Collecting ‘Little Lady’ with Daniel and Steve from Walton-on-Thames and then to launch it In St Neots for them to cruise it home to Little Paxton. This evening we heard of more Irish killings due to the INLA feud, of a huge explosion at BP’s Grange Mouth plant, killing a crane driver, with a bang that could be heard 20 miles away and Roy Jenkins rounds on the Tories calling them a ‘bunch of alley cats’, who are scratching and clawing their way to the ballot box.
I awoke to find Diana still in bed and so ‘persuaded’ her to get up and make the drinks! I got out and read some fish keeping magazines, before washing and dressing for breakfast. We all enjoyed a nice fried breakfast (except Di) and then I sat and read the paper until Daniel's friend, Steve, arrived and it was time to set off in the Range Rover to collect Daniel's new boat from Walton on Thames. A sunny day gradually turned cloudy, but it was still fine when we arrived and spotted the ‘Little Lady’ on its trailer. The boatyard helped us launch it and try it out, showing us over all of the controls and equipment in the process.
The 20HP Mariner turned out to be more than enough to plane the Viking 17 on open water and we can take it to reservoirs or to sea and be quite happy with it. The journey home was exceptionally slow and ponderous. The weather had turned breezy and cloudy, spitting with rain, and we had to trail the boat with the canopy up and were thus limited to 45 mph, to avoid damaging it. We skipped lunch and I agreed to put the boat in at the St Neots public slipway, for them to cruise back to Little Paxton. After we had moved a couple of cars from the way, this proved pretty straight forward and it gave them another chance to try the boat out on our river. I went home and watched the remainder of the football match on TV and was pleased to see Tottenham beat Liverpool 1-0. The boys came through the lock later and, after mooring up, got out the construction ‘truck’ and rebuilt it, much to Debbie's delight. We had a buffet tea in the lounge and then Debbie did some more of her Peak Maths 2 and Daniel watched a film on the German Reich, Second World War, for his history topic at school. Later I updated my diary and read the papers, before seeing the TV news. The INLA feud has led to two more killings of members and the escalating power struggle seems set to continue, as there is no official interest or ability to stop it. This morning a huge explosion took place at BP’s Grange Mouth plant, killing a crane driver, with a bang that could be heard 20 miles away. This is the second fatal explosion at the plant in 9 days. The whole plant, employing 1200 people, is to be closed down, until three separate enquiries report on the underlying factors. The Home Secretary, Douglas Hurd, has conceded that the Judges action in bailing Silcott was wrong in the police killing. Labour Party’s Roy Hattersley, has responded to the recent attacks from Norman Tebbit and Margaret Thatcher, by branding the Tories as a ‘bunch of alley cats’, who are scratching and clawing their way to the ballot box.