Reagan with Gorbachev and Bush many years later
Reagan with Gorbachev and Bush many years later

A cold morning with flurries of snow spent in my office organising meetings and then working on the pre and post-enclosure periods of Little Paxton history until the children arrived back from school when homework was the priority. Gorbachev is talking peace and disarmament and Reagan is being shielded from journalists due to his mishandling of the Reykjavik talks s another nuclear leak brings the Springfield plant to a halt and Kinnock is criticising Thatcher about tax cuts.

Slowly and reluctantly awake this morning and tried to lay in a little while, without success. No trouble in getting washed and shaved in time for breakfast and found both children out with untidy rooms. After breakfast I got straight down to work in my office for half an hour, before making a series of phone calls at 9.00am, when other peoples offices opened. Arranged the Range Rover repairs for next Friday in Bedford with Mr Pink; the Daimler repair in Cambridge tomorrow with Mr Hamblin; the Viking 17 cruiser demonstration in Walton-on-Thames for Friday also. Then I phoned Vinters to call off the litigation partner and then Paul Salvadori to arrange our appointment here for 10.00am on Wednesday. Quite a few arrangements, but all successfully accomplished in the end. The rest of the morning on the pre and post enclosure sections of my history and pleased to break for lunch at 12.30. A salad lunch, as usual, with ice cream to follow.

Daniella is quite well behaved these days. The afternoon back at it, until the children came in and I was able to tell Daniel what I had arranged for his cruiser purchase. Time (a lot of it) with both Daniel and Debbie on their school work and, though finding it hard, they came through in the end, after correcting many mistakes. Less time as a result this evening on my history, but am well into the last part of my pre war survey of Little Paxton, with sections on the Cricket Club and disputes over the school and choir already done. This evening Diana received £3000 in cash (!) plus a £1000 cheque for her Escort and I safely stashed away this cash in our safe and was glad to have it for this purpose. The news today was of another Gorbachev speech, pushing the cause of disarmament still further and warning that Star Wars could disturb the process. Relations still wait for the release of Mr Begun, in what appears to be an administrative delay. In the USA, Reagan is being sheltered from journalists, as more damaging criticism is made by a Senate committee about the handling of the Reykjavik talks. A Judge hands down a 12 year sentence for rape, saying that victims have also to be sheltered from the risk of contracting aids. Further confusion in the Lebanon, as the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group denies Walid Jumblatt’s claim that they are holding Terry Waite. They say, ‘we have nothing to do with the abduction of any hostages’. An incident at the British Nuclear Fuels Springfield plant has brought part of the production process to a halt. The leakage occurred when uranium pellets were being processed in a furnace and an enquiry is now taking place. Neil Kinnock, appearing on BBC TV Panorama, has dismissed Tory plans for tax cuts as, ‘a feckless and cynical attempt to buy election victory’, and also rejected the policy of tactical voting, in favour of trying to defeat Thatcher single handed. The weather was cold today, with more flurries of snow, but I was reasonably warm inside, though draughts are still keeping our ankles chilly.