Friday 12th April 1963

Originally this was a 2 storey building. Sometime
ago a mansard roof was created to allow a third
storey (but not a meteorological screen)

"Met reading Got up early could only read barometer as someone has broken outer blog door. Cannot get on roof. Had Easter services Messiah & Schutz"

Red ink was an appointment rather than a log. I had joined the meteorological society which meant I was on a rota to go in occasionally during holidays or weekends to take readings from the screen instruments - barometer, maximum and minimum thermometers, and humidity. The Screen was on the flat roof of the new block - now 'mansarded' (as in picture) and no longer flat! I think the 'blog door' was from the biology lab on to the roof.

Messiah & Schutz referred to choral items at St. Matthews. I knew of the Bach passions; this was my introduction to Heinrich Schutz' settings.

Thursday 11th April 1963

"Ring Dunkley about choir practice. Stayed in bed till about 12 o'clock doing music got up and did some of Ron's hmk. Saw Sykes & a Pub"

'Sykes & a Pub' was a TV show. How useful that I can restore memory dropouts by googling. 'Ron' was the chemistry master - who also coached the school boat club (more of that later in the year), and sadly died last year. Choir practice would have been at St. Matthew's church. Dunkley it was who got me to join in the first place - some time during 'My 1959 or 60'.

Having started well into the year I have to decide what to do about the first 3 months; diary entries quite full. Do I pre-date the post dates for them and keep the sequence for 1963, or accept reality and portray my blogging-thoughts chronology 'honestly'. #justdoit

Wednesday 10th April 1963

The last night in the hut - beer bottles, pipe smoking and a guitar.
I'm pretty sure that's me  centre back peeping round,
so don't know who took the photo.

"End of camp. 4.45 latest at Kin. Had end of drill comp lost [horribly - not clear, probably not good]. On train home went to buffet tres expensive. Had lift home from Mrs West."

'Kin' means back to Kingston Station

Tuesday 9th April 1963

"Went to protective clothing and parachute sections. Saw 'One, two, three' at Astra. At night had sing-song & bathed Covell, Clapson & Sefton. Others tied 5 people's toes to beds, & tied Reg's (U.O. Worcester) door up. Also went to air traffic control"

'Astra' may have been a cinema on the campus, but 'One, two, three' has left no lasting memory. 'Bathing' meant dragging sleeping unfortunates out of bed and into a cold bath. It seemed like jolly good fun - boys' high jinks - at the time though nothing to be proud of in retrospect. Fifth and Sixth formers bullying fourth formers who were maybe insecure, weak or 'natural victims' in some way. As a fourth former, and not especially good at putting up a fight, I played little part, hoping to be inconspicuous and avoid a wetting; but I admit I enjoyed the spectacle, and also the achievement of being enough of a 'good bloke' not to be victimised. 'U.O. Worcester' I think refers to another school CCF there at the same time - possibly an Under-Officer?

Monday 8th April 1963

"Afternoon had initiative scheme. Three heaps of earth [can't read this bit] Had two lifts. Clapson and Flutter (Worcester) both caught got boots filthy, in evening went to Astra to see play, intervals between acts too long.  Morning went to crash bay saw lightnings take off."

Outside the Hangar at RAF Wattisham, April 1963. Lightnings behind.

Memo to self aged 15 (a la Bridget Jones) - if you're going to write this stuff make it readable otherwise what's the point? That's me - back row 2nd from right - and I think that's Cecil seated on the far left.

Sunday 7th April 1963

"Cecil turned up with cine camera at camp church. Forgot money. Would I have paid 2/6? [2 shillings and sixpence] Went flying in morning in chipmunk. Went to Ipswich & round there. Did two aerobatics - loop and stall turn. Took control for some time. Was up for 1/2 hour. Afternoon and evening messed around in billet having sing-song"

'Cecil' was the CCF commander - can't remember his proper name. 'chipmunk' was an aircraft capable of aerobatics - the frame was strong enough not to fall apart under the stresses. I do remember aerobatics were probably the most fun I had had in my life till that point. The pull of gravity on one's guts and cheeks was intense, and the attempt to keep ones orientation whilst upside down with stomach 'floating free' was a thrill. I think I actually was allowed to control the plane through a loop - such excitement and paid for by the RAF.

