The Party Page

Yippee....it's party time! It's time to get on those party clothes and dancing shoes, splash on some of the old secret ingredient and head on down to buy the provisions. And then water them down so they last longer! And lets hope there'll be plenty of girls there.....hmmm...ok maybe that's a bit too ambitious!

Thanks to my somewhat sad habit of keeping a diary I have all the embarrassing moments captured for posterity, particularly those moments you hoped no-one would remember! It's just a good job we didn't have camera phones in those days or you'd really be in trouble.

What follows is a list of all the parties I can remember, and even some I can't!

But first lets have a go at my personal top ten of parties -

Please email me on chris@lewys.co.uk to put your own top ten together!!

Feb 18th 1971 Fiona's Birthday	This is the first one I can remember! Fiona's birthday party - the start of many excellent nights at Fiona's normally on a Friday night, supplemented with cider from the off license over the road, next to the Ritz cinema. This was during my period of being madly in love Gwynneth - don't deny it boys, we all had one! And apparently Mart wanted to ask Sally Bastable to the party....I can't remember that but the diary never lies! The music of the time I think was Westbound Number 9, Rainbow, Journey and of course Blodwyn by Badfinger!
Wed 30th June 1971 Trev Pinders birthday	Now this must be a candidate for the party of all time, purely because there were almost exactly the same numbers of boys and girls, and everyone paired off! I have a suspicion to this day that this was all pre-planned by the girls but I expect we'll never know! Send me an email to correct me if I'm wrong here everyone but I think it was Mart and Anna, Bert and Jackie Morris, Tats and Diane, Jonno and Lyndsey Armstrong, Trev and Paula, Hodgie and Jane, Mop and Ann....and of course me and Jocie Bell! There were some long term romances born there - me and Jocie and Trev and Paula lasted at least two weeks!! And Bert and Jackie was slightly longer! The roof of the garage bears witness to these relationships! Life was so much easier then!!
July 17th Caister Holiday Camp	I know it doesn't really count but the whole week was a party - have a look!
27th November Hilary's party	Just for you Tat's it was the day Forest played Leeds and Leeds won 2-0. This obviously worked well for me as I was with Ellen Dawson at the party and she would have been in a great mood as she was a Leeds fan. And just for the record Notts won 3-2. A sad day for Olly though - it says in the diary that him and Gwynneth "packed up"! Just to cheer Tats up after the Forest loss he did start going out with Coral and Dio was with Angie Ward! Spookily my diary for the next day says "got up late!" Even more spookily I can still remember Ellun's phone number....I must have spent a lot of time on the phone to her...
01st January 1972 Gwynneth's party	Hmm...I'm not sure this was a good day for a party - we didn't get in until 1.30 am the night before as we'd been in the square watching the crowds jump in the fountains! Our powers of recovery must have been greater in those days as we made it to Gwynneth's. Ian Dawson (if you're viewing in Norway!) was with Cathy Harvey - I'd forgotten about this until we got back in touch with Cathy recently. And Olly was with Anne....presumably Anne Buckler. There was also a Beatle Bonanza on Radio Luxembourg! And Maurice Chevalier died!
January 15th 1972 Mart's party	I don't think this will go down as a classic! I seem to remember we met some tall girl called Diane on Westdale Lane and decided to take her and her two friends to Mart's. Needless to say this didn't go down too well with Anne, Diane and Paula - sort of upset the equilibrium, so they fell out with us! And the diary thinks I was still very keen on Ellen, as it tells me she didn't come to the party - it sort of sounds as if she was expected! Still - I'm sure someone had a good time!
January 22nd 1972 Webby's party	I can vaguely remember this one as being good but can't quite remember why! Ellen was there and I spent the evening with her, but still wasn't going out with her. Women were a mystery then.....nothings changed at all now! I remember people trying to crash the party and us not letting them in? Hardly seems a candidate for party of the year though does it?
February 19th 1972 Trev's party	I don't think this is a candidate either! All it says in the diary is - "no girls there!"
April 18th 1972 Biology Field Course	Yes I know it's not really a party but I'm sure we had one on the last night didn't we? After we'd stuck all the ornaments down to the shelf. And we had a barbecue on the haunted beach...and we used to huddle together telling ghost stories in the freezing cold room after Olly had fallen through the window! Check it out anyway!
April 28th 1972 Sally Withers' party	It was quite good - spent the evening with Cathy Harvey and got a lift back from Grat and didn't get home till 3.am. It was the day after Apollo 16 splashed down, which was incidentally 13 seconds late and a mile from the recovery ship!
May 13th 1972 Dania's party	Dania was Karen Holowka's sister and it was her birthday. Did we know her from the trip to Kew garden's - I don't think that she went to our school. It was very good as there were lot's of people that we didn't know and Hodgie started going out with Dania after the party....well....technically during the party I suppose!
