My late Dad Fred with me and my sister Freda when young
My late Dad Fred with My late Dad Fred with me and my sister Freda when young

This was a typical October with some wet and windy days alternating with bright and sunny mornings. It was milder to start with, turning colder later in the month, as the leaves start falling. There was no frost, but gales and storm-force winds developed around the country as boats were sunk and lives lost. An earthquake in California killed 200 when the double-decker Bay Bridge that I knew so well collapsed.

This was a very dramatic and tiring month for me and my family, during which we learnt that my Dad is soon to die of his skin cancer. An appalling series of medical delays and decisions had led to this and I was not impressed by the surgeon responsible for Dad’s demise, Mr Campbell, who tried to justify his (in)actions. I had been visiting Mum often at The West Suffolk Hospital and Dad almost daily in Addenbrookes, and these efforts left me mentally and physically exhausted, but I then managed to get my parents reconciled, after disagreements, and placed together in a shared room in Weald House, a nursing home near us. Freda came up from Devon and helped move their things from Stanton. They spent some quality time with my children and daughters Della and Debbie in particular.

Apart from all these family traumas, I was also trying to keep my own home and close family life going by hosting Little Chef lunches and social events; and I spent many periods recharging my batteries attending to my plants, fish and doves. Debbie was the happy recipient of a new saddle for Sundance and a flute for herself and Daniel was branching out by joining friends for a parent-free Motor Show visit. My interest in our children’s’ school governance led to me joining their KSSC committee at their AGM.

Apart from my own affairs, I was making an impact on the District Council and had been chairing fundraising committees for the St Neots Museum and the Little Paxton Village Hall whilst working on the Little Paxton Parish Council to support local initiatives and oppose disruptive developments which would increase dust and noise pollution from the gravel pit roads.

The month has seen a radical decline of the Tory government and the economic prospects of the UK, with bank interest rates up by 1% to 15%, a nine-year high, and further collapse of share prices and the pound sterling. Thatcher lost Chancellor Lawson and adviser Prof Alan Waters, triggering a reshuffle with her lapdog John Major becoming Chancellor. Her government faced political crisis, Howe and Hazeltine speaking out and Tory plans for privatising the electricity industry revealed 30,000 job losses, mass mine closure with electricity bills set to be raised by 15%. There was ‘a shambles’ in the London Ambulance Service as management lock out the ambulancemen totally. Across the chamber, Neil Kinnock carries all before him at the Labour Party conference. In Irish affairs, the Guildford four have been released after 15 to 18 years of wrongful imprisonment and 28 actively serving UDR men were arrested under firearms and confidentiality charges.

Internationally, The US stock exchange took a 190-point dive in the last hour of trading on what was known as ‘Black Friday’, there was the start of the breakdown in the ‘Iron Curtain’, 30,000 East German refugees were allowed to leave for the West. In South Africa, tens of thousands of natives rejoiced at the release of Walter Sisulu in South Africa and 70,000 were then allowed to attend a massive ANC rally in South Africa calling got the same for others including Nelson Mandela.

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This was a very dramatic and tiring month for me and my family, during which we learnt that my Dad is soon to die of his skin cancer. An appalling series of medical delays and decisions had led to this but there was no point in recriminating. At least I had managed to get Mum and Dad together into a joint room in the local Weald House nursing home and they were both settled and comfortable. Dad deteriorated day by day but I help him to visit us at home a few times; the next one being on his birthday on November 2nd. This news means that the early end of their joint occupation of their Stanton bungalow. He had been suffered all manner poor experiences which took their toll on him; his dignity was adversely affected by incontinence and dribbling, but at least his previous intense pain subsided as his cancer grew and deadened sensations. This was just as well as the morphine pain-killing doses seemed to be making him feel very vague and forgetful. With his lip and jaw being swollen, he found eating, speaking and drinking difficult, but the nurses said that this was probably due to an anaemia, or build-up of fluid, rather than secondary cancer growth.

