Friday November 7th

After English and a period of Biology Lee Hoy and I went up to the bus turning circle for 10.55 a.m. We were going to see the Cosgrove Hall Animation place with a 5th-year English set 2 – a right set of morons. We sat at the front in the coach, across the aisle from Mrs Slicer (Jemima Morag according to Lee) and Ms Hirst. We indulged in quite eye-to-eye conversation – all rather elitist. It’s surprising how you feel more in common with the teachers than the rest of the school when in the sixth form, yet the complete opposite is true in the 5th year.

The weather on the way there was dismal, especially over the Pennines. We wiled away the hours by counting the number of clone like old blokes around Haley Hill, Midgeroyd areas. At the end of the day we had a final count of 22 flat caps, 14 trilbys and 10 bare-heads. I’m never going to be like that when I’m old.

We reached Cosgrove Hall; an ugly cinema-style building; at about one or thereabouts. Inside all was plush and plasticky – large cardboard cutouts of Captain Kremmen, Danger Mouse etc, stood around – and we were duly shepherded into a small projection room. We watched three cartoons; the first being a serial which will be released in the summer of 1981. It was called “Danger Mouse” and had the old theme of mouse/superhero with thick assistant (“Penfold”). The animation was quite good but the voice of the mouse just didn’t fit I thought. The second film was a puppet thing called “Far Out Fred,” featuring a hippy frog with a broad northern accent (by Mike Harding). It was quite funny. And finally we had an episode of Captain Kremmen. If the animation team were hoping for a favourable response to “Danger Mouse” then they would’ve been disappointed, for the reaction was nil, neither good nor bad.

After these we were split into two groups and taken through the various departments – animation the workshop, editing etc., before having a coke and leaving. Worth £2.25? I don’t know. As for animation, I know now that it is too tedious for me.

The journey back was, as far as weather was concerned, as corny as before and we got back to Egley at about 6.30 p.m. I had a bath for most of the evening, going to bed feeling nice and clean at my normal late time.