Saturday 6th April 1963

"Went to Ipswich to swim. Came out looked round saw 'H Meadows Caravans'. Had packed lunch in supermarket with cup of coffee and Conford, Deane, & Covell. Afternoon saw 'This Sporting Life' was not asked age. In evening did nothing much played table tennis"

'H Meadows Caravans' I think was my uncle Theo's company. He lived not far away in East Bergholt. 'This Sporting Life' was explicit for its time - X rated I think. Not being challenged on our age seemed quite an adventure. I still have a mental 'freeze frame' of a hand on a woman's thigh pushing up her skirt, fading away to another scene. Powerful images to a 15 year old in 1963, even in grainy mono.

Friday 5th April 1963

"Went to USAF Bentwood [possibly now RAF Woodbridge in Suffolk]. Long journey, about 3/4 hour. USAF base boring. Saw over CBR (Chemical Biological and Radioactive) shelter & saw over Voodoo's [?] had two dinners. Afternoon went to see over lightning a/c. When getting out of cockpit Covell nearly pulled ejector seat handle. Went to 'The Road to Hong Kong'."

Re the question I asked in the April 3rd entry about matching days and dates from 1963 and 2013, there were 13 leap years over the period, each advancing a date 2 days through the week - eg 1st February goes from being a Tuesday in 2000 to a Thursday in 2001. So 13 leap years provide 26 days of advancement. The remaining 37 non-leap years each advance by one day. 37 + 26 = 63 - a multiple of 7, so the days and dates match up.

But are there always 13 leap years in a 50 year span?

I'm regretting this: if I did the same blog next year - 'My 1964' - although it was a leap year itself there would still be 13 intervening February 29ths, so days and dates would match up as far as February 28th. However from March 1st there would only be 12 February 29ths so no match. (February 1st was a Saturday in 1964, and will be one in 2014; March 1st was a Sunday in 1964, but will be a Saturday in 2014.)

A further twist is that some century years are not leap years; 2100 is one for example. There is more on this here; it comes down to the failure of the solar system to keep to nice whole numbers in relations between the  earth's rotational speed, its planetary orbit time and some other rather larger astronomical measures. The 'music of the spheres' turns out to have a pleasing atonality.

Thursday 4th April 1963

"Had briefing. Saw some lightnings take off. Shown round lightning. Saw several bedtime pictures in 3 hangar [?]. Afternoon went to RAF Rattlesden. Had coffee then charged 3d! Evening did nothing much. Listened radio. Craig Horder etc came back pissed"

[?] = handwriting unclear. "lightnings" are Lightning jet fighter aircraft, which had a very dramatic pattern of take off lifting a few feet off the ground and then shooting up at 45 degrees with a  roar that even from half a mile away churned the stomach. "3d" was of course 3 old pennies, and my outrage was at being charged at all without knowing in advance. RAF camps provided free very edible food all day - vastly superior to the dreadful fare at army cadet camps. At the time a pint of bitter was about 1/7d - 1 shilling and 7 pence - roughly 8 (new) pence. Craig Horder etc had walked a mile or so to the nearest pub; I wouldn't have had the pocket money for that. Quite what 'bedtime pictures' were I'm unsure.

Wednesday April 3rd 1963

"RAF camp at at Ipswich. Wattisham near Ipswich. Meet Kin Stn 09.45. Have arrived safely. Food pretty good. Went to camp cinema and saw 'Only 2 can play'. Have radio in hut with Wattisham F.N. In hut with Covell as only fourth form companion"

I've been meaning to do this all year since coming across my 1963 diary, and have only just realised the days and dates match up with this year. Will now spend/waste some time figuring if this always happens for dates 50 years apart. "Kin Stn" is Kingston Station, and the camp was for members of the CCF at Kingston Grammar School. I'm guessing "Wattisham FN" was Wattisham Forces Network. The photo is recent, but the building is the same as 1963. More may follow.