After a slow start due to several late nights I spent much of the morning editing my Riversfield chapter of my Little Paxton history, calling in later to see Ken Gambier and his managing director of Samuel Jones paper Mill, Mr Brannigan, to return their archives and talk to them about local affairs. Then to prepare for my history talk to St Neots Rotaract club this evening when they took a close interest. The TUC decide finally to suspend the EETPU, bank base rates are hiked again to reach 9% as fighting inflation at the expense of manufacturing is Nigel Lawson’s top priority.
Awoke rather groggily after several late nights to another warm and sunny day. Washed for breakfast and then a meal of these ‘new-style’ Jordans wheat flakes, that lacks the malt additive etc. It was quite palatable but will take a bit of getting used to. This morning started with my Financial Times and then, after helping Diana to load two armchairs into the Range Rover, I settled down to an editing exercise of my Riversfield chapter. Kept finding more of my notes to add, but I could not find my copy of the 1851 census, which I needed most. Lunch of salad, then, this afternoon at Samuel Jones Paper Mill, handing over the files to Ken Gambier, then chatting with Mr Brannigan, the Managing Director, about local issues. I put him on to the potential savings by classifying more of his business to be in Little Paxton, asked him to paint the ‘Stalag 5’ fencing green, but was sad to hear that they plan to do away with the social club building on economic and development grounds, as I was after the village utilising it as an amenity.
Home on a hot afternoon for tea, but popped into St Neots to get the Hunts Post, wherein there were mentions of my activities in two small articles. After tea, I used my new pads to write up these last three day’s journal and then I prepared for my history talk this evening to the St Neots Rotaract Club. It was a hot, sunny evening and I really wondered whether these beer-swilling St Neotians would really appreciate my history talk on Little Paxton, but they took a close interest. Main story today was of the final TUC decision to suspend the EETPU if, after 14 days, they would not accept the General Council policy on trade union recognition and recruitment. The split seems irreconcilable. Bank base rates were hiked up another ½ %, the third such increase after the previous run of three reductions. It now stands at 9%. Nigel Lawson and the government are backing the fight against rising inflation and are prepared to see industry having to cope with an overvalued currency and high interest rates that makes manufacturing exports very difficult.