Preparing for out trip to London and packing in our new Range Rover to arrive through Swiss Cottage at the Ladbroke Olive Hotel and then by taxi to the West End to shop at Hamley’s and have lunch at Wendy’s Hamburger Restaurant and shop in Tottenham Court Road with Daniel and then relax back at the hotel. British Gas is to be floated later this month, but Labour pledge to re-nationalise it, Terry Waite may get Western hostages released in the Lebanon and 300 black police riot in South Africa during a pay strike
A clear night and fine when we woke up. No sign of the deer, but we were not really up early enough anyway. Sat in bed reading this week’s local papers and was chased out by Diana, anxious for us to get ready to go to London. I got showered and shaved and then went down to have a slice and a half of toast and some fruit juice. Out to do the doves and ducks, leaving plenty of food out, as we will not be there for a couple of days. Daniel checked out his boat cover and bailed out the puddle of rain water that had collected. The process of finishing our packing and then loading the car, which was made much more easy than usual by the size of the Range Rover’s luggage storage.
Locked up the house, adjusting the curtains, so that the light programmes would look realistic, and off we went. A fine morning and at first the road was fairly clear of traffic. Then, as we approached London the roads got more and more congested, until the last section, through Swiss Cottage, was quite a strain. Arrived at the Ladbroke Olive Hotel and was immediately put off by a wall of scaffolding and the car park being closed, due to structural alterations. Went in and had to insist on early occupation of a room and then there was a mix up over the keys! Eventually sorted things out and unpacked. Then off by taxi to Oxford Street and went to Hamleys in Regent Street. The visit was spoiled by an enormous crush of bodies, as the whole of the West End seemed packed with shoppers and tourists. Had lunch and afternoon drinks at ‘Wendy’s Hamburger Restaurant,’ where it was also busy with a crush of people. As the girls were getting tired, and Daniel impatient, Di took the former back to the hotel by taxi and I took a walk up Tottenham Court Road with Daniel, so that he could look at the electronics shops. Back to the hotel, where we got some cheese sandwiches for the children, before getting ready to go out ourselves for a meal. News today is of the government announcing the floatation date for British Gas for later this month. After the public’s experience of British Telecom, there is union criticism of this sale and the Labour Party is pledged to renationalise it when next in office. The prison siege in Scotland ends without violence. Terry Waite, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s envoy, seems on the brink of securing the release of several Western hostages in the Lebanon. In Johannesburg, South Africa, (or rather a township twelve miles south east of it), 300 black policemen have gone on the rampage, burning barricades and stoning vehicles during a pay strike.