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British Culture

This third edition of British Culture is the complete introduction to culture and
the arts in Britain today. Extensively illustrated and offering a wider range of
topics than ever before, David P. Christopher identifies and analyses key areas in
language, literature, film, TV, social media, popular music, sport and other fields,
setting each one in a clear, historical context.
British Culture enables students of British society to understand and enjoy a
fascinating range of contemporary arts through an examination of current trends,
such as the influence of business and commerce, the effects of globalisation and
the spread of digital communications. This new edition features:

• fully revised and updated chapters analysing a range of key areas within British
culture;
• new chapters on cyberculture, cultural heritage and festivals;
• extracts from novels and plays.

This student-friendly edition also strengthens reading and study skills through
follow-up activities, weblinks and suggestions for further research, available on
its companion website.
 David P. Christopher’s book is an engaging analysis of contemporary life and arts
and, together with its companion website (www.routledge.com/cw/christopher), is
essential reading for every student of modern Britain.

Formerly Associate Professor at the University of La Rioja, Dr David P. Chris-

topher is a researcher and author in culture, media and language, and collabo-
rates with universities and arts organisations worldwide.
British Culture
An introduction

Third Edition

David P. Christopher
Third edition published 2015
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2015 David Christopher
The right of David Christopher to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
First edition published by Routledge 1999
Second edition published by Routledge 2006
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Christopher, David, 1958–
British culture : an introduction / David P. Christopher. – Third edition.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Great Britain—Civilization—20th century. 2. Great Britain—
Civilization—21st century. 3. Popular culture—Great Britain—
History—20th century. 4. Popular culture—Great Britain—
History—21st century. I. Title.
DA566.4.C46 2015
941.082—dc23
2014042160
ISBN: 978-0-415-81082-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-415-81085-2 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-73724-9 (ebk)

Typeset in Goudy
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
For Alex
This page intentionally left blank
Contents

List of illustrations viii

Acknowledgements xii
Introduction xiii
Timeline xix

1 The social and cultural context 1

2 Language in culture 31

3 Cyberculture 48

4 Newspapers, magazines and journalism 66

5 Literature 85

6 Theatre 115

7 Cinema 138

8 Television and radio 165

9 Art, architecture and design 194

10 Popular music and fashion 231

11 Sport 264

12 Cultural heritage 285

Glossary 309
Index 315
Illustrations

Figures
1.1 A souvenir from English football’s greatest day, the 1966 World
Cup Final. A final united ‘hurrah’ before the strife of the 1970s
and 1980s. 8
1.2 A view of the Docklands financial district; temples of Mammon
and symbols of the 1980s, seen across the River Thames from
the ship Cutty Sark in Greenwich. 15
1.3 ‘Tent City’, which was set up outside St Paul’s Cathedral to
protest against economic inequality and the lack of affordable
housing in the UK in 2011–12. 22
1.4 The Sun newspaper, possibly Mrs Thatcher’s greatest ally during
her time as Prime Minister, says goodbye in April 2012. 25
2.1 A cartoon in the satirical magazine Punch of 1932 illustrates
sociolinguistic change in rural areas following the advent of radio.
Some villagers have begun copying the ‘BBC accent’, believing it
superior. The elderly man in the chair is depicted as comfortably
un-aspirational! Text under the cartoon reads: ‘Tourist. “I suppose
that’s your oldest inhabitant?” Village Schoolmaster. “Yes, Sir.
Quaint survival; quite a period-piece, in fact. The village’s sole
remaining exponent of a pre-B.B.C. accent.”’ 35
2.2 Eats, Shoots & Leaves: the last word in punctuation – and an
unexpected bestseller in 2003. 42
2.3 Language can be an emotive subject. In 2014 members of the
Welsh Language Society protested in Aberystwyth, Wales,
demanding better promotion of Welsh. 44
3.1 Anxiety about the effects of mass media, particularly on women
and children, is not new. This cartoon appeared in the satirical
magazine Punch in 1906, soon after the development of radio
communications. Text under the cartoon reads: ‘IV.–Development
of Wireless Telegraphy. Scene in Hyde Park. (These two figures are
not communicating with one another. The lady is receiving an
amatory message, and the gentleman some racing results.)’ 55
 Illustrations ix
3.2 The lurid colours and content of the GTA cover designs
recall fairground and pinball art of the 1960s. 61
3.3 Lara Croft ready for action. 64
4.1 Many people still buy their press at a newsagent’s or have it
delivered to the home, despite the availability of most papers
online. 69
4.2 Men’s magazines – a new phenomenon in British publishing
which for some commentators indicates masculinity in crisis. 82
5.1 Martin Amis taking part in an interview. 101
5.2 Creating a distinctive book cover has become a fine art. 105
5.3 Poet, playwright and author Benjamin Zephaniah receives an
honorary doctorate. 110
5.4 A child attempts ‘Potteresque’ magic on the legendary Platform
9¾, a popular tourist spot at King’s Cross Station in London. 113
6.1 The Gate Theatre, in Notting Hill, the smallest ‘off West End’
theatre in London. 116
6.2 A scene from Romans in Britain. 121
6.3 The Palace Theatre in London’s West End, built in 1891 as
an opera house. 124
6.4 The Edinburgh Festival on a chilly August day in the Scottish
capital. 135
7.1 The latest incarnation of James Bond, Daniel Craig, with the
traditional Aston Martin DB5. 145
7.2 In praise of pop: the Preacher (Eric Clapton) parades pop culture
icon Marilyn Monroe before the disabled congregation. A scene
from the Ken Russell film Tommy. 148
7.3 The Screen on the Green, a place to see independent films
in Islington, London. 153
7.4 The Coronet, an independent cinema in Notting Hill, London. 157
8.1 TV has become a less communal and more individual activity.
But unlike in the picture, young people are today more likely to
be alone in their rooms while simultaneously viewing two or
three screens. 166
8.2 A TV licence. This unremarkable document is said to ensure
political and commercial independence, high-quality programmes
and the cultural centrality of television in Britain. 168
8.3 Broadcasting House, old (on the left) and new – the BBC
headquarters in Portland Place, London. 171
8.4 The Rovers’ Return in Coronation Street – probably the best
known pub in Britain. 174
8.5 A Dalek, enemy of Doctor Who and the stuff of nightmares for
a generation of young Britons. 178
9.1 A Bigger Splash – one of David Hockney’s best-known works,
completed in 1967. 200
9.2 Sky Mirror, Nottingham, by Anish Kapoor. 202
x Illustrations
9.3 Urban art in Whitecross St., London, depicting Samuel Baylis,
a founder of the Radical Club, the forerunner of the Liberal Party. 209
9.4 Art enhances public spaces – a boy attempts to decorate a figure
amid the office blocks in the City of London. 211
9.5 Buildings in the City of London. The older, neo-classical Royal
Exchange building is in the foreground, while (left–right)
Tower 42, the ‘Gherkin’ and the ‘Cheesegrater’ jostle for
attention at the back. 215
9.6 A residential area of the Barbican complex, in the City of London.
A Brutalist design for living, with its own cinemas, art gallery,
library and conservatory. 217
9.7 The ‘iron cage’ offices of 1 Finsbury Avenue, London, by Arup
Associates. Completed in 1984, they recall George Orwell’s
dystopian novel set in the same year. 220
9.8 The London Eye, with the Royal Festival Hall to the right. 227
9.9 The headquarters of the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6)
at 85 Albert Embankment, London. Architect – Terry Farrell. 228
10.1 A poster for the Windsor Jazz and Blues Festival of 1967. By the
mid-1960s, rock bands were displacing jazz combos and beginning
to dominate the festival scene, as the line-up indicates. 237
10.2 Over 50 years after their first gig in London, the Rolling Stones
continue to break records for their performances and record sales. 239
10.3 Fashionable footwear for the man-about-town, c. 1973. Boots for
the stage went several inches higher. 245
10.4 A commemorative plaque in Heddon St., London marks the
location of the cover photo for the iconic Ziggy Stardust album. 248
10.5 A Sex Pistols tour poster from 1976 – many gigs were cancelled
by the local authorities. 250
10.6 Record sleeves – the working man’s art collection. Records are
popular with collectors, and some artists still release their work
in vinyl as well as in digital formats. 257
10.7 Concert tickets were once dull and stubby, but by the 1990s had
colour, holograms and more detailed designs, to help prevent
forgeries of increasingly expensive items. 262
11.1 Football clubs seemed to grow organically out of the small,
terraced communities they represented. 269
11.2 Tossing the caber – a traditional sport at the Highland Games. 273
12.1 The Lloyd’s Building in London – a machine for working in – was
given a Grade I listing in 2011. 290
12.2 A blue plaque in the City of London, close to the Church of
St Bartholomew. 291
12.3 Heritage of the imagination. The address is 221b Baker St., London,
residence of Sherlock Holmes, the man who never lived and never
died. Yet, his fictional home is now a major attraction for overseas
visitors. Note there is even a blue plaque on the wall. 293
 Illustrations xi
12.4 A battle scene is re-enacted at the Honourable Artillery Ground,
surrounded by the bastions of modern business in the heart
of London. 294
12.5 Chinese New Year in Soho, London. 297
12.6 A scene more usually associated with medieval barbarism, yet
this could be a garden in suburban Britain on Bonfire Night. 300
12.7 Glastonbury Festival – the largest event of its kind in the world. 304
12.8 Morris men and women in action. 306

Table
4.1 British daily newspapers, their circulations and owners. 68
Acknowledgements

This book describes some of the most significant features of cultural and artistic
life in modern Britain. Such a work is indebted to a wide variety of descriptive
and analytic texts, and some of those used in its compilation can be found in the
sections on further reading on the companion website.
A large number of people have made this third edition possible in different
ways, and I am also extremely grateful to all at Routledge for their commitment to
the book, to Amy Welmers for her persistence, and especially to Dr Eve Setch for
her assistance, patience and enthusiasm beyond the call of duty. Finally, I would
like to express my special gratitude to Nargis, who helped all along the way.
Introduction

For the student of British Studies, British Culture and Civilisation, English Phi-
lology, English, Media and Communications, or merely the interested reader,
there are many textbooks, journals and articles which analyse and comment on
different aspects of cultural life; for example, the feminist novel, ethnicity in
television soap opera, or the status of BritArt. However, it is often difficult to
acquire the basic knowledge on which the debates are founded without carrying
out extensive research in texts that assume background knowledge and that are
mostly written for British-based specialists.
This book aims to meet that need by introducing the reader to the latest
debates and developments in society and the arts, and linking them to selected
texts and authors from the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Thus,
developments in language, journalism, literature, theatre, music, film, television,
sport, art and architecture, cyberculture and heritage are presented, in order to
show how they have often mirrored social trends, and sometimes have contrasted
with them in surprising and unexpected ways. In this respect the book presents
a contextual history, which illustrates how different texts and practices from the
UK connect to the broader patterns of social and cultural life.
To overseas students, the question of differences between ‘English’ and ‘British’
and the UK may be confusing. England, Scotland and Wales together constitute
the island of Great Britain. The United Kingdom refers to Great Britain and
Northern Ireland. ‘British’ is the nationality of people from the United Kingdom,
and ‘English’ is the language predominantly spoken there.
A related matter is the question of what is meant by ‘English’, when referring
to a particular subject area, for example literature. Although textbooks on the
topic refer primarily to the literature of England, they frequently extend their
coverage to literature written in English from other home countries, for example
Scotland. They may also include literature written in English from Common-
wealth countries, such as South Africa. The term ‘English’ is therefore used flex-
ibly, but for the purposes of this book, the main focus is on texts and practices
created by people in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
A similar question may arise over what constitutes a ‘British’ film. In order
to receive government or lottery funding, there has to be ‘substantial British
involvement’ in the sense of using British actors, crew and locations. But many
xiv Introduction
other films considered to be quintessentially British are financed jointly between
US and UK companies; for example, the James Bond films are financed by
MGM, Warner pays for Harry Potter, while the production company Working
Title (which made Love Actually, Bridget Jones and Billy Elliot) is financed by Uni-
versal. As with the literature chapter, the main focus of the chapter on cinema
is on films created in and about people in the UK, even though some or all the
finance may be from elsewhere.
A separate issue is that any text about ‘British culture’ must immediately recog-
nise the problematic nature of a concept containing numerous differences as well
as similarities. Since the 1950s the expression and experience of cultural life in
Britain has become fragmented and reshaped by the influences of youth, gender,
ethnicity and region, and in more recent times has been made more diverse and
plural by the advent of digital communications. Production and distribution have
become quicker and easier and cultural material of all kinds has proliferated. But,
at the same time, many kinds have become less profitable. Thus, for example,
the industries of print, film, music and broadcasting are currently undergoing sea
changes, faced with falling profits due to alternative digital formats, free access
and increased competition from other sources. Apart from these constrictions,
there has been a major international recession which has hit demand for British
cultural products at home and abroad. Consequently, major producers are much
more cautious about what gets made, played and shown.
The term ‘culture’ also deserves some discussion. Precise definitions of the term
have always been elusive and frequently elitist. However, at the present time
in British society trends point towards a more inclusive notion that embraces
a broad range of texts and practices. This is reflected in public administration,
with the government’s own Department of Culture, Media and Sport, headed by
its own Culture Secretary, as well as in arts criticism, with comment and reviews
within the British media frequently appearing under the heading of ‘culture’.
Thus, it may be said that culture is about ways of living, and the arts are expres-
sions of it, which take the form of texts, such as books, films etc., and practices
such as sport, drama, music and so on.
Furthermore, selection of material for this book does not make a clear distinc-
tion between ‘high’ and ‘low’ culture, reflecting a trend in western society to see
the arts as existing on a continuum or scale from traditional, staid, more ‘difficult’
or conservative forms, for example opera, ballet and classical music, through to
popular forms that connect more closely with the times in which we live.
Moreover, ‘good’ and ‘bad’ examples exist within all categories of arts, and
while some examples, such as a Beatles song, may be more easily accessible than
others, this does not imply their inferiority. Indeed, such a dichotomy of cul-
ture is further problematised given that the status accorded to different authors
and works evolves over time, as indeed do boundaries between high and low
forms. Thus, for example, in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries
Shakespeare’s plays were regarded as part of folk or popular culture, especially
overseas, and were performed in ways and places that would be highly unlikely
today.
 Introduction xv
A similar tendency can be observed across the arts in music, theatre and other
fields, where art forms evolve and survive through variation, competition and
selection. At the same time, the status accorded to them changes, in a process not
of great leaps, but of gradual modification. For example, more recently in archi-
tecture, some examples of municipal modernism of the 1960s, which were once
derided as actively ugly and brutal, have been similarly subjected to a process of
aesthetic re-evaluation. This has resulted in the status of some buildings, from
shopping centres to car parks, being completely transformed from stains on the
urban landscape to listed historic landmarks – architectural visions of the future
to be respected and admired as part of Britain’s architectural heritage.
The selection of material in this book is obviously bound by a degree of subjec-
tivity. Although there are important works and writers who have not been given
the attention they might deserve, the choice here is not significantly out of step
with the main trends of the period. Similarly, trends do not change simultane-
ously, and any particular ‘scene’ is always plural and varied, with many earlier
styles co-existing with more recent ones. But it is hoped that the reader will be
aware of these inevitabilities and will consider the cited works, and read some of
the suggested material in the chapter booklists. In this way they can form their
own opinions about different types of material, and their relevance to particular
areas of critical and cultural interest.

