The year brought the normal spate of natural disasters. Both the US and USSR suffered critical earthquakes and terrible gales sank a freighter with storm-force winds around the country sinking boats with lives lost. An earthquake in California killed 200 when the double-decker Bay Bridge collapsed. Hurricane Hugo left 25 dead and 100,000 homeless in Puerto Rico and threatened the US coastline such that half a million people have fled Georgia alone. The people of Afghanistan suffering another famine and drought and great typhoons ravage Thailand with more than 200 lost at sea from 20 missing vessels. On the other hand, the UK had the warmest May for 150 years and then fantastically warm and dry summer to follow and its hottest day since 1976.
The year saw the death and funeral of my father. He waited too late for a hospital ear operation, his skin cancer spread to his inner ear and he ended up in constant pain and deteriorating with his cancer. His wound started to discharge and spread to the lymph gland and was then incurable after an appalling series of medical delays and decisions by Mr Campbell, the surgeon responsible.
Dad passed away peacefully with Mum and I on a sunny day in Room 20 of Weald House Nursing Home after several foggy and damp ones. Then, two weeks later, the thick fog cleared, and the sun came out to present an exceptionally still, mild and sunny day for my Dad’s well-attended funeral at St James Church, interment at Little Paxton Cemetery and reception for a coach load of mourners at The Hayling View.
Debbie took possession of her own pony Sundance. Debbie and Della do well at school with Debbie attending Pony Club events, she was winning rosettes horse-riding. Daniel had driving lessons in his new car, took delivery of his new £1,000 Commodore computer and his new speedboat; and then got offers to study Computing at the Universities of Sussex and Warwick but enrolled for Computer Studies degree at The UEA in Norwich.
The best summer for ages which was perfect for our cruising and we had two long boating holidays on the Norfolk Broads and locally on the Great but the fate of "The Lady" was sealed after the old girl failed to pass under Potter Heigham bridge; We attended the Southampton Boat Show, looking at various models and homing in on the Broom 37 as our next choice of craft but then bought the Rolyat Princess (soon to be called The Paxton Princess). I bought Heronshaw in Horning and we moored the new boat there.
The year started with my completion of my Little Paxton History project continued with plans for the local elections as SLD Facilitator. The visit of Paddy Ashdown to The Hayling View was a big press and radio event and I was actively leading St Neots Museum and Little Paxton Village Hall fundraising I achieved victory for our candidate Derek Giles in the Eaton Socon by-election, an absolute humiliation for the Tories.
The good fortunes of Thatcher, buoyed after the Falklands War, saw the economy and her government soaring at first but then both plummeted later with rancour after her extremist and divisive policies alienated colleagues and opponents alike. The NHS and Ambulance service was in trouble after ill-advised ‘reforms’ and multiple fatal train crashes followed, blamed on manning level reductions and lack of public service investment, and an explosives lorry catches fire and explodes in Peterborough.
There was the tragic news of the Hillsborough football Stadium disaster with nearly one hundred Liverpool fans dead. The government blamed fans and implemented draconian crowd restrictions thereafter, but it later emerged that ill-advised policing decisions on the day led to the disaster.
Thatcher’s decline was seeded by the way in which she had undermined Former PM Ted Heath who then criticised Thatcher for ‘misleading people about the EEC’. Tories lost EU 13 Parliament seats to Labour and an anti-Thatcher coalition took charge of the new European Parliament. She was then isolated in Europe over monetary union and was outvoted 11 to 1 on the Social Charter during a special conference at the EEC summit.
Back home, after news of a £1.7 billion trade deficit, Thatcher was blaming her Chancellor Lawson for the 8% inflation rates as the pound sterling fell 3 ½ US cents in a day, which led to The Bank of England raising rates by 1% to 14%, the 10th rise during the year! Thatcher upset the House of Commons with her appalling treatment of Sir Geoffrey Howe and was besieged with union strikes and seemed rattled by poor opinion poll forecasts with her Poll Tax and Water Privatisation unpopular. By the Autumn, the government was trailing in the opinion polls with a 40% drop on the Stock Exchange, a £2b trade deficit and sky-high interest rates due to continue as Sterling falls despite Bank of England support.