July 20th 1972 - Geography Field Course	Well - if we're counting Caister and the Biology Field course as party weeks we have to count the geography field course in the Lake District. Due to the high turnover of people coming through the youth hostel it was a different party every night! Have a look
October 7th 1972 Bert's party	One of the perks of being the oldest in the year was getting served in the pubs and being able to have the first birthday party. It's not so hot now though is it Bert you old git! This party looked like a good one on paper. I was with Jane, Angie with Dio, Bert with Gwynneth (see - I told you everyone was in love with you Gwynneth!), Hodgie with Bert's sister and Pete with her friend. The night before was Goose Fair and the day after the party I had to do english essays while recovering - see....we did do some work as well!
November 4th 1972 Olly's party	He had a real disco! Wasn't there a guy called Stu from Burton Joyce that we used to hang around with at this time who had his own disco? Maybe it was him. I think the diary lists who was there - Anne, Will, Bert, Paula, Trev, Pat, John, Grat, Rosie, Sally Pearson, Mart, Anna, Wendy, Gobbo, Robbo, Lyndsey Osbourn, Dio, Greg, Shirt, Wendy Morris, Sleb, Fiona. And the next week was effort week!
November 11th 1972 Stu's party	Ah! I think this was the Stu with the disco! He lived near Pete in Burton Joyce and according to the diary I went round to Pete's and then on to Stu's party at night. We also lost 6-3 to Henry Mellish at hockey which I remember well. Diane fell in love with a boy from Mellish and he turned out to be their hockey captain didn't he?
Dec 2nd 1972 Pilk's party	Pilk was one of the Burton Joyce crowd we used to bump into everywhere. This was a momentous day as our colour TV arrived. Yes, before that everything was grey. We also lost 7-0 to Pavement at hockey and Diane actually started going out with the aforementioned boy from Mellish! I wasn't quite sure how to take this as I used to spend hours every night on the phone to her. Still...I spent the evening with Ann at Pilk's party!
Dec 16th 1972 Fiona's party	It was pretty quiet I think - all the diary say's it got in at 12.15!
Dec 23rd 1972 Gillian Crossland's party	I've no idea how we ended up at this party - we can't have been invited but got in anyway! It was on Arnold Lane and Gabbie was there - I asked her if she wanted to come over to Hodgie's with us but was turned down!! I think Pete was there but can't remember who else - it wasn't the normal party crowd!
Dec 29th 1972 Gobbo's party	This was the Steve Godfrey in our class - not the other one. The diary doesn't say much other than it was OK and Pete went with Jeanne! They're now married so it must have been a good party!
Jan 5th 1973 Pilk's party	Another Pilk party! Normal BJ crew were all there plus a lot of people from the tech. We went into the pub first and hitched a lift back from Burton Joyce with Grat and Hanks. We nearly got into a fight with Dave Taylor, Mick Casey and Andrew Parker on Westdale Lane on the way back then Hanks and Grat came in for coffee.
Feb 23rd 1973 Truss's party	Collected Gabbie and got there about 8.45. This was a bit weird for me - I was normally used to going to a party with the boys! This was the first one I went to with a partner!
Feb 24th 1973 Fiona Ellis's party	Hmm....party's started early in those days didn't they! We got there about 8.00 and left about 12.00. Another party with Gabbie and her dad collected us and gave us a lift home. It was also the day I bough Hocus Pocus by Focus from Simons' record shop at the bottom of Westdale Lane!
7th April 1973 Anne Whitehouse's party	Wow - there's a lot in the diary about this one! I seem to remember it was at the top of Westdale Lane somewhere. I don't think we were invited - quote from Anne "Lewy has invited himself but I don't mind"! What a nice girl! Alison was there, Diane, Jane Sewell and Anne Buckler. According to the diary Bert collapsed...and also decided he was mad about Julie Wilson! Diane was having the customary bad time over being hopelessly in love with Mop, Kathy fancies Webby, Anne fancies Olly, and Don was with Alison which ruins Paula's chances with Don! It's a complicated life being a teenager!
14th April 1973 Jeremy Shaw's party	Hey Tats - Notts won 4-1 away which means "they should get promoted now!" At night we went to Jeremy's party although I didn't want to as I'd promised to try and keep our lot from crashing it! It did cost us a party 7 and a prty 4 between 5 of us to get in! Marlene was there, and a lot of the second years. Also Jane Sewell, Anne Fedorko, Jocie and Hot Pants! I can't for the life of me remember who it was we called Hot Pants!!
29th May 1973 Olly's party	It was a Tuesday - strange night for a party but this was in the middle of our A levels so presumable we'd finished school. Ian Dawson came round at 6.30 and we walked over the Forum to Olly's. Stu brought his disco. There were loads of people there, including Olly's next door neighbour and his mates who were quite funny. I was collecting bracelets from all the girls. There was Dawn, Marlene, Kathy, Jane, Anne and Diane. The diary says Dawn was crying about Bert because he went off with Julie - he's heartless that Austin! Swede was doing what Swede normally does - it says with Julie but it can't have been the same Julie that Bert was with!! By about 1.30 only about 20 of the boys were left alive! It took all the next day to recover!