Aims of the book

The main aim of this book is to provide readers with a map of the terrain: to offer
signposts and co-ordinates to the people, places and events that make up substan-
tial and evolving areas of cultural life, and from where they may go on to examine
the broader, theoretical issues involved in their research.
A subsequent concern is the study of change. Many textbooks consider
aspects of cultural life as if they were inert or static. But as the rhythms of social
and cultural change continue to quicken, it is possible that, having entered
the third millennium, we stand before a period of transition as fundamental as
those of the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The evolution of digi-
tal communications attests to this, where only ten years ago, the patterns of
production, distribution and consumption of cultural products were very dif-
ferent to those of today, which has brought profound and unstoppable changes
to political, social, cultural and economic life. Thus, the book reflects on the
main changes that have taken place in the recent past and identifies the major
developments taking place in Britain today.
Third, the book recognises the need to provide a historical context for its sub-
ject matter. This involves more than just a chapter on the cultural context cre-
ated by recent social and political events. Such information is certainly necessary,
given that students’ knowledge of even relatively recent history may be limited.
But it is also included because an important development in the recent study of
culture has been the importance now accorded to historical analysis, which con-
tributes to our understanding of society and the arts past and present. Creative
xvi Introduction
material is produced in a particular social, political and economic context, and
these are examined in detail and presented along with discussion of the work.
A fourth aim is to give particular attention to changing expressions of ethnic-
ity and gender. The period under review has coincided with the break-up of the
British Empire and an expansion of the Commonwealth, which has led to the
immigration of people of numerous nationalities, languages, cultures and heri-
tages, whose expression increasingly contributes to the themes and trends found
in cultural and artistic life.
Similarly, the second wave of the feminist movement, which started in the
1960s, has brought about fundamental changes in the position of women in soci-
ety, their relations with men, and the consequent changes in men’s identity, roles
and relations with women. At the same time, issues of sexuality have also under-
gone periods of accelerated change. Until the 1980s it was difficult for lesbian,
gay, bisexual and transgender people (LGBT) to gain any form of recognition and
acceptance, but in 2014 freedoms and rights have become enshrined in law, and
same-sex marriage is now permitted in the home nations with the exception of
Northern Ireland. This period has therefore witnessed the impact of social move-
ments of race, ethnicity, multiculturalism, gender and sexuality, and their sub-
sequent transition from the margins into the mainstream of cultural expression.
A fifth focus of attention is that of the recent withdrawal of public support for
artistic works, and the consequent need for patronage and profitability. Since the
1980s there has been an increasing trend away from publicly funded arts, towards
private sponsorship and profitability, which has profoundly affected what gets
made and how. Similarly the advent and widespread availability of broadband
communications and digital media have meant there is now much greater compe-
tition for audiences, as well as a change in audience preferences, due to the prolif-
eration of digital platforms, channels, social media and a much wider spectrum of
home entertainment. These issues are given special attention in the first chapter
on the social and cultural context, as well as in the chapter on cyberculture, and
their impact on separate fields is discussed throughout the book.
To the British reader, a sixth aim is to keep alive the increasingly short popular
memory, to provide a ‘defence against forgetting’ where this is due to the regular
inundation of images and news through television, radio, newspapers and the
internet. For readers outside Britain, the study of another culture may provide
a useful comparison with one’s own. It should be a liberating experience which
improves understanding and imagination, and helps to provide new perspectives
and thoughts.
The book is also intended to strengthen study skills, through follow-up activities
and suggestions for further reading provided in the book’s website, for exploitation
in pairs, small groups and individual research (see also ‘Using this book’ below).

Using this book

The book is designed to be flexible, for use either at home or in class, and can
easily be adapted to the needs of particular courses. Chapters can be studied in a
 Introduction xvii
different order or omitted, as each one is written as an independent unit. How-
ever, the reader may find the first chapter on social and political change par-
ticularly relevant to an understanding of thematic chapters, since it provides a
context for their study. A timeline, glossary and index are also provided to assist
the reader.
For classroom use, it is suggested that teachers assemble their own archive of
material to supplement the text, which can be developed and exploited accord-
ing to the aims of the course, the level of the students, their interests and so on.
Material widely available on the internet on sites such as YouTube and elsewhere
might include video recordings of films, plays and television programmes; audio
recordings of music, radio news and reviews; as well as books, pictures and other
visual aids. Photocopies of old newspapers also make interesting documents for
exploitation in and out of class. BBC Television’s Learning Zone offers another
good resource.
Almost all the material mentioned in the text is available on video or sound
recordings and is often broadcast on terrestrial and satellite television channels.
Websites of all the major television stations offer archives which can be searched
for relevant audio-visual material, as do those of the major newspapers, and the
British Council has substantial web resources. Other material may be obtained
from literary or pictorial sources (see below for more information), and sociology
and media/cultural studies textbooks can also provide a rich source of contem-
porary material.
The website for this book provides a substantial number of discussion topics
and activities related to the themes of each chapter. These can be chosen and
dealt with in class according to students’ particular interests or needs, and may be
used for subsequent projects or essays. Alternatively, it may be necessary to obtain
more information before beginning a longer piece of work and some suggestions
on further reading are provided in each relevant section.

Sources of information
For those beginning to explore a particular topic related to the study of Britain,
the internet is an essential tool which students and teachers can use to consult
a variety of topics and terms. Major encyclopaedias and dictionaries – online or
otherwise – contain many relevant entries, although reliable online sources will
usually be more up-to-date. Similarly, reference texts and online material provide
useful sources, along with short lists of books and articles to guide further reading.
Students may wish to prepare a longer piece of work such as a dissertation, and
for such research the sites mentioned above offer a wealth of information. Stu-
dents are always advised to read widely, as different sources may report the same
stories in different ways.
With regard to other sources, such as books, films, plays and music, most if not
all are easily obtainable from university or public libraries in Britain, or from larger
bookshops, or may be found online. Films, television series and sound recordings
are also available in video and compact disc format from many stockists, or on
xviii Introduction
loan from the British Library (which incorporates the National Sound Archive),
the British Film Institute, the BBC or the British Council. The scripts from many
plays are also available from good bookshops and can be ordered or downloaded
online.
Students should also become familiar with the main journals relevant to their
field of interest. They usually appear three or four times a year, and the informa-
tion and debates contained in them are usually more up to date than those in
books, which take longer to write and publish. Although journal articles can
be technical and difficult to understand for someone new to the field, many of
the leading journals publish articles of general interest that are accessible to the
reader with only a limited knowledge of the subject.
Finally, for selected statistical information on many aspects of cultural and
social life in Britain, Social Trends, the Annual Abstract of Statistics and the
General Lifestyle Survey are good starting points. They appear every year, are
easily found on government websites, and can be downloaded with commentary.
Timeline

1939–45 Second World War.

