Remember when ... 30 years ago from Supply and demand, now and then
THIS YEAR saw the second worst May in 30 years for the UK’s car industry with the number of new cars registered during the month down over 20% compared with May 2021. Unsurprisingly the worst was May 2020 when the country was in the midst of the first coronavirus lockdown. Apparently the decline is due to worldwide shortages of such components as semiconductors, microchips and wiring looms reducing the number of new cars being produced despite many dealerships having bulging orderbooks and customers waiting many months for deliveries. The third worst May was in 1992, even though the Chancellor Norman Lamont had cut car tax in his March budget. The country was in the throes of an economic recession and people were facing threats of short-time working, unemployment and house repossessions by mortgage lenders. It was demand for new cars, not the supply, that had plummeted. In the July 1992 Visitor car dealers were advertising all manner of incentives to encourage people to buy, such as finance deals as low as 3.9%pa (that’s an APR of just 7.6%), free fully-comprehensive insurance for a year and free AA membership. The models being heavily promoted included Peugeot’s 106 Graduate and 205 Zest and the Rover Metro Quest, Seat Marbella, Mitsubishi Colt and Ford Fiesta Freestyle – names that might rekindle memories for older readers.
No expense spared or revealed
The July 1992 Visitor previewed ‘Somerset’s newest family show on a 300 acre site’. The Great 32 THE VISITOR July 2022
Somerset County Steam Fair 1992 was scheduled for 29th July till 2nd August at Brains Farm, half a mile from Wincanton just off the A303 and with free parking for more than 10,000 cars. ‘Around 75 beautifully restored traction engines have been gathered for your pleasure, many of them working hard just as they did in days gone by: threshing straw, sawing wood, crushing stone and powering old-time fairground rides are just some of the long lost sights you can witness for yourself,’ the article enthused, adding that ‘vintage tractors, horse-driven drays and vintage cars and lorries will be there in their hundreds’. Details were given of opening times, entertainments, creche and medical facilities, but no mention was made of admission prices. No mention of them either in the accompanying advert for the event.
Books battle recession
‘Gillingham residents can now benefit from the services of a good bookshop – right on their doorstep.’ So said the Visitor in reporting that ‘Castle Cary bookshop owner Peter Booth recently opened the Gillingham Bookshop at the top of Station Road near the Post Office’ – a brave move in view of the country’s economic woes. According to the report the new shop stocks ‘a comprehensive range of children’s books, local books, maps and guides, along with new fiction paperbacks and general reference books’ and concludes that ‘a good bookshop is an asset to any town and with the response generated so far the Gillingham Bookshop is obviously a very welcome one’.
Cheap alternative to costly coolers
In the Spring of 1992 Visitorland was blessed with glorious weather. On the gardening page of the July issue Vicky Pitman wrote that ‘the last few weeks of hot Mediterranean weather have sent me to the garden frequently in search of summer coolers.’ One of her favourite beverages is mint tea and she gives her recipe for enjoying it cold. ‘I brew a pot of tea and add a sprig of mint and also some lemon and if possible a touch of pineapple juice and some sugar. I leave it to brew only a short while else it becomes too strong, then I store it in the refrigerator and bring it out when the heat is really on.’ She adds that ‘the elder flowers this year have been spectacular, a bumper crop’ and hopes that readers have been gathering them to dry for later use. Elder Flower Cordial made with the blossoms plus
archives limes and lemons is, she claims, excellent for warding off any sign of cold or flu.
Medieval Christmas in July
Incongruous in the sweltering heat was the news in the July Visitor that the Fountain Inn at Shaftesbury was now taking bookings for Christmas. According to the advertisement the pub’s skittle alley will be transformed with two trestle tables and a mock fireplace into ‘a traditional medieval banqueting hall’ and it is ‘available for parties of between 12 and 32 people’. The cost at £12 per head includes ‘live traditional music and a feast’ which includes soup, a whole turkey per table, jacket potatoes, fresh vegetables and traditional desserts and pies. Apparently ‘jugs of wine and barrels of real ale can be laid on at an additional fee’. They sure knew how to enjoy themselves 30 years ago! Roger Richards.
