Being colder than of late, with fog and frost, the weather continued cold and when rain eventually came, it took the form of blizzards that stopped the motorway and railway networks in the Midlands and North, until milder weather thankfully came later.
This was a month that began with a welter of political newsletter activity and ended with a rather nasty illness that somewhat overshadowed the Christmas season. My wider family seemed well, and Mum had started staying with the Butterfields in Redgrave where they were enjoying the shop and hosting visitors but did not seem to be disposing of excess stock after Christmas nor undertaking stock checks.
My time on local affairs was dominated by the production and delivery of our December FOCUS and finding our local parliamentary candidate for interview now that local MP John Major had been appointed as Prime Minister. I was witnessing the continued decline of ONSITE Training, working on the renovation and underpinning of the Heronshaw thatched garage and learning of the horrific £250,000 estimate to rebuild Heronshaw.
Nationally, there was great news later about the Channel Tunnel breakthrough, the government under Major was continuing the Tories’ privatisations of state assets, as unemployment was rising and the pound Sterling at the bottom of its ERM range. I had the horrible feeling that John Major has neither the experience nor the wit to know what damage he is inflicting on the British economy.
Elsewhere, there was the more threatening problem of a potential Gulf War with preparations very visible so that it was just a matter of time. The US and EEC are each blaming one another for GATT talks stalling. Former West German Chancellor, Helmut Kohl, swept to victory in the first all-German election since 1932 and Lech Walensa, the former Solidarity leader, won the Polish presidential election. Gorbachev's domestic problems continue as Soviet Foreign Minister, Edvard Shevardnadze, resigns.
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This month was colder than of late, which was a worry in view of my cementing work on the new Heronshaw garage foundations, and it also meant that I was driving back home from Norfolk in fog and frost. The weather continued cold and, when rain eventually came, it took the form of blizzards that had stopped the motorway and railway networks in the Midlands and North. This gave way to sleet and snow and so we were feeling the cold on draughty days after bright and frosty mornings. The weather got a little milder later and we were all feeling a little better for it.
December has seemed to be such a long month that began with a welter of political newsletter activity and ended with a rather nasty illness that somewhat overshadowed the Christmas season. I had fallen ill with influenza on my second trip to Norfolk and was still to completely recover as the month comes to an end. The whole family, except Daniel, had been affected and Diana seemed to have lost the hearing in one ear and we hope that it is not a permanent loss. The entire second half of this month was therefore dominated by illness within our family and we had quite a struggle through Christmas. This led to Diana and me falling out for our anniversary as I am so impatient and she so incommunicative.
At least my wider family seem well, and Mum had started staying with the Butterfields in Redgrave after all the building work. She was very pleased when I called by to see her for a couple of hours and gave me a meal and we talked about Dad as it was just about the anniversary of his funeral and a very poignant time. She rather strangely claims that she sees Dad glowing in her room on night-time occasions! Father Christmas brought skates for Debbie I so I took her and Della with her friend Helen Roller Skating in Peterborough. Daniel was going strong with his girlfriend Angela and was in constant contact with her when they are apart, but he was also very pleased to be home from University with the girls after his term finished. He spent time with me in Norfolk working at Heronshaw and, with me falling ill with influenza there. Daniel helped me clear up and drove us home.
