The changing world (14) Jan to Jun 1970

Jan 12 Biafra surrendered ending four years of civil war. Failed second driving test. Saw England 0 Holland 0 at Wembley. Dull possession football. Overheard coming out, 'The only good thing was some fools paid more than I did to watch this rubbish'. A new tyre for £5/4/-. My brother Geoffrey employed selling Rington's tea. Applied for a couple of other local pharmacy jobs without success.
   £6 for car's six month service. L'Abri buy The Manor, Greatham with a legacy. Katy interviewed for SUM. Rhodesia decades itself a republic. saw The Flying Dutchman at Saddler's Wells, my first ever opera. It would be many years before I wanted to watch anything not in English as this was. Heard SUM had accepted us both. New English Bible published.
   Applied for passports. Pregnancy  not confirmed  GP  ruled it out late March. Passed driving test. On Good Friday visited Kew. 3d to get in. Hit by the tropical house atmosphere. Nothing like it until we alighted from the plane at Kano six months later. Serious fire at St John's with arson suspected. Rioting in Belfast. Visited the Newton family at Rugby school where Fiona's husband teaches physics.
   Katy in hospital to remove three wisdom teeth. Enjoying a cigar from time to time. I had given up my pipe in 1965 when tobacco went to 5s per oz. Now as I write it is about 25 times that price. I avoid rendering to this Caesar and buy from USA or Europe. In Nigeria I was not supposed to smoke or drink. I did both with Christian Reformed friends. The Nigerian church prohibition on alcohol led to gross hypocrisy. A poor man would be disciplined for a sip but the state governor, a church member could open a brewery for his state and not be disciplined. Now I would never sign the  pledge. Before Nigeria I drank little. Had no taste for beer only cider. and wine. I only got onto beer around 1980 and spirits 1990 when a church member introduced me to single malt. He had done work for the Distillers Company. Nowadays all I have is a pipe when the weather is mild enough to sit outdoors. I am banned from my pipe in the house or car. In Nigeria I could enjoy a cigar driving or hidden among the Jos rocks at the rear of the compound.
   Chelsea kicked Leeds off the pitch at Old Trafford to win the one and only Cup Final replay I believe. Eddie Gray had run rings round them at Wembley. Chopper Harris took him out up north. So Chelsea joined Man U as Leeds hate objects. - with Maradonna as national object of illification this year.
   Favourite TV shows of the year were The Forsythe Saga and Edward and Mrs Simpson. Edward Fox had the duke to perfection. USA advances into Cambodia. Heard we are to go to Vom Hospital. New suit for the tropics, £25. Early May unplanned pregnancy confirmed. Our friend Jack Jenner lost his wife and baby in childbirth.
   General Election and I did not vote. We had three candidates. I asked their views on Common Market, abortion and hanging. Two replied disagreeing with me on all points. So I had no-one to vote for. OTOH in Thirsk my father, life long Labour voter had Robin Turton, father of the house and leading anti-marketeer. I told dad to vote for him. No need he said as the Labour woman was against it too. So he could not vote for nor me against the wretched Common Market which all the lying parties told us was a purely economic thing and not political.LIARS led by traitor Heath who came to power, our least and worst Conservative until Cameron. This was the biggest shock result for years. Majority of 42.
   My barber was a Jewish communist who thought that SUM's equal pay policy from newest recruits to the field director was wrong! Each month we were not paid in Nigeria until the monthly salary was in the mission's kitty. So one could get three months in arrears. We never suffered want and when you came on leave you were paid any arrears. This was better than the r missions who paid what was in the kitty each month but if it was short, hard luck. It was never made u. We were glad too that we did not have to raise persona pledged support but all went none pot. The other system favoured missionary who had appealing work and could speak well on deputation.
   Schaeefer visited and spoke at IPC on Ash Heap Lives, one of his published sermons . Met Dr John Lang our future boss at Vom. An excellent medical superintendent but whose preaching was as stimulating as phenobarbital IMO. BTW in those days barbiturates were the hypnotic of choice - and the drug of choice for would be suicides.
   A former boyfriend of Katy's murdered his fiancee than killed himself. The Macaulays went to her brother's wedding. At the time we did not know he had got his bride pregnant when she was a student at L'Abri. Later, friends in the know said Frank was spoiled as the boy after three girls but also neglected as the work occupied his parents. He boasted about his artistic talents but I heard his only recommendation was his surname.
   End of June finished work at Bruces. Bernadette Devlin jailed. Collected steel drums from Barking for shipping our loads to Nigeria. Used martin's VW camps which was LHD and I wondered if the pedals were on the wrong way round too.