Ploughing on with my Little Paxton manorial history on a fine, sunny and mild day and receiving a visit from Mrs Rosa Young to compare notes on the matter. Receiving also a representation from Mr Wilmot of Carisbrooke about a planning development issue. Percy and Pat Meyer came around to type up some more FOCUS copy. The Scottish Labour Party have started an inquest over losing Glasgow Govan, the British Army shoot one of their own as the IRA attack a Londonderry Police Station, the Pipe Alpha families reject the compensation offer and the London Fire Brigade remain concerned about London Underground fire safety.
I slept all night after some initial difficulty and then I heard the news about the SNP winning Glasgow Govan first thing which was a depressing reminder of the North/South electoral and constitutional divide. I had breakfast a little later than the others and then took time to read the daily and weekly Financial papers. My old company, now the Computer Division of Kode, seems to be doing very badly, which is a shame. Out to see Pete and to give him instructions for the day’s work. Then the morning working on my Manorial History, edging it forward little by little. The conservatory erectors were here in force again, screwing yesterday’s constructions fully together and then assembling the lantern and roof onto the top of it. It grows quite huge and is already a strong feature of Willow Close.
I had to make myself lunch as Diana went to Cambridge today and then I cleared up in time for a visit this evening by Mrs Rosa Young of Park Crescent who had studied the manorial history of the area before. We had a good session together for two hours, but I discovered that she was really not able to add a great deal to my own discoveries. In places, our knowledge of manorial customs were on a par and the best she could do was to convince me that I should skip over much of the history which was too confusing and incomplete to be reliable; and I thanked her for that. Later this afternoon Mr Wilmot from Carisbrooke came round and I helped him with a planning query. He was a buyer of the house after the permission of an infill plot had been granted and is as upset as his neighbours over the building work that is now taking place. He intends to complain, through me as his District Councillor, to the Ombudsman unless I can persuade him to the contrary. In truth, there was really no maladministration by the District Council – only very poor planning policies from this government in general and the Secretary of State in particular. Tea with the family and then back to my history this evening. Soon Percy and Pat Meyer come around to get some of the texts for his next FOCUS typed into the machine. He left Pat here to do the typing and he went off to see if a few constituents. I sat in the corner, separated from my beloved machine, and wrote up today’s journal. The news today is the aftermath of the Govan election with the Labour Party starting an inquest into the turn of events. In an attack by the IRA on a Londonderry police station, the British army managed to shoot one of its own men in the melee. The solicitors for the victims’ relatives from the Piper Alpha disaster have now rejected the terms of compensation offered by the oil company in the hope of securing better ones. A missing 14-year-old girl in Shropshire is giving concern to the police and family. Police have named a man for urgent questioning and publicised his description. After the King’s Cross fire, London’s fire chief said the is still worried about fire safety in the London Underground. Today was quite fine, sunny and mild. The US and UK stock exchanges fell back sharply today.