Good day of family visits to both my parents and Diana’s as our children get to see all of their grandparents today as well as Charlie and his family for tea. The news is of the disgrace of Tory Chairman Jeffrey Archer after a sex scandal
Slept well after our late night and, as I sat in bed reading yesterday’s paper and listening to the radio, the news came in that British driver, Nigel Mansell, had just missed winning the World Drivers’ Championship, when his rear tyre deflated on the straight. Frenchman, Alain Prost, wins the race and, with it, the title for the second year running. Dramatic news also as Thatcher’s blue-eyed boy and Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party, Geoffrey Archer, resigns after being implicated with a prostitute, who he tried to pay to leave the country.
The clocks were put back this morning as we resume Greenwich Mean Time (from British Summer Time) and so late to the bathroom and thence down to breakfast. A nice fried breakfast and a little read of the paper, before starting work. Checked and adjusted the Cistern-miser, which now seems fine and then went out to feed the doves and ducks on a much nicer day. Calm, with sun shining and much more settled than of late. I worked on Bill’s shed, turning the door round so that it could be accessed more easily and was trying to fit a more secure lock. Broke off to get the car out and take Debbie to church and then called it a day when Di needed help laying the table. A nice roast beef meal for Sunday lunch. We hurried to get washed up because we had decided to drive over to Bury St Edmunds to see Mum. A good journey, if a bit frustrating, having to stick to 60 mph as the Range Rover is running in. She was pleased to see us and in good spirits, though I hope she does not get too set on the hope that more work can be done to her hip. Then, back to Cambridge and Bar Hill, where we had arranged to see Di’s Mum and Dad and also her brother, Charlie, with his wife and daughter, all for tea. An enjoyable visit and meal, though I did worry at the antics of the girls and over exertion of their grandfather in games of chase and hide and seek. Home when the children were tired and, after feeding and putting the ducks away in the dark, time for catching up on chores. The TV news tonight is still full of the Geoffrey Archer affair. One new item is the action of the local Labour Party in Knowsley, who are rebelling against the national leadership over the choice of a candidate for the forthcoming by-election. An explosion, fire and gas cloud at the ICI Teesside plant at Billingham, injuring a dozen workers. Three are in intensive care – one critical – and eleven others are injured. I have stayed at a seaside hotel there whilst on business and was appalled by the proximity of the plant to nearby northern-eastern holiday makers.