Reviewing the investment news after a restless night thinking Rolls Royce cars before joining the girls for the Friday visit to Bedfordto buy a few things and research the matter further before home for a journalist interview about my book which was ended when Nigel visited with his present from Morocco. Later to St Neots the LHS AGM to hear of plans for a local museum. Thatchers African visit was marred by protests with Bernard Ingham hurt in the melee, my predicted financial collapse seems to be happening, Ulster Police intercept a huge arms shipment for the UDA, Isreal’s PM rebuffs the UN emissary, and 20 pits are closed by the unofficial Yorkshire Colliery strike and the weather forecast is for more gale-force winds and rain storms as the river rises
A slightly restless night thinking about Rolls Royces and being a little uncomfortable. I noticed that many people in London had colds during our stay there and I fear I may have one coming on. Slow to stir when I eventually did sleep and found Diana trying to wake me for my morning tea. I made a spur-of-the-moment decision to accompany the girls into Bedford today and so got dressed in my sports jacket and trousers. Breakfast of boiled egg and then I had time to review the mail and read the Investors Chronicle and Financial Times newspapers before it was time to leave. I just could not understand how Wall Street and London shares could still rise with so many currency and economic worries abounding. A fair journey to Bedford, parking on the 6th floor of the Lurke Street multi-storey car park. Then a little shopping before we had morning coffee at Sperrings. The girls then shopped on as I bought a wider-view mirror for the Range Rover, a new Filofax diary, and then a couple of Rolls Royce books in the local bookshop. I also scanned the Bedford Library shelves to get as much information on the early Rolls Royces as possible.
Met the family back at Debenhams restaurant for lunch and read my books a while before we all set off back home. At Great Barford, we dropped Debbie off at her school-friend’s house for the afternoon and then Di took Della to the Library story time session in St Neots, as I settled down back home for an interview with a local newspaper journalist. She is writing a feature on Little Paxton. Then I had to let her go after an hour, as Nigel stopped by, fresh back from his holiday and to give me a nice present of a mult-metal framed mirror from the Kasbah Market in Morocco. It goes with my wooden framed mirror from Poland. After tea, I went to the AGM of the St Neots Local History Society to hear about the plans for starting a museum. Late to bed after a hectic day. The news tonight is of the end of the Prime Minister’s tour to Africa. There was an agreement to differ over sanctions for South Africa, but the headlines were taken by a worrying incident near the end of the trip. The Prime Minister’s party were jostled by a large crowd and No 10 Press Secretary, Bernard Ingham, was hurt. Wall Street fell by over 150 points to the 1900s again, in its largest one-day fall since Black Monday and the third largest fall ever. Today an inquiry report on the last crash called for restrictions on the trading on options and shares in the wake of it and the markets did not like either this or rumours of the next set of US trade figures. Police in Northern Ireland have seized over 100 guns, including 50 Kalashnikov rifles destined for a militant Loyalist group. Also seized were thousands of rounds of ammunition and all of these were destined for the Ulster Defence Association. Men have been arrested. The Government’s new proposals for controlling types of upholstery foam have been dismissed as inadequate by Britain’s Chief Fire Officers. They want the use of polyurethane foam banned entirely from the construction of domestic furniture. Now Government Ministers will be under political pressure because 12 children died in such fires over Christmas and some 400 are estimated to die from this cause annually. The Manchester nurses are back to work, but the political wake on this latest NHS crisis will be another problem for the government. I can see their popularity waning and only hope that the Liberal/SDP Alliance will get its act together soon to help edge the Thatcher Government out. Three more Palestinians have died in Gaza in gunshot incidents and now Israeli troops are responsible for 28 deaths. The Prime Minister of Israel has refused to meet the UN Emissary, Mr Goulding, but Foreign Minister, Simon Peres, has agreed to see him. The unofficial Yorkshire Colliery strike has led to 20 pits being closed today, with North Yorkshire being affected for the first time. The weather forecast is for more gale-force winds and rain storms and the river is already well up and local ducks quacking loudly as I write this evening.