1944 The Butler Education Act greatly improves the opportunities for uni-
versity education and social mobility among the post-war generation.
1945 Labour government elected. Churchill and Conservatives rejected.
1948 Labour’s grand strategy to reshape society is introduced, based around
a comprehensive welfare system, the nationalisation of key industries
and free health care for all. The first immigrants arrive from the West
Indies to help a growing economy, a key moment in the evolution of
Britain’s ethnic profile.
1951 Conservative government elected. Festival of Britain takes place, the
centenary of the Great Exhibition of 1851.
1953 The Coronation of Elizabeth II. Panorama current affairs programme
starts on BBC.
1954 Rationing finally ends.
1955 Conservative government re-elected. Independent commercial tele-
vision begins broadcasting. Rock and roll music comes to Britain in
the film The Blackboard Jungle. First English-language performance of
Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot.
1956 Egypt takes control of the Suez Canal, and for the first time in recent
history, Britain makes a politically embarrassing withdrawal, which
is widely seen as a weakening of British influence abroad. Pop Art
receives its first major exhibition, This is Tomorrow, at London’s Whi-
techapel Gallery. John Osborne’s Look Back in Anger opens at the
Royal Court Theatre in London. Public anxiety about youth culture,
as ‘Teddy Boys’ are increasingly reported as anti-social and violent in
the popular press.
1957 The Uses of Literacy by Richard Hoggart published, expressing
anxiety over popular culture, especially commercial television and
xx Timeline
popular music. The affluence – rather than poverty and deprivation –
of young people is said to be partly to blame.
1958 Political dissent grows – the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
founded. Race riots in Notting Hill.
1959 Conservative government re-elected.
1960 National Service (military service) ended. The contraceptive pill
introduced and made available from 1961, but mainly to married
women. Gambling legalised. Following a test case of the Obscene
Publications Act, Lady Chatterley’s Lover published in the UK, more
than 30 years after D.H. Lawrence wrote it. First episode of the long-
running TV soap opera Coronation Street (ITV) broadcast.
1961 The UK applies for membership of the European Economic Com-
munity (now the EU). Amnesty International established by British
lawyer Peter Benenson. Political satire now well established in tele-
vision and radio; The satirical magazine Private Eye launched.
1962 The Commonwealth Immigration Act restricts immigration to the
UK. The Rolling Stones play their first gig in London. The James
Bond film Dr No released, starring Sean Connery. Social realism is
well established in British film, drama and TV.
1963 Youth culture emerges. New ideas take hold across the arts and par-
ticularly in music, promoting freedom and hedonism and sexuality.
‘Beatlemania’ breaks out, a year after the release of the Beatles’ first
single. Oh, What a Lovely War! staged by Joan Littlewood’s Theatre
Workshop at Theatre Royal Stratford East in east London. The BBC
ends its ban on mentioning politics, royalty, religion and sex in com-
edy programmes.
1964 Labour government elected with Harold Wilson as Prime Minis-
ter. BBC2 begins broadcasting. ‘Baby boom’ peaks in the UK. More
public anxiety over youth culture, as hysterical reports appear in the
popular, tabloid press over youth subcultures Mods and Rockers.
The pirate radio station Radio Caroline begins broadcasting types of
music not played by the BBC.
1965 Capital punishment suspended. Cigarette advertising banned from
British television. The Post Office Tower in London the tallest build-
ing in Britain. The Greater London Council established. Mary Quant
launches the mini-skirt.
1966 Documentary drama about homelessness Cathy Come Home shown
on BBC and brings changes in the law. Student rebellion at the
London School of Economics. First Notting Hill Carnival in London.
Feminist movement gathers pace. England hosts and wins the foot-
ball World Cup.
 Timeline xxi
1967 The Abortion Law Reform Act allows legal terminations. Sexual
Offences Act legalises homosexual acts between consenting adults
over 21. First mass demonstration against the Vietnam War. Marine
Broadcasting Act forces many pirate radio stations to close, while
the BBC launches the new stations Radio 1, 2, 3 and 4. The Beatles
release Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard. BBC2 starts transmitting in
colour. The Purcell Room and the Queen Elizabeth Hall open at the
South Bank arts complex.
1968 Enoch Powell makes controversial ‘rivers of blood’ immigration
speech. Hair musical opens in London. The Beatles’ film Yellow
Submarine. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick). Theatres Act
removes the need to license individual plays.
1969 Divorce Reform Act makes divorce easier to obtain. Death Penalty
abolished. British troops patrol the streets of Northern Ireland, mark-
ing the beginning of an armed struggle which will kill more than
2000 people. Oh! Calcutta! by Kenneth Tynan. Gilbert and George
begin as ‘living sculptures’. Film Kes (Ken Loach) released. Last pub-
lic performance of the Beatles on the roof of the Apple Corps build-
ing in Saville Row, London.
1970 Conservative government elected with Edward Heath as Prime
Minister. The Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer published, to great
acclaim by the movement for women’s liberation, which holds a
major conference at Oxford. Equal Pay Act introduced (not to take
effect until 1975).
1971 The divorce rate remains low, with only six divorces per 1000 people.
First women’s liberation march. First Gay Pride march. A Clockwork
Orange (Stanley Kubrick) released. Jesus Christ Superstar by Andrew
Lloyd-Webber and Tim Rice. Bleak Moments (Mike Leigh). Metric
‘decimal’ currency replaces pounds, shillings and pence.
1972 Miners’ strike and a coal shortage results in a three-day working
week. Prime Minister Edward Heath capitulates to the miners and
abandons confrontation with the trade unions. Cosmopolitan maga-
zine goes on sale in Britain. David Bowie releases Ziggy Stardust album
to popular acclaim.
1973 A state of emergency is declared in Britain, following a second min-
ers’ strike, a power workers’ strike, power cuts and reduced TV trans-
missions. Oil prices quadruple. Unprecedented levels of inflation.
UK joins the European Economic Community (now the European
Union). Ecology Party founded, which later becomes the Green Party.
Skinhead youth subculture and football hooliganism. Glam rock at
its peak. Independent local radio begins. Equus by Peter Schaffer,
Magnificence by Howard Brenton, Freedom of the City by Brian Friel.
xxii Timeline
1974 Unemployment over one million, inflation peaks at 25 per cent. Stock
market collapses and coal-miners still on strike. Three-day working
week introduced to save electricity. Narrow election victory for Labour
with Harold Wilson as Prime Minister again. A repeat election held
soon afterwards establishes Labour’s majority. First summer solstice
festival at Stonehenge. IRA bombing campaign comes to mainland
Britain, with bombs in London, Guildford and Birmingham. The oral
contraceptive known as ‘the Pill’ is freely prescribed to single women.
1975 Economy in crisis with 1.25 million unemployed and inflation at 21
per cent. The Sex Discrimination Act and the Equal Pay Act intro-
duced, aiming to end discrimination over offers of work and pay to men
and women. Margaret Thatcher becomes Britain’s first party leader, as
leader of the opposition Conservative Party. Pressure (Horace Ové),
the first full length feature by a black director, released. No Man’s Land
by Harold Pinter. Love Thy Neighbour (BBC). The Sweeney (ITV).
1976 Car giant British Leyland bankrupt and taken into public ownership,
exemplifying the decline of British industry. Harold Wilson resigns
as Labour Prime Minister, replaced by James Callaghan. Jeremy
Thorpe, leader of the Liberal party, resigns following allegations of
homosexual relationship. Race Relations Act makes it unlawful to
discriminate on grounds of race, colour, nationality or ethnic origins.
Political violence claims 296 lives in Northern Ireland. Rock Against
Racism movement starts. Prostitution exhibition opens at ICA. Punk
rock explodes onto the music scene.
1977 Economic crisis continues. Severe spending cuts imposed on health
and education following bail-outs by the International Monetary
Fund. Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee celebrating 25 years on the
throne. Sex Pistols’ alternative ‘anthem’ ‘God Save the Queen’
Number 2 in the charts. The Clash release ‘White Riot’. 55 per cent
of women between 15 and 65 now in the UK labour force.
1978 Winter sees many strikes by low-paid public sector workers, which
the press dubs the ‘winter of discontent’ (after a line from the begin-
ning of Shakespeare’s play Richard III). The film Jubilee (Derek Jar-
man) released, a punk satire on the Queen’s Silver Jubilee year. BBC
bans Tom Robinson song ‘Glad to be Gay’. Space Invaders machines
appear in pubs and clubs.
1979 A watershed year, as Margaret Thatcher elected Prime Minister.
Trade-union membership peaks at 13.3 million. Privatisation pro-
gramme begins with BP oil company. New, ‘alternative’ comedy
shows appear. Barbican Estate in London completed.
1980 John Lennon murdered in New York. Inglan is a Bitch and Bass Cul-
ture by Lynton Kwesi Johnson. Romans in Britain by Howard Brenton.
Translations by Brian Friel. Yes, Minister (BBC) political satire.
 Timeline xxiii
1981 Unemployment rises quickly to almost three million. Riots break out
in cities around Britain. Prince Charles and Diana marry. Chariots
of Fire (Hugh Hudson). Brideshead Revisited (ITV). MTV launched.
Salman Rushdie wins the Booker Prize for Midnight’s Children. Burn-
ing an Illusion (Menelik Shabazz). Maeve (Pat Murphy and John
Davies).
1982 War with Argentina over the Malvinas/Falkland Islands. Boys from
the Blackstuff (BBC drama). The Great Fire of London by Peter Ack-
royd. New classification system for films introduced. Gandhi (Rich-
ard Attenborough). Pink Floyd – The Wall (Alan Parker). Channel 4
begins broadcasting. Annual WOMAD (World of Music and Dance)
festival begins.
1983 Conservatives win second election under Thatcher. Waterland by
Graham Swift. The Last Testament of Oscar Wilde by Peter Ackroyd.
Educating Rita (Lewis Gilbert). The Ploughman’s Lunch (Richard Eyre).
1984 Nationwide miners’ strike in 1984–5. IRA bombers hit Conserva-
tive Party conference in Brighton. Turner Prize for contemporary art
introduced. Money by Martin Amis. A Passage to India (David Lean).
Another Country (Marek Kanievska). Territories (Isaac Julien). Spit-
ting Image (ITV).
1985 More rioting in cities around Britain. Miners’ strike collapses. Pravda:
A Fleet Street Comedy by David Hare and Howard Brenton. A Room
with a View (James Ivory). The screenplay of My Beautiful Laundrette
by Hanif Kureishi is nominated for an Oscar. EastEnders (BBC).
Edge of Darkness (BBC). Live Aid shows. Saatchi Gallery opens in
London.
1986 A three-year economic boom starts. The year of ‘Big Bang’ as
London’s Stock Exchange closes and online trading begins. Major
national industries are privatised. The futuristic Lloyd’s Building
completed (Richard Rogers). Einstein’s Monsters by Martin Amis.
An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro. Insular Posses-
sion by Timothy Mo. Remembrance (Isaac Julien). Yes, Prime Min-
ister (BBC).
1987 Conservative government wins election for a third time. Serious
Money by Caryl Churchill. Maurice (James Ivory). The Belly of an
Architect (Peter Greenaway). Prick Up Your Ears (Stephen Frears).
Sammy and Rosie Get Laid (Stephen Frears). Secret Society (BBC).
1988 Warehouse parties around Britain spread ‘rave’ music subculture.
Warehouse exhibition Freeze in London’s Docklands organised by
Damien Hirst. The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie leads to death
threats against the author. Inna Liverpool by Benjamin Zephaniah.
High Hopes (Mike Leigh).
xxiv Timeline
1989 Tim Berners-Lee invents the World Wide Web. New satellite TV sta-
tions broadcasting to the UK. Acid House youth culture. The Clon-
ing of Joanna May by Fay Weldon. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo
Ishiguro.
1990 An economic recession sets in until mid-1990s. Thatcher resigns;
John Major becomes new Conservative Prime Minister. Riots follow
the introduction of the Poll Tax. The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif
Kureishi. Racing Demon by David Hare. Have I Got News for You
political satire panel game begins on BBC.
1991 First Gulf War. Canary Wharf tower finished. Murmuring Judges by
David Hare. Time’s Arrow by Martin Amis. The Famished Road by
Ben Okri. Life is Sweet (Mike Leigh). BBC World Service TV begins
broadcasting. The 1991 Broadcasting Act exposes broadcasting to
market forces.
1992 John Major leads the Conservatives to a fourth election victory.
Department of National Heritage created. Church of England votes
in favour of women’s ordination. Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby.
1993 Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh. The Remains of the Day (James Ivory).
Gaelic television begins broadcasting. Paul Ince is the first black
footballer to captain England.
1994 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act is introduced to counter grow-
ing public disorder, despite strong opposition. The homosexual age of
consent lowered from 21 to 18. First women priests ordained by the
Church of England. The Acid House and How Late it Was, How Late
by Irvine Welsh. High Fidelity by Nick Hornby. Riff Raff and Raining
Stones (Ken Loach). Shallow Grave (Danny Boyle). Bhaji on the Beach
(Gurinder Chadha). Channel Tunnel rail link opens. National Lot-
tery introduced, which contributes to arts and sport projects. Blur
release Parklife and Oasis debut with Definitely Maybe.
1995 Disability Discrimination Act introduced. Michael Collins (Neil Jor-
dan). Land and Freedom (Ken Loach). Braveheart (Mel Gibson). The
Madness of King George (Nicholas Hytner). Trainspotting (Danny
Boyle). Damien Hirst wins Turner Prize for Mother and Child Divided
(1991).
1996 Euro ’96 football tournament in England. Britpop reaches its zenith,
with 2.5 million applications for Knebworth pop festival. Out first
gay TV drama. Propa Propaganda by Benjamin Zephaniah. Jude
(Michael Winterbottom). Secrets and Lies (Mike Leigh). Brassed Off
(Mark Herman).
1997 A feeling of social and cultural renewal as Labour government elected
with large majority. Tony Blair becomes Prime Minister. Hong Kong
 Timeline xxv
handed back to China. Scotland and Wales vote in favour of devo-
lution. Princess Diana dies in car crash. The Full Monty (Peter Cat-
taneo). About a Boy by Nick Hornby. Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen
Fielding. Mrs Brown (John Madden). Nil by Mouth (Gary Oldman).
Success of the exhibition Sensation confirms high levels of interest in
new British art. In television, Channel 5 begins broadcasting. Grand
Theft Auto video game launched.
1998 Belfast (‘Good Friday’) Agreement in Northern Ireland results in
Northern Ireland Assembly elections. Angel of the North sculpture
(Antony Gormley); England, England (Julian Barnes); My Name is
Joe (Ken Loach); My Son the Fanatic (Udayan Prasad). Introduc-
tion of digital television. Media talk of ‘Cool Britannia’ follow-
ing a wave of successful, distinctively English creative projects in
mid-1990s.
1999 The first Scottish Parliament since 1707 elected. National Assembly
for Wales and Northern Ireland Assembly assume devolved powers.
House of Lords Act reduces number of hereditary peers entitled to sit
in Parliament from over 750 to 92. A former High Court judge finds
‘institutional racism’ in the Metropolitan Police. Britain decides not
to join the euro.
2000 Millennium Projects around Britain. In London, the Dome is the
focal point. Big Brother ‘reality’ television show launched. Ban on
homosexuals in the armed forces lifted. The homosexual age of con-
sent lowered to 16.
2001 Second election victory for the Labour Party under Tony Blair. Ter-
rorist attack on the twin towers in New York, now known as 9/11.
The government takes military action in Afghanistan. A new ‘morn-
ing after’ pill (a female contraceptive) made available in shops. New
comedy series The Office shown on BBC2 to popular acclaim. BBC
Director-General Greg Dyke describes the BBC as ‘hideously white’,
and not representative of the people it serves.
2002 Immigration and Asylum Act. The House of Lords passes measures
allowing gay couples to adopt children. Gurinder Chadha’s low-
budget film Bend it Like Beckham is a major commercial success. Com-
monwealth Games held in Manchester. Queen Elizabeth’s Golden
Jubilee celebrates a 50 year reign, with celebrations around the
country.
2003 Invasion of Iraq. Anti-war march the largest ever, with over 2 mil-
lion people on the streets. Unemployment remains low at around
1.5 million. England wins Rugby Union World Cup. Popular ‘reality’
television shows I’m a Celebrity – Get Me Out of Here!, Pop Idol and
Fame Academy attract huge audiences.
xxvi Timeline
2004 First citizenship ceremony in the UK – new citizens take the tra-
ditional oath of allegiance to the Queen and pledge to uphold UK
democratic values. Gender Recognition Act gives transsexual peo-
ple the right to seek legal recognition in their acquired gender. The
Higher Education Act introduces variable tuition fees from 2006.
The Office wins the award for the best comedy at the Golden Globes
in America. Fiftieth anniversary of the publication of the first two
parts of J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic Lord of the Rings trilogy. UK première of
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Liverpool awarded UNESCO
world heritage status.
2005 Labour Party wins historic third term under Tony Blair. The IRA
announces a formal end to its armed campaign. Suicide bombers
attack London in July, 52 are killed. Freedom of Information Act
brought into force establishing a public right of access to informa-
tion held by public bodies. Civil partnerships approved for same-sex
couples, giving them equal rights. Fox hunting made illegal. Doctor
Who returns to British TV after 16 years.
2006 Unemployment falls. Climate change and sustainable energy legisla-
tion introduced. Casino Royale (Martin Campbell) sees a ‘reboot’ of
the James Bond franchise. Rock n Roll (Tom Stoppard)
2007 Gordon Brown succeeds Tony Blair as Prime Minister. British troops
begin withdrawal from Iraq. Leaders of the Northern Ireland Assem-
bly take up post. SNP becomes the largest party in the Scottish Par-
liament. This Is England (Shane Meadows) portrays youth culture of
the 1980s. Atonement (Joe Wright) wins Golden Globe Award. David
Hockney shows the landscape painting Bigger Trees Near Warter.
2008 Financial crisis hits. Government part-nationalises three UK banks
and supports the financial system after record stock-market falls.
Economy enters recession after 16 years of growth. Church of England
votes to allow women bishops. Slumdog Millionaire (Danny Boyle)
wins eight Oscars.
2009 Scandal over MPs’ expenses claims. Chilcot enquiry into the Iraq
War opens. Coldplay and Adele win Grammy Awards.
2010 Coalition government formed between Conservatives and Liberal
Democrats, with David Cameron as Prime Minister and Nick Clegg
as Deputy. Large-scale cuts in public spending announced. The King’s
Speech (Tom Hooper) wins four Oscars. Glastonbury Festival 40th
anniversary.
2011 British forces begin to withdraw from Afghanistan. News of the
World, one of the biggest-selling newspapers in the UK, closes fol-
lowing phone-hacking allegations. Riots and looting in many cities
 Timeline xxvii
following the killing of Mark Duggan by police in London. Occupy
London tent city outside St Paul’s Cathedral. Referendum on chang-
ing the voting system. Plans to change to ‘AV’ system are rejected.
Amy Winehouse dies, aged 27.
2012 Britain hosts the Olympic and Paralympics to international acclaim.
Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. Britain comes out of reces-
sion, The ‘Shard’ in London opens, Europe’s tallest building. Rolling
Stones 50th anniversary tour.
2013 Rupert Murdoch appears at the Leveson Enquiry into press stan-
dards. Crisis of trust in major institutions of Parliament, press, police
and financial institutions. A soldier, Lee Rigby, murdered by Islamic
extremists in a south London street. Derry–Londonderry is UK City
of Culture.
2014 Internet access available to around 90 per cent of adults. Same-sex
marriage is legalized in England and Wales.
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1 The social and cultural context

Introduction
Since the 1950s, Britain has experienced a period of accelerated social and cul-
tural change. This has coincided with the disintegration of the British Empire,
the expansion of the Commonwealth, and the immigration of people of numer-
ous nationalities, languages and cultures, producing an ethnically diverse coun-
try with a plurality of identities and heritages. It has also been transformed by
the women’s movement. The entry of women into the labour market and their
increasing independence has brought about fundamental changes to their posi-
tion in society, and their relations with men. Similarly, the emergence of youth
as an identifiable group with attitudes, values and beliefs different to those of the
previous generation has helped shape the characteristics of the country since the
mid-twentieth century.
The impact of ethnicity, feminism and youth in Britain has been felt across
the arts. From 1948 and the founding of the Arts Council, their expression was
actively encouraged with funds for experimental and even counter-cultural styles,
as artists, writers and others sought inspiration from these transformational social
movements. The sense of progress, change and renewal continued until the mid-
1970s when, economically and socially, the country began to stagnate amid high
inflation, strikes and rising unemployment, and there was enthusiasm for change.
The Conservative Party led by Margaret Thatcher was elected in 1979. This
marked a key turning point. For the next 18 years, Thatcherism brought about
the greatest political, economic and cultural shift in Britain of the twentieth
century, as free-market economics, a ‘culture’ of individualism, private enterprise
and the values of the market place came to replace the socialist ideals of nation-
alisation and attempts to redistribute wealth through high rates of taxation. In the
arts, as in almost every area of society, state subsidies and benefits were reduced or
disappeared. Plays, films and exhibitions were seen as products for consumption by
consumers in a competitive market place, while it was left to a culture of impro-
visation and home-brew to create challenging new works outside the mainstream.
The consensus politics of the post-war era disappeared under Thatcherism,
and for 18 years the country became politically polarised between the Tory Party
and its laissez-faire philosophy of free markets, and the socialist ideals of the
political left. Paradoxically, this resulted in some key works and movements in
2 The social and cultural context
literature, art and music, film and other fields, as the inequalities, violence and
greed of the Thatcher years served as potent sources of inspiration.
But, by the mid-1990s the Conservative government was suffering from weak
leadership, corruption and profound internal divisions among its leading mem-
bers, particularly over Britain’s relationship with Europe. There was enthusiasm
for change, and the victory of the Labour Party in 1997 provided the country
and its cultural life with a sense of renewal and self-confidence, and in the years
that followed there was a period of relative prosperity and stability, characterised
by record levels of low unemployment, low inflation, rising living standards and
investment in public services.
The Labour Party had changed, and redefined itself for modern times. Under
its new leader Tony Blair, it was no longer the party of nationalisation or high
taxation, and its agenda was supportive of businesses large and small. But unlike
the previous Conservative administration, it sought to work with all sections of
society, seeking mutual agreement for public benefit. However, in the arts, there
was no return to the levels of patronage, investment and encouragement of previ-
ous Labour administrations, and the spread of business values in their production
and management became the norm, as practices once found only in the private
sector continued to be expressed in most areas of the economy.
There were many turbulent episodes during Labour’s time in office, for example
the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. But throughout, the economy remained stable
with low unemployment and low inflation. The cultural field was reinvigorated
with a series of measures to support equal opportunities for minorities of all kinds,
and official support for the British arts, which enjoyed their highest profile since
the 1960s.
In 2007 Tony Blair resigned and his Chancellor Gordon Brown became Prime
Minister. But, despite the promise of renewal, an international economic crisis
began to take hold. In 2010 an election was held, but no party emerged with an
overall majority and a coalition government between the Conservatives and Lib-
eral Democrats was formed, with Tory leader David Cameron as Prime Minister.
Faced with the greatest and longest economic crisis for many decades, a crisis of
public trust in major institutions and widespread uncertainty about the future, a
programme of cuts in public spending was announced, with the cultural indus-
tries among those worst affected.

