A fine English family breakfast and an even better Roast Beef lunch on a wet and windy day when we were all recovering from a disturbed night but then a walk across to see the newly-dredged spoil and to find large lumps of coal opposite from my frontage that used to be a loading/unloading wharf in times past. News of my father suffering from an enlarged prostate as well as his kidney stones, our first gold medal in a poor World Athletics Championships, The National Coial Board and its miners’ union are on collision course over new working conditions and The SDP and Liberal leaders make a show of unity after their first informal meeting today
Tried to go to bed early last night, but was too disturbed to sleep and then woke early again this morning. I rolled over to see Di at both ends of the night, too, and so she slept as little as I. I got up to make the drinks and brought up a pot of tea for me and a pot of coffee for Di, so that she could have two mugs of coffee – the amount that she needs to get going in the morning. Soon it was time to get showered and shaved & dressed for breakfast. Di cooked a nice fried breakfast and Debbie fetched the boys from the boat and they ate the same fare. They had not slept much last night and so we were all a little groggy.
This morning I cleaned out the swimming pool, flushed the filters, but still had some trouble with the heating pressure cut-out. Did not achieve a great deal else, but I read the Observer cover-to-cover and got up to date on the news. For lunch, I persuaded Di to serve it in the main dining room and we laid up with our everyday cutlery and crockery to save time. I cooled a bottle of Liebfraumilch and then carved a tender roast joint of first class beef that Di had cooked beautifully. She has come a long way in the last year or two and cooks and enjoys beef as well as anyone. This afternoon I watched the rest of the athletics, which continued past the time of a snatched tea. Disappointment as Steve Cram was well beaten in the 1500 metres, but Fatima Whitbread won the javelin to give us our only gold for relief at last. We won the bronze in the 5000 metres and the silver medal in the 4x400m mens relay. 7 medals in all and this was the 5th largest number amongst 150-odd countries entering. 7th position, giving due rank to gold medals first. After all this, I took a walk down the Hayling Path and across to the field opposite to look at some dredging. Not much of interest there, but I saw a large number of coal pieces opposite our frontage and so I gathered a couple of pocketfuls up and brought them home to photograph. These are the last evidence of the coal wharves that used to be by Little Paxton river front for the coal barges to unload. Di had an early night tonight and so did Daniel, but I stayed up to update my journal before retiring. Dad phoned this afternoon and told me the results of his hospital tests. It seems he has more kidney stones and an enlarged prostate gland and so another operation seems inevitable to me. He is prepared to deal with it on a low priority though and intends to take Mum down to see Freda and family for a couple of weeks shortly. The NHS, with its waiting lists, is also happy to wait a while. I would get it dealt with quickly if I were him. Apart from the World Athletics, news today was of the NCB being given two weeks to withdraw the terms of their new disciplinary code, or the NUM will call an overtime ban throughout the coal fields. The SDP and Liberal leaders had their first informal meeting today and were anxious to give a good impression of unity and determination to negotiate and, ‘put a new party back on the road to form an effective and electable alternative in the post-Thatcher period’. Today’s weather turned quite wet and windy, as forecast, and, despite a slight lull for some of tomorrow, this seems set to continue as the poor summer draws to a close.