A very wet and stormy start to a month that ended up chillingly cold with north-easterly winds from the Arctic but one when Della not only finally discarded her wheelchair and crutches but seems to have settled back into school with no real problem as far as the work or relationships were concerned. She was now getting on better with Debbie who needed my help with her school work and needed consolation over having to have her dentist fit teeth braces a few weeks' hence which was a shame but necessary. Daniel was very much the teenager finding his feet socially, having experienced his very disruptive car crashes and now caused panic when failing to return home with his friends after an amusement arcade session.
The health of Di's parents Charles and Norma, had been quite a worry to us, but they gradually recovered from their ailments for more Jackson and Fulton family events. I had not seen my family much since the New Year but at least Freda now seemed to be getting the alterations at Redgrave under way but told me of the rows between Freda and Alf over Christmas concerning their business and my loans.
I was spending time with Nigel looking at sporting opportunities and with Steven concerning boating preparations for the season but was also worried about my own health and trying to lose weight and avoid cholesterol levels rising on the eve of my nose operation. My investments were going well, and my writing and administration was up to date and there was still time for sporting and social events to keep Di happy.
The Paxton Princess was being serviced, renovated and improved at original maker. Barnes Brinkcraft to be made ready for the forthcoming boating season and, despite some opposition, there was also the great news about getting planning permission to redevelop Heronshaw such that I now needed to finalise my plans and get them drawn up by the architect.
Back home, I was still doing more local political and voluntary work than I would like and spent much of my time concentrating on the problems and priorities of others and a key day started and ended with Michael Pope's resignation. I was making good progress with my own local affairs with the successful organisation of opposition to the wild Little Paxton development plans, getting Police Inspector David Amps to confirm that constable Phil Moores was to be our village 'bobby', and fielding a lively special Little Paxton Parish Planning meeting discussing Cosy Corner and Bydand Lane plans for development after I had featured the issues in my Focus newsletters.
I put a lot of effort into designing, laying out, printing and delivering those Focus newsletters. I also convened a special Village Hall Committee meeting one evening to discuss the prospect of the Parish Council underwriting the costs of the building extensions and repairs. I had many busy office days of press and political telephone calls which reported these achievements and also my efforts on behalf of the museum and the Little Paxton Nature Reserve.
John Major's New Year's message was all full of discredited claims about the economy now getting better as the 30-year release of government papers shows MacMillan was facing much the same problems all that time ago. Sterling then came straight back under pressure and at the bottom of the EMS permitted range continually with the government and Bank of England desperately trying to avoid depreciation or interest rate rises.
All three political parties were getting into a state of hyperactivity over the prospects for a general election and there were damaging news stories about the failure of British Foreign Policy leading to the Falklands war and the Maxwell Brothers refusing to answer questions of the Commons Select Committee looking into the demise of the Mirror Pension Fund.
The conflict deepened in Georgia with a bloody stalemate, an EEC diplomatic helicopter was shot down by Serbian forces holding up the peace-keeping initiative in Yugoslavia and US President George Bush panicked the press corps by collapsing during a state banquet in Japan
After a very wet start, as stormy weather reported in the Highlands with severe gales and torrential rain challenging my Broubster forest, we had our own pouring rain down south such that the river flooded our riverside gardens. After this receded, leaving a thick layer of silt everywhere, it developed into a chillingly cold and damp month, with northerly and easterly winds from the Arctic such that the river was frozen and the frost was thick. On milder days, the fog was another problem.
This first month of 1992 has been quite exhausting but also rewarding as well. Our first concern was Della who, not only finally discarded her wheelchair and crutches, but seems to have settled back into school with no real problem as far as the work or relationships were concerned. She was still a big baby over food and being fussed but that is more down to Diana's mollycoddling than any trauma of the accident! I had the school bus arrangements under review so that she can go back completely to her normal routine.
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I had taken Della back to the Hospital orthopaedic department for an examination with Consultant Mr Tim Vaughan-Lane after which she had some time in Physiotherapy. As far as school was concerned, I had taken her in for the odd visit to break the ice and then, once back, she was welcomed by Mrs Reeves and Harriet who they had designated as Della's helping friend, such that she had a good session getting back into things in a gradual way. After a further physiotherapy appointment went well, she was encouraged to ditch her crutches and move naturally to eliminate her limp and would soon resume using the school bus. We remained nervous for her and, after our experience Diana became upset after two horrific local accidents on the A45 road to Kimbolton at Stonely, where cars were completely flattened with probable loss of life.
