Hazel Wheeler's diary to be read on Radio 4

Feb 4 2009 by Andrew Baldwin, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

HAZEL WHEELER was just 14 when she found an empty diary in the attic of her parents’ shop in Huddersfield in 1941 and decided to keep a record of her life.

She’s now 82 and hasn’t missed a day in detailing her daily jottings.

We printed extracts in the Examiner last year – but now Hazel has learned her diaries are to be adapted for the BBC Radio 4 programme Writing The Century and will be serialised from March 9.

“I’m thrilled about it and hope people find them interesting,” she says.

This will not be the first time her work has been adapted for the airwaves. In 1953, Hazel appeared on Woman’s Hour reading her diaries about working as a Post Office casual at Christmas.

Hazel grew up at her parents’ grocery shop in Deighton, but now lives in Canterbury, Kent.

She has two daughters, Elizabeth, 54, and Caroline, 52. Her husband, Granville, died from lung cancer in 1999.

His illness is recounted in a new book by Hazel, called Death by Smoking, which is due to be published in the summer.

It will go out under the Amberley Publishing imprint, which is also reprinting her previous books Living on Tick, due out in April, and Milner’s Apprentice, on the shelves in June.

Hazel’s new book, Diary of a Young Wife 1953 will also be published by Amberley in June.

Here, we open up Hazel diaries for a further selection of entries at key dates in history:

Sunday, July 20, 1969 (aged 42)MOON LANDING

AM: Granville took his mother to Fernside restaurant. I cooked chicken, baked, washed and ironed before carrying the food up the fields for lunch at my mother’s. We all sat at the new round table.

PM: The lot of us went to the park. Mother and Elizabeth played putting and talked with Grandma Wheeler. A friend of Granville’s took Mrs Wheeler back around 8pm. Granville and mother went to The Lion. Caroline, Elizabeth and I walked home.

Watched the Apollo moon flight on television. It was the first time man has landed on the moon. We intended getting up at 2am to watch the Americans walk on it, but we were too tired.

Tuesday, December 9, 1980 (aged 53)ASSASSINATION OF JOHN LENNON

John Lennon of The Beatles has been shot dead in New York.

Got my first Christmas card, from Roy and Vera.

Evening: Granville out as usual. I read the papers, watched television and tried on the red velvet dress I’m wearing for buffet dance tomorrow.

Saturday, July 29, 1981 (aged 54)CHARLES AND DIANA’S WEDDING

Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer at St Paul’s. A perfect summer day. Blue sky, cloudless, golden sunshine.

Granville and I watched from 8am, crowd scenes and so on, until the ceremony at 11am.

Glad the Queen Mother managed to be there, despite her leg ulcer.

I telephoned cousin Winney this morning to congratulate her on their Golden Wedding. She acted all important, just because she shares her wedding day with the future king and queen! The Huddersfield Examiner were even going to take their photograph. Afterwards we watched the Royal Family on the balcony at Buckingham Palace. Granville and I sat in the garden. Later Granville went to the Doncaster races. I wrote to Meg Francis.