After very poor night of ill health, I was somewhat better this morning and fit enough for a walk to Holywell church and then to Needingworth for ice cream, milk and bread. The weather brightened a little for our cruise to the Pike and eel and on to the Twenty Pence Inn for the night after which the rain came! The children to bed on board and then Diana and I to the restaurant for a meal. News of huge air traffic control delays today with European holidaymakers hit worst and the Tories win Kensington narrowly in a by-election.
Had a very poor night. I was shivering, cold and achy when we went to bed with a hot water bottle at 8.00pm and then I was red hot and sweating all night as a result. I woke up several times in the night and was upset with Diana for not putting out some drinking water to refresh my thirst. This morning, I had lost most of the fever and was just suffering from the cold symptoms. After breakfast, I persuaded all the family to come with me for a walk, first to Holywell church and then on along the 1 mile road to Needingworth. There was not much there but a school, a post office and a newish village shop to replace an older one in a terrace of cottages now closed with permission for residential redevelopment. We did some shopping for milk and bread, then had an ice cream each and rested before we headed back. The weather started a bit chilly this morning, but it brightened up a little and stayed dry for our cruise to the Pike and Eel (where we had lunch in the Garden Room) and then for our cruise through Brownshill Staunch and Hermitage locks and on to our night-time mooring at the Twenty Pence Inn.
Then the rain came, but we were all settled by then. The same lock keepers were at the controls of the manned locks and some sort of supervisor at Brownshill, who chatted with us for a while. Di took the helm for a while along the Old West to give me a break, but she kept being on the verge of dozing off and hitting the bank! At least this gave me the chance to rest and read The Guardian newspaper, which has radically changed its layout recently and looks a bit too ‘modern’ for some tastes. Di made tea for the girls after the rain had cut short their play on the swings, sandpit and slide, and then Di and I changed to go for a meal in the restaurant afterwards. The news today is of appalling air traffic control delays, with holidaymakers scheduled for European flights delayed 10-12 hours as a routine, with 53 hours the longest. Congestion of charter air flights is the reason, with air traffic controllers being difficult and causing additional delays. Two North Sea helicopters have had to ditch into the sea in the last two days and there are many emerging stories of other oil rig safety incidents. Oil unions are complaining that commercial contracts are overriding safety issues. The Tories won narrowly in the Kensington by-election, with 41% and Labour had 38%. The divided opposition is continuing to secure Britain for Mrs Thatcher.