Combining two adjacent houses to form The Hayling View
Combining two adjacent houses to form The Hayling View

Falling ill on a frustrating day where I end up having to dictate my own BMMG press statement copy and then to my bed with a small TV after the architect has been surveying the house for our grand expansion plan as the NCB claims more than half of the miners are back to work but sterling rises on ECB support

A poor night’s sleep, which was a pity after the lack of it the previous night, and a fairly weak constitution in the morning feeling shivery. After the paper, out to the birds, which seem to grow ever hungrier in the case of the ducks. They laid about 7 eggs today and seem set to return to lay in earnest. To the office by 10.00am and a range of post to deal with after the lack of time these last two days. All resolved, and then to phone Martin Isherwood with my continued concerns over next Tuesday’s BMMG press conference. I break off to return and collect Daniel so as to take him to the doctor. It seems that there are a couple of cold bugs going around at the moment and also that no particular treatment is effective. I pay in to the Abbey National a couple of dividend warrants received today from gilt-edged stocks and then return home to continue my work. Annoyingly neither the BMMG secretariat at Owles Hall, nor the Isherwood PR people have a means to transcribe my thoughts for the press statement into typed script and I leave them to try to find an agency to contact me after lunch. I get a return call from Chris Shelton who helps me with some suggestions for the copy. Back to the house at lunch time feeling weaker and shivery and hardly managing to eat anything at all.

Then to the office and, during the afternoon, I managed to type in the changes to my investment summary, and also dictated the BMMG press statement as well. After 5.00pm, out to the ducks and then in for a little soup and bread. After, all aches and pains, to bed with the small coloured portable TV to watch first a corny old western film and then a World Cup qualifying football match where England beat Northern Ireland 1-0. By now a raging temperature and, with two paracetamol to help, we settled early to bed. A fair night with periods of hot and sweaty restlessness and also sound sleep. The news today was of National Coal Board announcements that over 50% of miners were now working in spite of NUM denials. Also, on the foreign exchanges, the dollar falls several cents against sterling as the European Central Banks at last intervene to sell dollars and teach the currency speculators an overdue lesson.