Thatcher was plumbing the depths of electoral unpopularity whilst Neil Kinnock carried all before him at the Labour Party conference. The another radical decline of the UK’s economic prospects, with interest rates up by 1% to 15%, a nine-year high, and further collapse of share prices and the pound sterling. Thatcher lost Chancellor Lawson and adviser Prof Alan Waters, triggering a reshuffle with her lapdog John Major becoming Chancellor as Howe and Hazeltine spoke out Conservative MPs refusing to support Thatcher’s continued leadership.
The largest civil disaster left 265 people killed in the sinking of the Marchioness Thames passenger boat. After the last Soviet troops left Afghanistan and USSR rebel Boris Yeltsin won 87% of the vote to win a Moscow seat in the ‘new-style’ Soviet elections the East/West hostility was easing. The US/Soviet summit talks seemed to go well but there remain arguments between Britain, West Germany and America over plans for upgrading NATO short range nuclear weapons and the allies are hopelessly split over arms reductions and on China.
Then Lech Walesa, forms a Polish government and Gorbachev tries to quell nationalism and ethnic violence in certain Soviet provinces. As a stark reminder of the risks of nuclear defence, as the result of a Russia nuclear submarine sinking, 27 of the 69 crew died but ‘they say’ that the two nuclear weapons and propulsion system are supposed to be safe.
There then began the start of the breakdown in the ‘Iron Curtain’, 30,000 East German refugees were allowed to leave for the West. This soon escalated as the great European Communist Blocs started disintegrating; thousands more East Germans fled to the West after openings in the Berlin wall had been created. A non-Communist was elected Speaker and the reformer Hans Modrow appointed as Prime Minister whilst 200,000 people marched in Leipzig in favour of reforms and free elections.
West German Chancellor Kohl assured Poland that their borders are safe but called for a Federation and German unification. The New Year saw half a million Germans from East and West celebrating the event by the Brandenburg gate. Not such a peaceful outcome in Romania; In an anti-government rally against leader Nikolai Ceausescu, clashes took place where ‘up to 2,000’ are claimed killed as troops use helicopters, tanks and guns to crush protestors. Then the army captured and executed the deposed President Nicolae and Mrs Eleanor Ceausescu for allegedly being responsible.
Chinese leader Teng Xiao Ping, failed to placate the populist Chinese student protesters risking the country slipping into political anarchy. The US shot down Libyan jets after Lockerbie but the US stock exchange took a 190-point dive in the last hour of trading on what was known as ‘Black Friday’.
In South Africa, tens of thousands of natives rejoiced at the release of Walter Sisulu in South Africa and 70,000 were then allowed to attend a massive ANC rally in South Africa calling got the same for others including Nelson Mandela
** PRESS "Read More" BELOW for the complete story **
January - A month that started mild but had some cold and frosty days later which brought on normal family coughs and colds with Debbie’s the worst; Della was settling into her first days at Little Paxton School, Debbie had the excitement of her new pony and Daniel revelled in his school narrow-boating holiday with friends and passed his French ‘O’-level GSE. Apart from nice family events, I took Diana for a London shopping and a leisure break, after I had the novelty of settling my Koi carp into my new conservatory pond. I managed to complete a few more chapters of my Little Paxton History book this month, after overcoming AppleMac problems and mastering AppleScan issues and negotiations with printers were advanced. My local community work was developing beyond Parish and District Council meetings, as I persuaded the Village Hall Committee to provide changing facilities for the village sports teams, made progress on local road-naming disputes, and helped SLD colleagues to get local Focus newsletter campaigns up and running such that our publicity profile was sharply increased. The Stock exchange was soaring despite record interest rates, rising inflation and labour disputes but I stick to cash, as mortgage rates rise to 13 ½%.The New Year’s Honours list was packed full of knighthoods for Thatcher’s political and business cronies and, as private medicine is encouraged, the NHS structure is challenged with the planned abolition of Local Council Regional Health Authority involvement and for hospitals to opt out of the National Health Service. Investigations continue into two air crashes, with Lockerbie’s being traced to a bomb. The US shot down two unarmed Libyan jet fighters in retaliation for Lockerbie, but the USSR started withdrawing tactical nuclear weapons from Eastern Europe and a chemical weapons ban was signed Paris by 150 countries. Both the US and USSR suffered critical earthquakes and terrible Atlantic gales sink a freighter. Japanese Emperor Hirohito died after a 70-year reign.
