Things in living memory which seem very anachronistic now

[JD2168]

I don't think there are many (any?) standalone stores any more. As you note they are usually found in Sainsbury's stores.

There is one at Meadowhall which is well used

 

[Statto]

Speaking of Argos, anyone remember the rival Index, very similar set up to Argos, that Index ended up being bought by Argos when Index went belly up

Index (retailer) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Dr Hoo]

There is one at Meadowhall which is well used

Hmm… I went to that last week and it was completely devoid of customers. (It’s at the very far end of one of the Meadowhall ‘sprigs’.) And it didn’t do what I was looking for, at any price.

Back home, onto Amazon and item delivered to the middle of the Peak District the following day on normal service.

 

[SHD]

It may have been already mentioned, but Usenet groups such as... uk.railway or fr.misc.transport.rail

 

[GordonT]

Police stations, often well staffed, in fairly small towns. This thought was inspired by being surprised to see a functioning and prominent police station whilst visiting Aviemore earlier today - albeit its staffing hours were fairly restricted.
And on an entirely different topic the Nintendo Wii home video console.

 

[GusB]

Police stations, often well staffed, in fairly small towns. This thought was inspired by being surprised to see a functioning and prominent police station whilst visiting Aviemore earlier today - albeit its staffing hours were fairly restricted.

Aviemore makes sense as it's fairly central within the area it covers; Inverness is just a bit too far away. I'm not absolutely certain, but I'd imagine that there are a few traffic patrol vehicles operating from there.

It's changed days from when there was a small station in my village, though. 222 was the telephone number until six-figure numbers arrived!

And on an entirely different topic the Nintendo Wii home video console.

I have two of those, neither of which is used.

 

[PeterC]

Might have been mentioned before, but IIRC the original Nat West machines (about 1972/73 ish) only gave a set amount, (£10 or £20 perhaps?) and kept the card, it came back to you through the post a few days later. Maybe a security feature in case it was nicked?

The original machines dispensed an envelope containing £10. The account details were printed on the punch card. This was treated as a cashed cheque in the clearing system. The machine itself had no record of transactions.

Lloyds first mag stripe ATMs had to be online which limited use as there was a huge batch processing window overnight. Natwest went for 24 hour offline processing with a floor limit. Transactions were recorded on cassette and uploaded daily

 

[SargeNpton]

The fads for...

Nouvelle Cuisine: small portions, prettily presented, and with inflated prices.

Beaujolais Nouveau: Yuppies and Hooray Henry's racing to bring the first bottles back from France of a, not very decent, wine.

 

[Trackman]

It may have been already mentioned, but Usenet groups such as... uk.railway or fr.misc.transport.rail

I used to read it on google usenet groups or something similar. (yahoo!groups)?
Usenet is still going, I'm guessing you have to pay for it now.

 

[Silent]

The sticky transparent wallet like thing on the wall behind the drivers cab.
I also don't think blue lights are a thing on modern buses, I mean, as in used as a main light. I wonder if it was thought that too bright bus lighting would affect the drivers focus or something.

 

[GordonT]

The prevalence at one time of family dwellings which promoted themselves using a board in a front window as Bed and Breakfast establishments. Not exclusively a feature of holiday resorts by any means.

 

[najaB]

I also don't think blue lights are a thing on modern buses, I mean, as in used as a main light. I wonder if it was thought that too bright bus lighting would affect the drivers focus or something.

Perhaps not on local buses, but still quite common on coaches. And yes, I believe the worry was that bright interior lights might cause drivers to miss things outside. (Or not miss them!)

 

[PeterC]

Police stations, often well staffed, in fairly small towns. This thought was inspired by being surprised to see a functioning and prominent police station whilst visiting Aviemore earlier today - albeit its staffing hours were fairly restricted.
And on an entirely different topic the Nintendo Wii home video console.

And vanishing when I was barely out of my teens police houses with accommodation for a couple of families with a small office attached.

Come to that all sorts of employment related accommodation such as nurses homes.

 

[D6130]

And vanishing when I was barely out of my teens police houses with accommodation for a couple of families with a small office attached.

Come to that all sorts of employment related accommodation such as nurses homes.

....and occupied railway cottages.

 

[Tester]

....and occupied railway cottages.

When I started work for BR in 1972, a feature of the depot notice board was railway owned accommodation for rent - always specifying the maximum occupancy (which often included a 1/2).

 

[AM9]

And vanishing when I was barely out of my teens police houses with accommodation for a couple of families with a small office attached.

I was reminded of those during a recent visit to Beamish Museum in June. In the '50s' town there is a '50s style row of houses with two joined by a simple one-room police office with a counter. For those among us with acute nostalgia who've not yet been there it is well worth recharging the brain with memories.

 

[Killingworth]

I was reminded of those during a recent visit to Beamish Museum in June. In the '50s' town there is a '50s style row of houses with two joined by a simple one-room police office with a counter. For those among us with acute nostalgia who've not yet been there it is well worth recharging the brain with memories.