June 23rd 1973 NIkki's barbecue	This was the barbecue we had to celebrate leaving. Don had a complicated day as Wendy was coming down from Doncaster, which meant he couldn't go to the barbecue with Alison who he was technically going out with!! I remember falling out with Gabbie for most of the evening but we must have been speaking by the time we went home about 1.30.
July 17th 1973 Lisa's party	This was near Oxton somewhere. Gabbie was there all day so I got a lift there with John Panter, Jackie, Lindsey and Gillian. All of the french exchange students were there so we spent a lot of time talking to Francoise. Bert, Olly and Whiff were there. Feeny got really drunk and for some reason Bert and Gabbie decide to drag him around the place. The hooligans from Colwick who go to the tech got thrown out with no car and at least 12 miles to walk home. Alison Duckett lent me two albums and is going to give me a single she doesn't want. I had to work the next day at the market garden place in Lambley as I was trying to get some money together to go to Italy!
July 20th 1973 Steve Cross's party	Francoise was first to arrive at my house and Johnno took her down to BJ while we fetched Gabbie. Grat was back - he's finished his job spraying weedkiller on railway lines which earns him a fortune! Steve, Pes and the BJ lot were wearing makeup which made them look very freaky! We were spending so much time talking to the french girls that Gabbie and Jane disappeared and this kicked off the customary row which lasted all night!
July 25th 1973 Rosie's party	Hmm...we won't go into the details on this one other than to say I didn't get in until 9.00 the next day. Gabbie wasn't there because we'd fallen out again..
August 19th 1973 Mick Culley's party	Now this may not have been a memorable party for many of you out there but it was pretty traumatic for me! Firstly I discovered that Mick was secretly in love with Gabbie and he threatened to beat me up at least three times during the evening. Gabbie and her friends had sat in Micks bedroom before the party and polished off a party seven and a bottle of sherry so by the time I arrived I walked straight into world war three. Within three minutes of arriving she was demanding to know what had happened at Rosies party which resulted in the inevitable tears and chaos. I sat on my own outside, talking to Diane and Hodgie, while presumably Gabbies friends did the same inside with her. Hodgie did some Unite Nations stuff and got Gabbie to come outside to talk to me but she was pretty drunk. Sally Miller called her parents and they came to take them home, and it was all over by 9.00! I of course gradually got more drunk and staggered to the phone box to call Sally's but Gabbie had gone home. Gabbie then called Mick's to tell me to get out of the party because of the drugs there. (I can't remember there being any?). We arranged to meet at 10.30 the next day...and what happened is another story!
September 22nd 1973 Lambley Party	A sort of impromtu party at Lambley village hall - we only found out on the day of the party we could have the hall. Stu brought his disco up. The party was pretty crap as everyone was at Jackie Parr's party in Lowdham. We did have enough money to cover the costs and ended up back at Diane's house until 1.45.
