July 31st 1972

“Dam borin’ in t’morning but in t’afternoon bogged off into eastleigh”
I have not heard – or used – the slang phrase “bogged off” (a gentler, less sweary, version of “buggered off”) for the longest time!
“I am bogging off to Eastleigh”
“… and then she just got up and bogged off”
“Why don’t you just bog off, you [...]

July 30th 1972 Pt 2 – An aside

Whenever we would travel to Liverpool Street station – either to collect mormor or to travel to Denmark ourselves, I would always – even as a very young kid – be in awe of the structure of the place.
When we got out of the taxi – which would pull up inside the building, right by the [...]

July 30th 1972

“went down to pick up Mormor at London. When we came back she gave me a bludy smart jumper”
The word “Mormor” is probably an unknown quantity for most subscribers to this blog, so please let me explain.
I am half-Danish. Not the die-hard Brit most of you think I am. As Eddie Izzard once said of [...]

July 29th 1972

“Dad’s birfdai. Didin’t do nufin’ in t’morning. in afternoon went to eastleigh on bus + got library book”
My Dad was 43.
Numbers like that never fail to throw me a little. He was younger than I am now, and having to deal with a 14-year-old me.
Those deliberate spelling gaffes are slaying me – please don’t think [...]

July 28th 1972

“Trev rolled up at 11:30 and we played cricket and he heard my new recs. By the way I bt him at cricket me 92 decl him 55 all out”
Cricket?
I HATE cricket.
Did I mean REAL cricket or some kind of odd board game or something? I certainly can’t imagine me running from stumps to stumps [...]

July 26th 1972

“arguverge” / “nothing at all dun all day except gordon came up in afternoon and we taped slade alive sd 2. I also taped A.Rooster etc”
Gordon?
Gordon?
Aaaaaaaargh! Who ARE these people?
Finally got that Slade album committed to cassette it would seem?
A.Rooster is shorthead for the band Atomic Rooster, more specifically their minor hit “The Devil’s Answer“. (Why I [...]

July 25th 1972

“nothing much in the morn. in afternoon went swimming and went to mick’s house + bor. records. Taped America + Slade 1″ / “new set batts > 59 days” / Vicarage 7.30 for rounders match. we won” (6m)
The diary entries are at least getting longer and a bit more informative this school holiday aren’t they?
There’s [...]

July 24th 1972

“Went up Trev’s house for day. good fun. He bt me at chess 2-1, but hospital called for him at 2:40 so I went home. on the way home I bought pictures at an exhibition – emerson, lake + palmer”
Trev was, it has to be said, a very good friend. His parents were always very [...]

July 23rd 1972

“Not much dun all day. went in stuart’s pool in afternoon. went out in evening”
When I say ‘went in stuart’s pool’ you don’t think I meant……….??
Eww….
However, ‘went out in evening’ seems a suddenly encouraging comment for this 14-year-old teenage boy.
It must have been so VERY memorable that I didn’t feel it necessary to elucidate at the time, probably [...]

July 22nd 1972

“Nothing done in morning, in afternoon went with Mum to Winchester tried to buy pictures at an exhibition but couldnt”
See how this worked RIAA?
I borrowed Pictures at an Exhibition. I taped Pictures at an Exhibition. I listened and fell in love with Pictures at an Exhibition. So much so that I wanted to BUY Pictures [...]

July 21st 1972

“Trev came up. He brought up N.E.T.E. + Elegy. In afternoon we played cricket + F.ball and got told off by Grumpy”
I got told off by myself? Oh…. got it, this was not 2008, but 1972!
I really was an energetic little toad wasn’t it? Cricket and football all in the space of one day? I’d be [...]

July 20th 1972

“In afternoon went swimming at school. started to rain hard so got a lift home with dad”
Here’s that whole “swimming” thing again.
???
I was so into it apparently that I went to the school swimming pool and used it during the summer holidays. What.the.hell?
Despite my wife’s comment on an earlier post, I don’t think it was [...]

July 19th 1972

“Early morning thunder and lightning” /”Didn’t do much during day, played with Jonathan” / “Mum in mood in morning ‘cos I plyd Slade” / “Arguverge” / “fixed puncture”
Almost this entire entry could be ignored with the obvious exception of the great line “Mum in mood in morning ‘cos I plyd Slade“
Throughout the ages, it’s not [...]

July 18th 1972 (II)

In afternoon went up Gordon’s + borrowed Slade Alive + 45’s”/ “Argument on verge” / “Poured down + lightning” / “6m”
Parents still on the cusp of arguing, a teenager on holiday is still writing diary notes about the weather, another six miles on the bike…. it’s all pretty yawn-filled stuff isn’t it? So thank heavens for [...]

July 18th 1972 (I)

“Mick came up in morning + played subbuteo. He bt me 4-3″
In these 21st Century times of Nintendo Wii’s, Playstations, X-Boxes and video games, I imagine that simple “flick to win” pleasures like the one Subbuteo used to offer would be loudly sniggered at by today’s teenagers. Back in the seventies though it was a most enjoyable waste of summer [...]

July 17th 1972

“Went to Chamb school in morning. In afternoon went up trev’s and on the way home popped into see Andy” / “10m” / “Argument starting”
“Chamb School” refers to Chamberlayne Road Boys, my (what is known in England as) Junior School, the institution I attended between the ages of 5 and 11.
I have no idea why [...]

July 16th 1972

“Last TIBS” / “Went to Gilkicker for afternoon. arms stung a lot”
A few weeks ago, here in 2008, my wife and I attended a baseball game where I sat and got terribly sunburned on both arms.
36 years older.
No wiser.

July 15th 1972

“Went + bought new shoes + trousis in eastleigh. mini-argument over clothes”
Ah, the school holidays. Time to cast off the dreaded school uniform and invest in some killer ‘threads’ with which to attract all the ‘lay-deez’ (Irony alert!)
However, ignoring my appalling (deliberate) spelling once again, it would seem as if my choices did not go well [...]

July 14th 1972

“End of school year (Hoorah!”) – Not a v.good report”
I’m not surprised I didn’t get a great school report. I think I had already passed my “educational prime” at the age of 11 when I took the controversial 11-plus exam at my previous school which allowed me entry to the hallowed halls of my secondary [...]

July 13th 1972

“Staff v School cricket match. V hot day. Watched Goodies and Top of the Pops next door”
The first part of this entry appears to be self-explanatory. A cricket match – doubtless a boring cricket match (because all cricket matches are) – between some of the school staff and a handful of cricket-playing pupils.
On a hot [...]