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Heavy rain later in the month ends the drought and Eric Morecombe dies as successful negotiations are completed for the sale of the Comart Group and I retire my Managing Director-ships and Chairmanship of the BMMG whilst I organise the first family boat trip of the season and Diana struggles on uncomfortably with her pregnancy as the Miners’ Strike turns nasty and this, and the Iran/Iraq Gulf War and attacks on oil tankers, causes biggest ever falls on the world stock exchanges and a possible banking crisis
A month that began with the negotiations to purchase the UEH/Brammer Byte Shop option and ended with the deal to sell Comart to Kode being done in principle with all of the subsequent Peat Marwick investigations and arrangements being well in hand and a meal at The Savoy Grill to celebrate it. I had written and accepted my own resignation, reorganised the group, appointing the three subsidiary Managing Directors, promoting others and securing a new Head Office building to allow the necessary space for company expansion plans all as some executives, such as David Fear, cannot survive. We still secure a near £200K DTI grant and conduct a very successful London press briefing I also meet the College of Arms herald to agree my new armorial design for its award and retire from the BMMG chairmanship.
Debbie had started the month with her first day at school and then pulls the new TV down on top of herself but enjoys her bank holiday birthday party and some walks with me. Daniel does badly in his school parent evening interviews and prefers his computer games! We prepare the Lady and rebuild our landing stages for the season and then I walk to Buckden to collect it and we take it for a Bank Holiday weekend cruise to St Ives and back in the rain but then sunny and warm weather returns afterwards! Diana becomes increasingly uncomfortable from loss of sleep with her discomfort from the pregnancy. A very dry month of drought ending up with heavy rain.
The Libyan siege aftermath proved that the lady PC had been shot from within, Labour make major council gains, the Miner’s strike grows in both scale, implications and acrimony as the NUR and TGWU comes out in sympathy with missiles thrown, riot shields used and police horses charging the pickets. This, and the Iran/Iraq Gulf War and attacks on oil tankers, causes biggest ever falls on the world stock exchanges and a possible banking crisis as British Leyland close their Bathgate Truck and Leeds Bus Plants. A Majorcan coash crash kills holidaymakers and the Russians withdraw from the forthcoming Los Angeles Olympics. The IRA are still bombing security targets. Spurs and Liverpool win their respective European competitions. Eric Morecombe follows fellow stage comedian Tommy Cooper and dies on stage.