In all the years Nigel Moore practised estate management he tried to prove that an indomitable will and self-belief would see him through the vicissitudes of life. If this was not always possible, it was largely because of the determination of his support staff, and those he considered to be his friends, to undermine him at every opportunity

Nigel Moore is back with a further volume of his diaries designed to create a few more ripples in the placid lives of his admirers and detractors alike. Although the diaries cover the same period as Estate Life, he has brought a fresh eye to the burning questions of the day with a perspective which is uniquely his own, and which he is convinced his followers would do well to adopt, if they are to face an uncertain future with the same confidence which he has always displayed

Most institutions have their resident bore: the man who is at his happiest when he is given free rein to collar an audience and to keep a tight hold until he has satisfied himself that another life has been enriched by the fruits of his experience and wisdom. Such a man is Mr. Melluish. He occupies a chair by the fireplace in the masters' common room at Linton House preparatory school and he regards it as his mission in life to offer comfort and advice to the masters, mistresses and assistant matrons who inadvertently stray into his path.