Debbie develops and now shows all the signs of young womanhood as she fast approached puberty at the age of 12. I spent time working with Debbie on her homework and consoling her over having to have her dentist fit teeth braces a few weeks' hence which was a shame but necessary. The two girls are now getting on better together than for some time as was marked by the girls playing a game of saying ‘opposites’ to what they meant, which was ‘fun’. Debbie often had a friend to stay and was invited, with her friend Jo, to her classmate Eddie’s party but this was a poorly organised event. With the post-accident bus route an issue, I occasionally gave Debbie a lift to the bus stop, and she also helped me to take the balcony lights down after Christmas.
Daniel came home often from Norwich and the UEA, and was home for Christmas, but was also very much the teenager finding his feet socially, having experienced his very disruptive car crashes. A lowlight was his unexplained absence on the very night that Di and had planned to go out for our anniversary evening's entertainment. The evening was spoilt after he had missed the meal and failed to be there as promised to look after the girls for the evening. Our urgent enquiries established that his friends had missed their meals as well, and all us parents were suspecting the worse had happened. The police were informed but it transpires that they had been in a Bedford amusement arcade all along which all came to light the following morning in the aftermath of his unexplained absence the day before.!
The health of Di's parents Charles and Norma, had been quite a worry to us, but they gradually recovered from their ailments. We were still making weekly Tuesday visits to them arriving Eadon Lilley's in time for coffee and finally found Charles much better after his recent illness. We combined these Cambridge visits with other activities there, such as my party meetings, recharging of print cartridges, meetings and printing at Glisson Road and returning Della’s wheelchair to the Red Cross. Diana enjoyed her lunches out at Brampton Garden Centre with a particular healthy lunch in the Cambridge Theatre Roof Garden Restaurant as a special treet! Similarly we enjoyed odd Fridays visiting Bedford for coffee at Perrings and lunch at Tesco’s. Charles Snr was better in time for trip to Old Warden on a fine and cool and not unpleasant morning for Di's Jackson and Fulton family New Year's Day traditional lunch. After this, we drove back via Shefford to see our old home.
I had not seen my family much since the New Year but at least Freda now seemed to be getting the alterations at Redgrave under way which was a relief. Unfortunately, when I called in on Mum, and received Mum's wishes over her will, she said that she had quite enough of staying with Freda for the time being and told me of the rows between Freda and Alf over Christmas. These were about the money I am lending and giving them so that they worry about how they are going to pay it back etc., and, given their performance in managing the business, I could only agree.
I still had time for my friends. Nigel Smith accompanied me on a trip to Norfolk to see my properties there and also dropped in to talk about our Scottish grouse shooting idea. After an early start with Steven Bloom, we took my Range Rover down to Earls Court for the London Boat Show and enjoyed the experience. My own health was a growing concern. A check up had revealed that I was retaining a "high risk" level of Cholesterol with rising levels despite trying a better diet and my weight loss from over 14stone to 13st 11lbs (88Kg). Tablets were then prescribed but had unpleasant side-effects and so I then gave them up in favour of an extra-special effort to improve my diet such that I then got to a 7-year weight low of 13st 8lbs at which I lost my distended tummy and felt much more comfortable. After my fall in Scotland, a made visit to the Doctor’s for an examination to see my damaged nose for which I had a private referral to a consultant EMT surgeon for help. With me due to be in hospital for my operation soon I had to send apologies and instructions in relation to all manner of meetings etc. I also went to Hinchingbrooke for my foot appointment, but the shoe inserts did not help that issue.
It was also a good month for managing my National Savings portfolio, catching up on administration and finances calculating that my investments had risen to their present value of £2,402,517! This as well as working with my gardener to relocate the dovecote and store away the Christmas light bulbs and wiring after a good season. The year-end journal summarisation is always a chore which I managed to do during a very busy month. There was also the opportunity to watch a couple of films, some televised football and some International Rugby Union. I also hosted seven of us (the family and two of their friends) for a Happy Eater lunch for over £40! Despite my preoccupation with Norfolk properties, there was still Hayling View issues and Mr Porter, the plumber, took a look at our pool room plumbing and found a bad leak under the shower tray.
