Page 10 - IT'S A RUM LIFE BOOK FOUR Volume 1 "Northcote 1984 to 1998"

FRUSTRATION
Needless to say, as the months passed, my solicitors managed to make a “pig’s ear” of
their task. As the 12 months came closer I asked them specifically to ensure the drivers
could not sell the lorries. I asked for a court order to be imposed on the vehicles.
All my solicitor managed to do, was obtain an agreement from the driver’s solicitors that
they would not sell the lorries.
I could read their minds. I knew at the bottom of everything they were after the pot of gold.

True to form, at the end of those 12 months the business I had created and had been
taken from me turned to dust. The driver’s solicitors “lost contact with their clients”, the
business ceased to trade and the lorries disappeared from the face of the earth. The final
assets of near £25.000 were gone.

£25.000 in 1983 was a deal of money. The drivers took it, I had lost it and my solicitors had
no defendants to fight.

While all this was going on I had tried to earn a crust doing what I knew best, selling tyres.

I had created a small firm dealing in second-hand commercial tyres.

Throughout the county, all the smaller commercial vehicle operators were trying to keep
their costs down and were keen to save on tyre costs wherever possible. I had old
established contacts in the trade, who could supply me with first class part used Michelin
lorry tyres with several millimetres of tread remaining.
Michelin tyres were and still are the industry standard, very expensive when brand new
and in high demand second-hand.

I travelled my old Firestone sales area, seeking out the smaller lorry operators who would I
knew be prepared to buy what I had to offer.
The business made a crust as it were, supply to me was limited but remained sufficient to
keep head above water while final negotiations for the sale of Ivy House continued.

The whole episode was very traumatic.

THE MORTGAGE
After a few favourable properties were cast aside we settled on Northcote.
Mainly because time was running out and we just had to get out of Ivy House.
The “house” at Northcote was truly tiny but had five acres of land and a few broken down
outbuildings.

Ruth said it was fine for the horses we had managed to keep, but for us it was more than a
test of our endurance!