October. "The Gathering Storm". Vishinsky. Sir Cyril Ashford. Mr Haigh's stuffed lion. The Canon explodes. Leslie Bennett. Joad's diary. "Lust for intelligibility".
Monday, Oct 4th
Last Wednesday Mary lent me the first volume of Churchill’s history of the war, The Gathering Storm, so that I was actually able to enjoy it before the day of publication today.
It is a tragic story and brings back keenly the frustration and sense of helplessness of those dreadful years of cowardice and folly. If only one felt once could do anything against the complacency and conceit of Baldwin and Chamberlain with their huge docile majorities of Conservative MPs. Nothing, no one, seemed able to budge them. I remember saying at the time: How far down the slope are we? We don’t know. But I suppose those people who do know the facts may see we have moved too far to be able to stop ourselves. Wigram, one of the F.O. officials, was such a man. When the British government, at the time of the occupation of the Rhineland, advised the French to do nothing, and the French took the advice, he came back and said to his wife: “War is now inevitable. I shall not live to see it, but you will. Our home will be bombed. Only Winston will not give up. He will go on till the end.”Today the Berlin dispute came up at the Security Council and the wrangle about its inclusion on the agenda, stage 1, began. Meanwhile, after holding up the Atomic Energy Commission for two years by refusing international inspection, Mr Vishinsky did one of his last minute somersaults and changed front completely, or appeared to do so….. I don’t think this is worth tuppence…. The quarrel in and outside Berlin has now reached a stage when words have been so misused that they have lost all meaning. Anyone who disagrees with Russia is called a fascist, gangster, murderer, incendiary warmonger, Hitlerite storm trooper etc, etc.
The West is working hard at its defence plans, and none too soon. … Montgomery is to become chief of staff; though the French are said not to like this, he has the confidence of the Americans. Plans are supposed to have been worked out, one imaging the loss of the European mainland. So nice to have the Russians at Calais, as I said to Nora!
Spent today in Oxford, visited Warden of Keble, first in the Warden’s study 31 years ago – but a grim Victorian room, cold and high with windows facing north and west! Had lunch in cafeteria, and cost 4/6 at that. Assistant Director of Education, Rankin, came in and had lunch together, then to see the eccentric Fasnacht and later a major in Territorial Association. Had just time before bus to walk in Worcester Gardens and pay homage to the noble plane tree that grows there. I thought of how I went there for solace in 1940 and how we are now faced with another crisis.
Tuesday, Oct 5th
The Times described the last Russian note as “a genuine Molotoff of the best period” – the timing at the eleventh hour, the broad attack, the bold misstatements, the subtle half truths, the concessions slipped in and the next demand foreshadowed. Today the Security Council put Berlin on the agenda by 7 to 2. Vishinky declared it was illegal and Russian would take no further part in deliberations….. Think Bevin was right when he said the simple may be confused and puzzled, but they will not always be deceived.
Wednesday, Oct 6th
The governors today proceeded to elect a chairman aged 83 and a vice chairman aged 89. What a futile collection of old men! To my disgust, they showed themselves all set to restart the Cadets, which I found moribund in 1934 and persuaded them to change for Scout troop. The chairman is senile, but the vice-chairman, Sir Cyril Ashford*, a man who embodies all the qualities I dislike most, is rude, conceited, a bully and snob. I hate having to deal with them at all. Some of them are these power maniacs, they love power but know little about the school and care less. It is time that Governing Bodies were reformed altoigether!
[Ed: Google search, 2009, gave: Sir Cyril Ashford, K.B.E., C.B., M.V.O., 1867-1951, headmaster]
Sunday, Oct 10th
Was offered (by Mr David Haig, of 78 St Mark’s Road, Henley, whose brother shot the lion in Africa 50 years previously) a stuffed lion in a case 6ft x 3ft x 5ft. Feel I ought to put him on the strength and claim a salary on him! Also elephant’s tusks and ears. Suggested Town Hall or Reading Museum.
Went down to Long Dene for Open Sunday. Hilary was well, said he likes the school, was obviously much at home and full of self assurance. Feel we have done the right thing.
Churchill made a speech to Conservatives at Llandudno…. “We ought to bring matters to a head and make a final settlement… Let them cease to darken the world and prevent recovery by these endless threats and propaganda”…..
We live in such a dangerous world, when all may come down about our ears once more. All our plans for the future have to be provisional, nothing is secure. Nothing is safe.
Thursday, Oct 21st
The French coalminers have struck, query on instructions from Moscow.
Leslie Bennett came to lunch. Most amusing, good to see him again. Said he had been reading Dombey & Son in hotel in bed last night and it got him down!
Been reading Joad’s Diary – only fools, said Churchill, keep diaries. Very amusing, but reveals him as a very complaining and disgruntled man.
Announced tonight that we cannot hope for an improvement in our standard of living during the next year.
