1968: A BOY CALLED RICHARD BRANSON — 1967-1968: Diary of a Posh Schoolgirl

Monday, 8 Jan

After lunch I finally got down to Art and I’ve done more than I ever thought I could – the whole of the 17th and 18th centuries: Baroque and Rococo!

Ma cooked a fantastic dinner: a stew thing with pastry scones on top, and a lemon mousse with pints of cream.

Meant to put my light out at 10 but I read Les Enfants Terribles and I couldn’t stop. At first I thought it was wonderful. By the end, it had frightened me so much I turned the radio on to come back to reality. It’s so terribly strange and so terribly sad. Jean Cocteau must have experienced some sinister things.

Tuesday, 9 Jan

Back to school - snow, snow, snow! Wore black skirt, green jumper, boots and my oval pendant with the girl on it. We had to shovel snow away from the drive, then put chains on the car. The chains made such a row they drove Pa insane, so we took them off and got to school at 10.30.

Miss Lack was presented with a bouquet of flowers in assembly because of her CBE - at least she’s someone who deserves a New Year’s honour. Poor Pam had flu over Xmas, and no one did any revision (so glad). There’s going to be a Dance with Spencer Davis on Saturday at Ewell Tech - Mark’s bound to go!! I don’t know what to do - I couldn’t bear to see him with a girl!! Chatted about presents and things but nobody, not one single person, knew Radio One went French on 1st Jan.

Lunch was better than usual because we chatted about the heart transplant and 'I'm Backing Britain'.

Some sixth formers are helping Back Britain by doing the school-cleaners’ work for them, for free, which I think is marvellous. Then Sarah Rae came over. She asked me about the architecture lectures and said she thought the idea to photograph “the 12 most ugly things in Epsom” was a fantastic one. Then London Grandma got brought up, and Sarah went into ecstasies when I told her she’s a Dutch artist!

We had our first lesson ever in the Sixth Form Unit - and the newspaper men (the Times and Telegraph) came to take photos!

Let out at 3.15. Chump and me got the Redhill bus, but the little bus never came, so we had a miserable, foul and ghastly walk to the village. Gorgeous to get home. Tried to learn Andromache quotes but couldn’t do them for toffee.

Saw the second programme on Diaghilev. A gypsy foresaw he’d die on water. He died in Venice.

Wednesday, 10 Jan

Four people wore maxi skirts today: Christa, Pat Sanderson, Sarah and Ann Dobby - Sarah’s is gorgeous. I’m getting fed up with mini-skirts. I freeze to death.

Jill said she went to a party on Monday at Nigel Hill’s and he, whoever he may be, told her he knows me. If only I could get in with a nice crowd and go to parties. I hate the Kingswood crowd because they’re snobby and dull, and I hate the Glyn boys because they’re only interested in snogging. I bet Mark knows some super people - intelligent and mod.

This German girl Rita, who’s come here to learn English, came to our lesson today, but all Miss Pick did was leave us alone to “converse”. We sat there firing questions at each other and leaving long ghastly silences. It was ridiculous and very embarrassing.

Ma took us home. Read and finished Thirty-Nine Steps. “A very good thriller” is all I can say about it.

I don't know what to do about the Dance.

Thursday, 11 Jan

Miss Lack gave the sixth form a long talk after assembly about how we must behave better than we have so far in the Sixth Form Unit.

We had English in the Lecture Hall today, but all through Mrs Huggett jumped with nervousness whenever the door opened for fear it'd be the TV men! They did come, at the very end, and at break they filmed the coffee-bar and the common-room, including us!

Lucy and me chatted with Jill and Liz Kennard at dinner break and Liz wants to go very much to the Dance. So I felt rather happy going home.

At 6.10 we turned on Town & Around and there it was - THE SIXTH FORM UNIT! I appeared in the Lecture Hall but you could hardly see me! I wish Dad had been home to catch it.

Friday, 12 Jan

I’m fed up. Liz can't come to the Dance because of the snow.

As we were going into Prayers Mrs Simmonds beckoned to me. She proceeded to give me the most ridiculous lecture I have ever had to endure, saying my skirt is too tight and too short. I could hardly get over it: everyone else's skirts are exactly the same. I’d like to know what she’d say to that girl last year whose skirt was 3" below her bottom.

Anya has seen sense at last, she's gone off Talcum Powder! I knew when she went skiing she’d realise he's sweet but nothing more; it must have been the French boys. On the bus down to town she spoke in raptures about snow ploughs.

At home I turned down Mummy's black, hand-woven skirt to make a gorgeous maxi, and my cloak looks fab with it because of the emerald lining. Before the film we went to the London Steak House in Epsom. Had fab crab cocktail, not very good lamb cutlets, not very good apple pie, and gorgeous Turkish Delight with coffee. Then rushed to The Taming of the Shrew.

It was fantastic. Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor were absolutely wild, throwing furniture around and smashing it to smithereens. The costumes were rich with Breugel-like colours, and the marriage scene was so hilarious that the audience was almost clapping. They had a glorious castle with a long loft where they kept cheeses, and feasts with piles of food and wine.

Saturday, 13 Jan

"DOWN WITH EDUCATION - but not with Vanessa Redgrave"

There's this new magazine out called Student, it sounds super, just the sort of magazine I've been wishing for ages would come along. The editor is a 17-year-old boy called Richard Branson - a jolly good effort on his part, I think.

There are now 'I'm Backing Britain' T-shirts on sale but it's absolutely daft: they're made in Portugal.

I feel so dissatisfied not going to the Dance this evening but how could I have gone by myself? Everything always seems to go against me. Anya would have come, but it was her Ma's birthday. I hope Mark didn't go because of the snow.

Sunday, 14 Jan

Jean-Claude Killy, triple Olympic champion

Watched super slalom skiing on TV. Jean-Claude Killy was winning, then he crashed!

Did German vocab, and got down to Art. I love all the Impressionists, they're absolutely incredible, I love the Renoir's, Van Gogh's and Gaugin's, and some Constables and Turners, and Rodin's sculpture The Kiss. If only I had my own little studio, in France! But it's a shame the public taste was so ghastly then, poor Monet and the rest of them had to struggle away to keep alive. It was really rather a foul time because the new bourgeoisie class didn't know a thing about art and were only interested in material possessions. They stifled the creativeness of the artist, and the architecture was appalling because they tried to revive Greek classicism, with disastrous results.

I’m dreading exams. What bliss when they're over - just the school cruise and skiing to look forward to.