New Jerusalem

Economy, politics and society

During the first half of the 20th century, for the majority of people most of the
time in Britain, there was poverty and profound social inequality. Food was scarce,
unemployment was common, most houses had no bathroom or indoor toilet, and
children left school in their early teens. Most areas of the economy were left to
private enterprise, and there were no pensions, health service or social insurance.
It was not until the late 1940s that conditions began to substantially improve
 The social and cultural context 3
for the majority, following a programme of social and economic reconstruction
which would redefine the country until the 1980s.
Planning for the new society began during World War II, when the coalition
government aimed to introduce more equality and progress in key areas such as
health, education, transport and housing. Significantly, it was widely believed on
both the political left and right, that the way to achieve this was not with private
enterprise, but with centralised planning by experts, along rational, scientific lines.
In 1942 a manifesto for social change arrived with the Beveridge Report. A
former director of the London School of Economics, William Beveridge identi-
fied several areas for reform. In a key passage, he wrote: ‘Want is one of only five
giants on the road to reconstruction, and in some ways it is the easiest to attack.
The others are Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness.’ A sixth giant – ‘the
poverty of aspiration’ – was identified by economist John Maynard Keynes. As
president of the Council for the Encouragement of Music and Arts (CEMA),
Keynes advocated their funding on the same level as health and education, as it
was felt that the arts offered an important means of social improvement.
In education, reform quickly began with the 1944 Butler Education Act, which
made education free of charge in state grammar schools for children aged 11–18,
as long as they passed the ‘11-plus’ examination at age 11. This was an important
measure, as it was widely believed that education was key to promoting social
mobility, and the new exam offered all children the same opportunities to reach
university, regardless of their parent’s financial circumstances.
After the end of the Second World War, industry was in ruins, homes were
destroyed and many people struggled to survive. In 1945 the coalition govern-
ment was disbanded and a general election was held. Despite his success as a war-
time prime minister, Churchill and his Conservative Party were firmly rejected in
favour of a Labour Party led by Clement Attlee, who introduced further plans for
a more equal and open society.
There was consensus among the main parties that the state had to provide
jobs, homes and decent living standards in a way that it had never done before,
and after the reform of education came the nationalisation of all key industries,
such as coal, transport, iron and steel, to secure efficiency and mass employment.
This was followed in 1948 by the setting up of the ‘welfare state’ and the National
Health Service (NHS), which provided social security and health care free of
charge to all citizens. It was a brave attempt to build what the Labour govern-
ment called the ‘new Jerusalem’, in which the poverty of generations would be
abolished, and people of all classes, incomes and races would be cared for by the
state from the cradle to the grave.
Abroad, reform continued with the gradual dissolution of the British Empire,
which had begun with the granting of independence to India in 1947. But,
despite the progress made on many fronts, it was still a time of austerity, with
queuing, shortages and inconveniences in most areas of the economy. The gener-
ation that had won the war also wanted fun and consumerism, which the govern-
ment had conspicuously failed to deliver. Consequently, despite some of the most
progressive social measures ever introduced in Britain, the Labour government
4 The social and cultural context
was rejected in the election of 1951. But, instead of reverting to a free-market
economy, the incoming Tory Party continued the style of patrician government
set by the outgoing Labour Party; it governed not only in the interests of land-
owners, factory owners and other business people, but in the interests of society
as a whole. This way of managing society became known as the ‘post-war consen-
sus’, and characterised the way in which the country was governed by both main
parties until the late 1970s.
In 1951 the Festival of Britain was organised to improve the country’s morale.
It marked the centenary of the Great Exhibition of 1851, which had been held
in London’s Hyde Park to celebrate imperial achievements. Amid the post-war
gloom, it was a rare moment of national self-expression, with parties, parades,
speeches and optimism. It was a modest beginning to a decade in which produc-
tion rose, consumerism increased and crime rates fell. The rationing of foodstuffs
and other goods, which had been introduced at the beginning of the war in 1939,
was finally removed in 1954. The economy was booming, and between 1955 and
1960 average industrial earnings rose by 34 per cent. With their new prosperity
many ordinary people were able to discover cars, fashions and foreign holidays.
Greeting this new wave of prosperity, Tory Prime Minister Harold Macmillan
famously announced in 1957 that ‘[British] people have never had it so good’,
which was particularly true of the young, white working class, who were becom-
ing the first generation of consumers, and who had the choices, finance and free
time to be able to create a culture of their own.

Social change and public anxiety

Economic affluence and the socialist policies of the post-war Labour govern-
ment led to rapid social change. Britain’s economic growth created high lev-
els of demand for manual labour, particularly in low-paid areas of work such as
transport, health and catering. But there was a shortage, so the British municipal
authorities began to offer jobs to Commonwealth citizens in the West Indies,
India, Pakistan, Africa and Hong Kong. Members of Parliament from the two
main parties went to the Caribbean territories on a recruitment exercise, and on
21 June 1948 the ship Empire Windrush docked at Tilbury, to the east of London,
bringing 492 Commonwealth citizens from the West Indies to Britain. As the
country attempted to rebuild its shattered economy, many found work in the
newly nationalised essential industries, for example the health service, the rail-
ways, and in important manufacturing sectors such as textiles and automobiles.
The initial motive for migration was usually to work and save money before
returning to the country of origin. But economic realities meant that, within a few
years, the family and relatives also migrated to join their menfolk in cities around
the UK. However, the process of immigration did not go smoothly. Britain was
a strange, cold, alien country compared with the ones they had left behind, and
large immigrant communities grew in poor, inner-city areas where housing was
cheap and menial jobs plentiful. The latter was particularly important, as many
immigrants had to accept jobs for which they were overqualified; medical staff
 The social and cultural context 5
were cleaning hospitals, bus drivers were cleaning the streets. But the presence
of large immigrant communities disturbed the local population. Daily lives began
to change, and as immigration increased, race became a source of social conflict.
Prejudice and discrimination from employers, workmates and landlords became
a regular feature of the immigrant experience, and several areas became the focal
point for racial tensions, most infamously the Notting Hill area of London, where
rioting broke out in 1958.
While immigration was mostly a working-class concern, middle-class worries
centred on the increasing danger of nuclear war. Britain had successfully tested
a nuclear bomb in Australia in 1953, but there was a strong feeling among the
political left that the country would be safer without such weapons. A group of
leading writers, musicians, artists and others formed the Campaign for Nuclear
Disarmament (CND), some of the founder members including the philosopher
Bertrand Russell, the composer Benjamin Britten, the sculptor Henry Moore,
the historian A.J.P. Taylor, and the novelists E.M. Forster and Doris Lessing. At
Easter in 1958 some 5,000 protesters marched from London to Aldermaston, the
site of a nuclear research establishment. Bands and folk singers accompanied a
mixture of pacifists, Christians, trade unionists, young parents and children. The
movement captured the public imagination and became increasingly influential.
The following year some 50,000 took part, and the march became not just an
annual event, but marked the beginning of a trend towards popular, organised
protest that has since become a common feature of the British political landscape.
The idea of communism was still attractive to many middle-class intellectuals,
and the decade witnessed the exposure of a notorious spy ring, involving Kim
Philby, Donald Maclean, Guy Burgess and Anthony Blunt, who had met at Cam-
bridge University and subsequently passed Western secrets to the Soviet Union.
Maclean, Burgess and Blunt were also gay, but at that time homosexuality was
illegal and still seen as deeply subversive and taboo. Politically and socially, homo-
sexual men had to be deferential, conformist and skilled at leading a ‘double life’
of sexual and political ambiguity. Between 1950 and 1954 the annual prosecution
rate of gay men rose by 50 per cent, amid a belief that homosexuals could well be
spies, and therefore a security risk for the government and country.

The debate about popular culture

In a decade that witnessed the decline of deference to authority and an appar-
ent increase in lawlessness among young people, the marches at Aldermaston
were symptomatic of much larger social changes to come. Due to the post-war
‘baby boom’, by 1959 there were over four million single people aged between
13 and 25. Society was younger. It was also richer and more image-conscious.
Moreover, with full employment, it was easy to achieve financial independence
at an early age, and businesses began to market their products to teenagers who
now had enough money to create a new world of their own. During the 1950s
electronic goods such as televisions, small radios and record players had become
cheap and widely available, and by 1960 most homes contained at least one.
6 The social and cultural context
Cultural material was increasingly created for mass audiences in the form of tele-
vision programmes, popular music and films. The sale of popular novels, women’s
magazines, sensational newspapers and comics also increased to meet demand
for light entertainment. Coffee bars and ‘melody’ (music) bars opened, providing
meeting places for a generation with money to spend on leisure and pleasure.
Record players, radios and clothes were essential equipment in this increasingly
classless, hedonistic demographic. A ‘youth’ culture was emerging.
Around 1953 one of the most visible signs of change could be seen on the
streets with the appearance of ‘Teddy Boys’ or ‘Teds’, urban working-class gangs
dressed in colourful suits which recalled the Edwardian era of the early twenti-
eth century, mixed with elements of the American rock ’n’ roll culture. More
seriously, their behaviour was said to be threatening and brutal, and there were
frequent newspaper reports of violent confrontations. The mass media, especially
the tabloid press, began to report incidents involving the ‘Teds’, and presented a
scary, shocking image that succeeded in its aim of frightening people and selling
many newspapers.
Youth crime became a major cause of public concern. Even though unemploy-
ment was low, crimes by offenders under 21 rose from around 24,000 in 1955 to
over 45,000 in 1959, prompting frequent debates about the relationship between
affluence and crime. While politicians generally ignored the new commercial
culture, social commentators and academics were concerned about the mass
consumption by newly affluent youth of music, films, comics and other forms
of entertainment that had been created simply to make profits. They believed
that if standards and quality in the arts fell, so would standards of education and
behaviour in society.
The influence of television was often blamed, especially the content of the
newly created commercial television channel (ITV), with its adverts, game shows
and other cheap, populist programmes. It was believed that the displays of afflu-
ence and conspicuous consumption of goods in advertisements and game shows
were likely to excite feelings of envy, and make impressionable young men more
likely to become violent and steal goods that they could not afford. There was also
widespread public anxiety over the negative influence of rock ’n’ roll music whose
suggestive rhythms and lyrics were thought to encourage teenage promiscuity.
Like many earlier critics such as Matthew Arnold and T.S. Eliot, F.R. Leavis
argued that great works of art carried a moral, civilising message, which was edu-
cational and served to improve the individual and society. But mass-produced
forms of music, art and popular entertainment did not and could not do this.
Instead, they only encouraged individualism, hedonism, laziness and decadence.
For those holding such beliefs, the connection between mass, popular culture
and rising crime was clear. Moreover, while the study of crime had previously
been concerned with individual pathology, levels of intelligence and the role of
poverty, the idea that affluence could be responsible was difficult to understand
or appreciate.
Other commentators blamed rising rates of divorce and abortion on increasing
equality for women, while rises in juvenile crime, violence and sexual promiscuity
 The social and cultural context 7
were said to be the result of a lack of discipline in schools and in society. How-
ever, studies showed that the sexual behaviour of young people in fact changed
very little, and that it was stories circulating in increasingly competitive and
sensationalist newspapers that tried to frighten people and increase their sales by
suggesting otherwise.
Public anxiety over the spread of popular culture produced several influential
books which pontificated over the probable consequences. In The Uses of Literacy
(1957), Richard Hoggart argued that the absence of moral content in popular
literature and the arts made it more difficult for the ordinary person to become
educated, wise and cultured. In The Long Revolution (1961) Raymond Williams
considered the collective, social consequences, believing it would lead to an
increase in materialism and self-interest, a reduction in the importance of the
social services such as education and health, and a less radical, more individualist
Labour Party. But he also believed that the negative effects could be combated
with education and strong, left-wing government.
In spite of the worries about moral decay and cultural decline, by the end of
the 1950s the consumer society had become firmly established, and society was
about to be transformed. Its ethic of individualism and pleasure-seeking con-
trasted sharply with the collectivism and austerity that marked the beginning of
the decade.

Progress and pop (1960–70)

In spite of the material gains of the 1950s, by the mid-1960s there was a feel-
ing of disappointment with a Conservative Party that had been in power for
13 years. The country had changed greatly, developing into a dynamic consumer
society, but the old-fashioned speech, manners and dress of the Macmil-
lan government identified them with a much earlier age. The party had also
begun to appear disorganised and out of touch with politics and people. In the
mid-1950s there were stories of top civil servants defecting to Russia. In 1956
there was a major government failure in the handling of the Suez Canal cri-
sis, which resulted in a brief war and an embarrassing retreat. Later in 1963 the
Minister for War, John Profumo, resigned from government after admitting he
had lied to Parliament about his affair with a prostitute. As a result, the pub-
lic was beginning to lose respect for the government, its institutions and the
ruling class.
In 1964 the Labour Party won the election with Harold Wilson as its leader.
With the rapid advances in science and industry, the Prime Minister famously
spoke of ‘the white heat of the technological revolution’, and, with a televi-
sion in nearly every home, the new revolution could be seen by all. There was
optimism and confidence in the future, a consumer boom and rising aspirations.
Demand grew for secretarial, clerical and administrative skills, creating posts
that were frequently taken by women. Tall, modernist offices and apartment
blocks, cars, supermarkets, domestic appliances and a commercial mass media
all became part of everyday life. There was work, wealth and welfare, on a scale
8 The social and cultural context
never seen before. In sport, the 1966 football World Cup was held in cities
around Britain, with England emerging triumphant against West Germany in
a thrilling final at Wembley Stadium in London. The sun shone on Britain in
every sense, and the country was proud and united in victory, but faced with
gathering economic problems and social divisions, it was a final cheer of glory,

