Things in living memory which seem very anachronistic now

[AM9]

Until digital switchover and so on, it was possible for places in the Shetlands to pick up Norwegian and Swedish TV signals as well as BBC and STV

There would be an issue picking up broadcasts from Norway/Sweden on a UK spec TV, - there would be no sound as the Scandinavian nations used PAL B (VHF) and PAL G (UHF) which both have 5.5MHz intercarrier sound whereas PAL I, as adopted by the UK had a 6MHz intercarrier sound.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I think companies realised that they make more money when stuff doesn't last as long. I've also heard with computers and stuff it's easier to manufacture something to only last as long as they plan it to last.

They do - but unlike @D6130 I think you missed my reference... so I guess you're one of the younger ( = under 50 ) members of the forum...?

 

[DelW]

They do - but unlike @D6130 I think you missed my reference... so I guess you're one of the younger ( = under 50 ) members of the forum...?

Probably he's safe if he isn't a grandfather

 

[EYFanatic]

There would be an issue picking up broadcasts from Norway/Sweden on a UK spec TV, - there would be no sound as the Scandinavian nations used PAL B (VHF) and PAL G (UHF) which both have 5.5MHz intercarrier sound whereas PAL I, as adopted by the UK had a 6MHz intercarrier sound.

No... As I understand it, sound could not be heard but you could get the pictures

I believe Blue Peter did a piece about it a good few years ago before the switch

 

[GordonT]

The days when what was termed profane language, on a sustained basis, was largely expected to be confined to specific communal environments such as working men's clubs and the staff mess rooms in some localities. Now with many of the "profanities" (itself arguably an anachronistic word) having lost their potency through more frequent use, there are far fewer physical boundaries to hearing their use, including within loud conversations between members of staff well within earshot of customers in, for example, retail and public transport environments.

 

[Silent]

They do - but unlike @D6130 I think you missed my reference... so I guess you're one of the younger ( = under 50 ) members of the forum...?

Things don't last as long as ones life again.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 7 Mar 2026 ==

The days when what was termed profane language, on a sustained basis, was largely expected to be confined to specific communal environments such as working men's clubs and the staff mess rooms in some localities. Now with many of the "profanities" (itself arguably an anachronistic word) having lost their potency through more frequent use, there are far fewer physical boundaries to hearing their use, including within loud conversations between members of staff well within earshot of customers in, for example, retail and public transport environments.

I am imagining the Internet and the smartphone kind of helped do this as of maybe killed or changed the concept of third places. And maybe that also killed or changed our sense of boundaries regarding certain social topics???

 

[The exile]

Probably he's safe if he isn't a grandfather

Have a press of the non-existent “like” button.

 

[dgl]

No... As I understand it, sound could not be heard but you could get the pictures

I believe Blue Peter did a piece about it a good few years ago before the switch

I bet some TV's were multistandard so only one model needed to be produced and as such would have worked, given that English programs showed in the Nordics are generally just subtitled there might have been an advantage to also having an aerial on Norway/Sweden and a compatible TV.

You can still get radio from other countries on VHF, in Weymouth we've even got the station name to display via RDS.

Another thing that used to happen was Radio 1, at least, having some opt-outs for Wales, because of this some relays, Chard in Somerset as an example, relayed Wenvoe near Cardiff for radio 2, 3 and 4 but used North Hessary Tor on Dartmoor for radio 1.
Some TV relays also had different regions for BBC and ITV/C4.

Another TV related thing that probably wouldn't be done in such a complex way now was the live TV link from England to Germany for the British troops that were stationed out there. Instead of a satellite link it was all done with point to point microwave links, there must have been a fair few microwave relays the signals passed through.

 

[cool110]

Another TV related thing that probably wouldn't be done in such a complex way now was the live TV link from England to Germany for the British troops that were stationed out there. Instead of a satellite link it was all done with point to point microwave links, there must have been a fair few microwave relays the signals passed through.

Perhaps not for TV, but point to point microwave links are still used today. Mainly as the backhaul for mobile phone masts and things like financial networks where satellite delay is unacceptable.

 

[dgl]

Perhaps not for TV, but point to point microwave links are still used today. Mainly as the backhaul for mobile phone masts and things like financial networks where satellite delay is unacceptable.

