Collecting our renovated Rolls Royce on another fine and sunny day and shopping at a garden centre en route. P & A Wood in Essex have been given the honour or restoring the original Silver Ghost that underwent the reliability trials that first won the car manufacturer's reputation for reliability. Home to some essential gardening and then to rush off to a meeting of the Little Paxton Village Hall Committee where the officers were re-elected, and I remain the Vice-Chairman and a Trustee.
The US commission that investigated the Lockerbie bomb attack have suggested action viewed as extreme and impracticable. The British Ministry of Defence has frozen procurement for six-months whilst emergency cuts of £350m are identified. British beef is being withdrawn from more and more schools who are not convinced by the government's assurances about BSE-infected cows and the Baltic States experienced their worst violence since the independence declarations
Another fine and sunny day, but we had a commitment to collect the Rolls Royce today from P & A Wood in Essex. I first tended the conservatory etc., had some time to spend on my Logbook and then, once Di had taken Della to school, we set off in the Range Rover. I chose the back route through Cambridge so that we could visit the large garden centre there. We started with coffee and then looked round at tools and weed-killers before ending up in the indoor plant greenhouse. I bought a nice-smelling Camelia for the conservatory, a range of weed-killers that the lawns need through neglect and then a bag of compost and a "Grow-bag" for my melons.
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Then we drove on to Great Eastern, near Dunmow, arriving in late morning. We were shown round the works, which greatly impressed Diana, and then shown the work done on our car. It had to be extensive as it had cost over £4000 but represented a major body overhaul, sealing of the many lubricant and fluid leaks and re-commissioning of many systems that were only working intermittently before or even not at all. For instance, the ride levelling system had been blanked off before due to a faulty and leaking pump. The car is now estimated to be worth £35,000 against its original cost to me of £28,500. They are a very meticulous company and have been given the honour or restoring the original Silver Ghost that underwent the reliability trials that first won the car manufacturer's reputation for reliability. We saw this car stripped down and it is worth a reputed £3-4million. It will retrace the footsteps of its original journey when fully restored and must not be seen to fail. I took the Rolls (and Diana the Range Rover) and I was pleased with what they had done as it drove very nicely, and all of the systems and lights seemed to be working. We stopped at a pub for lunch and then came home in time for Diana to collect Della from school.
I spent the rest of the afternoon bringing across the old hanging baskets from last year and planting them up with my hanging Geranium and Lobelia seedlings, before re-organising my seed tray shelves to take the melon seedlings, now transferred into a grow bag on the bottom shelf. I also went over the Games Lawn with some selective weed killer before my evening meeting. I then had to rush off to a meeting of the Little Paxton Village Hall Committee where the officers were re-elected, and I remain the Vice-Chairman and a Trustee. Much discussion took place and concern remained about the planned repairs to the roof and floor. There was a difference of opinion about how the roof should be done but, after much discussion, agreement was forthcoming on the contract for Harlequin to take up and relay a new floor during the summer holiday when the play-school does not need to use the Hall during the day. The matter of the roof was referred to the maintenance sub-committee (on which I sit) for a decision to be made. I implored them to undertake the best possible renovation this year as we had got the offer of £3,500 from the District Council and over £1,000 from the Parish Council if we confirmed that the work was going to take place. I also brought up the matter of the graffiti that was spreading on the brick walls outside and it was agreed that attempts should be made to remove it as soon as it appeared. The meeting went on longer than usual and it was quite late before I got home and so the day was gone.
The US commission that investigated the Lockerbie bomb attack (that caused the Pan Am jet to crash in Scotland) has reported before the UK have even agreed what form an enquiry should take although the crash took place in December 1988! The seven-man commission are proposing that the United States strike out pre-emptively at air terrorist bases, but this course of action is viewed as extreme and impracticable. The report has however highlighted weaknesses in the security of the Pan Am's Frankfurt boarding system which still existed nine months after the attack. It also criticises the lack of compassionate financial support for the victim's families by the US authorities and condemns the fact that a detailed bomb warning was suppressed and not publicised. The British Ministry of Defence has frozen procurement at the beginning of the financial year because of the effect of inflation on its budget. The spending plans have been thrown into turmoil and suppliers will have to face a six-month order freeze whilst emergency cuts of £350m are identified. Many of them are already affected by British Telecom's spending reductions. The stock exchange's recent rises have been halted by these announcements. British beef is being withdrawn from more and more schools; whose education authorities are not convinced by the government's assurances when they cannot be told how many calves were born last year to BSE-infected cows. The Baltic States experienced their worst violence since the independence declarations as "anti-independence demonstrators" tried to storm the parliaments of Latvia and Estonia. In Estonia, first 2000 anti-protesters fought to take over the parliament and then thousands of nationalists, summoned by radio, forced them to leave. In Riga, Latvia, hundreds of Soviet-trained soldiers, and cadets chanting anti-independence slogans did the same thing.