These times brought me a new baby daughter, a fortune and a change of life-style
These times brought me a new baby daughter, a fortune and a change of life-style

We have thus also ended a decade which was perhaps the most significant in my life. In the early 80's I had been working hard at my business, Comart, and in 1983, the IBM personal computer had been launched and was carrying all before it in America and promising to do the same here. I was struggling to hold together fellow-members of the BMMG and was unsure that my fellow executives in Comart had the talent, experience and dedication to help me manage Comart through another difficult transition of product development and market re-entry.

Expecting our third child, I was philosophical and looking for a change of pace of life. Elsewhere in 1983 we had seen a year of strange weather patterns with the British February gales that felled millions of trees and Ethiopian droughts that threatened millions of people. Bush fires in Australia and tragic Italian cinema and cable-car accidents and rising shooting incidents in the U.K. Union-bashing was then the norm with Murdoch and Wapping as one example and the Miner's Strike another.

Thatcher had won another term after the Falklands euphoria and was gradually introducing more-and-more extreme policies. We had the "benefit" of the first year of breakfast television.

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1984 was the year that brought me a new baby daughter, a fortune and a change of life-style. The end of an era for me of entrepreneurial endeavour as I had become disillusioned with the industrial and political policies and could earn more money from interest-bearing accounts than industry. Then, mother was in Papworth, hoping for a heart operation early in the new year and dad spent Christmas with us. Freda was recovering from her own operation and we had helped her financially. The microcomputer industry was increasingly dominated by IBM making my decision a good one. The world was spiraling down under deflationary policies and I felt that my counsel did not suit the mood of the age. In 1985, I had finished 80% of the work in completing The Hayling View but we were all in dust with coughs and colds as we waited for the enabling 20%! Daniel was settling better into his school work. Mum had her heart operation but was now plagued with hip problems. My own back strain had healed after a period of special exercises recommended by the therapist. I had worked on in the computer industry in a voluntary capacity but then stopped going to trade shows and became fully retired. Freda was in the throes of another house move. The country was ever-more divided into the "haves" and "have nots" by Thatcher policies but the EEC was on the eve of welcoming Spain and Portugal as Gorbachev started his campaign of international diplomacy and nuclear arms reforms by having talks with U.S. President Reagan. By 1986, these hopes were foundering a little over American intransigence and there were unresolved conflicts in the Middle East, India and China. The disruption of our house improvements was over and now we had our swimming pool and riverside gardens and a new Range Rover to match with a new Jaguar/Daimler arriving soon after. My History of Little Paxton was under-way and I had become "Lord of the Lintons". Debbie was top of her school class and Daniel was making good school progress. Mum and Dad were suffering with a bout of 'Flu and Mum was depressed and hoping to have another hip operation to remove the pain. Freda's Alf had his operation to remove a cancer from his back. It was extensive but this was just as well. Freda herself was retiring sick from her nursing career with thrombosis of her leg and daughter Stacey was having acute asthma and allergies. World 1986 disasters included the crash of the U.S. Challenger Space Shuttle that reminded Americans that they were not invincible. Reagan's popularity fell as he also stumbled over Libya, then Iran and Nicaragua and Congress turned against him. Ex-Prime Minister Harold McMillan sadly died after many months of speaking out against Thatcherism. Monetary Policy is thankfully dead but the Tory Chanceller was engineering a transparently-obvious boom-let to prepare the ground for a General Election. 1987 started with a bitterly cold freeze-up in January and Terry Waite was kidnapped in Beruit. It was then a record 75F in April, the hottest April day for 38 years. Earnest Saunders was disgraced in the Guiness scandal which was to be the first of many city problems. A record £24M for a painting was paid for Van Gogh's "Sunflowers". It was another year of disasters such as the sinking of the Herald of Free Enterprise; the October Hurricane winds that felled thousands of trees and with it the similar collapse of the Stock Exchange; the Michael Ryan mass killings in Hungerford; the U.S. frigate "Stark" being hit by missiles in the Gulf and Britain was drawn in to send mine-sweepers; U.S. President Reagan had to appear on T.V. to admit his role in the Irangate affair and "Olly" North became a folk hero as a result. Thus humbled, Reagan felt he had to sign the deal with Russia for a 50% arms reduction which was good news. I was elected a local Parish and District Councillor with a landslide majority and this, plus my recent book, seems to have the beneficial effect of bringing back an improved sense of local community spirit.  Thatcher had timed her June election well and had got away with it by winning with a large majority as popularity peaked for the S.D.P. and Alliance and divided the political opposition. The Nissan car plant was set up in Tees-side. For us, we had glorious holidays in Norfolk and California as compensations. The weather was making the news again in 1988 as it ended with the mildest December for 40 years as our conservatory was completed and I was heavily involved with handyman jobs. It had been a good family year but my book had suffered as a result but my Dad, who had just had his first ear operation, was then hoping for complete recovery after he and Mum had just stayed for a nice Christmas with us. Freda and Alf had gone off again into the wilderness, still further from contact and visiting range. I had added the hobby of Classic Cars to my list and was now the proud owner of an old Rolls Royce and a 1939 Reliant. And then this year of 1989 that brought the successful publication of my book, Della's first days at school, Debbie's pony and Daniel's driving debut. The glorious Norfolk Holidays with the best temperatures for 150 years which made us decide to buy Heronshaw. But also the trauma of my Dad's lingering death from Cancer and much family upheaval and the Hillsborough football tragedy. The good news from the reforms in Eastern Europe and the discovery of our dream boat ended the year on a more positive note again, but for us the 1980's have certainly been a very memorable decade.

As for the future, I am looking forward to getting a marine VHF license, familiarity with our new craft and thence the chance to take the family on a few coastal trips. Daniel has his mock "A" level exams, his driving test and then his exams for real later in the year. We have to sort out Debbie's riding arrangements and prepare Della for entry onto the Kimbolton Prep treadmill. My Mum now seems settled but will need constant watching and my Sister and family are rather beyond our range. I have to lay down plans for getting Heronshaw back to rights and will spend the minimum amount of time on local affairs as I can without letting my colleagues down.