1949 October

October. Eve Weiss. Major Mckenzie. Cynophobia. UK bankrupt? Tom Luker. World food shortage. Food parcels from Oz. Hamlet: Miss Cunnington refuses to see film.

Monday, Oct 3rd
Eve Weiss had a daughter. Professor Roberto Weiss’ only recorded comment was ”Damn”.
Nearly finished feeding bees. Read Whisky Galore by Compton MacKenzie over the weekend, quite amusing but not as good as his account of his experiences as an intelligence officer in Greece in the last war.

Tuesday, Oct 4th
House Committee: movement after 15 years to get rid of Major MacKenzie, the chairman of the governors, aged 84, but to substitute an old boy from one of Henley’s municipal families who has sent his children to be educated somewhere else and is at best not a man over blessed with imagination – a very average man and therefore ”safe”.
Am increasingly subject to attacks of cynophobia. They smell in the house, at meal times, they bark without reason ; they jump up and fawn on you ; their habits are disgusting and they are not always properly house trained. They add a complication to daily life without offering much in return. They are stupid and undignified.

Wednesday, Oct 15th
Mary came over and we finished weeding the allotment. Went down hedgerow and noticed some early hazel catkins, due I suppose to the exceptionally dry summer.
Manchester Guardian says (Britain) not bankrupt this year but early in 1950 and speech by Sir Stafford Cripps to City Bankers received in stony silence.

Saturday, Oct 8th
Caught 9.45 to Penshurst, took taxi to Henry VIII inn at Hever to have lunch with Hilary. Bounced about like a football in the taxi as road fearful. After lunch we walked back to school, inspected new farm buildings and had tea at Chiddingstone.

Wednesday, Oct 12th
The first governors’ meeting of year. A large number turned up, but it was not a good meeting. Tom Luker elected chairman, as I feared. The best thing he could think of was to ask how our examination results compared with the rest of England, to which I replied that I did not know (and cared less). It is extraordinary to compare education as it is understood by teachers who are actually in it and education as it appears to governors, if anything appears at all. After discussing Matisse with the Sixth and Plato with the 5th, I had to sit in a smoke laden room and listen to long discussions which have nothing to do with the real purpose of one’s life.

Sunday, Oct 16th
There is to be no election until next spring. Think this is a bad move, but possibly Labour Party thinks that the Conservatives will have gone stale by then. Everyone is sick of the recurrent crises over the last few years and would be willing to back a bold policy if that seemed likely to get us out of the less we are in.
Some people think the Russians may be prepared to get out of Eastern Germany now that have set up a Communist government with organized thuggery to support it.
Can’t make up my mind how to vote at election. Think Churchill might be more able to cut down waste of money on conscript armies, which take up all the time of the regular army in coping with training and make it impossible to put the regular divisions on a fighting basis. It is calculated that forces in the latest manoeuvres in Western Germany could hold for about 15 miles!
Wonder if we have had enough nationalization for the moment. Do no want to increase the already large number of government employees, teachers, miners, gas and electricity workers, etc.

Wednesday, Oct 19th
To-day one of the good days. Began with a film, The World is Rich – how William Cobbet would have appreciated it – about the world food shortage, made in 1947, showing effects of war, erosion, flood, drought, speculation, inadequate knowledge and equipment on the feeding of the people. A grim film. Mrs Clayden called it terrifying. Shots on Indian, Chinese, European famine, the corpses of men and animals and the emaciated bodies of the survivors. “Every time a hog is fattened, a man somewhere in the world dies”. Ended with Sir John Boyd Orr: "If the United Nations cannot agree about this they cannot agree about anything".
About 160 food parcels arrived from New South Wales. They contained treacle, stewed steak, cooking fat and ham ( ?jam). There were not enough to go round so issued 15 to each form and they drew lots for them.
On Monday we had a film on teaching and the assistant director from the office came over with a huge size in buck niggers, really most distinguished and intelligent, a teacher of PT and one of the negro representatives on the legislative council of Kenya. Showed him round the school and to my delight the children did not bat an eyelid when I walked him in.
Parliament met yesterday. Sat glued to the wireless expecting the government to announce plans for the dollar crisis, but nothing came.

