Saturday 1 Decembe
Last night of Carouse this evening - again it went down very well. Tony Challis was dressed up in the red uniform of 23rd Hussars as an usher- he looked tremendous. We took the stage down afterwards and then went to the Carouse party - it was great fun.

Monday 3 December
Dense fog this evening- visibility down to a couple of yards, very cold also. I was going to spend the evening with Pat at Belle Avenue - it was so foggy that it would have been madness to go.

Wednesday 5 December
I went to hear the Messiah in the town hall this evening. It wasn't as good as last year and somehow seemed to be an unlucky performance. The soprano soloist fell ill and had to be replaced at short notice and the harpsichordist also fell ill, the continuo had to be played on the organ - it didn't sound half as good. During the performance the leader of the orchestra broke a string on his violin and one of the sopranos collapsed during the Amen. Fog still very dense. P

Thursday 6 December
Pat has a bad cold and has gone back to bed.

Friday 7 December
I went up to see Pat this evening - she has a heavy cold but is up. I borrowed Bob's slides of the holiday and showed them to Pat.

Saturday 8 December
Quite a red letter day today. We thought it would be better if Pat spent the day inside the house so we didn't go to the pictures as planned. Instead I went up to Belle Avenue for the evening. Then we became unofficially engaged.

Wednesday 12 December
Last day of the term today.

Thursday 13 December
I came home today - my case was pretty heavy with all my books as I intend to do a great deal of work this vacation.

Sunday 23 December
I went over to Lyne (near Chertsey) this afternoon with the Dolmans to collect our Christmas turkey from Uncle Bill's brother. They have a turkey farm in very pleasant countryside. From there we went on to see some more of their relations at Stanmore. We arrived back to find that Nan Champion has died. She has been in bed for about three weeks with a bad heart and developed pneumonia about three days ago. I shall miss her greatly but I would rather it be like that than to be suffering for a long time.

Monday 24 December
Christmas Eve. Last day of working in the greengrocers. Not terribly busy but enough to keep us going.

Tuesday 25 December.
Christmas Day. Again I have been very lucky in the matter of Christmas presents. Pat gave me a shirt - quite a with it and a matching tie. I've been given mainly money which will be very handy for the trip to the USA. I think the most touching present any of us received was a dish cloth Nan Champion knitted for Mum and wrapped up just before she died. The family came down for tea and we had quite a good party. One of the funniest parts of the evening was when we were playing the game where a list of objects and things has to be thought of beginning with one letter. For a sport or pastime with “O” Auntie Edie said Otter hunting - Auntie Win said - “that's fishing”

Wednesday 26 December
Boxing Day. I went up to Spur Road this afternoon for the traditional party. There was a couple of inches of snow when we got in.

Thursday 27 December
It has been snowing all day today so that by this evening we now have about a foot.

Friday 28 December
It stopped snowing but hasn't thawed much.

Saturday 29 December
I went up to Oaklands for the party this evening. Very enjoyable but Uncle Reg rather overdoes his games. We came home at 1.30 in a driving blizzard.

Sunday 30 December
Snow even worse. It seems that there is widespread disruption of road and rail services in the south. The railway is blocked at both Orpington and St Mary Cray. 

Monday 31 December
I start in Orpington.) No more snow today but it is still very thick. I set out for Worksop at about 11.30 and reached Kings Cross without any trouble.  I was intending to catch the 14.05 to Retford and found a seat right close to the engine.  There was a faint possibility of it being hauled by a steam engine but the normal diesel electric backed down, No. D 352.  However by 14.10 we hadn't departed and the platform inspector told the signalman that D 352 had been failed and it disappeared into the sub-depot just off the platform ends.  We had to wait for another diesel to come down from the Kings Cross depot.  I talked to some railwaymen, including our driver and fireman.  The trouble with D 352 was a faulty train heating boiler.  I was told that No. D 275 was coming down light for another train and we would be used on this train.  Sure enough, D 275 appeared at about 14.30 and was coupled up.  We didn't go right away and so I suspected something was wrong with D 275.  Meanwhile, I was cheered by the sight of A4 Pacific No. 60026, "Miles Beevor", which backed down on to the train in the next platform.  It was in pretty good nick and the valves were lifting gently.  I was even more pleased when the platform inspector told them to put 60026 on our train as D 275 was failed with a faulty train heating boiler.  This time there was no time wasted.  The Pacific backed down, was coupled on and we were off at 14.56 with no more time wasted.  We were alright through the first tunnel with just a little slipping on starting away.  We experienced great difficulty with slipping in between the two tunnels and on the other side almost all the way to Finsbury Park.  The slipping was not severe except once when it must have torn the fire a bit, but was very prolonged.  One could feel the jolt every time the regulator was closed as the train ran into the engine.  However, from Finsbury Park the engine began to get into her stride and we were soon doing 60 m.p.h. although it wasn't very long before we were slowed  to a walking pace by a signal check at Harringay.  We soon started up again but with a little slipping.  The rest of the journey was accomplished without much ado and a good average speed was maintained.  It was obvious that the engine was steaming well because the valves lifted at the stops at Peterborough, Grantham and Newark and also the slowing through Harringay.  All through the journey it was very good to hear the business-like sound of the crisp beats from the chimney.  The beat wasn't quite even but this didn't seem to have much effect upon the running.

We arrived at Retford at 18.10 and I had a quick talk to the driver, but not for long because the crew would be busy.  All though the journey the drivers' side of my carriage was obscured by steam and I wondered if the driver had any trouble sighting signals.  "Miles Beevor" made a fine sight as she left Retford.  There was about an inch of snow and the night was quite crisp.  The steam condensed quickly and this added to the effect as the engine started away, care being taken not to slip by pumping the regulator at first.  The brightness of the fire contrasted with the whiteness of the snow.  As they went past, the crew waved to me, even the fireman paused to wave while bringing the coal forward in the tender.

I didn't have long to wait for the Worksop train. I watched a B1 4-6-0 shunting engines around Retford loco.  I could hear the unmistakeable hissing or air through the cylinders of a dead engine being moved.  I caught the two coach diesel to Worksop where I was met by Pat and her father.  We went back to their home where we saw in the New Year.