Figure 1.1 A souvenir from English football’s greatest day, the 1966 World Cup Final. A
final united ‘hurrah’ before the strife of the 1970s and 1980s.
© David Christopher
 The social and cultural context 9
togetherness and patriotism in a shared national history, the like of which would
perhaps never be seen again.
In spite of material improvements in the standard of living, dissent flourished.
Numerous groups began to demand new freedoms – political, economic and
personal – as rights. The government responded with a retreat from strict social
controls and punishments, many of which had been introduced in the Victorian
era. Capital punishment was suspended in 1965 and never returned, and criminal
law was reformed in areas affecting private morality such as obscenity, homosexu-
ality, abortion and gambling. In 1960 gambling was legalised, and many betting
shops, bingo halls and clubs appeared on British high streets. Homosexuality was
legalised in 1967, and in 1969 18-year-olds were given the right to vote, nine
years after the abolition of compulsory military service.
However, not everyone approved of the changes that the 1960s brought. The
Church of England, other Protestant churches and the Roman Catholic churches
remained firmly traditional, but their influence gradually declined. Similarly,
the political right opposed liberal reform, and when economic growth began to
slow down around 1966 the Tory politician Enoch Powell began stirring up anti-
immigrant sentiments. With almost half a million West Indians in Britain, in a
speech to the Conservative Party Conference in October 1968 Powell warned
that integration was impossible. In another speech in Birmingham the same
year, his inflammatory rhetoric used lines from an epic poem by Virgil, ‘Like the
Roman, I see the River Tiber foaming with much blood’, a stance which was to
be exploited by racist organisations such as the British National Front. Although
he was sacked from the shadow cabinet by the party leader Edward Heath, it was
a sharp warning of the increased polarisation of society that would characterise
Britain in the 1970s.
But significant advances were achieved in the position of women. To fight for
equality of opportunity and against discrimination, the British women’s move-
ment modelled itself on the women’s movement in America, with the holding
of marches, sit-ins and strikes to achieve their aims. Soon, a mixture of effective
campaigns and public support resulted in new laws that gave women the rights
they had demanded. In 1967 the Abortion Act permitted legal terminations
for social and health reasons. The same year, the Family Planning Act enabled
women to obtain contraceptives on the NHS, and in the 1974 the oral contra-
ceptive known as ‘the Pill’, was prescribed free of charge to single women. The
Divorce Reform Act of 1969 also made divorce easier to obtain, by allowing mar-
ried women to break away from violent and abusive relationships.
Before the advances of the 1960s many women’s lives were conditioned by
their reproductive abilities. But on taking control of their fertility, they could
begin to control their lives. They could decide if they wanted to become wives
and mothers, or if they wanted to plan or postpone family life to fit in with their
work. These measures helped to ensure that women could take control of their
lives and their futures in a way never seen before.
As well as demands for more personal independence, the 1960s also witnessed
demands for greater regional autonomy, as Scottish, Welsh and Irish national-
ists all began to demand political freedom. In 1968 there were riots in Northern
10 The social and cultural context
Ireland where the Civil Rights Association demanded equal treatment for Cath-
olics and Protestants. In 1969 the British government sent troops to suppress the
rebels, where they remained into the twenty-first century.
While public opinion over Northern Ireland remained divided, the major
reforms that took place were largely regarded as positive. Moreover, although
some commentators said the fun and freedom of the 1960s were only charac-
teristic of ‘swinging London’ and rarely happened ‘north of Watford’, many
social reforms of the period were both national and liberating for millions of
people. Before the 1960s it was rarely possible to challenge the decisions taken
by the police and magistrates. There was capital punishment. Theatre censor-
ship was implemented by ex-military gentlemen with an office in St James’s
Palace. Gay men were often blackmailed, as homosexuality was a punishable
offence. In schools there was beating and caning, and secret files were kept
on students. The position of women was particularly unjust and often precari-
ous as there were no equal rights in law and discrimination was widespread.
Divorce was difficult to obtain, and required witnesses to sexual misbehaviour.
Contraception was not easily available, and illegal abortions were dangerous
and often went wrong. Single mothers and the children of the very poor were
routinely separated from their parents, as were the blind and disabled. How-
ever, by the early 1970s all that had changed.

Anger and division (1970–79)

In 1970 the Conservative Party was returned to power with Edward Heath as
its leader. In contrast to the optimism, hedonism and progress of the 1960s, it
was the beginning of a decade marked by social division, strikes, high inflation,
unemployment and political violence. The period was also characterised by steep
immigration: between 1968 and 1974 a final, major phase took place when over
70,000 Kenyan and Ugandan Asians arrived as refugees, and by 1974 there were
over one million Afro-Caribbean and Asian immigrants in Britain. Later, at a
time of growing unemployment, high inflation and social anxiety, the National
Front began openly to provoke black communities and their supporters. Con-
flict intensified following the ‘Spaghetti House siege’ in 1975, when three Afro-
Caribbeans attempted a robbery and took hostages in a restaurant in the Brixton
area of London. The National Front was able to exploit the growing tension,
and for a short time it became a significant force in British politics, beating the
Liberal Party in several contests.
In a climate of demands for personal and political rights on every side, Scottish
and Welsh Nationalist parties began to press home their demands for indepen-
dence with vigorous campaigns, marches and forms of direct action, while the
Irish Republican Army (IRA) began a bombing campaign in several British cities
with the loss of many lives.
Apart from the political troubles, the economy was stagnating. By 1973,
unemployment was still very low at around 3.5 per cent, but inflation was accel-
erating to over 20 per cent, provoking even more strikes. Economists believed
 The social and cultural context 11
the long-term decline of mining, shipbuilding, steel production and motor-
vehicle manufacture were all significant contributors to the economic malaise.
Heavy industries were no longer competitive in global markets. The resistance
of the trade unions to industrial change, the tendency of management to think
and plan only for the short term, as well as high rates of inflation and the oil
crisis of the mid-1970s were all said to be contributory to Britain’s economic
performance.
Nevertheless, for the early part of the decade there was still a sense of living in
prosperous times. Sales of houses and cars continued to rise, and sleek new mod-
ernist flats, houses, shops and offices changed the face of Britain’s cities. Women’s
rights had made progress, and by the mid-1970s around half of all women were
employed, although despite the Equal Pay Act of 1970, they were still earning
around 25 per cent less for the same work, and in mainstream entertainment
women were still portrayed as playthings for men, and sexism was commonplace.
Greater affluence allowed more people to take holidays abroad, with Spain the
preferred destination. Most visitors had little interest in the culture, but were
attracted by the weather, the pleasure to be had, and the assurance that fish ’n’
chips, a pint of Watney’s Red Barrel and a copy of the Daily Mirror could be all
bought within a stone’s throw of the hotel. The new affluence made Britons more
confident and individualist. Youth was experimenting with a sexually ambiguous
look, long hair, eye make-up, glitter and platform shoes. Space travel was becom-
ing commonplace, and a sense of being in new, alien territory applied as much to
the British high streets, as it did to the moon.
But, as the decade progressed, the economy took a rapid downturn. Fuelled
by rising oil prices, inflation escalated quickly, and strikes became numerous.
In Downing Street, the Tory Prime Minister Edward Heath had been unable to
steer the economy effectively through troubled economic waters, and in 1974
with inflation at 25 per cent and prolonged strikes by the mineworkers’ union,
the lights went out around the country in a series of national power cuts, which
quickly forced an election. The result showed a narrow victory for the Labour
Party with a minority government. Its leader Harold Wilson was able to settle the
miners’ strike, and in a second election the same year Labour won with a small
majority. Disillusion with mainstream politics and an increasing public interest in
the environment saw the creation of the Green Party in the UK in 1973. But its
message of recycling and pacifism in rural enclaves was slow to catch on in heavily
urbanised Britain, as political tension continued. International Marxists became
more numerous, and various anarchist groups were visible, vocal and violent.
Towards the end of the decade social fragmentation across Britain was increas-
ingly obvious. The tension was amplified by the popular press, as the Sun, the
Daily Mirror and others carried sensational stories about racial violence, robbery,
football hooliganism, pornography and rape. Punks appeared on streets, their
shocking appearance reflecting a sense of disgust with a society that seemed to
have abandoned its youth and its future. Confrontation appeared to be every-
where, and towards the end of the 1970s there was an acute sense of public
desperation.
12 The social and cultural context

The end of consensus: Britain under the Tories (1979–97)

Following the Conservative Party defeat in the 1974 election, Margaret Thatcher,
a grocer’s daughter from the market town of Grantham in Lincolnshire, became
the first female leader of a British political party. Her early publicity depicted
her as a happily married suburban housewife, cheerfully washing up in her semi-
detached house. But at the same time she was developing economic ideas that
were guided by the fashionable theories of monetarism. These involved reducing
inflation with high interest rates, and submitting all aspects of the economy to
free-market economics and the laws of supply and demand.
The late 1970s were times of strikes and confrontation, and many electors
were attracted by her forceful personality and the simple certainties of her free-
market ideology. It recalled a Victorian Britain when nation and Empire were at
their height, but conveniently forgot the inequality, exploitation and suffering
on which imperial success was based, and the need to police and control it with
tough laws and punishments. Moreover, in a decade when the political and eco-
nomic achievements of feminism had been remarkable, she would be Britain’s
first woman prime minister. Yet Thatcher would do little to help the situation of
women, and many argued she set back the movement by ten years.
Thatcher went on to lead the Conservatives to victory in the election of 1979,
and the party remained in power until 1997. But in the early 1980s, as Thatcher
began to implement her policies of withdrawing state support for nationalised
industries, Britain’s economic crisis worsened. Manufacturing declined, and the
shipbuilding, mining and steel industries practically disappeared. The regions of
Scotland, the north of England, Wales and the West Midlands had traditionally
depended on this kind of industry, and were economically devastated. Unem-
ployment rose to over 13 per cent, and with more than three million people out
of work the government became deeply unpopular. There was civil and indus-
trial conflict in most areas, and in April 1981 rioting broke out in the streets of
Brixton, south London, and in other cities around the country. It was spontane-
ous and anarchic, directed against the police and the local environment. The
crisis seemed to deepen on 2 April 1982, when Thatcher led Britain into war
with Argentina over the occupation of the Falklands Islands. However, when the
British forces emerged victorious on 14 June, Thatcher was able to exploit the
moment and distract attention from the economic crisis at home.
Next, the government forged a closer alliance with the USA to develop a
Cold War strategy that involved holding nuclear weapons as a deterrent. A cen-
tral element of policy was that of mutually assured destruction (MAD) of both
parties in case of a strike by the forces of the Soviet Union. The government’s
policies were supported by virtually all the daily newspapers except the Guardian,
the Daily Mirror, and from August 1982 The Voice, a new weekly paper aimed at
young black Britons. With the press on its side, in spite of record unemployment,
riots and a war, the Conservatives emerged victorious in the general election of
1983, and the economic and political ideas that came to be known as Thatcher-
ism began to be fully expressed and implemented. These included an even greater
 The social and cultural context 13
reduction of public spending, and measures to privatise industries in the pub-
lic sector, such as gas, steel, transport and telecommunications. The measures
were highly unpopular with the working class and unemployed, and resulted in
more violent industrial disputes. They were also expensive to implement, being
at great cost to the welfare state, but the discovery of oil in the North Sea in the
1970s helped to finance Thatcher’s project.
To cement the government’s authority, she next addressed those she called
‘the enemy within’: the powerful trade unions, the miners, left-wing local gov-
ernments, the IRA and its supporters, immigrants, the ‘greens’ and ‘unreliable’
members of her own party. The most notorious confrontation was the miners’
strike of 1984–5, which Thatcher saw as part of her plan to break the power of
the trade unions. She became known as the ‘Iron Lady’ and passed legislation to
weaken the unions’ power permanently.
The trade unions showed their opposition to Thatcher in their readiness to
strike, while many other protest groups also emerged composed mainly of middle-
class activists. The most notable was the establishing of a women’s ‘peace camp’
outside Greenham Common air base in 1981 against the stationing of nuclear
weapons there. Other protest groups were more concerned about the environ-
ment, such as Greenpeace, the Ramblers’ Association, Friends of the Earth and
Hunt Saboteurs Association, which all increased their memberships.
The Arts Council was created to support the arts in 1946 under the chairman-
ship of the economist John Maynard Keynes, and had never interfered with the
work of artists and performers, even when their work was critical of government.
Its ideology was supported by parties on the left and right, and helped to support
British theatre, music and the visual arts in its mission to bring a civilising influ-
ence to society. But in the 1980s its funding was sharply reduced, and the arts
were treated as any other area of economic activity. The effects were widely felt.
For the first time, many museums and galleries began to charge admission prices,
while to attract subsidies, arts productions became less critical and adventur-
ous and more populist, for example by showing Shakespeare’s plays in ways that
removed their social content and stressed their sentimental aspects.
While the expression ‘Thatcherite’ was being applied (often pejoratively)
from 1979, the term ‘Thatcherism’ only began to be heard after the British gen-
eral election of 1983 following Thatcher’s re-election. Her majority was large
enough for the party to reject the ‘middle road’ consensus politics that had char-
acterised the post-war period. The party increasingly spread the view that state
management and regulation of the economy was wrong; that large government
bureaucracies and nationalised industries were inefficient; and that subsidies for
business and industry promoted poor practice and laziness, a view that recalled
the thinking of early nineteenth-century economists.
But implementing Thatcherism came at a high social cost. Industrial strife
increased, reaching a bitter, violent peak with the miners’ strike of 1984–5.
Crime rose dramatically, and during 1985–6 there were more riots in cities around
Britain. Burglary, car theft, violent crime and vandalism all increased. Football hoo-
liganism became a serious social problem, and relations between the police and
14 The social and cultural context
public were tense. Commentators on the political right blamed the permissive
society of the 1960s, which had allowed the young to grow up with no respect
for the police, teachers or authority. In contrast, those on the left blamed high
unemployment (almost four million), homelessness (around one million) and
the loss of community, which an ethos of economic individualism had promoted.
Moreover, the withdrawal of state support for nationalised industries had deci-
mated communities, particularly those who depended on mining and shipbuild-
ing; and as with the British involvement in the Iraq war some 30 years later, there
was no plan for withdrawal, no exit plan to deal with the human casualties of lost
economic support. The social and economic aftershocks are still reverberating.
Tory policies had the most severe consequences for the poorly educated and
least skilled, who were unable to obtain manual work as they had done in previ-
ous generations. Some of the major casualties were immigrants and their fami-
lies, and there were riots in many poor, racially mixed inner-city areas in 1979,
1981 and again in 1985. Many women also suffered, in particular those who
transferred from manufacturing work to low-paid, part-time service industries
in which there were no company pensions or union benefits. However, those
on a different social level were beginning to occupy posts in traditional male-
dominated areas such as business, law and banks. Many could enjoy the benefits
of financial and personal freedom, and were postponing marriage and children
until much later in life.
In the mid-1980s, towards the end of the Tories’ second term in government,
restrictions on moneylending and share-dealing were lifted, and the financial
sector boomed. Credit was easy to obtain and taxes were cut. Share prices rose
quickly, especially those of newly privatised public industries such as British Air-
ways, British Steel, and all the public utilities including gas, water and telecom-
munications. The dominant economic influences in Britain changed from heavy
industry and manufacturing to financial services and North Sea oil revenues. By
1986 the economy was stronger, and house prices were rising sharply. There was
an air of excitement and optimism as a new society emerged. Britain became
more affluent and competitive; spending on restaurants, clothes, cars, homes and
holidays reached record levels, fuelled by a new generation of aspirational, stylish
and image-conscious consumers. But, the benefits were felt chiefly in the south.
In the north, the traditional heavy industries of steel, mining and shipbuilding
were being closed down, with the resulting widespread, long-term unemploy-
ment, and little or none of the benefits of the economic boom being experienced
in the south-east.
Advertising and publicity became fine arts, even in politics. The Conservatives
employed the services of the Saatchi and Saatchi advertising agency to promote
the party, creating their logo of a flaming blue torch, a symbol closely associated
with the Oscar-winning film Chariots of Fire. Meanwhile, Labour adopted a red
rose as its logo, and hired the services of Hugh Hudson, the director of Chariots,
to make a publicity film of the leader Neil Kinnock.
Following a third election victory in 1987 Thatcher claimed she had cured
Britain of its strikes, low productivity and low investment for ever. But the same
year the economy began to stagnate again when share prices crashed. In a brief
 The social and cultural context 15