Saturday, Oct 22nd
Trafalgar Day yesterday. Had Eternal Father which the children like, a passage from Charles Morgan’s The Flashing Stream, The Happy Warrior, Nelson’s prayer, the Trumpet Tune and Aire and the National Anthem.
Went over to Aunt and Rusby. Whatever Aunt says Rusby echoes and elaborates, a most trying pair of old ladies. Bought a shirt on the way home for £2.10.0, cost 12/6 before the war.
Much speculation about coming cuts… one paper had lowering school leaving age, another conscription, clothes rationing etc etc. Shall not have to wait long now.
Stepping up the world food supply not so easy as it sounds. The groundnut scheme in East Africa has to date proved a fiasco….. the amount of groundnuts harvested lower than original seed. The government, as in so many things, tried to do too much too quickly, before the scientists had had time to get the necessary knowledge through trial and experiment. The government tried disingenuously to cover up and conceal the extent of the failure, but it is coming out now.

Sunday, Oct 23rd
A foul day. Had our first fire. None since before we went to Switzerland.
A row this week at the U.N.O. as Yugoslavia elected to the Security Council instead of the Russian protege, Czechoslovakia. Why we voted for Cz I don’t know. Besides disagreement between ourselves and Americans over Security Council, also disagreements over German policy. Americans want to end dismantling and generally to bring Germany into western Atlantic community with as little delay as possible. France and ourselves tend to act as though Russians were still out allies and the Germans our enemies and there were heaps of time in which to arrange western defence. If we footle too much we run risk that the U.S.A will write off western defence and the Atlantic treaty will be a dead letter.

Monday, Oct 24th
Long awaited speech by PM on cuts, but rather an anticlimax, a little there, a bit here. … Petrol ration, thank goodness, to remain for next six months, though petrol up from 2/½ to 2/3.

Tuesday, Oct 25th
Arranging visit to Hamlet (film). Eric Cunnington refused to go, wonder what she would do if we possessed a high-powered headmistress instead of a long suffering headmaster. Had a letter from Heath to say how happy is doing social medicine course. Good to think one has made right decision and altered some one's life for the better.
Went to Hamlet this evening with Nora. Took some getting used to! A lot of time at the beginning of the film was spent trundling camera up staircases and along passages….Close ups enabled you to see more detail of expressions, especially in scenes between Hamlet and Queen. Play within play done effectively and duel scene just the film’s cup of tea. Ophelia frightful, I thought, but Polonius and Horatio very good, as well as ghost. The words (by W. Shakespeare) not as much cut as had been expecting.

Friday, Oct 28th
First day of half term. Got up late. Went for a walk with dog in afternoon up valley. Leg better for walking than a month ago.

Saturday, Oct 29th
Started off with Mary to Salisbury. A nice sunny afternoon but cold. The downland some stubble, some newly ploughed, with the beeches just beginning to turn, sweeping away to the distant greys and blues of the valleys made the heart glad and rejoiced the eye. The hedges festooned with travellers’ joy.
We chose The Crown, which was near the Cathedral Close, quiet, homely, dowdy and Victorian….. After dinner went to see Hamlet. It was enjoyable the second time over. A dense queue waited to see some American tripe, but at our cinema there was no queue for Shakespeare. The audience in the partly filled viditorium stayed for the most part to the end and did not talk and giggle like that in Henley.

Sunday, Oct 30th
Had a late breakfast in warm but gloomy dining room with very short-sighted and rather old waitress. Then to Cathedral. Here we had full measure, starting with Matins, and sermon, then Litany in procession, followed by Eucharist – for which we did not stay.
Walked to Hamham Mill and back across the meadows from which Constable painted The Rainbow. To see the full glory of the tower and spire you must look at it from distant meadows or on the hill fort at Old Sarum and watch it pointing like a finger skywards.

Monday, Oct 31st
First explored the bookshops and Mary bought me a handwoven tie for Christmas. Salisbury is a well kept and charming town I thought, especially remembering the squalor of Worcester.
After lunch we drove up to Old Sarum. Mary stayed in the car, wisely, as the day gave ample evidence of the canon’s complaint in 1200 that the site was too windy for a cathedral.