February - A generally benign month of cool weather and the river was not often threatening our gardens but it had its moments. Apart from Daniel and I getting the odd cold, the family are mostly well; Daniel enjoying computers and his boat, Debbie her new pony Sundance (sharing with neighbour Gemma and school friend Helen) and still seeing her neighbour Amy and both Debbie and Della were taking regular swimming lessons. Dad was still waiting for a hospital ear operation, but they were soldiering on. We had Di’s parents for lunch to celebrate Charles Snr’s 72nd Birthday. I had trouble with my Koi Carp after stocking my new pond; I strengthened my conservatory by Frosts adding support struts; I completed several more chapters in my Little Paxton History such that that I had finished 13 chapters with just four and the indexing section to go; and I had been busy making plans for the local elections as SLD Facilitator with campaigning and leafleting on planning and development matters. The news was of a series of food and water hygiene scares as the country awoke to "Green" issues which finally broke the popularity of this UK government which was presiding over public health, safety and economic failures, whilst under attack from political critics and the violent IRA and now animal rights extremists. The political row between Iran and the UK/EU continues with mutual diplomatic expulsions over the Salman Rushdie affair. The last Soviet troops leave Afghanistan and there is a state of emergency and a civil war seems likely and, in South Africa, the ‘Mandela Bodyguards’ have been charged with murder. More checks are proposed for Boeing airliners after another crashes into a mountain over the Azores, killing 1- 200 people.
March - Starting cold with a biting wind, the month ended warm and sunny and ideal for Daniel’s driving lessons in his new car and Debbie’s riding and Pony Club events as Della also showed signs of growing up. My Dad was a worry as his ear cancer treatment continued at Addenbrookes to remove part of his ear. The family enjoyed our Mother’s Day lunch, the Good Friday visit to Little Paxton Woods and our meals out and shopping trips. This month saw an end to my work on the History of Little Paxton to be ready for Little Paxton’s Annual Parish Meeting on April 20th . My next project was to be the Democrat regional coordinator for the County Council and Gransden District by-election campaigns in May whilst still supporting the Parish Council, Village Hall and St Neots Museum committees. A month of redundancies, £1.7 billion trade deficit, and multiple fatal train crashes, blamed on manning level reductions and lack of investment, and an explosive lorry catches fire and explodes in Peterborough, Comic Relief has to fund care of the elderly and homeless and Prince Charles and Prince Philip have to step in to plead for environmental action. The UK declines Iranian talks as the East West arms talks open in Geneva as the worst violence in 40 years strikes the Lebanese war-torn nation and USSR rebel Boris Yeltsin wins 87% of the vote to win a Moscow seat in the ‘new-style’ Soviet elections
April – A month of poor weather, wet, cold and windy with no sign of Spring, but one where we made best use of the earlier finer days for electioneering until a storm, incessant rain, snow and slush stopped everyone. Therefore a good month for our candidates in the local elections with high hopes of success as we fought three campaigns well. The visit of Paddy Ashdown to The Hayling View for a big press and radio event in my lounge and new conservatory with many journalists and a radio station in attendance. The book print arrived in time for the Parish Council presentations and the W.I. talk and all went well. I was giving Daniel his initial driving lessons. We had family trips to church and Wickstead Park and I fired up the swimming pool on the odd fine and bright but cold day. The tragic news this month was the Hillsborough football Stadium disaster with nearly one hundred Liverpool fans dead. Some 15- 30,000 people protest in Scotland against the poll tax. The government announced its unilateral decision to scrap the dock labour scheme covering 9,400 men in 40 ports. With inflation is up to 7.9% and 8p per gallon petrol price increases there is widespread condemnation over the government over the introduction of ID cards and NHS ‘reforms’. Gorbachev, the Soviet leader, arrived in London and Mrs Thatcher hosted him to a Downing Street banquet and paid tribute to his ‘peaceful resolution’. The US/Soviet summit talks seemed to go well but there remain arguments between Britain, West Germany and America over plans for upgrading NATO short range nuclear weapons. As a result of the Russia nuclear submarine sinking, 27 of the 69 crew died but ‘they say’ that the two nuclear weapons and propulsion system are supposed to be safe.