December 28th 1973 Steve's Party	We were of course all away at University by then so this was when we came back for Christmas. I went down to BJ with Johnno and came back with Grat. Here's who was there- Steve, his sister and her friend, Louise, Dawn, Lorraine, Pes, Bill, Pilk, BJ boys, Lowdham Hells Angels, Anne Fedorko and Jayne Sewell, Bert, Olly and Sally, Hanks, Mart and Anna. Bert was going to be chasing Anne Buckler but she didn't come so he had to swap strategy! Seven of us went back in Grat's car and took a chinese back to Webby's, listening to records until 2.00. Hodgie fell asleep!
December 29th 1973 Bidos's party	It was above the Ukranian club at Sherwood rise. The diary sayd it was party of the century!! There were thre very big rooms and it was packed. The food table was like a medieval banquet. I spent the evening with Jayne Sewell but most people we knew were there - Bidos, Dicko, Terry Wright etc from 5th year, Ellun, Angie, Lindsey, Anne Buckler, Jane, Paula, Anna, Mart, Bert, Olly, Dio, Claire and her sister, John Ike, Alison, Lower 6th boys, Chu and Jocie, Becky, Pauline from the Grange, Fiona, Elaine Smith, Krause, Mess, Bram, Swede, Will, Greg....
April 6th 1974 Pete Newman's party	We heard rumours of a party so me, Mart, Mop, Johnno and Diane headed off down to Petes! It was a bit quiet - more of a mini reunion really. Marie Raynor was there - hadn't seen her for ages.
September 24th 1974 Liz Morgan's party	Everyone got very drunk! John Panter had one of his fits and wouldn't let go of Jackie which was pretty scary, as she went almost hysterical. Geoff and I walked Dennis home and took some photo's - these must be the one's of me with my greatcoat standing next to Denise!
December 16th 1974 School Dance	Went back to school for the dance and met up with all our old gang - Claire, Gabbie, Ellen etc. Afterwards we went back to TAF O'Tooles house for coffee.
December 20th 1974 Lance Minton's party	Played table football in the Black's Head and then to a party at Carlton. Ellen and Angie then took us to a party at Lowdham which was good. Dennis and Deke were there, Stella and Claire, Ann Fedorko and Anne Buckler, and Gabbie.
December 31st 1974 Deke's party	Looked after Mark and Sarah at Diane's all afternoon and then went to Deke's party. We played bunny hover with lots of wine quite early on and consequently there were a few drunken people around. Tats was well gone and Geoff was sick. We spent part of the night watching the Old Grey Whistle Test and saw the New Year in dancing with Claire and Dawn, Hilary and Denis.
January 7th 1975 Adam and Eves	This was the legendary night when we went to Adam and Eve's in Loughborough as the drinks are all 12p each. On the way home Hank decided to let Denis drive the car and she hit a lamp post!
January 10th 1975 Gabbie's party	Went to the Marquis and then decided to crash Gabbies party at Lowdham Grange. We did get in although I think she was in two minds to throw me out! We saw String Driven Thing the next night at the Boat!
February 1st 1975 Grat's party	Denis and Deke came up to Manchester to stay with me so we went shopping. At night we went to UMIST and saw Slack Alice. After that was Grat's party but we nearly got into a fight with his hooligan mates that he lives with so we teamed up with Bert and his lot from Salford and went to another party. Then we went back to Mikes for coffee and back to our place at 4.30 am.

If anyone has any other party memories please email them to me! I'll be glad to add anything memorable!!