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Recovering from the ‘history interview’ evening with a hangover and then visiting Godmanchester meadows to review a gravel extraction and cricket bat willow growing opportunity before the normal angst associated with Daniel’s parents’ evening tonight. The first news was emerging later about a fire at Kings Cross underground station with 30-40 dead
A poor night. Almost intoxicated with whisky and ginger and then, warm and restless, I had slept little by the time of my morning tea. Slow to get washed and dressed and then, after breakfast, I read the brochures from Ekins on available agricultural land for investment. I am particularly interested in 90 acres of meadowland in Godmanchester, overlying gravel that could be possibly used for growing willow as well. I decided to go and see it and so went into St Neots with Di and Della, first to have coffee at Tooks and then took Della off in the Range Rover to see it. It was a very muddy and wet place, with rather poor access and I think that cricket bat willows would be the only suitable use for me. Little Della got hopelessly muddy and I had to carry her for much of the way. The land had obviously been under water during the recent flood and was hemmed in on all sides by Redland gravel workings and the river. I then collected Di from St Neots and took them to the new ‘Kelly’s Kitchen’ place on the A1 for lunch.
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A full day working on my local history book, typing up and organising interview notes and then returning to see Frank Hall, with his ‘gravel pit’ friend Dickie Sanders, returning photos and borrowing more. A fascinatingly-enjoyable but very late evening as they love to talk and recollect. The US congressional enquiry into Irangate, concluded that President Reagan and his staff acted illegally and un-constitutionally over the arms supplies to Iran and funds transfer to the Contras, Iraq bombs an Iranian nuclear power station construction site, killing 10 people and Thatcher’s Government decides to implement the Poll Tax in 1990 to avoid resistance
Up on time and to breakfast. A very poor boiled duck egg to eat, as Diana seems incapable of boiling them to the point where the whites are solid and the yolks liquid! Did not read the paper, but settled straight down to the task of merging and sorting the outstanding history interviews. The technique was to take each text interview, one at a time, and write away blocks of text on certain houses and families to file. When coming across another section relevant to a particular subject, the old file is read out, added to, and written away again, with a copy of the interview title as its first line to denote the source. This technique is necessary because my respondents wonder about so much from subject to subject as they come to mind. Later, I will merge each file with the last edition of my manuscript and then edit it down to a single text that encapsulates all of the information.
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Completion of my investment summaries, statements and children’s trust account numbers before continuing to transcribe the Frank Hall interview tape as Debbie wins her ‘hostess badge’ at Brownies but Daniel needs supervision after ‘skimping’ on his prep. The East/West arms talks between Officials continue into ‘extra time’, an horrific Boing 707 air crash on take off in America at the same time as two Red Arrow display pilots collide and crash. Dr Marietta Higgs defends her actions in the Middlesbrough child abuse diagnosis enquiry.
Slept soundly after our recent exertions, but was not woken up until quite late at 7.15am. Hardly time to wake up and drink my tea, but I had a lot to do and so pushed on to be washed and dressed in time for breakfast. In fact, I got the children to tidy their rooms before the meal and it is not often I am up in time to do that. Once the children had gone, I worked smartly at my desk and finished a number of things, so that Diana could post them off for me. Then the morning spent finishing off the printing of my investment summaries and the completion of new statements showing how the children’s trusts stood at the end of the tax year and also how they stand now. Sorted out envelopes for Roger Brittain to be delivered by hand by Joan today and also for Gerard Chadwick to be delivered by Diana in Cambridge tomorrow. Then a salad lunch. Della had been all right at playschool today and Di had done some shopping. This afternoon and evening, I transcribed the last side (side III) of the Frank Hall interview tape, which was quite tiring, but now I have done them all.
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Working on my investment summaries paper and yesterday’s journal before we enjoy a lunch of roast beef on a soaking wet day and then some televised football before resuming work. A £10million government compensation package to compensate the haemophiliac victims of AIDS. Nelson Piquet and Williams have won the F1 World Championships and the UK postal union seeks support for a strike over working conditions
A long lay in and slow start to the day, as the effect of our holiday time changes and several late nights finally catch up with us. Washed, shaved and dressed for breakfast of fried egg, bacon and tomato, then the rest of the morning reading my paper, updating the journal and getting a few other things out of the way. It had poured with rain again overnight and everything is soaking wet once more. The river is only just below the moorings level again, after another deluge the night before last and I suppose we will see some more flooding again soon. The other day I actually saw a magpie for the first time, flying over our riverside garden and many creatures feeding patterns must have been disrupted by this very wet and strange year. Had to go out myself to feed the ducks and doves quite late, as Daniel was distracted by the arrival of his friend Paul, who had come over from his new home at Raunds for the day.