Monday June 13, 1983

George & Falcon

 We got up at 7:30 after listening to Frank banging around in the darkness. The man gets up and goes off to work in the middle of the night. I had the usual fried repast and Ally her egg. A warm bright morning. We took the car into Winchester and looked at maternity wear in Marks & Spencer's. Clown-like checks seem to be in. Laura Ashley was next on the agenda. All her dresses look like tents and I think of Charlotte (Smith). For refreshment we went to the George & Falcon at Warnford, where Ally dined on her 21st birthday. We were disappointed by the small, insignificant ploughman's lunch. Two fat, old ladies were served bowls of cold soup and apologised profusely to the bar staff. Shouldn't the apologies have come from the staff and not the customer? A Pekingese dog was coughing up it's dinner in the lounge bar. On to the West Meon Hut at West Meon where we sat next to a heavily pregnant woman who was sipping coffee. Ally, smiling, said it was hard to believe that she too will be in that state shortly. We returned to Winchester suitably refreshed, to buy Andrew a bulb for his motorcycle headlamp and was home for 4:30. Wrote to Sam Smith's accepting their offer and Ally slept upon the bed, fully clothed, after dictating the historic epistle. Frank was out at Rotary until after 10 and we dined with a tired Bessie on over cooked pork chops. Again, Andrew was nowhere to be seen. To bed at 10:15 after watching the news. More Cabinet changes. The Times implies that the Speaker will also be made a viscount on his retirement, but he too has no son and heir. The Times adds that future hereditary peers include Sir Keith Joseph and Lord Hailsham. However, the 1963 Peerage Act prevents Hailsham from receiving a hereditary peerage because he disclaimed his own viscountcy to return to the Commons. I am absolutely delighted that the PM has revived the hereditary system. Ally to bed with Agatha Christie.

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