England

Around London

The people, places, sights and sounds that make the capital unique

Around Yorkshire

Explore the county with everything from charm schools to nudist beaches

Nairn Across Britain - From London to Lancashire

Writer and journalist Ian Nairn takes a journey to the industrial North.

Nairn Across Britain - Trans-Pennine Canal

Ian Nairn travels by boat along the canal across the Pennines.

Nairn Across Britain - From Leeds into Scotland

Ian Nairn travels by rail to Scotland to complete his series of journeys.

Waiting For Work, 1963

Jack Ashley's film shows the suffering caused by high unemployment in Hartlepool

A Passion For Churches

John Betjeman visits various churches in the Diocese of Norwich.

1940s

Cockle collecting at Leigh-on-Sea, 1948

BBC Newsreel cameras captured cockle-collectors collecting, carrying, cleaning and cooking cockles at Leigh-on-Sea

Manchester's 'last' tram, 1949

Mancunians said goodbye forever to those "rattling and ungainly monsters", the trams

1950s

Salisbury Cathedral, 1950

In Wiltshire, the tip-top tourist attraction of Britain's tallest spire was getting a bit of a tidy

Cornwall celebrates Festival of Britain, 1951

The May Day celebrations in Padstow heralded the start of the Festival of Britain

Chesterfield's Crooked Spire, 1951

Work was underway to set the Derbyshire town's spire straight. Not entirely straight, mind

Bridging the Severn, 1951

Fans of prestressed concrete, crossing rivers without getting wet and Shrewsbury, this is the piece of archive for you!

Wakes Week in Blackburn, 1957

A tradition where mill towns shut down and thousands of workers head to Blackpool

Thaxted cut off by snow, 1958

"I've never seen anything like it"

Hot dogs on ice, 1959

Dogs are allowed to cool their paws in a Streatham ice rink to escape the summer sun

Harlow - a brand new town

"Just look at what we've got: two dancehalls, a cinema, coffee bars..." Harlow may have been a new town, but was it actually any good?

1960s

Has Scunthorpe sold its soul? 1960

Scunthorpe is either brilliant or rubbish, depending on who you ask

Petticoat Lane Market, 1960

Market traders - this is how it's done

John Mortimer's Hampstead, 1960

The author narrates a short film about the area that inspired his play The Wrong Side of the Park

Brownsea Island, 1962

"Join me in an adventure into the unknown" MacDonald Hastings reported from Brownsea Island, which had been closed to the public for over 20 years

Two Town Mad - Leicester, 1964

"Leicester - it's got a real town life"

Two Town Mad - Nottingham, 1964

"Nottingham's metropolitan airs and graces are reflected everywhere. In the streets, the past lingers on"

Haaf netting, 1965

Tonight goes to Cumbria to learn about a method of fishing unique to the area

Best value bank holiday resorts, 1966

Were English seaside resorts value for money during the August Bank Holiday? BBC reporters took 50 bob to Blackpool, Great Yarmouth and Torquay to find out

Birmingham nightclubs, 1969

"The perfect place to loosen your collars and your inhibitions, and freak out"

1970s

Dungeness lady lifeboat launchers, 1970

Nationwide reports on a proud institution that Betty, Joan, Doris and company have made their own

The Principality of Sealand, 1970

Bob Wellings is winched up a platform seven miles off the Suffolk coast to meet the first family of Sealand

Wonderful Wigan, 1970

"Natives of Wigan haven't even invented a name for themselves - you never heard of a Wigonian"

Greasbrough's aim for fame, 1971

This working men's club just north of Rotherham aspires to attract top notch artistes

Saltburn's Halfpenny Toll Bridge, 1971

The crossing fought the good fight against inflation, but it has finally had to give in

What is jogging? 1971

A strange new trend from the US appears in Hyde Park, so Nationwide's Bob Wellings heads out to try it

Scarborough window tax, 1971

"He's not entitled to receive light laterally" - a report on a rather unusual form of taxation

Town borders - east or west? - 1971

Bordering on the ridiculous

Rothbury address system, 1971

"You almost need a university education to be a postman in Rothbury"

Northern working men's clubs, 1971

Are you a southern Lord? Want to go to a Geordie Club? You'll have to get past Norman the doorman first

Eyesore - the law of ancient light, 1972

A strange case involving wooden boards, the law of ancient lights and the obstinate and reclusive Miss Day

Moor Row - Datsun City, 1972

Midweek examined why the vehicle of choice for nearly everybody from Moor Row in Cumbria was a Datsun

The Barbican, 1972

This London estate is fine, as long as you don't have kids or need to do any washing or shopping

Hornsea Beach nudists, 1973

Hornsea council decided to allow nudists onto their beach. Obviously this went down well with the locals

Lake District 'fell talk', 1974

The regional dialect in the Lake District proves tricky to decipher for this reporter

Ambleside Bridge House, 1974

The magical story of a house on a bridge, and some very vexed villagers

Visit Oldham, 1976

Planning your summer holiday? Here's something a bit different...

Noddy's stable, 1975

Noddy's luxury Cornish stable comes with all mod cons, and looks suspiciously like a human house

Bristol dialect, 1977

Nationwide has an L of a time studying Bristolian speech

Architecture in Swindon, 1979

Architect Mike Jenner casts a critical eye over 'the Darlington of the south west'

Inspector interrupted, 1979

Locals attempt to tell the truth about nightlife on Plymouth's Union Street

1980s

Covent Garden redevelopment, 1980

A revamp of the old fruit and veg market isn't to everyone's liking

Geordie labels vox pop, 1981

What do the youth of Newcastle upon Tyne think about social labels?

Hoskins' London, 1982

Bob Hoskins takes Barry Norman on a riverside walk to voice his concerns about development

Bristol's 'Wills at one' fashion, 1983

RPM's Tom Archer explored 'Wills at one' where the most dapper university students congregate to see and be seen

Tidy Up Walsall, 1986

Cartoonist Bill Tidy is on a mission from God, to make a light-hearted documentary film about "joke town" Walsall

More archive things

Food and Drink

Some of the very best slices of the BBC's past to get your teeth into

Society and welfare

The changing face of Britain, from lifestyle and culture to law and ethics

War and conflict

Experience life during some of the darkest moments of history