I wrote a number of diaries from the late 1970s into the 1980s. The diaries are not so interesting in themselves, but they provide lots of cues and hints about what I was doing, with whom, where and when, and so on. You might say this is not that interesting either. But I’m mainly writing this for myself in order to tidy up my ‘mental filing cabinet’.

I mainly used Rowney sketch books, which have an impressive black hard cover. I bought these at Christ Engebretsen & Son Ltd, which is located at Pilestredet 27, in the centre of Oslo. Remarkably, the shop is still doing business at the same location some 45 years later!   

I have written several books about my family, as well as a ‘boyhood autobiography’ – see the following website: https://macgillivray-culloden.com 

Ironically, I probably know more about the chronology of my parents’ lives than my own life after I left home (in 1969). When writing the family histories, I used my mother’s archive, official documents, and other sources. 

When writing about the diaries, I will obviously have to use my own memory together with various sources in my possession.

I will attempt to make a timeline. This timeline will start from the time I moved permanently to Norway – which I think was 1974 – when I was given a work permit. Before this, I worked for 6 months in Denmark. However, the period between 1969 and 1974 is very much a muddle in my mind chronologically speaking.

Nb Many of the video clips are from YouTube – which are often of poor quality due to the fact that I used my phone to make video recordings.