Monday
Thick fog, everything faint
shapes. Warm, trees dripping. Got in before 9. Nott came in in a great hurry, to say the
Irish cattle were due at Marks Tey at 1 o’clock. Captain Folkard said I might go if I liked, so I rushed
through a lot of letters and pedalled away soon after 12. The sun was just beginning to break through
and wreaths of mist floated away across the fields. Men drilling near Stanway and big convoys on
the road. A lorry had
crashed into a telegraph pole by Copford corner.
Got to Marks Tey station, but no sign
of cattle. Nott arrived, in a great state
because he had no men, all he wanted to do was get Joe Porter to do the whole
job. Frank Warren arrived and we saw the
Station Master. Much telephoning in all
directions, and the cattle train was eventually located near Bury St Edmunds,
and could not reach Marks Tey before 6 o’clock.
The only thing to do was to go away.
Nott seemed glad to be rid of the whole job. I was very disappointed.
Lovely afternoon, hot and
sunny. Got back to Colchester at 3. Mary Ralling said that Sir Gurney Benham went home [from the Essex County Standard office] on
Saturday morning feeling unwell, the first time he had ever been known to do
this. [Harold Poulter then informed Rudsdale that Sir Gurney Benham has suffered a slight stroke]. I said “Is Hull smirking?” Poulter replied “No, I think he’s worried.” He also told me about the Mayoralty
business. It was Alderman Blomfield who wrote
to Councillor Smallwood. The poor little man is very ill,
although he does not seem to realise it, and it was agreed that he could not probably
be Mayor. Why then did the May Sub-Committee
recommend him?
Went out early to tea, as I had
no lunch. Fog coming up again, and a large
ruddy moon rising. Lovely weather! Everything silent, and the whole landscape dim, white and
ghostly. Fled through the grey dusk,
shrieking owls, through the dead village.
At last reached the cottage, and made a hot drink, drank it while listening to German radio music.
Sir Gurney Benham's illness changes the whole
position of the Museum and myself.
No comments:
Post a Comment