May - The warmest May for 150 years and we spend some of it on the Norfolk Broads, taking the last video of Dad with Della on the way. We towed the Little Lady as a luggage trailer to arrive and stay at our Wroxham riverside self-catering lodge. We were taking Debbie riding often despite bad respiratory problems from allergies and asthma and attended her first horse-riding event and Daniel was learning to drive as I encouraged his first GCSE preparation. The formal launch of my book was a success. We had performed well in our local elections with my team winning one ward and narrowly missing out on two others; but the campaigning continued afterwards with Southoe Post Office restoration, but we had the disappointment of Des Merrill being well beaten and the Democrats ousted from the balance of power on the County Council. The Stock Exchange was still holding fast and the world financial markets were creaking but avoiding a big crash. I managed Paxton Village Hall support and an HDC Standing Orders campaign as Sally Guinee joins us. Nationally, the Labour Party NEC agree seven new policies to ‘modernise’ the Party and Labour support draws level with the Tories at 43%. Former PM Ted Heath criticises Thatcher for ‘misleading people about the EEC’, Thatcher was blaming Chancellor Lawson for the 8% inflation rates as the pound sterling fell 3 ½ US cents in a day, which led to The Bank of England raising rates by 1% to 14%, the 10th rise this year! The dockers, tube train drivers and bus drivers are all planning strikes. Hillsborough public enquiry opens with Chief superintendent David Duckenfield apologising for misleading statements blaming the club and fans. There are prison and drugs riots. All eyes are on East/West relations as firstly NATO is hopelessly split over arms reductions and then on China as Chinese leader Teng Xiao Ping, failed to placate the populist Chinese student protesters risking the country slipping into political anarchy.
June - A fantastically warm and dry month and its hottest day here since 1976 but the wettest ever month in Australia as we all wonder about the "greenhouse effect". My family had allergies and hay fever, with Della's face swollen after we brought a horse-blanket in to dry. Nevertheless, Debbie won a school prize for class progress, but Daniel was struggling, and my biggest worry was the spread of my father’s skin cancer to his inner ear. We trailed Daniel’s boat to the Norfolk Broads and stayed in a riverside chalet. At home we then had the pond and garden chores, the Smith’s barbecue at Hail Weston House and a Lodge Farm Diddington barn dance in between our customary family meals out. I sold the first 420 copies so far of my book and filed the press cuttings and photos afterwards. Not the right to make investment decisions in the volatile and risky world financial markets. The disastrous performance of the Democrats in the Euro-Elections was offset as we got our man elected locally for the Parish Council. Politics were dominated by labour and union disputes as well as inflation. The country’s politics were about Thatchers problems as labour and union disputes handicap the country and the Tories lost 13 seats to Labour and an anti-Thatcher coalition will be in charge of the new European Parliament and she is alone in resisting EU reforms. Despite appalling news from China, Thatcher is refusing sanctuary to fleeing refugees from Hong Kong after the latest crisis is roundly condemned. Estimates of the deaths are as high as 7,000 with Chinese police then arresting 600 leading dissidents to brutally crushed political opposition. It was a bad month for Russia as a gas pipeline explosion killing hundreds, a Soviet MIG 15 crashed at the Parish Air Show, a new Soviet nuclear submarine, the K-278 Komsomolets, is stricken by fire off of Norway and Russian cruise liner, the ‘Maxim Gorkiy’, hits an iceberg in the Arctic Ocean such that a thousand passengers have to be rescued!
