Elaine, I can understand your frustration when you have made positive changes too your diet to see your HbA1c increase a tiny bit. I wouldn't go into too much of a flap about it, as over time, we'll all vary a little, just because of what life throws at us. That could be additional stress, maybe a tricky a virus for several weeks, or whatever.
With your dietary control, it's fab you've cut the sweet things from your diet, but unfortunately, it's not quite as simple as that. When diagnosed myself, I elected to start self-testing immediately because when I was told what my diet should be, I was already eating in that way, and my HbA1c was somewhat higher than yours.
Testing showed me that the starchy carbs, even wholemeal ones, were a bit tricky for my body to cope with, and they drove my blood scores up to levels that started to explain my HbA1c. I trimmed them back, and some I just eliminated because I didn't enjoy them enough when I saw the numbers they gave me. That pretty much did it for me.
If you're able to afford it, I'd probably suggest you invest for a while and just see what's going on. You needn't test forever, but at 48/49 it might not take much to get your numbers down, if you can pinpoint your personal culprits.
On your Cholesterol, as
@andcol suggests, the total number only tells a small part of the story. You really need to know the underlying elements. Many folks, but not everyone, finds as they get their diet in great shape their cholesterol situation improves. Personally, I have finally managed to agree with my GP that my Total Cholesterol is an inconveniently large number (6.5), but my good elements are exceptionally good, which makes the adding up a nonsense. It might be an idea to understand the underlying elements, as you go along. Your surgery should be able to supply this information, although, unhelpfully, they're not always tested.
Good luck with it all.