The end of a long hot summer and an autumnal edge which was a great relief for the garden and water courses. The most significant family this month was Della starting at the Kimbolton Preparatory School at the tender age of 7 with bouts of crying and just about coping with the experience but Daniel and Angela ended up falling out after his lack of consideration before he returned to the UEA.
Freda was increasing sales at Redgrave but also costs and took some reminding to get on with the work to accommodate Mum, who was getting depressed. My, own health was a worry as my cholesterol level up from 6.6 to 7.8 mmol/l and I had put on far too much weight to 14st 7lbs, some 10/11lbs heavier than before.
My plans for Heronshaw were being approved by the planning officers, My Rolls Royce was back in good shape and the Reliant reunited with its CJW 986 original number plate and given a new trailer. A good Southampton Boat Show visit with Steve Bloom. In local affairs I was busy organising the St Neots area LibDems and enjoyed the national party conference but stood down from organising the constituency after differences with candidate Sue Sutton.
Elsewhere, Nigel Mansell's World Motor Racing Championship fortunes have been ebbing and flowing but he beat Ayrton Senna into second place in an exciting Italian Grand Prix and the US just beat Europe in The Ryder Cup on the last put of the series but the most dominant sporting news was the tragic injury to boxer Michael Watson who remained unconscious and on a life-support machine.
The situation in Yugoslavia defied all optimism with the separatist Croatians being rapidly beaten into submission by the (Serbian) army with peace talks getting no chance. Details were emerging of an American plan to drastically reduce the number of nuclear arms in their arsenal which they hope and expect will be matched by Soviet reductions.
The Newcastle Riots are continuing and, with them, an on-going political row over the root causes but most probably due to the unemployment and deprivation of the area.
This month saw the end of the long sunny and hot summer, and included some sunny days but also some close, hot and sticky with the smoke from stubble burning an issue but then came its replacement with damp and cool weather with an autumnal edge which was a great relief for the garden and water courses. We even had the river Great Ouse rising again after the year’s drought and ended up putting my pool to bed when the rain became torrential, with the swimming season deemed to be over.
The most significant family this month was Della starting at the Kimbolton Preparatory School at the tender age of 7 with bouts of crying and just about coping with the experience despite the fears of Diana who recalled some very distressing experiences of her own when she started school even younger still. I was teaching her to ride a bike and to play croquet this month and also taking her to the bust stop often. The private schools are going through very difficult economic times with my God-daughter Kate Smith's school closing. Debbie got some new shoes and Daniel often had his head buried into his oily car all day which did not please Angela who had come to stay with him.
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This particularly as she was thrown fully-clothed into the pool for a second day running! Daniel and Angela ended up falling out and she came late to the lunch table with eyes red from crying which was both sad and embarrassing. Daniel spent his last day at home before going back to U.E.A., loading up the Montego Estate Car to sell for £1,500 once he got back in Norwich. Diana had regular trips to Cambridge and to the cinema in Bedford. Mum had a crisis earlier this month on the anniversary of dad's birthday and was in a poor state of grief and depression. During subsequent visits to Freda, we emphasised the need for them to get on with the work to accommodate Mum, who was getting depressed, and they are getting the quotations now.
They seem to be reconciled to doing the alterations to accommodate Mum but are taking far too long in the process for our liking and expect me to pay. Turnover has increased from £1500 per week to £3700 now, which is good, but they are paying it all on wages! My own health came under the microscope as we realised that I had a worryingly high cholesterol level up from 6.6 to 7.8 mmol/l and had put on far too much weight from 87 kilos to 92 kilos or 14st 7lbs, some 10/11lbs heavier than I was earlier this year. I was resuming my diet. Nigel dropped in with some disturbing news the KSS from which I would now resign. I took the family to the Kimbolton Statute Fair for which we had a mixed experience.
We moved the greenhouse from Heronshaw to take pride of place in Paxton and its grapes were then made into fermenting wine by Derek Giles who added them to his own. We were making preparations to top-dress the games lawn and clear out the compost, dispersing it to the beds to make room for the leaves that were due to start falling anytime. This year, we will be ready for them with a shredder to aid their decomposition. On sunny days, I could enjoy the morning air by the river spotting small roach, rudd; a medium-sized perch and some chub of all sizes which could be easily seen now amongst the reeds. Also sharing the gardening chores with Bill, tending the garden, the fish and the doves.
As far as Heronshaw is concerned, the planning application has been turned around from that of causing opposition and controversy to that of being resolved from my immediate neighbour’s point of view and supported by the planning officers. I did some varnishing on The Paxton Princess, hosted a visit from Jack and then alternated this between mowing the lawns and picking the grapes/blackberries that had grown wild. I got the Rolls Royce Corniche back from Essex after its service, and it was working well and so I actually spent time driving it on nice days with the hood down.
We used it for a nice trip to Bournemouth and Southampton and enjoyed the seaside and the boat show particularly. In addition, the Reliant trailer was nearing completion and I sent off the money to retrieve its CJW 986 original number plate for historical purposes. I joined Steve Bloom and his friend Derek for the Southampton Boat Show, visiting the PC Maritime Stand to review the latest Wayplan navigation software. I had a meeting with Ian & Margaret James of Onsite where I declined to sign a shareholders’ agreement and suggested the Directors consider its ongoing viability.
