Gerry Brooke looks back on gang fights at Weston, football hooliganism, parking plans and Ian Botham's baby

This was the year when the Queen celebrated her Silver Jubilee with numerous public engagements and August was the month when the nation celebrated with street parties and other jollifications.

But what else was happening?

Well, many holiday makers bound for Spain from Bristol airport found themselves grounded by a combination of a European air traffic control dispute and rigid crew rest schedules.

Aircraft bringing people home were stuck in Spain and outbound passengers were told to expect "indefinite" delays.

It was a great start to the Bank Holiday.

The Post was also reporting on a battle between rival gangs of Teddy Boys and Punk Rockers at Weston in which policemen were attacked and threatened at knife point.

A special police squad had been forced to move in and break up fighting near a sea front shelter.

There was also trouble with Bristol FC fans who had been behaving badly in Leicester before a First Division match.

As well as fighting amongst themselves shoppers were terrorised and police attacked.

Eight Bristol supporters were arrested and eight ejected from the ground.

A further eight were treated for injuries at Leicester Royal Infirmary.

Leicester police said the trouble started when a coach load of Bristol supporters, arriving early for the game at 11am, went into a city centre pub.

On their way to the ground, said police, they jostled shoppers and chanted.

And just to prove that good - and bad - ideas never seem to go away Avon County planners, then the highway authority for the Bristol area, were being asked to look at ideas for controlling private commercial parking.

The scheme, which originated with the Department of Transport (DOT), would mean car-using workers would need a paying permit to use spaces in office or factory car parks.

Th local authority, said the DOT, would police the scheme and decide the cost and how many permits a business would be allowed.

There were to be two methods of payment - an annual tax on companies for each parking space or pre purchased permits displayed on each vehicle.

Some essential vehicles, said the DOT, would be exempt from the scheme.

But Avon planners decided to reject the idea, much preferring, they said, to use voluntary, rather than statutory, means of solving the city's parking problems.

Lastly, that legendary Somerset cricketer Ian Botham was in the news once more, but not for his sporting prowess.

This time 21 year old Ian and his wife Kathryn were showing off their 8lb 9oz baby son Liam James who had been born in Doncaster Royal Infirmary.

"Liam has big hands so could well turn out to be a cricketer" said Ian, who was out of action at the time because of a fractured bone in his foot.