Diary Entry: Went service at Minster. Bad journey back & night with Nancy. Diary notes: This Sunday KPD, a keen churchgoer all her life, went to York Minster for a service before her journey back across the country to her base near Chester.
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Diary Date: 13th February [1943]
Diary Entry: Sight seeing. Valerie to tea & supper. Diary notes: Sightseeing was always something KPD enjoyed, whether on holiday in the UK or abroad; here presumably wartime York was the place being enjoyed. KPD talks of a number of friends called ‘Valerie’; this entry may refer to Valerie Evans – a friend KPD had …
Diary Date: 12th February [1943]
Diary Entry: Went through D.M Had 48 hours Went to Friedbergers, Almery Garth, Maygate, York. Valerie & Liz met me. Diary notes: Presumably ’48 hours’ refers to a period of leave. ‘D.M.’ may refer to ‘Driver Mechanical’ [Transport] – possibly a course or qualification KPD had to take. The ‘Friedburgers’ were friends KPD had mentioned …
Diary Date: 10th February [1943]
Diary Entry: Tea Nancy & to Theatre. Diary notes: KPD enjoyed going to the the theatre nearly as much as going to the cinema, but unusually here she doesn’t record what she (and perhaps Nancy) saw.
Diary Date: 7th February [1943]
Diary Entry: Spent day Nancy. Lunch at Swan. Diary notes: Nancy was a friend, presumably in the A.T.S., with whom KPD socialised regularly during the war years. The Swan, which may be the 16th Century inn at Taporley near Chester, was a regular eating place for KPD in those days. The Swan at Taporley today:
Diary Date: 6th February [1943]
Diary Entry: Shopped Chester. Duty driver pm. Diary notes: Chester, around 10 miles from Gresford, was the main place KPD went to for shopping and entertainment.
Diary Date: 30th January [1943]
Diary Entry: Saw “Coastal Command” & “Meet the Stuarts” (sic). Diary notes: “Coastal Command” was a wartime dramatised documentary (with music by Ralph Vaughan Williams); see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coastal_Command_(film) “Meet the Stuarts” – correctly “Meet the Stewarts” – is a 1942 US romantic comedy starring William Holden. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meet_the_Stewarts
Diary Date: 28th January [1943]
Diary Entry: Returned. Lunch & tea with Nan at N.hampton. Diary notes: Whether ‘Nan’ is ‘Nanny’ is unsure – both names occur frequently in the diaries.
Diary Date: 26th January [1943]
Diary Entry: Bathed Grahame. Tea & supper Orc.[hard] Cot.[tage]. Anthony for night. Diary notes: Grahame Dell (born in 1942) is the son of Anthony and Peggy Dell, and therefore KPD’s nephew. Orchard Cottage, Crofton (near Farnborough, Kent) was the home of the Lewis family, former employers of KPD who became good friends.
Diary Date: 25th January [1943]
Diary Entry: Christopher Carter born. Left Tun. Wells. Tea Humbers. Diary notes: The Humbers were the next door neighbours, and friends, of KPD and her Mother. One of them, Catherine Lucy Violet Humber (1889-1975), remained a friend of KPD until her death and is often referred to in KPD’s diaries. This is the only mention …
Aunt Pamela's War 