I had also been visiting Mum often at The West Suffolk Hospital and Dad almost daily in Addenbrookes, and these efforts were leaving me mentally and physically exhausted, but I made sure that they had one another’s contact details and were being properly looked after. The main achievement was to facilitate their reconciliation after they had fallen out with each other. Diana and the girls sometimes joined me, and eventually Daniel did as well after he first declined to visit my Dad in Addenbrookes (probably being too upsetting). Later Daniel and Della were very good and cheered him up a bit and, when we could talk in private, he told me more about his early life, musical ability of his sister and parents and about Charlie Phillips, his best friend. It was nice him sitting with Della as she read a couple of books.  Once, when I took Diana, Daniela and Daniel to see him, we found his Sister Ivy with her husband Arthur and children June and Keith there and it was the first time we have seen each other in 15 to 20 years! Eventually, Freda came up from Devon, and I collected her from Cambridge Railway Station and took her to see Dad in hospital and then drove her on to West Suffolk hospital to see Mum and unfortunately it was all bad news for Freda to hear. After Dad’s brain scan, the plastic surgeon wanted to operate but the ENT and Neurology consultants did not concur because it had all been left too late, after he had been stoically awaiting developments; the cancer having spread to his inner ear making the operation tricky.

At the end of that day, I dropped Freda off to the mobile home in Stanton for the night, which our parents may never see again and, brave until then, I cried uncontrollably on the drive home alone after which Di and I consoled each other. The next day, I picked her up again from Stanton (as like her Mum, she never drove) and took her first to see Mum in the West Suffolk where the girls played with her and then on to see Dad at Addenbrookes, delivering him some more clothes from their caravan. Dad got a lot brighter after they had reduced his morphine again to 20mg night and morning and when I took Di and the girls to Addenbrookes we unexpectedly found Freda’s daughter Jane and partner John with Dad and they were able to take Freda back to Suffolk. I then heard from who I believe was the surgeon responsible for Dad’s demise, Mr Campbell, who tried to justify his (in)actions.

The condition of my Mum did not help my Dad. She had written to me, saying she wanted to leave him and a had to endure a long and depressing call from her discussing intractable problems as she was admitted to the West Suffolk hospital with a deteriorating spinal condition. Weald House was not ideal, and I had gone to see the British Nursing Association in Cambridge and was very impressed with their home nursing services which could have been contracted for caring for them both at home. Dad was keen but sadly mother was not when Di and I rushed over to Bury St Edmunds to discuss it with her, but Freda and Diana agreed it would be best for Mum and Dad to spend some time together as it is well equipped for them both. Despite his first response of wanting to go home to Stanton, he was then set on Weald House as he ‘did not want to leave her or let her down’. Once we had taken him there, we left him for a couple of hours for lunch as we got some flowers and things and returned as Mr and Mrs Issett made Dad as welcome as they could and we had just set up the room when Mum arrived in a wheelchair push by two ambulancemen. After the over-expectation was dispelled, Mum had lots of criticisms and I left them (sadly) quarrelling over something insignificant as she behaved very badly and embarrassed Dad. Later, Mum cuddled Dad and said sorry for nagging and worrying so much.

After taking the Range Rover to Stanton and collecting Mum and Dad’s things from the bungalow, we delivered them to Weald House. After being up late chatting with Freda I took her to see Mum and Dad in the morning and found them in a bit of an awkward state and I decided they needed to have some respite and time apart. After catching up with some work, I returned to collect Dad brought him home to us for the afternoon where he enjoyed looking at my fish and spending time with Della before having tea in the lounge with us before I took him back. Then visiting Mum and Dad one afternoon, we had collected Debbie from horse-riding and dropped her off at Weald House to play scrabble and Connect 4 with Mum, as Dad came back with me to have a quiet time by the pond and watch Spurs play on the TV. I had been trying to talk to Mum and Dad about the future after Dad dies, as he was deteriorating, but they did not want to do so.