Figure 1.2 A view of the Docklands financial district; temples of Mammon and symbols of
the 1980s, seen across the River Thames from the ship Cutty Sark in Greenwich.
© David Christopher

phase of recovery, house prices continued to rise dramatically, as did inflation. But
government spending was further reduced, resulting in greater poverty and inse-
curity for the unemployed and sick. Homeless beggars appeared on the streets, the
use of illegal drugs increased, the numbers of sufferers from HIV and AIDS grew
alarmingly, and warnings about sexual behaviour were broadcast on television.
16 The social and cultural context
The spread of AIDS prompted more open, public discussion of gay lifestyles,
but this was opposed by the Tory government, who in 1987 introduced the Local
Government Act with its infamous Clause 28, which prohibited state schools
from ‘promoting homosexuality’, in other words from teaching students that
it is acceptable or normal. To counter this, groups promoting gay rights began
campaigning for a better understanding of homosexuality with more widespread
publicity, a high-profile annual Gay Pride march, and membership of pressure
groups increased such as Stonewall, Act Up and Outrage. Gay men and women
in public life were still reluctant to openly declare their homosexuality, fearing it
would lead to criticism and censure, and some tactics involved public exposure
(‘outing’) of those in politics and the media, which guaranteed high levels of
public interest.
By 1990 it was becoming increasingly difficult for Thatcher to keep her party
united, particularly over the issue of closer political and economic integration
with Europe, an issue that she had always opposed, and that would go on to
divide the party into the next century. The same year, violent rioting broke out
in London when the Tory government introduced the ‘poll tax’. Eventually, a
combination of recession, antipathy to Europe and the universally unpopular poll
tax dislodged Thatcher after 11 years in Downing Street, and one of the most
controversial periods in British politics. To replace her, John Major was elected
as the new leader of an increasingly divided party and a fractious nation. He man-
aged briefly to reverse the Conservatives’ fortunes with an unexpected victory in
the 1992 election, bringing a record fourth consecutive Tory victory.
For the first half of the 1990s there was an overwhelming sense of public disil-
lusionment. Studies repeatedly showed that public confidence in all the major
institutions had fallen, especially in Parliament, the legal system and the press.
And throughout the decade, the monarchy looked increasingly fragile and irrel-
evant, amid the devolution of power to Scotland, the plans of the Labour govern-
ment to abolish the House of Lords and the increasing popularity of the pressure
group Charter88 with its demands for the introduction of a British republic.
By the middle of the 1990s there were more internal divisions in the Major gov-
ernment over weak leadership, an uncaring attitude towards more vulnerable sec-
tions of the community and doubts over closer European integration. In response,
Major attempted a nostalgic appeal to traditional values under the banner of
‘Back to Basics’. But the press saw this as an opportunity to expose Tory hypocrisy
with frequent allegations of ‘sleaze’ – financial and moral impropriety – within
the party. As a result, several high-profile politicians such as Jeffrey Archer and
David Mellor were arrested or forced to resign, amid high levels of public interest,
incredulity and amusement. There seemed to be no end to the hypocrisy when
it later emerged that Major himself had departed from his own ‘family values’ in
having an affair with married Tory MP Edwina Currie, who subsequently served
as a junior minister in his government.
The decline in popularity of the Conservatives continued, and gave the Labour
Party an opportunity to reorganise. Tony Blair was elected the new leader follow-
ing the death of John Smith. Young and charismatic, he set about transforming
 The social and cultural context 17
the party, leaving behind the traditional socialist beliefs about stronger unions,
nationalisation of the major industries and redistribution of wealth. Many of
Labour’s traditional supporters worried that the party was becoming too much
like the Conservatives, but Blair repeated his message about party principles
being futile without power.

Forward with ‘New’ Labour (1997–2007)

Economy, politics and society

As the Tory Party faltered in a storm of sleaze and incompetence, the opinion
polls swung strongly in favour of Labour, and in May 1997 the party gained a
historic electoral victory, with a massive majority of 179 MPs. The early days of
Blair’s rule brought important political changes in terms of devolution at home
and intervention abroad. In 1997 Hong Kong was handed back to China. Then
plans were made for a devolution of power to Scotland, an assembly to aid regional
autonomy for Wales and a peace treaty with Northern Ireland, which diminished
political violence in the home nations. The theme of devolution continued with
a return of power to the London area and the establishing of the Greater London
Authority with its own mayor and assembly. Labour supporters saw devolution of
power as a democratic response to people’s needs but critics said Blair was presid-
ing over the break-up of the UK.
Since 1945 the Conservative Party had presented a strong challenge to Labour,
but now it was divided and weak. In its place, the press repositioned itself as the
‘unofficial’ opposition, subjecting the government to intense, critical scrutiny.
Consequently, there was a need to maintain order to ensure party unity, which
was often reported as Blair’s obsession with centralisation and control. However,
changes in the landscape of British politics now meant that government was sub-
ject to more external controls than internal ones. These came in the form of the
European Union (EU), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World
Bank, the press, big corporations and business tycoons, which now limit more
than ever what government can do.
As the Cold War disappeared, so did political ideology in the Labour Party,
which was no longer committed to programmes of nationalisation and high lev-
els of taxation for the richest earners. With pragmatic economic management
the economy showed steady improvement, and the persistent post-war worries of
inflation, unemployment and nuclear war diminished. Economic stability con-
tinued, and by 2004 inflation was low at 2–3 per cent, and there was almost
full employment for the first time since records were kept. Some 70 per cent of
people owned their own homes, although between 1997 and 2002 house prices
doubled, making it more difficult for people to buy for the first time, or to buy a
larger house.
New issues of education, health and social security came to dominate the
domestic political agenda. In 1975 only 7 per cent of the population went to
university, but in 2005 the figure was 33 per cent and rising. But education came
18 The social and cultural context
at a price, as for the first time university fees were introduced, and students were
offered loans from the government, except for Scots studying at Scottish uni-
versities, whose education remained fee free. Public health in particular was a
major concern, as the government attempted to modernise and improve the
NHS. Although hunger and malnutrition had once been the problem, in 2004 it
was obesity, as 67.6 per cent of men and 56.4 per cent of women were classed as
overweight. Food standards also become a public issue and the risk posed by eat-
ing ‘fast’ food such as burgers and frozen meals, and ‘junk’ food such as sweets and
chocolates which exacerbated the problem, especially among school children.
Alcohol consumption was also increasing, especially ‘binge’ drinking where large
amounts of alcohol are consumed in a short time, often leading to anti-social
behaviour and juvenile crime. The incidence of sexually transmitted diseases and
cancer also rose, while the traditional pleasures of sex, smoking and sunshine
were revealed to carry greater health risks than had earlier been suspected.
Despite greater economic stability and material prosperity, political partici-
pation continued to decline. In the election of 2001 only 39 per cent of peo-
ple under 25 voted, and the total percentage of voters was the lowest since the
election of 1918 (59.4 per cent). Public trust in politicians and institutions was
falling, and would shortly get worse. The royal family was one of the first institu-
tions to be affected in this way. The best of British family values were said to be
exemplified by the House of Windsor, and were accentuated by the glamour, style
and romance of the royal wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in
1981. But in giving confessional interviews to the media, Diana was said to have
damaged the public image of the royal family, as had many press intrusions and
‘confessions’ by former employees. However, Queen Elizabeth remained highly
respected, and the movement for a British republic weak. There had been no
discussion of a different head of state, and in 2003 research by ITV and YouGov
showed that 80 per cent of Britons wanted the monarchy to stay.
The Anglican Church also became less influential. The public felt it had been
unable to give clear guidance on many issues from abortion to genetic research,
and had problems accepting women and gay clergy, especially to senior positions.
In 1997 over 90 per cent said they did not attend church regularly, a statistic
which has risen to around 94 per cent in 2014.
Abroad, the absence of any obvious foreign enemy gave Blair a greater certainty
about Britain’s role in the world. When controversial wars erupted, his sense of
moral outrage led to several overseas interventions and his advocacy of the use
of force around the world, initially for humanitarian reasons. In his first six years
in office Blair ordered British troops into battle five times, more than any other
prime minister in British history. This included Iraq (1998 and 2003), Kosovo
(1999), Sierra Leone (2000) and Afghanistan (2001). The attacks on New York’s
World Trade Center in 2001 – commonly known as ‘9/11’ – convinced Blair to
support American president George W. Bush in the ‘war on terror’, which in
2003 involved the invasion of Iraq, despite a demonstration against it by over two
million people in Britain. The strength of US arms technology ensured the coun-
try was swiftly overrun, but almost every day since, there have been deaths and
 The social and cultural context 19
injuries of Iraqi civilians and British and US army personnel, as well as questions
about Blair’s judgement and honesty over the reason given for the intervention –
that Iraq held weapons of mass destruction, which has since been shown to be
untrue.

The art of ‘Cool Britannia’

In the mid-1990s it seemed as if the country was emerging from a cultural ice age,
as Britain became more self-confident, diverse and expressive. The rapid changes
in society and politics of the late 1990s, and the establishing of the Department
for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) reinvigorated the creative industries of
fashion, design, architecture and pop music. After years of popular discontent
with the Conservative government, many felt the time was right to express feel-
ings of national pride again, a feeling heightened in 1996 when England hosted
the Euro ’96 football championship, the national team playing with character
and spirit before passionate crowds. The flag of St George (rather than the Union
flag) had been adopted by numerous England fans and was ubiquitous not only
in the stadiums, but in cars and houses around the country, in a show of national
unity rarely seen since the country held the football World Cup in 1966.
The Euro ’96 tournament was the prelude to a powerful sense of renewal across
the country, which was emphasised by the size of Labour’s victory in the election
of the following year. Blair’s interest in the music scene (he had once played in
a band called Ugly Rumours) helped create a sense of expectation across the
arts, and in 1997 musicians and designers were invited to a reception in Down-
ing Street, echoing a similar gesture by former Labour Prime Minister Harold
Wilson in 1964, who invited the Beatles and others to a reception there. Like
Wilson, Blair was keen to present a new image of Britain as a youthful, progres-
sive, dynamic place for pop, fashion, film and design.
The cultural ferment drew much press attention. In an article in the Indepen-
dent on Sunday, 15 March 1998, entitled ‘The Cool Economy’, the journalist
Peter Koenig referred to ‘Cool Britannia’, a pun on the patriotic song ‘Rule Bri-
tannia’. The name quickly became used to label almost any cultural activity that
renounced American influences, and stood proud and alone in splendid isolation.
This brief but significant period for the arts has since come to be understood as
an expression of many things: a celebration of youthful communality; a reasser-
tion of national identity through the arts and sport; a joyful reaction to 18 years
of Tory rule and the class divide; a time when people seemed to express a desire
to be part of a larger community, which since the 1980s had almost been lost.
On the other hand, the new trends were sometimes criticised as elitist, on the
grounds that in a multicultural country they were mainly embraced by white,
middle-class males, while the more ethnically diverse arts such as the sounds of
British club culture went relatively ignored by the press. Moreover, the terms
‘Britpop’ and other ‘BritArts’ were inaccurate, as almost all the styles and trends
were made in England, indicating a clear trend towards the centralisation of
creative activity.
20 The social and cultural context
Britpop provided the background to the millennium celebrations, which cen-
tred around the construction of an enormous dome at Greenwich in London,
while a programme of other public-sector projects including arts buildings, sports
stadiums and transport schemes was created to greet the new century. In the area
of arts administration, the Department for National Heritage was replaced by the
DCMS, which took responsibility for policy and expenditure on museums and
galleries, the Arts Councils of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland,
plus regulation of the film industry, broadcasting and the press.
But despite many centrally directed initiatives for the development of creative
activity, public funding of the arts has declined, being replaced by an individ-
ualistic entrepreneurial ethic. Most projects are now largely self-funded, using
online fund-raising, or ‘crowdsourcing’, schemes such as Kickstarter, although
some projects are assisted by funds from the National Lottery, which began in
1994. Camelot – the company contracted to run it – pays 28 pence in every
pound towards a variety of health, education, environmental, sports, arts and
heritage projects around Britain. Critics argue that a decline in centralised fund-
ing has necessarily led to a commercialisation of the arts, and to a ‘dumbing
down’; that trying to attract large audiences leads to a reduction in quality and
variety. However, others argue against a ‘patrician’ model of funding that only
funds those projects that a small number of official ‘specialists’ think are good for
‘the people’. Instead, they believe that limited funding enables works to be more
responsive to public wants and needs, in turn leading to greater access and wider
public involvement, as well as the freedom to be critical of officialdom.

