A slow start on a cold morning, ordering the riverside lawn turf, writing all of my Christmas Cards and then attending the Little Paxton Brownies St James Church service as it now seems that my Daimler will be returned to Marshalls for £28,500. 1,000 doctors and professors signed a petition in the NHS dispute today and oil prices slip to about $17 a barrel on news of the worst trouble so far in the Gulf, as two Iraqi missile attacks on Norwegian tankers kill 21 crewmen
A slowish start on a cold morning, but I made the breakfast table in time to see the others leave. A slight frost had withered the ground and the outbuilding roofs, but soon dispersed as it was to become a milder day. Pete worked most of the day, giving the lawn bed a rake and levelling it as best as he could. I telephoned Shelford Turf Supplies and arranged for the turf to be delivered before ‘dinner time’ on Wednesday, which probably means by midday. Then I got out my photo archive and spent most of the day on it. In the morning, I labelled all of the latest photos, in the afternoon, I stuck them all in, reorganising the pages accordingly. Then, this evening, I wrote out all of my Christmas cards, sending them to those that had helped me in the history research and wishing them all thank you as well as a Merry Christmas and prosperous New Year.
For my most knowledgeable and oldest contacts, I photocopied a number of enlarged postcards, full of local personalities of the past and asked them to name them all ‘as a Christmas game’, which will keep them busy. Peter Lewis, the Ekins Agricultural rep., phoned me this morning. He has got the owner of some Great Paxton meadows to consider selling and will now meet me on Thursday morning to show me round the land. After tea, I took the family to St James’s Church for a 6.00pm Brownies carol service. Debbie was one of the escorts to the 1st Pack Standard and we sang a variety of favourite carols, interspersed with plenty of readings from the older girls. The Rev. Peter Lewis was again very good, even if tired by a succession of services, and cracked a joke about it being like harvest festival – the girls had all brought something towards their Christmas party feast, which they all took in convoy to Little Paxton School to eat and play games. Whilst out today, I noticed that Paxton Hall was having a porch extension built. Pity to change its front facade after hundreds of years, but I checked, and they had got the Planning Committee’s consent in November 1986. I took Diana and Debbie out to lunch at the Little Chef today, for a change, which broke the day up a bit. I also got a call from a Mr Mike Jacobson from Hendon, interested in my Daimler, but he did not call back again and I think the car is destined for Marshalls of Cambridge at £28,500. I could try to negotiate with specialist dealers for more, but it is getting quite close to Christmas now. Escalation of the NHS dispute today, as more than 1000 doctors and professors signed a petition to be handed by Mr Nicholas Winterton, a Tory MP, to Mrs Thatcher today. Her political tactics of attacking the profession has backfired and they are more than ever determined to reply. In some places, emergency wards, operating theatres and intensive care units are closed through lack of funds and only emergency casualties can get treated. Poor Lord Willie Whitelaw has collapsed with a (mild) stroke whilst participating in the St Margaret’s Church, Westminster, carol service and this will be even worse for the government’s problems of getting controversial legislation through the House of Lords, where he is the leader. The British and French governments have signed an agreement on the use of the Channel Tunnel for defence, which is an interesting thing, though the details are considered too secret to let us know how this thing could be of any use. Tension between the French and New Zealand Premier, David Lange, as one of the two French agents convicted of the Rainbow Warrior sabotage and death of the Green Peace photographer, is let off of the agreed island home for ‘medical treatment’. The oil situation is in the news. First, OPEC fails to get Iraq to agree to a new restriction on oil production and oil prices slip to about $17 a barrel falling. Then the worst trouble so far in the Gulf, as two Iraqi missile attacks on Norwegian tankers kill 21 crewmen, mostly Poles and Filipinos, the greatest number of casualties yet.