Not a bad day. Nice and mild. Got up 10am. Not fit to do any gardening. Dot and Ron came in the afternoon. Nothing unusual to report. Went to the Wheatsheaf at night.

Ron, my dad, on his motorbike.
My granddad died in 1983. For the previous 20 years, he kept a diary, recording his day as a farm worker and then through his retirement. We are lucky enough to have his notebooks, all the entries in block capitals, often in pencil. He always tells us about the weather, sometimes about what is going well at the allotment. We get updates of how Liverpool are doing and the occasional political thought. He suffered from rheumatoid arthritis, was always in pain, but you would never know from these entries. My mum once described him as a contented man. Who knows, really, but certainly, there is something soothing about these entries. So I thought I would share them with you. We have a few years to cover so buckle up.

Not a bad day. Nice and mild. Got up 10am. Not fit to do any gardening. Dot and Ron came in the afternoon. Nothing unusual to report. Went to the Wheatsheaf at night.

Ron, my dad, on his motorbike.
Day off. Came out to clean the windows but got rained off. Went to P in the afternoon. Cleaned car. Did some tidying up. Went to the Wheatsheaf.
Not too bad today. Cold wind. Home last night without lights. Had to go to the Lydiate again. Boilers off. Cleaned points and jets. No good. Electrical fault. Car washing. H. S. A. K. 14 to date. (Off Lydiate. Stat in room furnace.)
A lovely sunny day and much milder. Washed and polished Howarth’s new car. Washed shacks. Cleared out the silage lab again. Lot in 4 bins. Gordon gone to Harrogate.
Milder today but a very strong wind still blowing. Bert and Ken finished the pumps. Cleaned out the silage lab. Finished the gravel path.
(Like some other entries, this one is marked with an X. Wish I knew what that meant.)
Another day of cold winds and showers. Brushed up round bins and the drive. Started to hoe gravel path round house. Cleaned both jets again and hot filters.

Roads slippery again this morning. Very cold east wind. Burt and Ken putting pumps on time switch. Mr Howarth got new car today. Did two cars K.D. 16 to date. Burnt 2 pigs* from sweat hse.
(* it could day 2 pies, but I think it’s pigs.)
A bright sunny morning but still cold. Got up at 10am. Young Ann round all day. Frank and Dora came. Dot and Ron stayed at home decorating. Never went out at night.
(Frank and Dora were my grandma’s brother and wife. Dot and Ron are my mum and dad.)
Still a very cold wind. Road slippery first thing. Started on the house windows. Went to P in the afternoon. Mended roof in the kennel. Bad cold. Came back from the Sheaf 9.30.
(Assume P is pub. Sheaf definitely is.)
Another day of high winds and heavy showers. Quite cold. Car cleaning again. A.A.S.B.Mc. 14 to date. Got 96 Argosy magazines off John Davies. Cleaned both jets again. Mr Howarth not got new car.
(I think the initials are the owners of the cars. Not sure.)