

And in those days, believe it or not, the copper handed over the contact details for the gentleman who had spared Petra no end of trouble, as we said we wanted to get him a gift to thank him.

Back to Richoux we went for some chocolates and then up to Albany Street to The White House Hotel. In those days, no questions asked, we simply strode to the appropriate floor and knocked on the door.

The gentleman, half-opening the room door, seemed a little taken aback to be confronted by two smiling, grateful youngsters and a box of chocolates, which he rather sheepishly accepted before closing the door.

I’m sure the “Do Not Disturb” sign had been invented by then, even though GDPR had not.

Sunday 8 December 1985 – stayed at home today – went to Grandma Jenny’s – did some work, etc.

Monday, 9 December 1985 – started FT [Financial Training] course today – okay. Stayed in and worked in evening.

I spent quite a lot of time at Financial Training in Bramley Road those years I was articled and studying for my ACA exams. That building is now an abandoned, graffiti-ridden wreck, visible from the Western Avenue flyover, reminding me how dilapidated I might look after all those years if I didn’t take care of myself or have someone to take care of me.

I asked Google Flow to produce an artist’s representation of what the place looked like in the mid 1980s and I must say it (via Nana Banana 2.1) has done a cracking job, albeit an architect-style artist’s impression.

I do recall finding the course work extremely dull, especially in that first year as I had to do a lot of modules that were merely repeating stuff I had studied before (e.g. statistics, basic law) or was familiar with from years of doing practical accounting (e.g. basic book-keeping).

I remember spending breaks writing imaginary skits and songs about my fellow “kids in college” to relieve the boredom, sending them by post to Petra at Keele. I’m not sure that this comedy worked particularly well but it was possibly useful training for my post-qualification avocation as a comedy writer.

Tuesday, 10 December 1985 – course ok – worked at home in evening.

Wednesday, 11 December 1985 – FT went okay (evening messed up by call etc) – early night.

Thursday, 12 December 1985 – course ok – finished. Went up to Keele this evening.

Friday, 13 December 1985 went to union – did exam etc – went to Ben’s [Benita Wishart] for dinner in the evening – ok.

Saturday, 14 December 1985 – went to kiddie’s party in the afternoon for awhile – had a nice meal in evening.

Sunday, 15 December 1985 – lazy day at Keele reading papers eating etc- very pleasant.

At that stage, I was still very much enjoying the weekend visits to Keele and didn’t seem to mind catching a very early train from Stoke to Euston and going straight into the office. The very thought fills me with dread now.

Monday, 16 December 1985.– Came down from Keele. Back to work today – computer etc. – work ok! Had an early night.

Computer etc. will be to do with the regular problems Newman Harris was having at that time with its computer set up. The main machine (which was used primarily for payroll services) had a tendency to glitch out. Payroll was a very time sensitive affair in those days. The service was offered to quite a few retail and hospitality sector clients who paid their staff weekly and mostly in cash.

I think the firm lost patience with the “manager” who was supposed to be looking after the computer services and asked me (purportedly bright and young) to help hold the fort while they decided what to do.

A bit of common sense and an obsessive compulsive approach to backing up data regularly…which I have never quite got over since…meant that I ended up holding that fort for rather a long time.

(I have just pressed the “save draft” button, just in case. Even though WordPress auto-backs-up very regularly. I just pressed “save draft” again. To be sure, to be sure). Let’s move on.

It looks as though I used that run up to Christmas to catch up with lots of my friends.

Tuesday, 17 December 1985 – at Setty today – popped in to office etc. Bobbie [Scully] in evening had Indonesian meal etc. Very nice.

Wednesday 18 December 1985 – work etc – at Setty – went over over to Kate’s [Fricker] in the evening – had meal etc.

Thursday, 19 December 1985 – went to Setty -> office – ok – met Petra in evening – had Chinese meal etc.

Friday, 20 December 1985 – work okay – very tired in evening – had an early night.

Saturday, 21 December 1985 – lazyish day – library etc. Went to Andrea’s [Dean] party in the evening – ok – stayed over.

Sunday 22 December 1985 – hung around for a while. Went to Jilly’s [Black] in the afternoon and evening. Very pleasant.

Monday 23 December 1985 – work ok – did nothing in the evening.

Tuesday 24 December 1985 – work in morning – finished at lunchtime – met Annalisa [de Mercur] for lunch – went home – had lazyish time.

Wednesday, 25 December 1985 – lazy day at home – went to [Doreen & Stanley] Benjamin’s for evening – quite pleasant.

Thursday, 26 December 1985 – at home – worked most of the day. Watched some television also.

Friday 27 December 1985 – stayed at home and worked mostly – taped – went shops with dad in afternoon – worked in evening also.

