A return to our Tuesday Cambridge visits with the family on a pouring wet day, meeting Charles and Norma at The Copper Kettle and treating them later to lunch at Eaden Lilley’s before ordering a dinner suit at Moss Bros and then collecting Daniel from Gary Skinner’s house on our way home. The UK government defends the unwise re-flagging of Kuwaiti oil tankers with the Red Ensign, UK Coastguard take a rare vote to commence industrial action, a Leeds toddler taken from parents in the so called ‘child abuse’ case dies of injuries with foster parents and half of the aged Devon ambulances are taken off the road due to losing wheels!
Asleep when Diana called me with my morning tea, after a late night, and, even then ,we were much later than usual. The family started their breakfast at 8.30am, but I was not down until 8.45am, though I had showered, shaved, washed my hair and dressed by that time. Today we prepared to make our first Tuesday visit to Cambridge since our holiday and we soon set off and dropped Daniel at Gary’s house in Coton whilst we were there. It poured with rain all day today and did not relent until late evening. I let the girls out near to Eaden Lilleys for coffee and parked the car in the Round Church car park, before taking the opportunity to phone the Environmental Health Officer and head off his visit to the house today.
We discussed the burglar alarm nuisance by phone quite amicably and he was satisfied with my plans. I then joined the girls for 11s’s with Di’s Mum & Dad, but Charles immediately left for the library in his normal way. I then set off on my own, whilst the girls shopped, and visited old & new book shops. Settled in Heffers for the purchase of a few books, including two on the Norfolk Broads that can develop our interest. Then a rendezvous at 12.00noon in The Copper Kettle for lunch and Di’s parents had both accepted my invitation to lunch with us. Had a fair chat with them and Charles taught Debbie a new song about ‘Uncle Jim learning to swim in the duck pond’ which pleased them both. It was an old music hall song which went like this, “Oh Jemima, look at your uncle Jim, He's in the duck pond learning how to swim. First he does the Breaststroke, then he does the Side Now he's under water swimming against the tide”. We then went on to Moss Bros, where I bespoke my evening dress hire for the Kimbolton Ball that must be collected next Tuesday. Picked Daniel up on our way home by car and then had afternoon tea watching the teletext news on TV. By late afternoon I had still not started my paperwork and so I lit the log fire in my office to provide warmth, on a cold and wet day, and then made a start. Debbie and Della came in to draw in front of the fire, before and after tea, then later I read Debbie a Fenland Country Companion on an armchair in front of the fire and she went off to bed happily. The news tonight is of Sir Geoffrey Howe defending the government’s position, as two Kuwaiti ships are reflagged with the red ensign. Though by lack of intervention, the government have accepted this development, they deny it is a political decision. The Coastguards have not voted by the necessary 2/3rds majority to take industrial action, but there was a simple majority for the move. Two dangerous women escape from Rampton Jail in Nottinghamshire, but are recaptured without incident. A 2 year old boy, taken from his parents in a Leeds child abuse case, has died from serious injuries whilst with foster parents and this has started a new row. Half of Devon’s ambulances are withdrawn after continually losing wheels, due to old age and expenditure cuts on maintenance, and loans from Avon and Somerset have been made to cover for emergency services.