Della enjoying our Hayling View swimming pool
Della enjoying our Hayling View swimming pool

On a milder, cloudier day than the bright an cold weather of late, I worked hard, though still tired, at my election campaign and publicity today on a route that took me to St Neots, St Ives, Huntingdon and on to Cambridge to deliver copy for my last ‘block-buster’ leaflet and back to Bedford and to meet the family at Debenhams. A further canvassing outing in Little Paxton this evening before off to St Neots LHS to hear a talk by the Head of Huntingdon Record Office as Daniel cleaned the pool and Della enjoyed another swim. News today of two bomb explosions in Pretoria as peaceful protests were suppressed.

Slept well, but had retired late and so was a little tired this morning. Up and to my normal breakfast and then started quite a scramble. I had to write and type out another press letter in quadruplicate for next week’s local newspaper publicity and then drop Di into St Neots. After, I rushed over to St Ives to deliver one copy, then Huntingdon to deliver another, drop off the last postal vote forms and look up a planning application that is worrying residents behind Paxton Hall. On to Cambridge, where I delivered my text for my last leaflet, an A3 blockbuster, and collected at the same time another supply of ‘out’ slips for our remaining canvassing. Then the rush back across to Bedford, where I met the family at Debenhams. Home via St Neots (to deliver the last two letters to the St Neots newspapers) and then home to conduct an hour or twos canvassing in the central Little Paxton area.

I got Daniel to clear out the pool today and then Daniella enjoyed another swim. This evening I did a little canvassing and then went to St Neots Local History Society, to hear a talk on reference sources by the new Head of Huntingdon Record Office. The news tonight is of the drawn-out hijack, but also of two bomb explosions in Pretoria, South Africa. It seems that the suppression of non-violent opposition is having its forecast effect of encouraging terrorism. On the economic front, inflation rises and unemployment falls, as the stock exchanges jig about and mark time before closing slightly lower. The bright cold weather ended today and it became warmer, cloudy with an eventual shower of rain.