28 June 59
I'm still in a bit of a daze. On Wednesday I opened the parcel first, found the stockings, gloves and suspender belt and read your little note. When I read the bit about hoping I enjoy myself spending the £22 I thought you were teasing and I said to myself "Ha ha! very funny". I thought you were being as ridiculous as I was in asking for £22. You can imagine the shock I got when I found that there was a cheque. I'd collected about five letters during break and took them to the form room where I opened all of them except yours which I left to the end. When I opened the long brown envelope and saw the greetings from the Midland Bank I still thought it was one of these trick things. Cassy said I looked as though I needed some fresh air so we went for a walk and all the time I wanted to rush back and see if it was real and still there. It had rather fatal results though because for the rest of day I couldn't concentrate on the History I was supposed to be revising for the exam. I have only told Irene and Brian about it so far, we haven't done anything about it because I want to see you first.
We are giving a concert on Parents Day. The orchestra is doing the march from Carmen, Cassy is doing either Dvorak or Cesar Franck or Beethoven he doesn't know which yet. The choir will be singing two choruses from Haydn's Passion and I am supposed to be singing a duet with Judy but I don't think it will come off.
On my birthday I stayed in the dorm and revised History, learning it by reading it to myself and Thursday and Friday I hardly had any voice at all. I have now got a cough, another mouth full of ulcers and to cap it all last night at tea I bit a great chunk out of the bottom of my tongue. It has been very painful today and bleeding now and again. On the morning of my History exam I was sick - I think I must have got a chill because it was mainly flem, I don't think it was nerves. I think I must have had a tempreture too because I was swetting all the way through History and my mind went completely blank for about the first quarter of an hour. Luckily the paper was a good one and I managed to do the required five questions and I know I put all the notes I had into the essays.
The first Maths paper was quite good. I think I got about 50% on that paper, but the paper we had on Friday wasn't quite as good - but I reckon and Dennis reckons that if there isn't too much mark sliding I should pass. It will be very lucky. The trouble was I was too slow and didn't finish the papers.
9 July
Yesterday I asked Peanut if I could borrow one of his clarinets and he said he would show me the fingering and how to clean it etc. Sam also said I could borrow his but I can't get either of them until next week because they have both gone on camp with Kenneth for six days. All the councellors and leavers have gone so there is only Wendy and I left of the VI form and we are both having a lazy time. This morning I did some washing and had a piano lesson and this afternoon I ironed and read and talked. At about 9.0.clock I'm going to have a long shower and use Cassy's bath brush. He has also left me his portable radio, the use of his tent and his violin to muck around on.
Tomorrow we are going to Ingleborough with Louis, Martin and Dennis. Martin is taking me in his car because I'm the eldest and because I get bus sick (neither of these facts are true).
When Cassy comes back from camp we are hoping to go to a place called Guy's Cliff near PatelyBridge and also to go on the river at Wetherby - also the pictures sometime. I suppose you can guess what's coming next - can you send me 10/-? just to make sure I have something at the end of term.
11 July
Yesterday we went up Ingleborough. I went with Martin in his car which was fun because we had the hood off and it was very hot but breezy. Before we started out Martin boasted that nobody had ever felt car sick in his car but by the time we'd done fifty miles I felt sick. When we were about five miles from Ingleborough we left Martins car at a village and joined up with the busload. We arrived at the bottom of the mountain and sat by a waterfall to have lunch while some people had a bathe.
After lunch we were taken on a conducted tour of the caves and at 2.15 we began to climb. I started off with the first group but they were going the easy way up so I
lagged behind a bit and waited for two boys so that we could go the most difficult way which was steeper and much more rocky. The weather was terribly hot and there wasn't much wind even at the top. It took me about an hour and a quarter to get to the top. When I was climbing the last slope Martin Farley took a photograph of me and I thought he was going to wait for me so that we could go on to the top together but when I came to the top of the slope I found I was at the top of the mountain. I was rather disapointed because I thought there was one more slope. When everyone arrived at the top which was about half an hour later we began the descent on the opposite side which wasn't half so steep and was mainly grassy. About halfway down we stopped at a stream and had a drink and further down we had our tea. Towards the bottom we found a pot hole so a few of us went a little way down but then had to stop because a rope was needed for the rest of the way and we didn't have one. It was 7.o.clock by the time we reached the bus and 9.0 clock we were back at school. I came back in the bus because Martin was staying to camp over the weekend with his girl friend. When we got back we fed up on fried potatoes, tomatoes, sausages, strawberries and gallons of tea, and then went straight to bed.