It was a good month for preparing boating for the forthcoming season with good trips to the Boat Show and Heronshaw. Whilst at the show, I had a good day looking around the boats and equipment checking out navigation software, fridge installation and developments on electric boating before buying a Yeoman plotter. I also had the Paxton Princess well on the way to being ready for the new season, making plans for next year’s cruising, taking time to study how to install my new Yeoman plotter. and I then have a couple of sessions powering it up and checking tracks and routes off Yarmouth. I invited Steven Bloom to come over and try out my Yeoman electronic chart plotter, which he liked. I visited St Ives and Imray Laurie for some French canal guides.
I also spent an evening tidying my office and making space for nautical items. and finally planning how to accommodate The Paxton Princess within a new Heronshaw. Steve also joined me for a day trip to see the boat after I overcomer my problems with delivery of my new Howard Hayle rope cutters and we took her to Barnes Brinkcraft and they lifted it out for us to do some scraping and sanding of the rubbing strakes. I completed the preparation and varnishing of these and also removed the bathing platform slats to take home.
Collecting some corner fenders from LH Jones in St Ives for Paxton Princess, we returned to Barnes in Wroxham after an early start, mopped off the ice and water, sorted out a working anti-corrosion anode and fitted the corner fenders and bathing platform planks to complete the job. Whilst the boat was there, and still out of the water, she had her propellor shaft tubes modified for the fitting of the rope-cutting Spurs and davits and they repainted the anti-foul. I also had the chance to polish the hull and rub down and varnish the two lower mahogany rubbing strakes and measured the hull before she went back in the water. I then re-fitted the mast, aerial and canopy and then hooked up the power so that I could try out installing the PC Maritime application and then left the vessel for them to fit the emergency steering and davits
Apart from boating progress, there was also the great news about getting planning permission to redevelop Heronshaw; this despite a mammoth struggle and the initial opposition of the Broads Authority. Whilst there remained the task of watering down the conditions to be more acceptable, I was quite confident about the outcome. I had previously driven early from Paxton to Horning to host the Heronshaw Planning Site Visit when, despite village councillors against, the District councillor was in favour and the North Norfolk and The Broads Authority Planning Officers calmly identified the actual planning issues and then recommended approval subject to a Section 106 Agreement. I had collected Nigel from Hail Weston House and drove him to Norfolk and the Broads Authority Planning Committee meeting in Norwich and, after lunch, took him off to Horning to see the site and collect some things and then home to Paxton. Having then worked with the architects, I then developed and copied my Heronshaw plans for Steve Bloom and Nigel to discuss with contractors and met them both accordingly. also making sure that the architects had precise instructions and briefing my financial and legal trustees so as to get advice on contesting the planning terms that the Broads Authority were proposing for the Heronshaw redevelopment.
Although I was still doing more local political and voluntary work than I would like, at least I had tackled my colleagues about retiring and seem to have averted more by-elections by getting Michael Pope to put off his decision to retire completely. There is still some way to go in that direction and it now seemed that the General Election will be in April. With any luck, I would conspire to be away boating in France for that and leave them to it!
Much of my time had been spent concentrating on the problems and priorities of others and a key day started and ended with Michael Pope's resignation news and continued with the successful organisation of opposition to the wild Little Paxton development plans. This culminated with a successful village council meeting these plans were rejected. I also had another achievement as Police Inspector David Amps confirmed that constable Phil Moores is to be our village 'bobby'. I had a good meeting at Pathfinder House for an appointment with Director of Planning, David Potter and came to a good understanding about political issues and Paxton development. Little Paxton development plans had been uppermost in the news and I had interviews with three radio stations and then to came to chair a meeting of my District Council Group at Sally's house, planning for the May elections, whilst having constant telephone interruptions from radio and newspaper journalists and also residents worried about it.
I had my own Southoe Parish meeting meeting to consider a local police report before rushing over to St Neots to catch the tail end of the St Neots Town Council meeting. to see if my colleagues could run the Council without always falling out over issues and personalities. I had to organise a long session advising my LibDem Town Council colleagues in private over the aspects of Mayor-making and local politics with some success and there followed more long phone calls to continue work on coordinating St Neots Council politics. Concerning my own LibDem leadership on the District Council, I went off to Pathfinder House to make a key contribution to a planning meeting after which I revealed to Percy that I might not stand for re-election in May and then to prepare for two District Council meetings on Local Government Reorganisation.