Saturday 28 December 1985 – stayed in and work for most of the day and evening. Watched a film in evening also.

Sunday, 29 December 1985 – worked for most of the day – had Chinese lunch etc. Got quite a lot done.

Monday 30 December 1985 – Did home exam in morning – went to shops, taped etc in afternoon – lazy evening.

I was really into classical music by that stage of the autumn/winter and I have no doubt that the taping I talk about over those weeks will have been classical music.

But one track from the charts that late autumn does stick in my mind as having been a bit of an earworm:

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.

Petra’s First Year At Keele Concludes, While I Am To Persevere For A Few More Days, 9 to 12 July 1985

Photo: charles c / Sheet Anchor Baldwins Gate via Wikimedia Commons

Tuesday, 9 July 1985 – Petra’s last day – Rose late – went to Sheet Anchor for lunch – packed etc. went to hospital [to visit Ruth]– cooked Petra Chinese meal etc.

Petra Wilson by the Keele Lakes

Wednesday 10 July 1984 – Packed car – decided to go too –> hospital [to visit Ruth] –> drove down to London with Petra – arrived late – went to Il Carretto for meal (compliments of dad). Petra left late.

Thursday, 11 July 1985 – return to Keele in morning – saw Hayward [Burt] etc in afternoon – went to see Ruth early evening – stayed in after.

Hayward Burt in Barnes L54, occupying what used to be MY chair. Picture by Mark Ellicott

Friday, 12 July 1985 – spent day sorting things out and waiting for Kate [Fricker] – Late – had pleasant dinner etc.

Kate Fricker – picture extracted from Concourse

Kate and I had been invited to the Lichfield Festival by the Keele Court (Senate & Council) grandees. My next piece will set out my memories of that rather special and, at times, hilarious day.

We Interrupt The Process Of Me Saying Goodbye To Keele With A Two Day Interlude In The Lake District With Petra, 7 & 8 July 1985

Whose idea was this? Almost certainly Petra’s, not least because she had a car, making such an idea possible. She probably also sensed that mooching around Keele for too many days might not be as good an idea.

My diary recorded the trip and for once I took a few photos. Not too many, mind.

That reads:

Sunday, 7 July 1985 – Brekker [breakfast] – left for lakes – Kendal (jazz lunch). -> Windermere -> Bowness. Drove to Keswick – stayed in pub [The Pack Horse Inn] and went on to meal.

Abbot Hall Park, Kendal. Entrance above, Petra below.

Lake Windermere as seen from Bowness, above. Petra at Bowness below.

Monday, 8 July 1985 – breakfast -> town, Bowder Stone -> Honister Pass -> Cockermouth for German lunch -> back [to Keele] another way – got to hospital [to visit Petra’s best friend Ruth] late – returned home, cooked meal

Petra (above) and Me (below) at the Pack Horse Inn, Keswick

The Bowder Stone in the 1890s Public Domain image (colourised).

Honister Pass, Diliff, CC BY-SA 3.0

I remember that short-but-sweet break fondly. It came as a surprise when I realised from the diary that we were only away for the one night. Kids, eh?

My Last Keele Sixties Soul Disco, My Last Visit To Barnes L54 & Other “End Of Keele” Memories, Late June & Early July 1985

Hayward Burt sitting in MY Barnes L54 chair

Having survived a visit to London with Petra in her car…

We Interrupt Keele Festival Week To Dice With Death On A Theatre Trip To London, 28 June 1985

…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…”

“Something’s Wrong” In The Keele Hall Salvin Room & I Am Keele’s “Bamber Gascoigne”, 19 to 24 June 1985

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.

Eddie Slade – what a good chap.

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.

Keele Action Group Springs Forth Campus-Wide, Constitutional Matters Mingle With A Crucial Culinary Debate In My Barnes L54 Flat, 8 to 11 October 1982

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?

Hayward: yes you have, Ian. Just hand over the keys…

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:

We Interrupt Keele Festival Week To Dice With Death On A Strindberg Theatre Trip To London, 28 June 1985

Petra: “I wonder if someone here does advanced driver courses?”

The appointment diary reads “day off” in big letters, but I latterly inserted:

11:00 Day Nursery

Despite the fact that my term of office was over, I was still taking my students’ union duties very seriously and the meeting will have taken a good couple of hours – I have written about my experience of such a meeting previously:

Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Ronnie Frankenberg & The Keele Day Nursery Nurses But Were Afraid To Ask – Plus Other Tales From The End of Spring Term 1985

As a result, Petra and I set off from Keele for London a fair bit later than we had intended.

My personal diary entry skims over the details of this…

…but I remember the hair-raising aspects of this episode very clearly.