This morning I am a bit stiff and my face and arms are a bit sunburnt. My legs are the worst: just above my knees to the bottom of my shorts are bright pink and very sore.
July
Thank you for the 10/-. I might not need it but I always like to be on the safe side and it will be useful as a stand by in case we do anything over Old Scholars Weekend.
We didn't get to see TigerBay because Cassy went off to camp on Thursday morning. We are hoping to go and see Thirty-nine Steps tonight but we have to ask Kenneths permission yet.
On Sunday evening at about 9.15 Frances came into the staff room and said she was going over to her cottage to take some food to Donald Grant who had suddenly turned up at the cottage to stay the night, and she asked if anyone would like to go with her. Diana and I said we would but we didn't really know what we were letting ourselves in for. On the way there she nearly drove us into a field of potatoes. Being Sunday evening there were quite a few parked cars along the lanes. Frances noticed these and said "This is how most young people spend their evenings. I suppose they're petting". The last sentence she just spat out.
When we arrived at the cottage we met the ex-mayor of York and his wife who rent the cottage at weekends. The wife is one of the wardens at the Retreat (mental hospital) at York and he is an artist.
We stayed there until about 10.15 and then came back. All the way down the York road there was a motor cyclist behind who kept on signalling to Frances because she didn't have any lights on and she was driving down the middle of the road and nobody could overtake us. Eventually it dawned on her and the motor cyclist overtook us just as we turned into the drive.
The night before the campers came back a few of us sat from 8 until l1.o.c1ock talking in the form room then we decided we had better go to bed. By the time we had got our laundry, mucked around a bit and washed, it was 11.30 before we got into bed.
On the way upstairs we met Dennis and Martin and neither of them said anything about being so late.
On Wed. morning G D came into the form room and said he was going into Leeds to buy some records for the school with the money which was given from various parents on parents day, and he asked if anybody would like to go with him to help him chose. Cassy and I went with him, what a lark! Cassy wore shorts and hadn't shaved for about a fortnight and we went into the best music shop in Leeds. First of all Dr asked if we could hear a recording of the Eroica and we went into a booth to listen. After the first few notes G D said that it was definately the best recording and that we would have it. I'm sure he couldn't know wether it was good or not, only having heard a couple of notes. We spent about half an hour in the shop asking the woman to show and play us records and in the end we came away with the Eroica, Rachmaninoffs piano concerto No.2 with preludes on the other side, some Paganini, Grand Cncertos by Handel, Khatachurian's Gayanah Suite, Sibelius Violin Concerto, Stravinsky's Firebird Suite and Kodaly's Hary Janos Suite. G D was quite carried away and periodically I had to remind him of how much money we had and how much he'd already bought. It was a wonderful experience going into a music shop with £10 and buying just the records we wanted.
When we'd finished buying the records it was too late to get back to school in time for school lunch so G took us to Fields Cafe in Wetherby on the way back and treated us to tomatoe juices, salmon salad, fruit and cream and cheese and biscuits.
We were going to have coffee only G had to get back to school to invidulate an exam and we didn't have time. Luckily nobody seemed to miss Cassy and I so it didn't matter about us missing school lunch and siesta.
This morning Cassy and I went into Wetherby with Louis to get some plaster; I seem to have done well this week for on the spur of the moment sprees.
This afternoon a man and woman came to give a talk on carreers. The woman seemed more interested in Science subjects and when we asked questions about music, history, English etc. she just dismissed them with a few words and went back to science subjects. She told us we couldn't possibly get into university without five O-level subjects at one sitting and three advanced subjects two of which must be over 50% and the over 55%. When one of the girls asked her what carreers there were for those people who had stopped at O-level and hadn't any further she just said that there were plenty. As you can see she didn't help me at all; in fact hardly anybody seemed satisfied.
PS Cassy had a letter from his mother today. She said I could go and stay in the hols if l wanted to but I don't think I do.