Apart from all of these family traumas, I was also trying to keep my own home and close family life going. At the end of this summer season Daniel helped me cover the swimming pool and switch off its heater and, on a more restful day, we had a trip to Willington Garden Centre to buy some tropical plants, after which I reorganised the conservatory. I had an early start for my journey and visit to the Koi Carp auction at infiltration, which was an enlightening experience, but I opted not to buy anything.  I spent many periods recharging my batteries attending to my plants, fish and doves, including one on a dark morning at first light, Sweet Della joined me in the conservatory on a couple of occasions hand-feeding the fish. There was a nice spell when Debbie and Daniel came home early after they had broken up from school for half term. With Freda here, she was able to see The Hayling View for the first time, as the girls showed her round, and then Freda joined me, Di and the girls as Debbie and Della had riding lessons at Offord; Della having hers for the very first time and doing well before we gave her a lift to the station to start her journey home to Devon.

We drove Debbie to Offord to buy her a new saddle and a saddle cover for Sundance and, apart from her horse-riding, Di and I bought Debbie a Boosey and Hawkes flute as well.  Debbie remarkably survived a cold that potentially kept her away from school so that she could still go horse-riding and then worked late on her homework! Daniel went with some friends to the Motor Show, quite a grown-up thing to do whilst Di kept taking Della and Debbie swimming. Di and I went to the KSSC AGM/parents evening, and we had really attended on the chance of seeing our children’s teachers but I was elected as a committee member  and subsequently suffered a dry and pedestrian meeting of the KSS at the castle on their fireworks display preparations! We attended a village Harvest Supper and Barn Dance at the Village Hall and I took Di to an evening history club lecture by St Neots Chemist, Jim Calcott, which she found boring, but she was more interested in our Little Chef lunches’. I had some success exchanging my Rolls-Royce wheel for a trial run after which the slow puncture could be prepared and I worked on The Lady to repair the heating and refrigerator ignition; Up early one morning to St Neots, seeing my doctor, shopping and getting building society interest updates before treating Di to lunch again.

There were a few personal priorities that I managed to pursue this month, despite the family traumas; dealing with desk correspondence and financial chores, working on my new computerised investment and income summary spreadsheets, some wheel maintenance for our Rolls Royce, completing arrangements for the purchase of Heronshaw and improving the conservatory with my new de-humidifier. I was also Chairing the St Neots Museum fundraising Committee, organising the Museum fundraising launch and Chairing a Little Paxton Village Hall meeting to organise the November Fayre display whilst also attending Buckden School as a governor; the latter two on the same night!  In relation to my SLD party, I had driven to Bury for an SLD campaign meeting with Percy, been delivering leaflets to Diddington, Southoe and its outliers and helped to persuade DOOM chairman Derek Giles to stand for us in the forthcoming Town Council elections. Following up on this, I producing Derek Giles’s literature for the forthcoming Eatons by-election and hosted a good meeting of the St Neots Democrats to mobilise our activists accordingly.

Whilst in Diddington, I heard of the very sad plans concerning the ending of traditional farm management as gravel industry takes over. As a result, I worked hard at the next Little Paxton Parish Council meeting getting them to agree to oppose the latest gravel pit development, whilst also securing their agreement for £800 of village hall grants and for the siting of a bottle bank. There was synergy to be had when I was also representing my Paxton Ward electors at the Huntingdonshire District Council. When I had received HDC planning papers on the proposed extended use of the Little Paxton gravel pit road I immediately started a campaign to inform my residents of its implications, printing out details and cycling around the village to deliver them to affected parties. Then I had to return to Pathfinder House to overturn a blatant Amenities Committee petty and partisan move by the Tory leadership to turn down a modest £200 Little Paxton grant. and I was joined by other Little Paxton people to speak up at the HDC Public Meeting on the New Local Plan accordingly. As a mere observer, I attended an HDC Policy Committee monitoring matters due to come before Full Council and studied the large briefing document that had arrived concerning the HDC Finance committee’s local plans for the Poll Tax (or Community Charge) and an HDC planning meeting this evening considered a strange proposal for a ‘Trucker’s Paradise’. I also attended an HDC Economic Development Committee where content was so sparse that they agreed with my motion to consider its future viability!