In the 1950s living over all types of shops was very much normal. A friend of my father was appointed to manage a bank* branch in Blyth in the centre of the town with a 2 storey flat above the office, backing onto a shipyard. We were invited to look round.

Today very many shops are below potential living accommodation that is often semi derelict and unused.

(*I note that bank closed it's Blyth branch some time ago and there's now a Blyth Workspace with a Community Banker every Monday.)

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

I also don't think blue lights are a thing on modern buses, I mean, as in used as a main light. I wonder if it was thought that too bright bus lighting would affect the drivers focus or something.

Perhaps not on local buses, but still quite common on coaches. And yes, I believe the worry was that bright interior lights might cause drivers to miss things outside. (Or not miss them!)

I believe the concern was about drivers being distracted by reflections of the internal lighting on the windscreen. This was much more likely on flat glass hence the use of curved windscreens on many bus designs to mitigate this. The alternative was having a sloping windscreen: the Wright Handybus had a particularly obvious slope and it was a long time standard feature of Dutch urban buses.

 

[najaB]

I don't think there are many (any?) standalone stores any more. As you note they are usually found in Sainsbury's stores.

Interestingly, Argos is about to change hands again:

Sainsbury's has agreed to sell Argos for £120m as the supermarket chain aims to focus on its core food business.

Sainsbury's said it would be "business as usual" for customers, staff, and suppliers. Shoppers will see no change as Argos will still operate in Sainsbury's shops, sell Habitat products, and offer Nectar points.

The buyer, Swift Partners, is a company which has been created to buy the brand and includes former Co-operative Group boss Richard Pennycook.

There are Argos 667 shops across the UK, with 201 operating as standalone stores and 466 operating within Sainsbury's. It also has more than 450 collection points.

Swift Partners' Pennycook said he believed "strongly in Argos's future and see real opportunities to invest and build on its progress".

Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpw9yrl4p2qo

It will be interesting to see if the number of locations outside of Sainsbury's shops increases.

 

[BeeBus]

Argos was a re-incarnation of the Green Shield stamps redemption shops. Trading stamps certainly seem anachronistic now.

 

[najaB]

Argos was a re-incarnation of the Green Shield stamps redemption shops. Trading stamps certainly seem anachronistic now.

Indeed. Loyalty schemes (eg. Tesco Clubcard) give similar benefit to the customer (basically money back later) but give the company way more information about your spending habits.

Hence I get money off coupons for things that I buy regularly, but not for things I buy every week since they figure I'll buy those things anyway.

 

[Sonic1234]

Loyalty schemes (eg. Tesco Clubcard) give similar benefit to the customer (basically money back later) but give the company way more information about your spending habits.

Hence the move away from stamped loyalty cards to apps in the major coffee chains.

 

[GordonT]

Traditional bus "Checking Inspectors" in full uniform including hat, boarding buses to check all tickets and passes with the authority to "book" drivers for ticket irregularities, early running, deficiencies in their uniform etc. as well as answer questions and note comments or complaints from passengers.

 

[OhNoAPacer]

Traditional bus "Checking Inspectors" in full uniform including hat, boarding buses to check all tickets and passes with the authority to "book" drivers for ticket irregularities, early running, deficiencies in their uniform etc. as well as answer questions and note comments or complaints from passengers.

As well as these I remember in Whitehaven bus station there was an Inspectors office. If they saw a bus was going to be overloaded they would very often put a special on.

 

[DelW]

Not so much "in living memory" as still just about around :

On Friday I took a faulty hi-fi amplifier into a local electronics repair shop to see if it can be resuscitated. Despite their working with electronics, my details and those of the amplifier and its fault, weren't recorded on a tablet or a laptop. Instead they were handwritten in a triplicate book, with the top copy handed to me as a record. Very old school!

 

[GusB]

Not so much "in living memory" as still just about around :

On Friday I took a faulty hi-fi amplifier into a local electronics repair shop to see if it can be resuscitated. Despite their working with electronics, my details and those of the amplifier and its fault, weren't recorded on a tablet or a laptop. Instead they were handwritten in a triplicate book, with the top copy handed to me as a record. Very old school!

If it ain't broke...

No doubt there will be some people here who are screaming "Luddite" or "refusenik", but if a system still works as intended, why change it?

 

[DelW]

If it ain't broke...

No doubt there will be some people here who are screaming "Luddite" or "refusenik", but if a system still works as intended, why change it?

I was quite happy with it too! The company's name on my top copy was put on with a rubber stamp and an ink pad, too, which must be pretty rare these days I think.

 

[Ediswan]

I was quite happy with it too! The company's name on my top copy was put on with a rubber stamp and an ink pad, too, which must be pretty rare these days I think.

Did the place smell of hot valve equipment ?

 

[DelW]

Did the place smell of hot valve equipment ?

Not while I was there, but some chunky looking amps and speakers were being loaded into a van by a couple of roadie-looking guys!

 

[WesternLancer]

I was quite happy with it too! The company's name on my top copy was put on with a rubber stamp and an ink pad, too, which must be pretty rare these days I think.

And I bet this system is robust too.