After starting the day after another cold night worried about the delay to my mother’s operation and tending Diana and the children, I progressed my chapter on Paxton Park and then hosted lunch for the family and then home to carry on working until late out again to collect Debbie from Hail Weston House where she had been at a party for Nigel’s daughter. The bullying tactics of Special Branch after the Zircon satellite affair led to the BBc successfully overturning a search warrant but then another was immediately issued and more oppression has the phone tapped of union leader,. John Golding
A poor night, worrying this time about the delays in the operation for my Mum. There has evidently been a spate of accidents to old people and others that is keeping the orthopedic departments of this hospital full, so that only emergency cases could be accommodated. We speak to Mum and Dad this morning and decide to go and visit them tomorrow, even though the girls have got colds, as we will hardly manage to get there otherwise. After my restless night, I am awake early and manage to catch Diana in bed for once, with the usual satisfying result.
Early to shower and dress as a result and am well on top of the children to ensure they have their rooms tidy. Daniel dons his new jacket and trousers to look the smartest he has been for school for some time. I settle down to my editing after breakfast and start pulling together all of the items referring to Paxton Park from the scrap book files. All morning doing this, until it was time at midday to go out and feed the ducks and doves, before locking the house and putting the alarms on. Off to St Neots a little early for collecting Daniel and time to have a little look round the shops. I look after Della and find Daniel a book on Thomas Hardy’s ‘Far from the Madding Crowd’ for his English literature studies. Off together for a Happy Eater lunch and then back home for the afternoon and evening at my computer, editing again. I did break off for a while to collect Debbie from Hail Weston House. Nigel and Lynn had organised a birthday party for their daughter, inviting lots of children and booking a magician and host. As I collected her, I took the opportunity to chat to Nigel and see how his library/study had been fitted out. I also saw Paul Salvadori briefly, but tried to ignore him in view of his connections with Elm Leisure and our swimming pool problems. Di was in a bad mood tonight. She had been tired lately from lack of sleep, cold with the weather and when I found the electric blanket on at 6.00pm, I had switched it off and she was upset that it was still not on at 10.00pm! The thing is only supposed to be put on for an hour prior to bedtime. Stayed up a little, writing my journal and watching some football and snooker on the television. In truth, I had watched most of a live rugby league match on TV this afternoon and so I was not studying the entire day. It was a cold night last night and the river almost frozen again, but it will have another chance tonight. The shattering news that Terry Waite has almost certainly been taken hostage has come as a terrible ordeal to his family. There is still much confusion and conflicting reports and it may be that rival factions are themselves arguing over what to do, which may account for the lack of confirmation. The bullying tactics of the authorities were in evidence today as they arrived at the BBC HQ in Scotland and turned it over in a search for more evidence in the Zircon affair. The warrant they had was so widely drawn that the BBC successfully had it set aside by court action and five boxes of documents and film were returned on a judge’s orders. They are now back with a new warrant. More oppression in the telephone engineers strike. Union leader, John Golding, has claimed his home and office telephone lines are being tapped, after his secretary lifted the receiver and heard his last call being played back. His wife, Llin Golding, is an MP and she will be taking the matter up with the Prime Minister