Elsewhere the month has seen a radical decline of the Tory government and the economic prospects of the UK.  The banks lifted interest rates by 1% to 15%, a nine-year high, depressing the stock exchange and the pound and even mortgage rates rose to 14.5%. My old contact, Tory chairman Kenneth Baker, opened the Conservative party conference, and his presentation was marred by the further collapse of share prices and the pound sterling. Even the Tory Daily Mail paper called for Chancellor Lawson’s head on a platter and The Bank of England had to try to allay fears in London of a share slump the following Monday. World and national banks meet over that weekend discussing ways of providing liquidity to avert the financial disaster on the London and New York stock exchanges the following Monday, as the FT100 fell more than 200 points before climbing back to lose only 70.

Shares slid again in London and New York again with a crisis atmosphere prevailing amongst Tory’s as Thatcher lost Chancellor Lawson and adviser Prof Alan Waters, triggering a reshuffle with her lapdog John Major becoming Chancellor and Douglas Hurd moving from Home to Foreign Affairs. London shares were heavily sold, and the Pound Sterling plunged against the Deutschmark and the Dollar as the in-experienced Chancellor John Major deemed inflation as his main (or only) priority. Then Tory plans for privatising the electricity industry reveal 30,000 job losses, mass mine closure with electricity bills raised by 15%. .We then heard ex-Chancellor Lawson’s revelations about government rifts on economic policy and of Nicholas Ridley opting to surrender early the ‘golden share’ that prevents Jaguar from takeover.

An so the government was in disarray as Thatcher showed long overdue signs of terminal decline. Archbishop Runcie criticises the government for lack of social concern, there was ‘a shambles’ in the London Ambulance Service as management lock out the ambulancemen totally, even though they are needed for emergency, following their pay work to rule. Now that the ambulance drivers cannot cover emergencies back home, police vans are being drafted in. Thatcher freezes Child Benefit levels for the third year running at £7.25 but other benefits rise with inflation whilst payments for patients in nursing homes will not be increased in line with inflation. Thatcher is left in glorious isolation at the Commonwealth conference resisting action against South Africa and was isolated on environmental issues there. Thatcher’s government faces political crisis, Howe and Hazeltine speak out and opposition politicians make hay but she remains belligerently defiant and full of herself as opinion polls show her as being at rock bottom. British Aerospace and Rolls-Royce engineers strike in support of a four-hour cut and thus a 35-hour week. Plans for a nuclear processing plant at Dounreay in Caithness have been approves whilst the Channel Tunnel overruns budgets and suffers delays. Across the chamber, the Labour Party conference has rejected a call for proportional representation and Neil Kinnock carries all before him

In Irish affairs, 28 actively serving UDR men were arrested under firearms and confidentiality charges and the Guildford four have been released after 15 to 18 years of wrong imprisonment. The IRA have admit responsibility as a British soldier and his baby girl are gunned to death in West Germany. Terry Waite is alive in captivity after 1,000 days as a hostage in the Lebanon and England qualify for the World Cup in a televised football match against Poland

The US stock exchange took a 190-point dive in the last hour of trading on what was known as ‘Black Friday’ after an even bigger collapse in the Taiwan stock exchange overnight.  There has been a US backed move to topple Gen Noreiga of Panama and another air crash, this time in Honduras killed 111

The main news internationally, was of the start of the breakdown in the ‘Iron Curtain’ as The Congress of the Hungarian Party votes to give up communism and trains full of 8,000 East German refugees are allowed to leave for the West, making some 30,000 in the last three months. Western nations call for free passage between East and West Berlin as Gorbachev visits East Germany urging reform and on its 40th anniversary and there were widespread demonstrations for progress towards democracy in the German Democratic Republic with thousands of protesters in East Berlin conduct a pro-democracy vigil. Eventually, the East German Premier Eric Honecker resigned following further mass street protests for reform.

In another populist uprising, tens of thousands of natives rejoice at the release of Walter Sisulu in South Africa after huge marches of people demonstrated previously in support of the release of Walter Sisulu and want Mandela next!.70,000 were then allowed to attend a massive ANC rally in South Africa.