An early start after a slightly unsettled night and then the financial papers after breakfast until the arrival of Charles Frost for a meeting to complete my conservatory order. Then on to Huntingdon for an HDC reception and opening by John Major of the Ermine Business Park. Back to play lawn bowls with Daniela and friends. South Africa’s government censors ‘Cry Freedom’, The Iran/Iraq talks proceed at a snail’s pace, Red Adair finally plugs the Piper Alpha oil leaks and the Education Reform Act reforms education without funding it properly
A little unsettled during the night, but then slept better after rolling over to see Diana for sex. This morning we were all up quite early, which was rather a test for Daniel’s friends Steve and Gary, who had stayed the night and were not used to getting up in the morning. Took time after breakfast to read today’s Investors Chronicle and Financial Times to get up to date on investment affairs, as I will soon be needing to reorganise my finances and need to judge the market. No sooner that done, than Charles Frost of Frost & Co Conservatories comes, by appointment, and we review the final plans and timescales for my conservatory, before giving him a 10% cheque for £2000+. We agree the final drawings for building regulations approval and groundwork tender for next week. Then a couple of weeks for the builders to quote, so that we meet again to decide on a builder for the groundwork, after three weeks, in August. We want the building work done in September and the conservatory erected in October, but we shall see! Then a rush to get the family and myself ready and in the Range Rover and off to Huntingdon for a District Council reception and tour. I leave the family to their own devices for three hours and join the dignitaries in the coach and we go to the Ermine Business Park for the Rt Hon John Major MP to open it in a brief ceremony.
Then a tour round by coach and back to Pathfinder House for a buffet lunch. I chatted to other Councillors and Officers as the proceedings continued and found the event useful in making more relationships. Back to the family at 3.15pm and then home, so that Daniel and the girls could play with their friends. It is good to see so much of Amy and Catherine and how well they play with our girls. Tonight, after tea, I got Daniel and his friends to play me at Lawn Bowls and then he went off to his new girlfriend’s house in St Neots. The South African government overruled the country’s censors today and seized the anti-apartheid film ‘Cry Freedom’. It had only been shown once and three bombs had exploded at cinemas showing the film anyway before the security forces moved in. The UK Government say that the 7 SAS men responsible for killing the IRA terrorists on the streets of Gibraltar are willing to go there and testify, but may change their minds, depending on the security levels at the inquest. The UN Secretary General is making slow progress in the Iran/Iraq peace talks. Now pro-Iraq forces have at least pulled back into their own territory. Four parents in Cheshire, from the same housing estate, have been handed down sentences of 3 to 8 years each for sexual child abuse. Red Adair has put out the last of the fires on the Piper Alpha oil rig and now the company and nation are counting the cost. The Education Reform Act became law today, with new types of school, a national curriculum, and competition between schools. The teachers say that the reforms will not work without a major increase in resources. Mike Gatting, sacked as England’s cricket Captain, has bowed out of international cricket until next summer and the England team is the one to lose. A miraculous story today, as a man donates bone marrow to his son to combat leukaemia, after himself having recovered from a marrow transplant from the son many years ago.