July and August – Enjoying the best summer for ages. July was a generally a sunny, warm and dry month, but with the inevitable storms and floods coming later giving almost eclipse-like dark conditions and August also a very sunny and warm month to top a great summer, which was perfect for our cruises aboard The Lady. We were beset this summer with the smoke and smuts from stubble-burning which was to lead to a government ban. A further air crash and extreme weather incidents world-wide kill over 100 people We spotted Heronshaw in Horning as a fine investment at the right price in July and the fate of "The Lady" was sealed after the old girl failed to pass under Potter Heigham bridge. We managed to fit in quite a lot of family events and two long boating holidays; The Norfolk Broads and locally on the Great Ouse. Daniel has his new speedboat; Debbie and Della do well at school with Debbie was winning rosettes horse-riding. Poor Dad was in constant pain and deteriorating with his cancer, which started to discharge and has spread to the lymph gland and is now incurable, but Freda arrived from Cornwall to help attend him after I had taken him to hospital for this opinion. Mum had an attack of the Shingles and the worry over her chair batteries to cope with as they both approached their 50th Wedding Anniversary. All went well at home, with the house, history and local politics well attended to and with me officiating successfully as the VIP at The Little Paxton Hall Village fête. Thatcher upset the House of Commons with her treatment of Sir Geoffrey Howe and is besieged with union strikes and seems rattled by poor opinion poll forecasts with her Poll Tax and Water Privatisation unpopular. England’s economy was parlous, with frothy speculation inconsistent with signs of recession, a record trade deficit and closure of coal mines and factories causing industrial unrest. To me another crash was long-overdue and I was glad for our own financial security that isolated us from it all IRA bombing and police corruption additional factors causing riots and making people seem unsafe. Several environmental scares come to a head with a massive oil spill and toxic waste ships are turned back by civil action. The anniversary of the start of World War II and the news broadcasts were harking back and reporting the news then. The largest civil disaster left 265 people killed in the sinking of the Marchioness Thames passenger boat. English sporting rebels plan tours to South Africa despite anti-apartheid rallies, there are fights to the death in The Lebanon between Syrian backed Moslem and Iraqi backed Christian militia which kill civilians as hostage taking and ransom demands are rife but Solidarity leader, Lech Walesa, forms a Polish government and Gorbachev tries to quell nationalism and ethnic violence in certain Soviet provinces, after Andrei Gromyko has died in his 70s.Trident missile launches fail but the Voyager space probe sends back pictures of Neptune after a 12-year voyage. Sir Laurence Olivier and Harry Worth have died, and a sympathetic jury let popular comedian, Ken Dodd, off on a tax evasion charge.
September - A month of generally fine weather to end the summer, with cooler nights and a few wet days amongst some dry ones. I had exchanged contracts on Heronshaw but decided against the Godmanchester Meadows purchase over problems with the fishing and mineral rights. My direct family are fine, children back at school and Daniel was struggling with his Chemistry. The main worry was my poor Dad whose inner ear growth had spread to his Lymphatic Glands. Antibiotics of growing strength did not stop the swelling and pain, and the growth in his ear spread via his lymph glands to his neck and brain so quickly that his life is threatened. The only hope is of very major surgery such that a forthcoming brain scan and consultation between plastic and neurology consultants will decide his fate. Unfortunately, the pain and anguish of my parents had an unfortunate outcome as they fell out and I had a distressing letter from my Mum, who wanted to leave my Dad! We enjoyed our boating holiday on The Lady, cruising around the Fens. Once back, we repaired our Rolls Royce and Range Rover cars and improved my pool sand filter connections. We bought folding bikes and used them for city shopping trips. We enjoyed the Kimbolton statute fair. I dealt with a couple of repairs for The Lady and we attended the Southampton Boat Show, looking at various models and homing in on the Broom 37 as our next choice of craft if we decided not to renovate The Lady. At home, Pete and Daniel were both recruited to help with painting my steel quay-heading. Cambridgeshire Deputy Chief Constable, John Stevens, is to lead the investigation into the leaks which have thrown the Anglo-Irish agreement into stress. The IRA attack two British soldiers off duty in Germany and of two UVF men are charged with revenge killings against Republicans. An IRA bomb strike killed 10 Royal Marines bandsman and injured others. The government is now trailing in the opinion polls with a 40% drop on the Stock Exchange, a £2b trade deficit and sky-high interest rates due to continue as Sterling falls despite Bank of England support. Ambulance officers have joined their men in implementing an overtime ban. It has been 50 years since the war broke out between England and Germany and when my parents were married and now in their former home of Tottenham, 400 police have raided Broadwater Farm, Tottenham, looking for drugs in what was virtually a paramilitary operation. A collision between two oil tankers off Humberside left a 140 mi² oil slick which is luckily drifting offshore. England draw with Sweden to qualify for the World Cup Finals with 100 fans arrested after the reports of ‘rioting and looting’ by English soccer fans. 23 people killed and 100 injured at election demonstrations as the blacks are excluded in the unjust South African ‘All-White’ elections. President Bush is calling for a mutual 80% chemical weapons reduction for the US and Russia. There is an exodus of East Germans through Hungary and Austria to West Germany as its German reunification and Europe restructuring begins and the European commission adopts a workers charter despite Thatcher’s opposition. A month of plane and road accidents. Hurricane Hugo leaves 25 dead and 100,000 homeless in Puerto Rico and is now turning along the US coastline and half a million people have fled Georgia alone.
