The family to walk to St James Church for Peter’s family service on a beautifully sunny and warm day
The family to walk to St James Church for Peter’s family service on a beautifully sunny and warm day

Another early start on a beautifully sunny and warm day as I took time to sit and read the papers, wash my hair and look after my fish, doves and conservatory, before getting Daniel up after his late night for the family to walk to St James Church for Peter’s family service. Back home to finalise a good deal for the purchase of Redgrave and then over to Warboys to see Jack Taylor to poster-board Wistow and Bury before late home after car trouble to chair an activists meeting. Sally in Priory was home and dry, Percy in the Offord’s looking good but I had to force Jack to wind up the Bury campaign as they were behind as I was already organising polling day.

Lebanese kidnappers in Beirut have said that they will be releasing US hostage Frank Herbert after four years, a compromise between Russia and Lithuania is in the air and the weekend European summit over the weekend, plans further political and monetary union, despite some spoiling tactics by Thatcher

I had gone to bed at a reasonable time for a change having decided not to wait up for Daniel. I was therefore up quite early this morning on a beautifully sunny and warm day and made the drinks for Diana and I to sit in bed for a little while and read the papers. Then I showered and washed my hair and, after dressing, tended the conservatory and the fish and doves before breakfast. I had to get a very-grumpy Daniel up, who had got to bed at midnight, and insist that he do the car and swimming pool this morning as well as join us for a church family service. I composed some sheets and post cards advertising the vacancy for our gardener and then fixed a few of them on our riverside garden to see if we could attract any applicants.

** PRESS "Read More" BELOW for the complete story **

We all took the walk up to St James Church together on a fine and sunny day. For once, we left in good time and took a pew close to the front. It was a nice enough service with Peter doing his best but being rather drowned by the howling babies whose mothers did not do the decent thing and take them outside until they calmed down. We walked back and then Freda telephoned me by arrangement (I had got Jack Edwards to give them a message as to what time to phone). We discussed terms for the purchase of Redgrave: The owner wants £185K, would accept £180K and we decided to offer £175K on a deal that meant an early exchange of contracts with a £50K deposit to show good faith. I got Freda to telephone that through to him so as to be able to say that was all she had got me to agree to and see if he would accept it. As expected, he wanted us to go higher and then it was my time to telephone him after letting him sweat for half an hour. We eventually agreed a price of £177,500 at which price he would throw in the photocopier, the floor polisher, a cooker and the inventory of shop fittings (refrigerated display cabinet, till etc) that had been confirmed before. With the bricks and mortar valued conservatively at £160,000 and the fittings etc worth, say, £5,000 this means that Freda and Alf would only be paying £12,500 for the business at which price they can hardly go wrong. In fact, if the business was closed and the entire house was sold for a dwelling, I think that it would fetch that much.

This resolved, I had lunch and then drove over to Jack Taylor of Warboys to quickly fabricate some poster boards before driving on to Wistow to set some up on display. We got some more poster sites by just going round and asking supporters who were displaying window bills and then by others stopping us and asking for them. Across to Bury where we also improved on some existing displays before it was time to rush back to the Hayling View for an activists meeting. It was then that the car failed to start as the battery had run down and we had to get a supporter to jump-start it which made me a bit late. I telephoned ahead with the car phone and arrived just a quarter of an hour late. Whilst we were in the meeting, we let Jack Taylor's son and Sally Guinee's two daughters have a swim in the pool and they thoroughly enjoyed it. The meeting was quite good as showing that Sally was well ahead and organised; Percy was a little more ahead but needed to sort the organisation out for polling day. The problem in Bury was that they were well behind in terms of the electioneering and the votes and I put it to Jack that unless they could get out four canvassers on each of the remaining three evenings, then I would pull out and put my efforts into making sure we won Percy's ward. Later, Jack called me to say that was just what he had arranged to have and so the campaign goes on there. I copied sufficient numbers of instruction sheets for tellers, knockers-up and counting agents and rota sheets so that the candidates could organise the polling day effort in advance and inform the helpers of their roll and how to perform it.

Later tonight, I updated my journal and closed up the house. Lebanese kidnappers in Beirut have said that they will be releasing US hostage Frank Herbert within 48 hours, which represents the first news of him since his abduction in September 1986. There seems to be a compromise in the air between Russia and Lithuania after the two week economic blockade has led to the idea of "freezing" rather than "withdrawing" the declaration of independence. Now French prisoners are demonstrating on the roofs of their prisons. The latest protest is in Douai after a similar dispute ended 40 miles away. After the European summit over the weekend, it seems that the 12 states are to start negotiations by the end of this year towards further political and monetary union, despite some spoiling tactics by Thatcher.