I fielded lively special Little Paxton Parish Planning meeting discussing Cosy Corner and Bydand Lane plans for development after I had featured the issues in my Focus newsletters. Later I consulted Percy with regard to my no-holds-barred letter to Michael asking him to remain as a councillor for a further year if he wanted me to do the same and then had a day of office work and company administration for Glisson Printers Ltd., prior to a meeting later after I had also attended a Hunts DC ratepayers meeting at Pathfinder House. I then had to catch up on a huge mail and bumper package of papers for the forthcoming HDC Policy Committee meeting.
I had to forgo our Town Council Group meeting after having had another busy office day of press and political telephone calls after my new routine of reading the papers early on, which reported my efforts on behalf of the museum and the Little Paxton Nature Reserve. I convened a special Village Hall Committee meeting one evening to discuss the prospect of the Parish Council underwriting the costs of the building extensions and repairs
Apart from all this, the design, layout, printing and distribution of our LibDem Focus newsletters was also a key responsibility and concern. Having tackled the problem of my undelivered Focus newsletters one morning, advising Derek about funeral arrangements for his mother and then had to start working on more problems in the aftermath of Michael's bombshell. After seeking help with Focus delivery organisation, Eddie and Stella Varley came round and helped with the distribution system for FOCUS and we got the lot out for delivery later.
I then had good news that I had a volunteer to deliver my Diddington FOCUS in the person of Colin Humphreys, the Parish Chairman, no less! Following the election of colleagues to take over St Neots Town Council, I then had to design and produce councillor colleagues’ stationery sets at the same time as producing Focus advertising copy, and then, after preparing Focus advertising letters delivering my own complete advertising packs for each of the local businesses in Little Paxton, Southoe and Diddington. There was an evening meeting to see about using the E.A.R.S. computer use during the election and another full day of voluntary activities, going over to see Sally at the St Neots newspaper recycling event, catching up with her with council news!
John Major's New Year's message was all full of discredited claims about the economy now getting better as the 30-year release of government papers shows MacMillan was facing much the same problems all that time ago. The stock market had been recovering and the sterling was coming off the bottom as the Governor of the Bank of England earns a future knighthood. Sterling then came straight back under pressure and at the bottom of the EMS permitted range continually with the government and Bank of England desperately trying to avoid depreciation or interest rate rises. There was more bad news for the Tories as the privatised British Steel announces the closure this year of Ravenscraig steel mill in Scotland. Peter Brooke, the Northern Ireland Minister, acted the fool and sang "Clementine" on Irish television as the retail statistics for Christmas were poor and the recession showed no sign of abating.
Then there was a poor ‘appearance’ for John Major the 50th anniversary edition of Desert Island Disks with an even poorer selection of music which admittedly, sent him to sleep when he first heard it! The government launched into another educational reform; this time changing the course content of teacher's training, again without consultation. London went into a state of alert after an IRA bomb blast in Whitehall and the police were everywhere. There was news of the Maxwell Brothers refusing to answer questions of the Commons Select Committee looking into the matter of the Mirror Pension Fund and on the tenth anniversary of the Falklands War, a TV documentary highlighted the failure of British Foreign Policy that led to the conflict.
All three political parties were getting into a state of hyperactivity over the prospects for a general election and the Tories were cock-a-hoop because their recent attacks on Labour taxation plans had led to them winning a marginal lead on the see-saw of opinion poll. However, the latest business surveys are all doom and gloom and I heard many local stories of companies going out of business, but even so the stock exchange still rises crazily. Better news from New Zealand where the England cricket team won the first Test but the kidnapper of a young female estate agent got away with £175K after the police failed to track him when the ransom money was lowered from a bridge using a fishing line on a foggy day.
The news was full of the United Nations Security Council Meeting chaired by John Major (it was his turn) and comprising all the heads of government of the permanent members trying to set the new course for this institution now that the cold war has come to an end. The conflict deepened in Georgia with a bloody stalemate as the Georgian President Zviad Gamsakhurdia remained surrounded in his parliament bunker but he was then flushed out of his parliament building retreat and has escaped to the Armenian border.
An EEC diplomatic helicopter was shot down by Serbian forces and so this was holding up the U.N. peace-keeping initiative in Yugoslavia. More problems after Israel expel Palestinian activists from the occupied West Bank and US President George Bush panicked the press corps by collapsing during a state banquet in Japan