My voluntary work is as demanding as ever and but at least I am trying to step back from being centrally involved in the general election now that this will not take place until next Spring. I had a major problem on my hands this month with the arrest of a colleague Derek Giles, on firearms charges in police custody after threatening some gypsies with his shotgun and we still await the court decision. I collected Derek from Peterborough after he was released on what turned out to be two technical offences. The Gypsies were also responsible for a Little Paxton invasion this month and are becoming altogether too much trouble and so, after a visit to the gypsies, I had meetings with Samuel Jones executives about the latest occupation of their playing field in Little Paxton by the gypsies. Later to see Derek Giles and reject his latest Gypsy plan and was irritated that he misses meetings and then raises matters outside them.
After a conference with Derek, Percy and Sally, we agreed a public response and I attended a Paxton Pits nature reserve in the evening. I started the month attending some Liberal Dem Party Meetings, in which we made preparations for Sue Sutton’s campaign and discussed arrangements for the party conference in Bournemouth and Southampton. I attended two meetings of Little Paxton Parish Council this evening where we considered planning applications and then the future sports provision in the village. Di and I took the Rolls Royce for a journey to Bournemouth for the Liberal Democrat Party Conference and we stayed at the five star Royal Bath Hotel. Having sorted out my conference registration I joined Diana for a swim in the swimming pool and hot tub walking before round much of Bournemouth and then settling for a traditional Chinese meal at the Mandarin restaurant.
I was then fully participating in the Liberal Democrat Party Conference whilst Di enjoyed shopping and relaxing in the hotel I was listening to the economic debates and sharing time between the conference and fringe meetings before a meeting for council group leaders where the ASLDC described their plans for local election support next May and asked for our views accordingly. I was joining an Ears election software meeting and then an ASLDC meeting in the evening which had Paddy Ashdown and others as key speakers in a most good-humoured and motivating session. Several phones calls about the Liberal Democrat "Council of War" and was interviewed for the CNFM Cambridge commercial radio station accordingly.
On the last day, I appeared before the cameras in a seat saved but unwanted by Sue Sutton as Paddy Ashdown wound up the conference The LibDems surged in the opinion polls to 16% after our conference. The Tory press are baiting Neil Kinnock now that his party is down five points in the opinion polls. I chaired a General Election Planning Meeting at The Hotel Norwich which preached assessing resources and targeting but had differences with our PPC Sue Sutton who wanted more effort on her parliamentary election rather than my council work even though she had no chance of winning. I then decided to step back from being the campaign organiser for the entire constituency and just organise the St Neots Branch area as I keep differing with the candidate Sue. Constituency Charman, Murray White, tried to persuade me otherwise without success. The Conservatives then ruled out the possibility of a November election and so Sue Sutton need not have panicked anyway.
I chaired my last Village Hall Committee after I had insisted that they choose a new Chairman now that Alan Cromack no longer was available. It was a good meeting with some new ideas for social events and fund-raising for next year. Then seeing Percy prior to an HDC meeting to progress our campaign to press the government for housing policies that would not hinder our ability to cater for the homeless. Much of this was then incorporated into recommendations for pressing the District's M.P.'s for changes of policy and funding. I also went to a special planning committee meeting about the Peterborough Southern Township.
Once home, some time on filing old Microcomputer Industry documents, noting correspondence with Paddy Ashdown on Export Controls! After first getting the day wrong for my pre-arranged meeting with a local representative of the A.W.A. at St Neots Sewerage Works I then met up with Mr Chris Winfield with Percy when there was an immediate acknowledgement of the bad smell and suggestions of "deodorising" the smell or, better still, the ultimate solution which is to replace this largest and oldest works in the district with a modern process
As a footnote; the month has been notable for sporting developments. It opened with the end of the World Athletics Championships where Britain ended up just about coming out with honour including an exciting 4 by 400m relay event where the Great Britain team just beat the USA to gain only our second gold medal of the championships Then the Ryder Cup with emotional scenes as the U.S. beat Europe on the last green of the last match. Nigel Mansell's World Motor Racing Championship fortunes have been ebbing and flowing but he beat Ayrton Senna into second place in an exciting Italian Grand Prix but next month will see the climax; but the most dominant sporting news was the injury of boxer Michael Watson where he might not only die from his injuries sustained in the most exciting fight in a long time; but the professional sport might well die with him as a wide-appeal spectacle. As the month closed, he was still unconscious and on a life-support machine
The EEC-sponsored peace talks for Yugoslavia stalled as both Croatians and Serbs continued the fighting and ignore peace talks chairman Lord Carrington's appeal for a cease-fire. Then the situation in Yugoslavia defies all optimism and the separatist Croatians are being rapidly beaten into submission by the (Serbian) army with peace talks getting no chance. The Iraqis and United Nations still tussling over the removal of documents listing Iraqi personnel involved in the national nuclear programme.
There was better news of the release of Jackie Mann, the retired ex-patriot former R.A.F. pilot who was kidnapped two years ago in Beirut, albeit in a sad, ageing and emaciated condition Details are emerging of an American plan to drastically reduce the number of nuclear arms in their arsenal which they hope and expect will be matched by Soviet reductions. The Newcastle Riots are continuing and, with them, an on-going political row over the root causes but most probably due to the unemployment and deprivation of the area
I was left hoping for a somewhat quieter life now for October and the start of my Heronshaw development