A perfect day for electioneering - apart from the weather

This Saturday has been a perfect day for electioneering - apart from the weather. I have not yet found a feasible method of canvassing in rain and keeping my leaflets dry and I got rained off part way through the village of Horningsea. That place and its immediate neighbour, Fen Ditton, mean much to me because my great grandfather, Joshua Samuel Woollard (1844 - 1929), was the last of a long line of my family to have been born and raised at The Biggin, a quaint and ancient farmhouse located between the two villages. This place was the former summer residence of the bishops of Ely and also known as Biggin Abbey though it was never occupied by monks. Apparently, King Henry III visited The Biggin in 1238, when he spent three days at Fen Ditton, and King Edward II was there for three weeks in 1315. There are no records of my lot living there until much more recently - round about 1700.

Here is a picture of the house (as it's in the distance, you need to click on the picture to make it larger).

The farmland is in the care of my very good friend, Mr Michael Gingell, with whom I spent a delightful hour or more.

I also 'did' some of Fen Ditton, some of Milton, and some of Soham. The latter two are big places and one can only scratch the surface with a single visit but, as the American General Douglas MacArthur said, 'I shall return.'

I collected my newspapers at Milton and was delighted to see the following letter published in the Cambridge News:

"National Trust's blinkered vision

I wholeheartedly agree with your correspondent Geoffrey Woollard, that the NT seem to be living in a different world to some of us with their 'Vision' or in my opinion, lack of one.

We are now being told that the world population will be many more billions in the not too distant future. As we have difficulty in feeding the current population, to flood all these acres of grade one land would be totally stupid and no doubt the blinkered hierarchy of the NT would be the first to squeal about food poverty.

Did I not read a while back that the NT were about to start using some of their not inconsiderable acres for allotments? If so, does the left hand know what the right hand is doing?

Terry Rule
Pelham Close
Cottenham."

My friend and fellow fighter Terry Rule used to live at Wilburton. Now he lives at Cottenham. Thankfully, he still resides in 'my' constituency.