A day of trial and tribulation as Daniel’s housemaster has caught him stealing money from my wallet and the fight against builders’ dust and endeavour to organise my files is a challenge but there seems a chance of buying the last riverside plot we require as Nelson Mandela appears in a drawn and pale state, 30,000 pupils commemorate the death of the first freedom casualty and a scary new police riot training centre opens as Murdoch’s Wapping plant experiences its largest mass picket yet and the 17th supporter of Philippine’s Ms Aquino is murdered during her election campaign to fight the sitting President
A bitter night and awake to my morning tea and the paper, which I enjoyed until the morning post came and was brought up. A letter from Daniel’s Housemaster at Kimbolton, David Blackburn, informing us that Daniel had admitted a series of thefts of money from me (after he had been seen with large sums of money) was a very poor start to the day. A despondent time over breakfast and dressing as the central heating also decided to malfunction again and, rather cold, managed to wash my hair and shower. Di had cut my hair this morning, as it had become very long and unmanageable. To my office for another trying time with my archives and only really got to grips with the task after a further afternoon and evening at it.
In the end, the help of Diana was also needed to sort out the tall cupboard/display cabinet and take decisions on which to keep and what to throw away. I finally arrived at a position of clearing all of the surfaces, putting my tools and materials in the under stairs cupboard, and dusting the whole so that Joan could get in my office to clean tomorrow. John, the builder, had created half the dust as he swept out today, but then made good the floor and finished off the plastering. The pool men completed most of the steel reinforcing rods in a carousel-type shape (which was most painstaking) and Pete finished off the fence at Gordon Road. I got through to Mr Blackburn in the end and arranged to see him next Tuesday, and also interviewed Daniel in my office, but suspended his punishment until that meeting had taken place. Di’s mother came round today and babysat during Diana’s keep fit; Mr Cheeseborough was also round and I reviewed the works with him, but, most interestingly, Bob Lane of Ampthill, our previous plot-neighbour, dropped in, remarked on all the changes and had a chat. It seems he still owns the plot and that David has never bought it. There is hope yet! News tonight is of the first time that Nelson Mandela has been seen for 24 years, as TV cameras chance on the security closed-circuit monitor of his prison. He has lost lots of weight and is now grey haired, but otherwise quite alert. 30,000 pupils today marked the anniversary of the death of the first South African freedom casualty, a 15 year old girl, Emma, who died under the wheels of a police Landover. The Prime Minister and Chancellor today damped down hopes of tax cuts after today’s Cabinet Minister’s meeting and rejected the lone input of Peter Walker to spend more. The opening today of a new police riot training centre, where a complex of realistic streets and houses are used with the latest equipment to train officers dressed in flameproof tunics, NATO helmets and riot shields for riot duty. A poor sequence of events has now transformed our old ‘Bobby’ into a paramilitary pawn, trying to contain civil strife. I hear that one retired couple have bought Diana’s parents villa in Menorca in order to ‘escape the violence in England’ – all of which would have been unthinkable before the Thatcher era. Sharansky has undergone medical treatment in Israel and has been speaking of his harsh confinement conditions and psychological treatment. In the Philippines, a second senior supporter of Ms Aquino was murdered, making 17 in all during the campaign. The government count shows Marcos in the lead, with half of the votes counted. Rupert Murdock’s Wapping plant is being subjected to its largest picket yet, with doubts about the papers getting out. Also Robert Maxwell announces that a new Daily, titled ‘Good Day’, will be published from Glasgow later this month