Debbie was succeeding at school and we now have the worry of Della's Kimbolton entrance exams and interviews early next month. We had visited Redgrave in the run up to Christmas, where we not only met Freda and Alf Butterfield and Chris, but also Mum and Ivy, Arthur and Keith Barrett who were also visiting and we exchanged presents. With Christmas stock unsold, no clearance sale in progress not stock-take planned, these were worrying signs for how they are running Redgrave Post Office and Stores with my finance. We also visited Bar Hill to visit Di’s family where we left Debbie and Della to stay for a couple of days with Mr and Mrs Jackson and then had a strangely quite New Year’s Eve at home alone
My time on local affairs was dominated by the production and delivery of our December FOCUS which presented the normal troublesome endeavour of trying to get together stories by the deadline, and then getting the whole thing laid out in proper style in time for the printing deadlines. I was combining this with numerous parish and district council meetings involving much work on behalf of local people. The aftermath of the appointment of John Major as Prime Minister put a local spotlight on national politics and led to me running around and recruiting Sue Sutton to stand for my party for the next General Election instead of me, which did not seem to be far away. With his children Elizabeth and James being Kimboltonians, there was a day of worry for me concerning IRA security worries over the Kimbolton School Xmas Fayre, which dispersed as I helped with the catering arrangements. We organised a Liberal Democrat supper evening attended by the Rt. Hon Paddy Ashdown MP, leader of the parliamentary party, who I got photographed with Sue Sutton, as our new local candidate for whom I had become her campaign manager. I took her to the Priory Re-cycling for publicity with Sue Sutton and prepared and delivered my speech against the Poll Tax.
As well as my worry about Freda’s capability concerning Redgrave Stores, I was witnessing the continued decline of ONSITE Training, which had become a worry, and it seemed unlikely to last more than a few weeks before going bankrupt. I had still managed to get away to Norfolk for a couple of trips and the garage work has nearly progressed to completion after I had completed one of the internal floor support walls, working after dark with artificial lighting and then took delivery of long ‘crossing timber’ sleepers to provide a secure garage floor. Local farmer Gedges helped me take delivery of these and Daniel and I moved the long sleepers, a few inches at a time, after which we put the damp-proof course in place and bedded in the first seven of the sleepers in mortar. The architects came up with a horrific £250,000 estimate to rebuild Heronshaw, which was a setback. I also received Jeckells to fit a new canopy for the Paxton Princess and a spray hood for "The Jolly”.
Nationally, there was great news later about the Channel Tunnel breakthrough but newly-selected Tory Leader, John Major, was struggling and had problems with Tory activists in Cheltenham seek to disown their party's selection of the first black Tory MP using terms like "the Nigger from Birmingham". The government also named the first 56 NHS hospitals to opt out of the main management system to become "self-governing trusts" which many of us see as creeping privatisation which was a common theme as share applications for the Electricity privatisation were hopelessly over-subscribed. Politically, the opposition parties are having to work out new ways of competing with the Tories in the post-Thatcher era as the debate to replace the Poll tax also goes on with unemployment rising by 60k to 1.75m with Sterling at the bottom of its ERM range. John Major is off to his first EEC summit to argue in vain for his hard ECU idea as the recession has become deeper and due to last longer than was planned. I had the horrible feeling that John Major has neither the experience nor the wit to know what damage he is inflicting on the British economy.
Elsewhere, there was the more threatening problem of a potential Gulf War. First, there was UN approval for force to liberate Kuwait ‘if necessary’ to worry about with US Defence Secretary, Dick Cheyney, advocating the use of immediate force to liberate Kuwait which was rather frightening. Tens of thousands of troops may not live to see the month out if this goes ahead. This, even though Sadam Hussein accepted the offer of talks with the US and announced that all the foreign hostages would be allowed to leave Iraq and Kuwait with immediate effect. There are many signs locally here in East Anglia of servicemen and regiments having been sent with aircraft overflying our house in desert colours, so a war seemed imminent. Preparations for conflict in the Gulf were proceeding with planes bringing home Westerners and over half of the US armoured divisions from Europe were on their way there. The month ended with no progress being made between the USA and Iraq over Gulf talks and now the EEC nations are suggesting talks involving them to try and break the deadlock and give the peace process a chance of success. The US and EEC are each blaming one another for GATT talks stalling after Thatcher departing stiffens the European approach to trade. Former West German Chancellor, Helmut Kohl, sweeps to victory in the first all-German election since 1932, Lech Walensa, the former Solidarity leader, won the Polish presidential election and Gorbachev's domestic problems continue as Soviet Foreign Minister, Edvard Shevardnadze, resigns after giving no prior warning to him.