October - Typical wet and windy days alternating with bright and sunny mornings. Milder to start with, turning colder later, as the leaves start falling. No frost, but gales and storm-force winds around the country as boats were sunk and lives lost. An earthquake in California killed 200 when the double-decker Bay Bridge that I knew so well collapsed. It was also a tiring and dramatic month as it was confirmed that Dad was soon to die of his skin cancer after an appalling series of medical delays and decisions by Mr Campbell, the surgeon responsible. I had been by his side day after day at Addenbrookes until the surgeons had given up hope. Mum had struggled on at home until her back had failed her and she was admitted to the West Suffolk. I had been visiting Mum often at The West Suffolk Hospital and Dad almost daily in Addenbrookes, and these efforts left me mentally and physically exhausted, but I then managed to get my parents reconciled, after disagreements, and placed together in a shared room in Weald House, a nursing home near us to make their peace. Dad managed a couple of trips here and then Mum her first as I was convinced that neither of them would ever see their Stanton bungalow again. Freda came up from Devon and helped move their things from Stanton. They spent some quality time with my daughters. I was keeping my family life going by hosting Little Chef lunches and social events; and spent many periods peacefully attending my plants, fish and doves. Debbie received a flute and a new saddle for Sundance and Daniel joined friends for a parent-free Motor Show visit. Interest in our children’s’ school governance led to me joining their KSSC committee. I was also making an impact on the District Council and had been chairing fundraising committees for the St Neots Museum and the Little Paxton Village Hall whilst working on the Little Paxton Parish Council to support local initiatives and oppose disruptive developments from the gravel pit roads. Thatcher was plumbing the depths of electoral unpopularity whilst Neil Kinnock carried all before him at the Labour Party conference. A radical decline of the UK’s economic prospects, interest rates up by 1% to 15%, a nine-year high, and further collapse of share prices and the pound sterling. Thatcher lost Chancellor Lawson and adviser Prof Alan Waters, triggering a reshuffle with her lapdog John Major becoming Chancellor as Howe and Hazeltine spoke out. Tory plans for privatising the electricity industry revealed 30,000 job losses, mass mine closure with electricity bills set to be raised by 15%. There was ‘a shambles’ in the London Ambulance Service as management lock out the ambulancemen totally.. In Irish affairs, the Guildford four have been released after 15 to 18 years of wrongful imprisonment and 28 actively serving UDR men were arrested under firearms and confidentiality charges. Internationally, The US stock exchange took a 190-point dive in the last hour of trading on what was known as ‘Black Friday’, there was the start of the breakdown in the ‘Iron Curtain’, 30,000 East German refugees were allowed to leave for the West. In South Africa, tens of thousands of natives rejoiced at the release of Walter Sisulu in South Africa and 70,000 were then allowed to attend a massive ANC rally in South Africa calling got the same for others including Nelson Mandela.