Friday, Oct 22nd
Went to the dentist (Mr Moore, London Road, Reading) last week because have sore roof to mouth and what I thought was teeth that needed stopping. To my disgust he said my teeth had got worn down and lower teeth closing on gums cause of trouble. When the front teeth begin turning outward and loosening, time to get a plate! Damn! Asked him about plastic teeth; said they looked better and were more hygienic, but too early yet to tell how satisfactory they were as they had only been in use since rubber shortage in war.
Went to film of Olympic Games with school at 10 this morning. It lasted 2¼ hours, so did not work all morning, very satisfactory, as told staff…. The most lovely person to watch was Fanny Blankers Koen, the marvellous Dutch girl, and she had the great merit of looking intelligent as well.
Really I don’t lead a bad existence! Living on my job, like the dentist, I have no travelling. This morning I spent Wednesday afternoon with Mary and Friday morning at the cinema, so you could say I worked a four-day week. Of course, there’s the responsibility, but as the Wilk said, we can’t all be as careless, I mean as carefree, as you!
There’s going to be some fun and games tomorrow afternoon. Old Mr Pitman’s ashes are to be scattered on the regatta course. After a memorial service at the parish church, the company are to embark and while the Remenham Choir in boats sing Praise my soul the ceremony will take place.
Saturday, Oct 23rd
Went up to London to see Miss Hunter. Nora came up with me. Had lunch at the National Book League, bought a light coat, then to Tate Gallery. Tea at Marble Halls where had excellent toasted bath buns and a delicious strawberry ice cream and China tea.
Aunt Alice has gone all haywire. Left Miss Howard, bought a house and installed herself in it with Miss Rusby and a young couple about to be married. Don’t know what she will do with no one to nurse her
Sunday, Oct 24th
Reading more of Joad’s Diary. Though he appears as a complaining old gentleman continually fighting a losing campaign against loneliness and boredom by rushing round on a full engagement book and a series of social functions, he has some amusing things to say, e.g., about the sandwich, women and hotel bedrooms.
“The first is the easiest and quickest way of fobbing off the victim with nothing at all. Even before the war a properly filled sandwich was a rarity. Tearing off one of the walls one would find a thin shaving of ham fat or gobbet of uneatable gristle, which the saving concealment of the walls has enabled the wickedness of the sandwich preparer to impose upon the sandwich eater. Or the sandwich would contain egg…To put egg in a sandwich is to pile a Pelion of insipidity on an Ossa of tastelessness. Starting from these low beginnings a sandwich could not, one might have thought, decline further. The war has shown such a supposition, had it been entertained, so be fallacious. For with the war the sandwich nose-dived from its antecedent low level to the depths of squalor.”“I have found women capricious, self-important, touchy, egoistical and above all boring. How they will talk about people, especially themselves and yourself and about the relations between you…. It is this overpowering interest in people who are of no interest, the dwelling upon the and magnification of the infinitesimal differences between Tom, Dick and Harry, that makes women so boring. The outstanding memory of the women I have known and loved is the memory of being bored.”
“How few are the hotel bedrooms in which one can sleep. There is the torment of the traffic, there is the torment of the pipes, and the torment of the people. Always there are people who seem to go to bed later than other people and to get up earlier than people have ever been known to do before.”
An interesting article by Balchin (Nigel?) on the diminishing return of money incentives. He argues that there is a definite limit to the amount of money people want and they won’t work more to get more money if they have little leisure or long hours of monotony to earn it…. We have all inherited the idea from the Industrial Revolution that the primary object of work is to produce material things rather than to produce happiness and satisfaction. The problem is not “Why does the miner stay away from the pit?” but “Why does he go there so often?” The future of industry in civilized communities may well depend on making it the first essential of any job that it shall be something which a normal human being might wish to do for its own sake.
Friday, Oct 29th
The first of the winter weather began this week and very cold it was with a thick white frost on Wednesday which gave me chilblains. Yesterday we had a conference at school on Art and Music in the Contemporary Life. We had the Heather Professor, Sir Hugh Allen’s successor, from Oxford. He was a queer chap with a poker face who never smiled, but he was not disagreeable to speak to. In the morning we had Helen Kapp from the Arts Council on pictures. As usual the Director did not turn up, so I had to deputize for him, which was rather fun. We had an excellent lunch and tea.
On Wednesday the governors fathered a Cadet Corps on me. The Canon exploded loudly on the virtues of cadets and what a difference it would make to the discipline of the school – queer school, queer discipline. Fortunately it is possible to get them done by the local cadet force in S. Oxfordshire, though this was much disapproved of by the Canon!
Been reading Iremonger’s biography of William Temple, which Mary sent over on Tuesday, a very great man and an excellent life, read it hard all Tuesday evening till my head buzzed. One joke stuck in my memory. When it was proposed to alter the Collect for Trinity Sunday at the time of the reform of the Prayer Book, Hensley Henson (Bishop of Durham) remarked, “There must be some limit to this lust for intelligibility.”
No comments:
Post a Comment