Trip to Bedford for shopping and history research and then home to complete chapters on Little Paxton Paper Mill and Paxton Hall as Reagan has the gall to ask Congress for $100M to aid the Contras in Nicaragua after the recent scandal. Chinese students riot for democracy, Ulster Loyalists are campaigning against the Anglo-Irish pact and 2,000 men in Leicestershire are having their DNA sampled and recorded for crime investigation
A difficult time getting to sleep last night – thinking of the problems involved in recording Little Paxton history effectively. Eventually dropped off, but did not feel very rested when Di woke me up early this morning. An early start was needed, she said, for the trip to Bedford and so we were all dressed and ready for breakfast by 8.15am. The river had been up in the night, but was now receding, leaving a layer of leaves from the adjacent plots for the gardener to clear up. Was tempted to go to Cambridge to buy a RCHM book I had seen in David’s Book Shop window over the holidays, but Di arranged for her mother to pick it up for me instead and so the field was open for Bedford. Settled Pete and Joan’s wages for the week and then I sat in the Range Rover passenger seat and read the paper, as Diana drove and parked us in the Lurke Street car park. Shock and horror when we found our normal coffee shop closed and the fittings stripped out and so we had to have our refreshments at Debenhams, although Della was complaining that the half-doughnut she had from Debbie still left her hungry!
Went with the family to get Daniel a new wind-cheater jacket and after searching in two shops and hi in Peking, am trying on a dozen or more, we found one that we were all happy with. Then I went to a Dixons branch and bought a hand held compact cassette recorder for my interviews and had a half hour to update my knowledge of Papworth’s family history in the library, before lunch back at Debenhams. I adhered to a salad to continue my post-Christmas diet and then helped Di to make brief visits to the chemist and ‘Early Learning’ toy shop, so that we could find some time to visit the Debenhams ceramic sale. Di bought a host of Royal Doulton Breydon Hill items at half price, to add to our working collection. Then home to light the fire and spend the afternoon and evening on my writing. But first it was out to the doves and ducks, but the aftermath of the flood meant that they had successfully scavenged for food. Printed out my Paper Mill chapter and then wrote a number of additions and changes for the chapter on Paxton Hall. More rain on and off today. The world news is of Reagan having the nerve to ask Congress for more funds to support the Contra guerrillas in Nicaragua. He wants $100M and is undaunted by the scandal and investigation into the fate of the previous funding. Now we shall see what the Democrat-dominated Congress will decide. Students in Peking, who have been demonstrating during the last few days, say they will continue. The movement started elsewhere in China, but now the capital sees regular protests, said to be ‘in support of democracy’. Ulster ‘Loyalists’ started a new year’s campaign against the Anglo-Irish pact, by lighting bonfires across Northern Ireland and then starting a petition to the Queen. James Molyneaux, the Unionist official leader, is asking for Unionist solidarity and called for a single Unionist candidate for each constituency. Irish politics seems set to cause problems yet again. More than 2,000 men in Leicestershire will be asked to supply blood and saliva samples for a process of ‘genetic fingerprinting,’ to trace the culprits for two recent sexual assaults. The French rail dispute deteriorated into the intervention of the CRS, not police, to complete the misery of French rail passengers bank holiday plans. Elton John, the Watford FC-supporting pop singer, is having to give up singing for a year and have throat tests and surgery. Elsewhere, there are freak storms on the Eastern US seaboard and there is a late report of a coalfield fire in Fife, Scotland.