November - This was the cold and frosty month when Dad passed away peacefully with Mum and I on a sunny day in Room 20 of Weald House Nursing Home after several foggy and damp ones. He had his last birthday and lots of visits once we had re-united him with Mum. I organised their DHSS claims, clothes and brought belongings from their caravan. Our loss was tempered by the opportunity I had to organise a most beautiful funeral. Daniel got offers to study Computing at the Universities of Sussex and Warwick but opted for the UEA in Norwich, which pleased me. I was taking Debbie and Della to the riding stables at Offord and I got The Lady’s winter cover renovated and it fitted well. I celebrated my 43rd birthday, and had fun with fireworks with my friend, Nigel’s at his Hail Weston House Guy Fawkes night party. I collected the keys from Elizabeth Kerr and took ownership of Heronshaw in Horning. I achieved victory for our candidate Derek Giles in the Eaton Socon by-election, an absolute humiliation for the Tories. Chairing the St Neots Museum fund-raising committee, I produced all the literature and materials and then ran their successful launch at The Priory Centre. I gave a well-received talk on Little Paxton History to the local cub scouts. I attended meetings, generated press releases and fielded press calls and had to turn down a request from the SW Cambs LibDems to become their parliamentary candidate as I felt it was not possible to win there at this time! Thatcher was increasingly isolated and the stridency of her tone and policy grated with the new spirit of peace, disarmament, glasnost and perestroika. Social cohesion had been failing, Jaguar was being taken over by Ford, the pound and shares were falling again as government intervention on the foreign exchange markets had depleted our gold reserves by a record monthly amount. The ambulanceman’s pay dispute escalated with the army on the streets of London as ‘ambulance drivers’ until the London service failed altogether and people were dying. A combined front of doctors, nurses and midwives attacked the government in opposition to the proposed NHS reforms. It was now possible that Mrs Thatcher might step down after the next election and this led to her being challenged by a ‘stalking horse’ for the Conservative leadership. After another wave of IRA attacks, Northern Ireland Secretary, Peter Brooke, was considering negotiations with Sinn Fein. The great European Communist Blocs are disintegrating; thousands more East Germans fled to the West after openings in the Berlin wall had been created. A non-Communist was elected Speaker and the reformer Hans Modrow appointed as Prime Minister whilst 200,000 people marched in Leipzig in favour of reforms and free elections. West German Chancellor Kohl assured Poland that their borders are safe but called for a Federation and German unification, but Thatcher will be resisting calls for that. More demonstrations took place in Czechoslovakia (300,000 in Prague), then the Communist leadership resigned. and the new leader is announced as Karel Urbanek whilst the previously exiled leader Alexander Dubcek addressed a crowd of 250,000 in Prague and slated the USSR and former regimes for putting down past reforms. The people of Afghanistan suffering a new famine and drought and great typhoons ravage Thailand with more than 200 lost at sea from 20 missing vessels and there is the assassination of the new Lebanese president by a car bomb which killed 23 others in the process
December - The month closed calmer after some strong winds and heavy rain, causing flooding the West Country and the snow in Northern England was later working its way south but the thick fog cleared and the sun came out to present an exceptionally still, mild and sunny day for my Dad’s well-attended funeral at St James Church, interment at Little Paxton Cemetery and reception for a coach load of mourners at The Hayling View. The cards of notification had brought numerous tributes, sympathies, flowers and donations I managed to settle Mum back into her Stanton mobile home afterwards with the help of neighbours and carers and visited her there as we drove to and from The Norfolk Broads to buy and commission our new boat. Daniel and Deborah did well at Kimbolton School and pleased us accordingly. Debbie continued to enjoy her pony Sundance and Daniel’s took delivery of his new £1,000 Commodore computer; both luxuries being their incentives to work particularly now that Daniel was accepted for a Computer Studies degree at The UEA. Each year the burden as well as the joy of Christmas becomes ever bigger. More and costlier cards, presents, decorations etc. After Christmas, we cruised in our new boat and I took Diana to the Swan when we were on the Norfolk Broads for a nice meal as our anniversary event to mark 21 years married! I took fifteen of us to St James’s Church for the Family Carol service before inviting them home to The Hayling View for tea. The national news was of 50 fellow Conservative MPs refusing to support Thatcher’s continued leadership and she is now isolated in Europe over monetary union and was outvoted 11 to 1 on the Social Charter during a special conference at the EEC summit. The cruelty of the first forced repatriation of the Vietnamese boat people still rankled but new Tory MPs showed their true colours by being upset by the 140,000 Hong Kong people being given right of emigration. December saw the climax of the reforms that have been sweeping Eastern Europe and the New Year saw half a million Germans from East and West celebrating the event by the Brandenburg gate. The whole of the East German Politburo resigned en masse, and free elections are due next May as the peaceful democratic revolutions in East Germany continue. The Czechoslovakian Prime Minister resigned, and the deputy premier formed a government consisting of a majority of non-Communist’s being sworn in as Alexander Dubcek stands in the wings. Not peaceful in Romania; In an anti-government rally against leader Nikolai Ceausescu, clashes take place where ‘up to 2000’ are claimed killed as troops use helicopters, tanks and guns to crush protestors. Then the army captured and executed the deposed President Nicolae and Mrs Eleanor Ceausescu for allegedly being responsible.