A dull day again but much warmer. Rain in the afternoon. Mr Howarth saw Bunts.* Raking leaves up the drive. Cut some wood up for the incin. Did all the Ts.
(*Assume this is Bunty, Granddad’s dog)
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.

A dull day again but much warmer. Rain in the afternoon. Mr Howarth saw Bunts.* Raking leaves up the drive. Cut some wood up for the incin. Did all the Ts.
(*Assume this is Bunty, Granddad’s dog)
A bitter, east wind blowing today. Very cold. Michael Halliday died yesterday.* Cleared the silage lab out. 4 bins. Did the jets and all the Ts. New pump working out ok so far.
*Think this must be the singer, Michael Holliday – 26 November 1924–29 October 1963.

Not so cold today. Still dull and cloudy. Started to dig round the rhondies. Jane, Dot, Ron home last night. Jane cut two teeth. Did all the Ts again.
A cold, easterly wind blowing today but dry. Car washing again. S.B.K. making 191 to date. Did all the Ts again. A lot of stuff to burn. Dot, Jane, Ron home today.
Clocks back last night. Got up at 9.30. Made a place for spring cabbage and planted them. Frank and Dora came in the afternoon. Went at five. Nell won £3 last night.
Day on today. A bit colder but a nice afternoon. Norman H brought stuff to burn. Went to P in the pm. Cut creeper and burnt it. H Ford brought some plants.
Yet another nice mild day. One or two showers. Car washing. H.A. making 168 to date. Did all the toilets. Burnt some tree stumps for Mrs H. Knee a bit on the sore side today.
Another lovely mild day, though cloudy. Cleared leaves from under the little wall. Cleared silage lab out again. Brushed round bins. Waddy got nine months.* Did all the Ts.
(*I don’t know)
Another lovely mild day. Again knocked the boilers off @ p.m. Burning leaves up the drive. Cleared a load of stuff from out of the silage lab. A lot to burn from Hanns Hall.
A lovely warm sunny day. Knocked boilers off at noon. Loaded rubbish on trailer. Brushed leaves up off drive and carted them away. Did all the Ts.