Lost in Words

  The Big Freeze that was the biggest freeze, bringing the country to a standstill.   The winter of 1962–63 is remembered simply as the Big...

  Ashtrays, blue haze, and the smell of cigarette smoke were woven into everyday life. In the 1960s and 70s, smoking was a common activity i...

  Christmas Was Once Banned in Britain It’s strange to imagine, in an age where Christmas seems to start in October, as the shops gear up fo...

      The First World War was unlike anything the world had seen before. A conflict of mud, wire, artillery and unimaginable loss. By winte...

So yes, did you know people really did phone the Speaking Clock  — thousands of calls a day — just to set the time? Another wonderfully pe...

    So yes, did you know that until 1987 , you needed a licence to own a dog  — and it cost 7 shillings ? Another small detail from a time...

  So yes, did you know that for most UK households , central heating didn’t become the norm until the late 1970s? Many of us grew up in c...

  Ever wonder what happened to names like Hilda , Norman , or Enid ? This nostalgic look back explores the once-popular British names that d...

It begins in October, with the sound of a loud bang in the early evening, followed by an occasional whoosh. It tells me Bonfire Night is al...