Of course, but for getting TV half way across Europe either satellite or fibre would be used now. Of course that was how domestic TV distribution was done for most main sites, everywhere else using off-air reception that was generally transpose before rebroadcast (there were some active deflector sites and now some sites that utilise a single frequency network (DAB does this a lot) to allow a site to use the same frequency as another one in the area.)
For financial networks even HF is used.

 

[Harpo]

many of the "profanities" (itself arguably an anachronistic word) having lost their potency through more frequent use

Broadcasters now seem to warn of ‘swearing’ or ‘strong swearing’ with ‘offensive’ reserved for derogatory terms that were once used pre-watershed but are now unacceptable at any time.

The watershed itself might even seem to be an anachronism now?

 

[EYFanatic]

The watershed itself might even seem to be an anachronism now?

It might be, but its still enforced somewhat heavily by OfCom... I believe C4 got an exception a few years ago to show frontal nudity before 9pm on the grounds the show was non sexual in nature and was promoting health and education

 

[WesternLancer]

Probably been mentioned before but newsagents.

Or shops that sell any kind of physical newspaper.

I found out how difficult it was to find one in a modest sized town centre recently when trying to buy papers with Northern Trains current day ranger voucher offer vouchers in them. This requires hard copy newspapers, mostly local papers.

But most shops I went into that would once have stocked papers now don’t do so.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Probably been mentioned before but newsagents.

Or shops that sell any kind of physical newspaper.

I found out how difficult it was to find one in a modest sized town centre recently when trying to buy papers with Northern Trains current day ranger voucher offer vouchers in them. This requires hard copy newspapers, mostly local papers.

But most shops I went into that would once have stocked papers now don’t do so.

If there's a little Tesco or a Co-op there's probably a tray just inside near the doors for any free local newspapers.

 

[WesternLancer]

If there's a little Tesco or a Co-op there's probably a tray just inside near the doors for any free local newspapers.

Yes that’s the case. But hardly any stock in them really. In one case I was looking for a weekly paper the day after publication and was told ‘we usually have a few looks like sold out. ‘
They aren’t free though.

 

[DelW]

Broadcasters now seem to warn of ‘swearing’ or ‘strong swearing’ with ‘offensive’ reserved for derogatory terms that were once used pre-watershed but are now unacceptable at any time.

Though conversely some warnings seem to be of maiden-aunt standard. Yesterday an article on the BBC website warned me that I might encounter offensive language further down the article. As far as I could see this was a single "sh*t" (will that get through the forum filter?), which, while unpleasant, is hardly strong by current standards.

Probably been mentioned before but newsagents.

Or shops that sell any kind of physical newspaper.

I found out how difficult it was to find one in a modest sized town centre recently when trying to buy papers with Northern Trains current day ranger voucher offer vouchers in them. This requires hard copy newspapers, mostly local papers.

But most shops I went into that would once have stocked papers now don’t do so.

My local Stagecoach buses have a tray of physical "Metro" papers just inside the doors. Though based on the last time I looked at one, calling it a newspaper may be a bit optimistic.

 

[GordonT]

Pre-internet and pre-privatisation days when it would be unheard of for a passenger of Indian Railways to address an enquiry or complaint to a similarly named railway organisation in England. Nowadays, courtesy of X (formerly Twitter), the likes of South Eastern Railways, England quite often receives X traffic which they then have to forward on to their counterparts in South Eastern Railways, India and vice versa. Twitter is absolute bedlam, albeit it's quite amusing that "our" South Eastern finds itself occasionally being asked to apologise for 200 years of imperial transport confusion thereby accidentally being given some insight into the bureaucratic burdens of the Raj.

 

[Howardh]

Not sure if my memory is playing tricks, but I'm sure at primary in the 60's - as part of the curriculum - my school ran it's own "savings bank" so if you put some of your pocket money in, you would get slightly more out (interest) at the end of the term; to encourage saving? Anyone else confirm this?? Or has my memory lost the plot?!!

 

[Amos]

Not sure if my memory is playing tricks, but I'm sure at primary in the 60's - as part of the curriculum - my school ran it's own "savings bank" so if you put some of your pocket money in, you would get slightly more out (interest) at the end of the term; to encourage saving? Anyone else confirm this?? Or has my memory lost the plot?!!

Still going in the early 80s.TSB used to come to our school every Monday morning.