The age of insecurity (2007– )

By the mid-2000s, it seemed the years of economic boom and bust had been
cured for ever. The threat of a nuclear holocaust largely disappeared with the
collapse of communism in the early 1990s, which in turn prompted the disap-
pearance of ideology in the political parties. The divide between left and right,
which characterised politics and society since the 1970s, had vanished, and by
2007 the Labour Party was often being accused by its own supporters of resem-
bling the Tory Party, and vice-versa. The ‘tribal’ identities of the main parties
and their supporters had also weakened. Home owners and business people no
longer automatically voted Tory, while those who cared about a more equal and
tolerant society did not automatically vote Labour, and in many cases did not
even bother to vote at all, as political participation and electoral turnouts fell,
and people felt the boom years would continue for ever. Society was also more
secular and ethnically diverse, and less hierarchical, more liberal, tolerant, with
higher living standards and improved levels of health and education than at any
other time.
The British were said to be richer and more tolerant than ever before. They
were pro-capitalist, pro-social solidarity, secular, individualistic and libertarian
about personal behaviour. However, research also revealed the British to be
depressed, apathetic, celebrity obsessed and, in an age of uncertainty about the
 The social and cultural context 21
future, badly in debt. Moreover, surveys persistently showed that social inequality
was still extensive.
In 2007 Tony Blair resigned and Chancellor Gordon Brown took over as Prime
Minister. The government was looking tired and unimaginative after ten years in
office, and there was growing dissatisfaction among the electorate, fuelled by an
anti-Labour press. Politically, storm clouds also seemed to be gathering, following
terrorism in London with the bomb attacks of 7/7 and increasing tension with
Muslim communities. But, despite the promise of renewal as Brown walked into
Downing Street, an international economic crisis began to take hold. Britain was
about to become the latest victim of the raw power of global economic forces, as
reverberations from America’s troubled financial sector spread out around the
world which would put an end to New Labour’s years of abundance.
In 2010 an election was held, but no party emerged with an overall majority.
The electorate had lost confidence in Brown’s leadership and ability to deal with
the new economic problems, and a coalition government was formed between the
Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, with Tory leader David Cameron as Prime
Minister. Shortly afterwards, and faced with the greatest economic crisis for many
decades and widespread uncertainty about the future, a programme of cuts in pub-
lic spending took effect, with further reductions in subsidies and grants to the arts,
in order to repay government debts.
The economic crisis had many consequences for Britain, with unemployment
almost 10 per cent (2.7 million), the highest since 1994, with homelessness,
‘payday’ loan shops, pawnbrokers, food banks, and the spectre of international
terrorism on the streets of Britain’s cities. The crude visibility of the recession’s
consequences stoked a crisis of public trust in major institutions. The banks and
financial services were the first to suffer, when in 2008 the Royal Bank of Scot-
land, Lloyds TSB and HBOS had to be bailed out by the government. At the
same time, leading executives in these and other banks were shown to be receiv-
ing huge salaries and bonus payments, despite their conspicuous lack of success.
Public anger was expressed most notably in the Occupy London protest, a non-
violent encampment organised to protest against economic inequality. Set up for
nine months in 2011–12 outside St Paul’s Cathedral and close to the London
Stock Exchange, the campers and their issues attracted much public interest and
media attention.
In 2009 and subsequently, public trust in politicians fell even further when
many politicians on both sides of Parliament were exposed by the press for mak-
ing exaggerated or non-existent expenses claims. In a time of public austerity this
was seen as particularly serious, especially as some were advocating harsh punish-
ments for those caught falsely claiming social security benefits. Many resignations
followed. Also accused by the public were the utility companies of gas, electricity
and water, which had been privatized during the Thatcher years. Prices rose by
almost 100 per cent between 2002 and 2012, while the government did nothing
to change the situation, which further intensified public anger and disgust in a
time of economic hardship, cuts in social security benefits and unemployment
running at 2.6 million.
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
spoorwegovergang bij Eefde, tusschen Gorssel en Zutphen; daar
links den grintweg op. Bij de uitspanning „De Kap” komt men weer

op den straatweg; daar 1876 linksaf en vervolgt men den

straatweg naar Vorden 419. Voorbij V. over den spoorweg en

eveneens vóór Ruurlo. (A l d a a r h e t f r a a i e k a s t e e l
„ R u u r l o ” m e t s c h o o n e b o s s c h e n .) Langs station Ruurlo

weder over den spoorweg en dan 523 rechtsaf naar Groenlo.

[60]

De weg voert over het geheel door een mooie streek.

De geheele weg mag en kan met automobielen bereden worden.

[Inhoud]

99a Blad 14–20 van den Bonds-atlas.

Afstand ROUTE. Afstand naar elke Soort

van plaats. v. d.
plaats tot weg.
plaats. Heen. Terug.
— 45.9
ZUTPHEN
 Afstand ROUTE. Afstand naar elke Soort
van plaats. v. d.
plaats tot weg.
plaats. Heen. Terug.
(8.7) (—) (—) (G.)
(Almen )
13.7 13.7 32.2 G.
Laren

12.— 25.7 20.2 ,,

Holten

8.— 33.7 12.2 S.

Rijssen

7.2 40.9 5.— ,,

Wierden
5.— 45.9 — ,,
ALMELO

Men verlaat Zutphen langs de rails van de paardentram op Eefde,

buiten de stad den eersten grintweg rechts op en op den dwarsweg
Kapper-Allée gekomen, links; 400 M. verder rechtsaf en daarna over
de spoorlijn.

Te Laren linksaf langs de tramrails, dan spoedig den eersten weg

rechts 400 en op de volgende splitsing linkshouden. In Holten

komt men op den straatweg en slaat rechtsaf 76 en kort daarna

linksaf 29 naar Rijssen. Door R. en dan linksaf 1421 naar

Wierden en daar rechtsaf 63 naar Almelo.

Naar Almen: 4 K.M. na den spoorwegovergang bij een wegwijzer

rechtsaf.

De geheele weg mag en kan met automobielen bereden worden.

[Inhoud]

99b Blad 14–20 van den Bonds-atlas.

Afstand ROUTE. Afstand naar elke Soort

van plaats. v. d.
plaats tot weg.
plaats. Heen. Terug.
— 46.6
ZUTPHEN

1.2 1.2 45.4 S.

Warnsveld
12.5 13.7 32.9 G.
Laren
 Afstand ROUTE. Afstand naar elke Soort
van plaats. v. d.
plaats tot weg.
plaats. Heen. Terug.
11.6 25.3 21.3 Z. Rp.
Markelo [61]

8.8 34.1 12.5 Z.

Rijssen

7.5 41.6 5.— S.

Wierden
5.— 46.6 — ,,
ALMELO

Men verlaat Zutphen door de Larestraat, voorbij Warnsveld linksaf de

Kapper-Allée in 1876, na 1.2 K.M. rechtsaf, over de spoorlijn.

Te Laren linksaf langs de tramrails, dan spoedig den eersten weg

rechts 400 en op de volgende splitsing rechtshouden. Verder

volgt men een zandweg met rijwielpad, die verderop weer in
grintweg overgaat naar [61]Markelo. Van Markelo naar Rijssen is de
weg thans nog zandweg, doch zeer waarschijnlijk zal de geheele
weg Laren–Markelo–Rijssen verhard worden. Van Rijssen volgt men

den straatweg naar Wierden, daar rechtsaf 63 en weder langs

den straatweg naar Almelo.
Deze route is door bovengenoemden zandweg voorloopig voor auto’s
ongeschikt.

[Inhoud]

102a Blad 20–21 van den Bonds-atlas.

Afstand ROUTE. Afstand naar Soort

van elke plaats. v. d.
plaats tot weg.
plaats. Heen. Terug.
— 54.8
ZUTPHEN

1.2 1.2 53.6 S.

Warnsveld
14.2 15.4 39.4 G.
Lochem

10.7 26.1 28.7 ,,

Diepenheim

5.— 31.1 23.7 ,,

Goor

5.5 Wiene. 36.6 18.2 S. Rp.

 Afstand ROUTE. Afstand naar Soort
van elke plaats. v. d.
plaats tot weg.
plaats. Heen. Terug.
4.4 41.— 13.8 S.[62]
Delden
5.3 46.3 8.5 ,,
Hengelo

8.5 54.8 — ,,
ENSCHEDE

Men verlaat Zutphen door de Larestraat. Voorbij Warnsveld bij K.M.-

paal 34 den grintweg rechtuit 156 naar Lochem. (B ij d e n

1 5 7, v l a k v ó ó r L o c h e m : r e c h t s z ij w e g n a a r
de uitspanning „Dollen Hoed” met belvédère,
uitgangspunt om de Lochemsche bergen te

b e z o e k e n .) Door Lochem rechtuit 2097, buiten L. over de

Berkelbrug en rechtuit naar Diepenheim. (O p d e z e n w e g n a
de Berkelbrug voorbij Lochem links zijweg naar
h e t k a s t e e l „ A m p s e n ” m e t u i t g e s t r e k t b o s c h .)

Voorbij Diepenheim links houden 1355 tot Goor. In Goor

680 rechtsaf. 7 Men volgt den straatweg naar Delden, (v o o r b ij
D e l d e n l i n k s z ij w e g n a a r h e t k a s t e e l „Tw i c k e l ”
met prachtige omgeving en bosschen. De bij het
k a s t e e l [62]b e h o o r e n d e t u i n e n z ij n t e b e z i c h t i g e n
des Woensdags- en Zaterdagsmiddags, waarvoor
men in de hotels kaarten kan krijgen. Op den
watertoren bij Delden heeft men een mooi
u i t z i c h t ) en verder naar Hengelo. Te Hengelo rechtsaf den
straatweg blijven volgen naar Enschedé.

De weg is goed berijdbaar.

De geheele weg mag en kan met automobielen bereden worden,

echter niet de „Men kan ook”.

[Inhoud]

103 Blad 19–21 van den Bonds-atlas.

Afstand ROUTE. Afstand naar Soort

van elke plaats. v. d.
plaats tot weg.
plaats. Heen. Terug.
— 44.1
ARNHEM

5.— 5.— 39.1 S.

Velp
5.8 10.8 33.3 ,,
de Steeg
 Afstand ROUTE. Afstand naar Soort
van elke plaats. v. d.
plaats tot weg.
plaats. Heen. Terug.
4.2 15.— 29.1 ,,
Dieren

1.5 Olburgen. 16.5 27.6 G.

1.6 Rhaa. 18.1 26.— ,,
3.8 21.9 22.2 ,,[63]
Steenderen
4.8 26.7 17.4 S.
Baak
1.9 Wichmond. 28.6 15.5 ,,
5.— 33.6 10.5 ,,
Vorden

10.5 44.1 — S. G.
LOCHEM

Men verlaat Arnhem door de Steenstraat 1631 en volgt de

tramrails naar Velp. (Te V e l p l i n k s z ij w e g n a a r h e t
kasteel „Rozendaal” en even voorbij Velp l inks
z ij w e g n a a r „ B e e k h u i z e n ”, e e n e u i t s p a n n i n g m e t
schoone bosschen nabij de Emma-Pyramide en
d e n Z ij p e n b e r g , b e i d e m e t f r a a i p a n o r a m a . ) Van
Velp de rails blijven volgen naar De Steeg. (L i n k s v a n D e
S t e e g d e O n z a l i g e e n M i d d a g t e r b o s s c h e n .)
Voorbij De Steeg door de beroemde Middagter-Allée [63]en rechtuit
tot Dieren. (A l d a a r, n a b ij h e t s t a t i o n , z ij w e g n a a r
h e t l a n d g o e d „ H a g e n a u ” .) In D. per pontveer den IJssel (R
& b 10 c., MR & b 10 c., A & b 20 c., e l k e p e r s . m e e r 5 c.).
Vóór Steenderen bij een driesprong links houden. In Steenderen

rechtuit 961 en kort daarop rechtsaf 996. Bij Baak kruist

men den grintweg Zutphen–Hummelo 418. In Wichmond rechts

houden 1734 en dan rechtuit tot Vorden. In V. eerst links

1172 en op den straatweg rechtsaf 419 en na den

spoorwegovergang linksaf. 6 K.M. verder, bij den wegwijzer, rechtsaf
naar Lochem.

De weg is over het algemeen goed berijdbaar. Van Baak tot Lochem
voert de weg meest door een boschrijke streek.

De geheele weg mag en kan met automobielen bereden worden.

Opmerking verdient, dat het gedeelte Baak, Wichmond, Vorden, met
niet te groote snelheid bereden moet worden, daar de weg zeer
kronkelend is, terwijl de berm op vele plaatsen dicht begroeid is met
alle uitzicht benemend hakhout. [64]

[Inhoud]

104a Blad 19–20–21 van den Bonds-atlas.

 Afstand ROUTE. Afstand naar Soort
van elke plaats. v. d.
plaats tot weg.
plaats. Heen. Terug.
— 84.7
ARNHEM

5.— 5.— 79.7 S.

Velp
5.8 10.8 73.9 ,,
de Steeg

3.— 13.8 70.9 ,,

Ellekom
3.9 17.7 67.— G.
Doesburg

2.4 20.1 64.6 ,,

Drempt
4.4 24.5 60.2 ,,
Laag-Keppel

1.3 25.8 58.9 ,,

Hummelo
10.— 35.8 48.9 ,,
Hengelo
 Afstand ROUTE. Afstand naar Soort
van elke plaats. v. d.
plaats tot weg.
plaats. Heen. Terug.
11.— 46.8 37.9 ,,
Ruurlo

6.8 53.6 31.1 ,,

Borculo
7.2 60.8 23.9 ,,
Neede

10.1 70.9 13.8 ,,

Haaksbergen

8.9 Usselo. 79.8 4.9 ,,

4.9 84.7 — ,,
ENSCHEDE

Men verlaat Arnhem door de Steenstraat 1631 en volgt de

tramrails naar Velp. (Te V e l p l i n k s z ij w e g n a a r k a s t e e l
„Rozendaal” en even voorbij Velp l inks zijweg
n a a r „ B e e k h u i z e n ”, e e n e u i t s p a n n i n g m e t
schoone bosschen nabij de Emma-pyramide en
d e n Z ij p e n b e r g , b e i d e m e t f r a a i p a n o r a m a .) Van
Velp de rails blijven volgen naar De Steeg. (L i n k s v a n D e
S t e e g d e O n z a l i g e e n M i d d a g t e r b o s s c h e n .) Na de
Middagter-Allée voorbij Hotel Brinkhorst den eersten weg rechts in

472. Steeds rechtuit, tot men op den Doesburgschen dijk aan

de tramrails komt 1752, daar dan rechtsaf naar Doesburg.

Aldaar over de schipbrug. In de stad steeds rechtuit, voorbij de kerk
de tweede straat linksaf naar Laag-Keppel. (B ij L a a g - K e p p e l
k a s t e e l „ K e p p e l ”, d a t g e d e e l t e l ij k t e b e z i c h t i g e n

i s .) Te Laag-Keppel linksaf 339 naar Hummelo. (B ij

Hummelo kasteel „Enghuizen” met fraaie

b o s s c h e n .) Te Hummelo rechts 338 en den tweeden

grintweg links in, daarna rechtuit en 4 K.M. voorbij Hummelo linksaf

336 naar Hengelo. In Hengelo rechtsaf 804 en 1658

naar Ruurlo. Vóór Ruurlo komt men op den straatweg en slaat daar

rechtsaf 335. (I n R u u r l o f r a a i k a s t e e l m e t

s c h o o n e b o s s c h e n .) Te Ruurlo het dorp door en rechtsaf

522 naar Borculo. Door B. 1090 en daarna rechts 1089

naar Neede. In Neede eerst rechts houden 1092 en bij de kerk

linksaf 1093. Voorbij N. aan de splitsing weder linksaf naar

Haaksbergen en Enschedé.

De weg is over ’t algemeen goed berijdbaar. [65]

De geheele weg mag en kan met automobielen bereden worden.

[Inhoud]

104b Blad 19–20–21 van den Bonds-atlas.

Afstand ROUTE. Afstand naar Soort

van elke plaats. v. d.
plaats tot weg.
plaats. Heen. Terug.
— 90.4
ARNHEM

5.— 5.— 85.4 S.

Velp
5.8 10.8 79.6 ,,
de Steeg

3.— 13.8 76.6 ,,

Ellekom
3.9 17.7 72.7 G.
Doesburg

2.4 20.1 70.3 S.