We took this trip in Petra’s car, as the idea was to have a Chinese meal in Soho’s Chinatown, see The Dance of Death at the Riverside Studios, and then return to Keele at night. That sort of round trip only makes sense in a car.

It also only really makes sense to do that sort of road trip if you allow plenty of time for the journeys and know your way around London by road. We were more than a little deficient in both of those regards.

Imagine the scene – Petra driving east along the Marylebone Road in Friday afternoon traffic, by which time we realised that we had not allowed enough time to eat before heading out to Hammersmith to see the play. I was trying to work out, by landmark and road sign, where we should turn off for Chinatown…or perhaps we now meant to turn off for Hammersmith…

…to be fair, my directions might have been less than perfect…to be equally fair, Petra’s knowledge of the road layout of the Marylebone Road must also have been less than perfect…

…but in truth, I couldn’t fathom then and certainly couldn’t fathom now how the next bit happened. We continued driving east along the Marylebone Road…on the wrong side of the dual carriageway.

I asked DeepAI to reimagine the scene for us. I did suggest that I should be depicted head down in the crash bracing position, but the technology wouldn’t depict that.

I think I adopted the crash bracing position. For sure I covered my eyes at least and no doubt expressed orally my terror. I vaguely remember Petra saying reassuring stuff like:

Don’t worry, don’t worry. It’ll be OK. I’ll get us out of this.

I think she must have manoeuvred across all of the lanes and turned right onto Judd Street, although how she managed to dodge all of the Friday rush hour traffic while doing that I can barely imagine.

I asked DeepAI at least to show me covering my eyes. Not much joy there. You’ll have to imagine the terrified gestures and sounds for yourselves. Still, thanks to DeepAI for the images

The irony of having diced with death ahead of going to see The Dance Of Death might have been wasted on me then, but it is not wasted on me now.

I also recall how bad the traffic was between Marylebone “Dice With Death” Road and The Riverside Hammersmith, such that we were cutting it fine ahead of seeing The Dance Of Death. But we did make it to the theatre in time and by gosh was it worth the trip and the trauma.

The Dance Of Death by August Strindberg, Riverside Studios

All we had forfeited was one day of Keele Festival week (and nearly our lives), but it transpires that the great Alan Bates gave up a Hollywood movie for the chance to play Edgar in this production. Here is a preview interview piece from The Standard:

Dance Bates StandardDance Bates Standard 17 May 1985, Fri Evening Standard (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

I had long wanted to see some Strindberg, having read plenty of it at school and then more during my working summers, when I tended to read plays voraciously while commuting to work. The opportunity to see Alan Bates opposite Frances de la Tour in a Strindberg play, albeit one I hadn’t read at that time, had been enticing to say the least.

Dance Of Death Promo Southall GazetteDance Of Death Promo Southall Gazette 17 May 1985, Fri Southall Gazette (Ealing, London, England) Newspapers.com

I don’t suppose I saw that advert in the Southall Gazette. I suspect I saw a review in The Guardian or The Observer.

Michael Radcliffe in the latter loved it:

Dance Ratcliffe ObserverDance Ratcliffe Observer 02 Jun 1985, Sun The Observer (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

Nicholas de Jongh in The Guardian seemed less sure but still positive:

Dance de Jongh GuardianDance de Jongh Guardian 01 Jun 1985, Sat The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

John Barber in The Telegraph was not so sure about the play or the supporting cast, but waxed lyrical about Alan and Frances:

Dance Barber TelegraphDance Barber Telegraph 03 Jun 1985, Mon The Daily Telegraph (London, Greater London, England) Newspapers.com

That last article reminds me that the production we saw was The Dance Of Death Parts One & Two, barely expurgated, so it ran for a bum-numbing four hours.

That’s FOUR HOURS on those excruciating seats they had in The Riverside Studios back then.

Still, my review of The Dance Of Death was a one-worder:

Excellent

Petra and I will have arrived in Chinatown around midnight, by which time the choice of eateries was limited to say the least – I suspect the choice was either Yung’s or the notoriously and relentlessly rude Wong Kei.

Yung’s in Wardour Street

Extravagantly, and wisely, I plugged for Yung’s, sparing us the indignities and lesser food of Wong Kei. Clearly I thought the meal at Yung’s was very nice as I described it as such in my diary.

I like the diary description “returned through the night” for the drive home, which was, as far as I can recall, relatively incident free.

So was it good manners or post traumatic stress related amnesia that made me miss out the details of the “driving the wrong way along the Marylebone Road” incident from my diary? It’s hard to recall my diary entry mindset, forty years on, although my memory of the incident remains very clear indeed.

Oh yes, (DeepA)I remember it well…