 

[Killingworth]

Not sure if my memory is playing tricks, but I'm sure at primary in the 60's - as part of the curriculum - my school ran it's own "savings bank" so if you put some of your pocket money in, you would get slightly more out (interest) at the end of the term; to encourage saving? Anyone else confirm this?? Or has my memory lost the plot?!!

Yorkshire Penny Bank, which became the Yorkshire Bank, were very active in promoting school banks, as were local Savings Banks that meged into the TSB. Not sure when they stopped.

 

[Howardh]

Still going in the early 80s.TSB used to come to our school every Monday morning.

Yorkshire Penny Bank, which became the Yorkshire Bank, were very active in promoting school banks, as were local Savings Banks that meged into the TSB. Not sure when they stopped.

Thanks! I'm so relieved I wasn't making it up! Didn't realise it was actual banks rather than the school bursar although the former might be a safer haven than the latter!

 

[Peter Mugridge]

We had a "school bank" at my ( boarding ) school, which was administered by one of the teaching staff and while we had training material provided by the Midland Bank ( a prime subject for this thread! ) and the school had special cheque books and paying in slips for us to use the school bank with, it never paid any interest!!

 

[GusB]

Not sure if my memory is playing tricks, but I'm sure at primary in the 60's - as part of the curriculum - my school ran it's own "savings bank" so if you put some of your pocket money in, you would get slightly more out (interest) at the end of the term; to encourage saving? Anyone else confirm this?? Or has my memory lost the plot?!!

Still going in the early 80s. TSB used to come to our school every Monday morning.

Financial transactions took place on a Monday morning in my primary school (early 80s). First of all, those who always had school dinners paid up front and would be issued a "dinner ticket" each day. Those who required school dinners on an ad-hoc basis could buy on the day.

Secondly, money was collected from those who had savings accounts - the cash went into a yellow TSB bag and was collected in the afternoon (by the school secretary, if I remember correctly). I always thought that it was the headmaster who took it to the bank in town, although I may be wrong. I seem to remember that every now and again the savings books had to be brought in to be updated; they were about 4"x3" in size. I wasn't part of the scheme, so I never really understood what was going on!

 

[GordonT]

The radio programme "The Archers" first broadcast in 1951 is celebrating its 75th anniversary. My late mother dipped in and out of it in the 1960s-1990s but it was of no interest to me. Since then (in Scotland) I have never heard anyone - extended family, friends, work colleagues or any other acquaintances refer to the programme. Not once. Yet it clearly has a following since it still survives. Is it anachronistic, however?

 

[Harpo]

The radio programme "The Archers" first broadcast in 1951 is celebrating its 75th anniversary. My late mother dipped in and out of it in the 1960s-1990s but it was of no interest to me.

Yes! The race to the off button - Dum te dum te dum te dum - click.....

 

[Tester]

Yes! The race to the off button - Dum te dum te dum te dum - click.....

I suspect that more people can relate to that than to listening

 

[jfollows]

Yes! The race to the off button - Dum te dum te dum te dum - click.....

Absolutely!
Usually following the World at One with William Hardcastle, I think, my mother and I both ran to turn it off.

 

[Killingworth]

The Archers, an every day story of country folk. Transmitted twice a day 6 days a week with additional podcasts and still running after 75 years with 5 million listeners.

Dan and Doris wouldn't recognise the Ambridge of today. By surviving so long and still listened to by so many, yes, it must be an anachronism.

 

[WesternLancer]

The radio programme "The Archers" first broadcast in 1951 is celebrating its 75th anniversary. My late mother dipped in and out of it in the 1960s-1990s but it was of no interest to me. Since then (in Scotland) I have never heard anyone - extended family, friends, work colleagues or any other acquaintances refer to the programme. Not once. Yet it clearly has a following since it still survives. Is it anachronistic, however?

Isn’t there a Scottish equivalent Take The High Road or something?

Never heard anyone in England mention that

 

[PeterC]

Not sure if my memory is playing tricks, but I'm sure at primary in the 60's - as part of the curriculum - my school ran it's own "savings bank" so if you put some of your pocket money in, you would get slightly more out (interest) at the end of the term; to encourage saving? Anyone else confirm this?? Or has my memory lost the plot?!!

IIRC mine sold savings stamps. I didn't participate as I had a TSB savings account.

Savings stamps are another thing that are long gone