More history research at The Priory Centre library whilst the girls visited Jordon’s for more wheat flakes and then to Cambridge for the cinema as we heard news of the tragic death of an invited audience member in Noel Edmund’s Late Late Breakfast Show as An IBM research lab in Heidelberg has been bombed and Land Rover are completing a £27 million deal with Iran.
A pleasant night, going to bed with Diana and enjoying the same bedtime for once. She has been tending to creep off early of late, with me staying up even longer of consequence. Up at the usual time and was not interrupted during my shower, so dressed quite quickly afterwards. Wore a more casual sports jacket and some blue woollen trousers, which have been too tight until I recently got down to 13st 9lbs, a combined loss of half a stone. Breakfast of cereal and then a little time in my office looking at my local history notes and reading a little more of my Manorial Social History book. Out at 10.00am to feed the ducks and doves, finding a single egg, as the first for a little while, then the scramble to get the car out, the house locked up, and the family dressed and ready to go. It was 10.30am by the time they were ready and we arrived in St Neots a few minutes later. I was dropped off at the Priory Centre and went to the library, whilst the girls went down to Biggleswade for some more wheat flakes from Jordans. An hour or two in the reference library produced a few results. From the Little Paxton folders of the library and the local history society cabinet, there was a few photocopies of a few things, including a copy of the 1818 Enclosure Act settlement map. From this I could see that St John’s not only had the Manor Farm area, but also two strips of land, of 8 and 10 acres, mentioned in the last two Court Roll entries that I had transcribed.
I now need a good copy of the original map from the County Record Office, if they have it. By 12.30pm, all together again at Readwells, Daniel having come back to St Neots on the school bus. Out to the Croxton Happy Eater and a nice meal, meeting neighbour Pat, with her two adopted children and foster care, Amira, who is in England at school whilst her parents stay in Nigeria. By this time, quite a pleasant day, with the sun giving warmth and the breeze quite calm. Once home, I decide to go outside for a change and try to build enclosures for our water standpipes that are to be sited by the river. Not very successful at the first attempt and it soon gets duck and quite chilly, with the clear sky. I do see David, however, and agree a new rent at £54/quarter year for the mooring of his new 32ft boat, based on his old fee of £120 per year + 10% = £132 (which I charged him last time) x 31/22 for the increased length. Away with the ducks and doves, then inside at 4.00pm for an hour’s study of my new Little Paxton maps before tea. Another couple of hours similarly engaged after, before Di had put to bed the girls and it was time to go to the cinema in Cambridge. Arrived a little early and looked in a few shop windows, before taking a drink in the cinema bar and then going in to watch ‘Legal Eagles’, a Robert Redford and Debra Winger film about an assistant district attorney and a defence lawyer solving a murder and fraud case. Only just managed to see the screen, despite my height, as the man in front had a ‘fluffy’ hair style that stuck up several inches. A fast drive home and, intending to go to bed, I was intrigued by a re-run on television of the film on the ‘Bodyline’ tour of England and Australia and did not retire until 12.00 midnight on a cold night. Wrestled both hot water bottles from Di and then slept easily. The news today is of a meeting between Thatcher and Reagan, where they agree on the desirability of abolishing medium range nuclear weapons, but also on modernising Britain’s independent nuclear deterrent, Trident. The Queen Mother has gone home to Clarence House after her rest in hospital. In Australia, England scored 456, with Botham getting 138, and in reply, Australia could only make 248. This is a few runs short of avoiding the follow on and Dilley did the damage after early work by De Freitas and finishing off by Botham. The BBC has cancelled all future production of its TV programme, ‘The Late, Late Breakfast Show’, after an invited member of its viewing public fell to his death during rehearsals for a TV stunt. An IBM research lab in Heidelberg, W Germany, has been damaged by an exploding bomb. Land Rover are completing a deal with Iran for £27million of vehicles.