Taking a nice drive alone after cleaning my two cars after Diana declines to come and then a day of letter writing progressing the issues that had been raised with me in my election campaign before rushing over 48-hr notice questions to Pathfinder House for the forthcoming HDC Council meeting and dropping copies off to local Parish council clerks. More sectarian violence in Northern Ireland, Russia have started leaving Afghanistan, Tory divisions over exchange rate policy persist and Israeli jets strike the Lebanon again as a new Air Traffic Control strike affects Manchester flights to France
We had a bit of a lay in this morning, until Diana got the morning drinks. A pleasant day, fresher and less humid of late and still sunny and warmer as the day progressed. Up in time for my traditionally fried Sunday breakfast and then I went out to clean both the Range Rover and Rolls Royce. Similar jobs of vacuuming the interior and then leathering the bodywork, but in between these I gave the utility car a thorough wet and foamy sponging, whilst the Rolls had only a damp sponge to wipe it off. Both ended up gleaming and then I put away the Range Rover and took the Rolls for a spin to keep the battery up and try it out. I wanted Diana to join me in the car, but she feels embarrassed at its presumptuous image and has been offish recently anyway, as she struggles to get back on her diet. I drove with the hood down, out of the village along Mill Lane, up the Huntingdon Road, turning through Toseland and watching the village of Great Paxton from atop the hill. Then to Waresley, which is a charming village, and home via Offord. You see so much more of the countryside from an open topped vehicle. Home and then I put the cars away and cleared up before lunch.
A nice meal of roast chicken, but only the girls there, for Daniel had taken a packed lunch and gone on a boat trip today, the last day before his examinations start. This afternoon, I went to my office and continued the task of composing and typing letters pursuing the range of local issues raised with me during my election campaign. I broke off for tea later and then worked all evening at the same task. The total correspondence composed:- A letter to the Chief Constable asking for a meeting about village policing. A letter to British Telecom pointing out the lack of a call box in Southoe and dangerous manhole covers in Lt Paxton. A letter to Tony Gee, HDC Chief Executive, giving the necessary 2 clear days notice of a question at Wednesday’s meeting. A letter to Mr Radley, updating him on the reasons his team can no longer use the Lt Paxton playing field. Letter to Mr Potter, Head of HDC Planning, replying and reinforcing the point about Lt Paxton not being swallowed up by St Neots (the subject of my Wednesday question). Letters to Mr Bunnington, Head of HDC Housing & Environmental Health, introducing myself and then pressing dog fouling bylaws and housing repairs at the bottom of Lees Lane. Letters to Mr Heads, HDC Head of Technical Services, about the need for us to meet on sewage problems. And then others on the maintenance of greens and street name signs. In view of the urgency of my 48-hour notice question, I then got out the Range Rover and took the wad of letters and delivered them to Pathfinders House, Huntingdon, and the copies to Alf Couzens and Michael Pope – and others to the Southoe and Little Paxton Parish Clerks. Home latish and then had my drink and watched the TV teletext news. Main story is of three Catholics being killed in an armed gun attack on a bar in Northern Ireland, even though these days they are filled with security buzzers and screens. The Russians have now started physically leaving Afghanistan. The Tory government is still wracked with stories of division over the exchange rate policy and Thatcher is now also being pressed by Tory MPs to publicly support her Chancellor. Israeli jets strike at targets in the Lebanon again. Now it is Manchester Airport travellers affected by a French air traffic controller dispute.