Drempt
4.4 24.5 65.9 ,,
Laag-Keppel

5.7 30.2 60.2 ,,

Doetinchem
 Afstand ROUTE. Afstand naar Soort
van elke plaats. v. d.
plaats tot weg.
plaats. Heen. Terug.
13.3 43.5 46.9 G.
Varsseveld
8.8 52.3 38.1 ,,[66]
Lichtenvoorde

7.7 60.— 30.4 ,,

Groenlo

7.2 67.2 23.2 ,,

Eibergen
9.4 76.6 13.8 ,,
Haaksbergen

8.9 Usselo. 85.5 4.9 ,,

4.9 90.4 — ,,
ENSCHEDE

Men verlaat Arnhem door de Steenstraat 1631 en volgt de

tramrails naar Velp. (Te V e l p l i n k s z ij w e g n a a r k a s t e e l
„Rozendaal” en even voorbij Velp l inks zijweg
n a a r „ B e e k h u i z e n ”, e e n e u i t s p a n n i n g m e t
schoone bosschen nabij de Emma-pyramide en
d e n Z ij p e n b e r g , b e i d e m e t f r a a i p a n o r a m a .) Van
Velp de rails blijven volgen naar De Steeg. (L i n k s v a n D e
S t e e g d e O n z a l i g e e n M i d d a g t e r b o s s c h e n .) Na de
Middagter-Allée voorbij Hotel Brinkhorst den eersten weg rechts in

472. Steeds rechtuit, tot men op den Doesburgschen dijk aan

de tramrails komt 1752, daar dan rechtsaf naar Doesburg.

Aldaar over de schipbrug. In de stad steeds rechtuit, voorbij de kerk
de tweede straat linksaf naar Laag-Keppel. (B ij L . - K e p p e l
k a s t e e l „ K e p p e l ”, d a t g e d e e l t e l ij k t e b e z i c h t i g e n

i s ) en rechtuit 339 tot Doetinchem. In D. linksaf en na 1½

K.M. over den spoorweg. In Varsseveld linksaf 781, in

Lichtenvoorde rechts 539, buiten L. links en langs het station

naar Groenlo. In G. rechts 1091. Na den spoorweg gepasseerd

te hebben, [66]linkshouden tot Eibergen. In Eibergen eerst links

2163 en dan rechts 1621 naar Haaksbergen en Enschedé.

De weg is goed berijdbaar.

De geheele weg mag en kan met automobielen bereden worden.

1 Men kan ook, om de keien in Elburg te vermijden, voorbij K.M.-paal 48 rechts

den grintweg opgaan; men komt dan voorbij E. weer op den straatweg uit. ↑
2 Men kan ook over Kamper-Nieuwstad rijden. In Elburg dan rechtuit blijven

gaan 820 en 1776. Voorbij E. loopt de weg deels op den dijk, met

fraai zeegezicht, deels achter langs den dijk. Te Kamper-Nieuwstad linksaf

1733. Deze weg is ruim 5 K.M. korter, maar minder beschut en voor automobielen
gesloten. ↑
3

Men kan ook aan dezen 588 rechts afslaan, iets verder door een tol (R
2½ c.), en na circa 1½ K.M. verder den eersten zijweg links in. Over het landgoed
„Stoutenburg” [50]langs een goeden straatweg rechtuit, tot men te Hoevelaken
weder op den Rijksstraatweg uitkomt. Hier rechtsaf. Bezienswaardig: 2
reuzeneiken, door Johan van Oldenbarneveldt geplant. Op het landgoed
„Stoutenburg” mag men niet van den straatweg afwijken of zich ophouden. ↑
4 Men kan ook aan den spoorwegovergang vóór Deventer links afslaan en langs
de lijn en over de spoorbrug rijden; men komt dan aan het noordelijk einde der

stad aan 1947. ↑

5 Men kan ook te Hattem bij café „Schenk” rechtuit de ophaalbrug overgaan en
dan rechtuit naar het kleine veer (veergeld: 2½ c. per pers. en per rijwiel, bij
hoog water dubbel). Men volgt tot Zwolle den grintweg. Op den 4-sprong links.
Deze weg is iets korter dan de hoofdroute. ↑
6 Men kan ook te Hattem bij café „Schenk” linksom gaan, volgende straat weer
links en tegenover de kerk rechts en steeds rechtuit den grintweg volgen, langs

het station Hattemerbroek, iets verder kruist men den straatweg 242 en
bereikt 3 K.M. verder den bovengenoemden eersten wegwijzer, daar links. ↑
7 Men kan ook de keibestrating in Goor vermijden, door 2 K.M. vóór Goor,
voorbij K.M.-paal 26 rechtsaf te slaan door het landgoed „Weldam”. Op dezen
weg moet men echter het rijwiel aan de hand voeren. Voorbij G. komt men dan op
den straatweg naar Delden en Hengelo uit. Deze weg is ook iets korter. ↑
[Inhoud]
ROUTES VAN HOOFDSTUK III.
[Inhoud]

401 Blad 21 van den Bonds-atlas.

Afstand ROUTE. Afstand naar Soort

van elke plaats. v. d.
plaats tot weg.
plaats. Heen. Terug.
— 86.4
DEVENTER

3.4 3.4 83.— S.

Epse
12.7 16.1 70.3 G.
Laren

5.1 21.2 65.2 ,,

Lochem

(8.9) (—) (—) (G.)

(Ruurlo

)
9.5 30.7 55.7 G.
Geesteren
 Afstand ROUTE. Afstand naar Soort
van elke plaats. v. d.
plaats tot weg.
plaats. Heen. Terug.
(6.9) (—) (—) (G.)[67]
(Neede

)
10.2 40.9 45.5 G.
Eibergen
5.8 46.7 39.7 ,,
Rekken
2.5 Oldenkotte (Duitsche 49.2 37.2 ,,
Grens).
8.5 Vreden. 57.7 28.7 ,,
7.9 Stadtlohn. 65.6 20.8 ,,
8.8 Gescher. 74.4 12.— ,,
12.— COESFELD. 86.4 — ,,

Men verlaat Deventer over de Pothoofdbrug 1937 (haven) en

volgt den straatweg tot Epse en slaat daar linksaf 885 en

rechtuit naar Laren. Men volgt de rails van de stoomtram tot
Lochem. Tusschen Laren en Lochem passeert men een tol (R e n
M R v r ij , A 1 0 c . Te L o c h e m k a s t e e l „ A m p s e n ”
m e t f r a a i e b o s s c h e n .) Door Lochem: Walderstraat, Markt

over, voorbij de kerk links 2007, Molenstraat, brug over en

langs de tramrails tot voorbij Hotel Bak, 1 dan links den Rijksweg
volgen. Voorbij K.M.-paal 14 bij den wegwijzer rechts, aan den tol (R

e n MR v r ij , A 1 0 c.) rechts, en daarop links 158 om de ruïne

Nettelhorst heen.
Rechtuit, door een tol (R 2½ c., MR 2½ c., A 5 à [67]7½ c.) en aan

den volgenden tweesprong bij den 1553 1 K.M. vóór

2
Geesteren linksaf naar Geesteren. Door Geesteren rechtuit. 3½
K.M. voorbij Geesteren komt men op den weg Borculo–Neede, dien
men linksaf volgt, kort daarop rechtsaf en over den spoorweg en
spoedig bereikt men den weg Borculo–Eibergen en slaat daarop

linksaf naar Eibergen. In het begin van Eibergen rechts 1621.

Aan den volgenden tweesprong linksaf 2163 en aan den derden

tweesprong 3 rechtuit naar Rekken. Vóór Rekken over de Berkel en

dan spoedig linksaf 1741 den harden weg volgen door Rekken
en Oldenkotte (a l d a a r : D u i t s c h e d o u a n e ) naar Vreden.

In Vreden rechtuit en de derde straat linksaf. 5½ K.M. voorbij

Vreden rechtsaf. In Stadtlohn linksaf naar Coesfeld. In Vreden en
Stadtlohn slechte keibestrating.

Naar Ruurlo: Te Lochem over het Marktplein rechts, even buiten de

stad bij den 157 den tweeden weg links, langs den „Dollen
Hoed” (e e n e u i t s p a n n i n g m e t b e l v é d è r e ,
uitgangspunt om de Lochemsche bergen te
b e z o e k e n ). Rechtuit door een tol (R e n MR v r ij , MR m e t
a a n s p a n w a g e n t j e 6 c., A 1 0 c.) tot Ruurlo. (Te R u u r l o
k a s t e e l „R u u r l o ” m e t s c h o o n e b o s s c h e n .)

Naar Neede: Voorbij Geesteren op den weg Borculo–Neede

komende, volgt men dien linksaf, en dan rechtuit. [68]

De weg is vrij goed berijdbaar.

De geheele weg mag en kan met automobielen bereden worden.

[Inhoud]

402a Blad 15–20–21 van den Bonds-atlas.

Afstand ROUTE. Afstand naar Soort

van elke plaats. v. d.
plaats tot weg.
plaats. Heen. Terug.
— 75.5
DEVENTER

(8.5) (—) (—) (S. G.)

(Bathmen )
18.6 18.6 56.9 S.
Holten

7.4 26.— 49.5 ,,

Markelo

6.1 32.1 43.4 ,,[69]

Goor
 Afstand ROUTE. Afstand naar Soort
van elke plaats. v. d.
plaats tot weg.
plaats. Heen. Terug.
(14.7) (—) (—) (G.
(Haaksbergen Rp.)
)
9.9 42.— 33.5 S.
Delden
5.5 47.5 28.— ,,
Hengelo

(8.5) (—) (—) (S.)

(Enschedé

)
10.6 58.1 17.4 S.
Oldenzaal

9.— 67.1 8.4 G.

Denekamp

3.8 Duitsche Grens. 70.9 4.6 ,,

4.6 NORDHORN. 75.5 — G. K.

Men verlaat Deventer langs de Keizerstraat, dan langs de

1939, 1940 en 1941 volgt men den straatweg steeds rechtuit. In

Holten 76 links houden. Voorbij Holten bij K.M.-paal 20 29

rechtuit. In Goor rechtuit 680 en dan rechtsaf 910 naar
Delden. (V o o r b ij D e l d e n l i n k s z ij w e g n a a r h e t
k a s t e e l „Tw i c k e l ” m e t p r a c h t i g e o m g e v i n g e n

b o s s c h e n .) In Hengelo linksaf en direct daarna rechtsaf 87

naar Oldenzaal. Door O. 2265, 1514 en 1695 [69]en bij den

tweesprong links naar Denekamp. Te D. links en direct daarop rechts

142 naar Nordhorn. (T u s s c h e n D e n e k a m p e n

N o r d h o r n D u i t s c h e d o u a n e .)

Dichtbij en in Oldenzaal stijgt de weg en klimt en daalt tusschen

Oldenzaal en Denekamp. Op den top van den Oldenzaalschen berg,
waarover de weg loopt, fraai uitzicht. Oldenzaal–Denekamp mac-
adam-weg. Van Denekamp tot de grens iets minder goed, voorbij de
grens eenige gedeelten keiweg, overigens goed berijdbaar.

Naar Bathmen: Voorbij K.M.-paal 7 rechtsaf 945.

Naar Haaksbergen: Aan het einde van Goor, waar de hoofdweg links

buigt 1823, rijdt men rechtuit en kruist den spoorweg. Verder

rechtuit over Hengevelde 1804 den grintweg volgen naar

Haaksbergen. Afstand Goor–Hengevelde 6 K.M.; H.-Haaksbergen 8.7
K.M.

Naar Enschedé: Te Hengelo rechtsaf.

De geheele weg mag en kan met automobielen bereden worden. [70]

[Inhoud]

402b Blad 14–15–20 van den Bonds-atlas.

Afstand ROUTE. Afstand naar Soort

van elke plaats. v. d.
plaats tot weg.
plaats. Heen. Terug.
— 75.1
DEVENTER

18.6 18.6 56.5 S.

Holten

8.— 26.6 48.5 ,,

Rijssen

7.2 33.8 41.3 ,,

Wierden
5.2 39.— 36.1 ,,
Almelo

8.2 47.2 27.9 G.

Albergen
3.1 Viersprong bij Fleringen 50.3 24.8 ,,
 Afstand ROUTE. Afstand naar Soort
van elke plaats. v. d.
plaats tot weg.
plaats. Heen. Terug.

(4.3) (—) (—) (G.)

(Weerselo )
7.— 57.3 17.8 G.
Ootmarsum

(11.6) (Neuenhaus). (—) (—) (G. K.)

9.4 66.7 8.4 G.
Denekamp

3.8 Duitsche Grens. 70.5 4.6 ,,

4.6 NORDHORN. 75.1 — G. K.

Men verlaat Deventer langs de Keizerstraat en dan langs de

1939, 1940 en 1941 en volgt den straatweg steeds rechtuit. In

Holten 76 links houden. Voorbij H. bij K.M.-paal 20 29

linksaf naar Rijssen. Door R. en dan linksaf 1421. In Wierden

rechtsaf 63 naar Almelo. In Almelo het Marktplein over, en dan

bij het politiebureau linksaf 2269; 4 men verlaat A. door de

Ootmarsumschestraat 2266, aan den driesprong even buiten de

stad 220 rechts en circa 3 K.M. verder aan den driesprong
77 rechtuit naar Albergen. Tusschen Almelo en Albergen tol (R v r ij ,

MR 10 c., A 4 0 c.) en langs Fleringen 74 naar Ootmarsum.

Tusschen Almelo en Ootmarsum stijgt de weg, vlak vóór Ootmarsum
vrij gevaarlijke daling. Men passeert vanaf Albergen nog 2 tollen (R

v r ij , MR 1 0 c., A 4 0 c.). In Ootmarsum linksaf 1623 en

buiten O. rechtuit 120 en rechts houden naar Denekamp. Te

Denekamp linksaf 142 naar Nordhorn. (T u s s c h e n

D e n e k a m p e n N o r d h o r n : D u i t s c h e d o u a n e .)

De weg is goed berijdbaar. Van Denekamp tot de grens iets minder

goed, voorbij de grens eenige gedeelten keiweg.

Naar Weerselo: Aan den 4-sprong bij Fleringen 74 rechtsaf.

Naar Neuenhaus: Aan de splitsing even voorbij Ootmarsum 120

linksaf. Rechtuit, na pl.m. 1 K.M. door een tol (R e n MR v r ij , A
v o o r e l k p a a r w i e l e n v a n 5 t o t 9 c ., n a a r g e l a n g
van het aantal personen, dat de auto kan
b e v a t t e n ) naar Lage, en daar, vóór de kerk, linksaf naar
Neuenhaus. Van Ootmarsum tot even vóór de grens grintweg, dan
[71]keiweg tot Lage, verder grint- met af en toe een eindje keiweg;
over ’t algemeen is deze weg goed berijdbaar.

De geheele weg mag en kan met automobielen bereden worden.

[Inhoud]

402c Blad 14–15–20 van den Bonds-atlas.

Afstand ROUTE. Afstand naar Soort

van elke plaats. v. d.
plaats tot weg.
plaats. Heen. Terug.
— 79.— —
DEVENTER

18.6 18.6 60.4 S.

Holten

8.— 26.6 52.4 ,,[72]

Rijssen

7.2 33.8 45.2 ,,

Wierden
5.2 39.— 40.— ,,
Almelo

10.4 49.4 29.6 G.

Tubbergen
 Afstand ROUTE. Afstand naar Soort
van elke plaats. v. d.
plaats tot weg.
plaats. Heen. Terug.
(12.2) (—) (—) (G.)
(Ootmarsum

)
(7.9) (—) (—) (,,)
(Weerselo )
5.5 Mander. 54.9 24.1 G.
2.1 Duitsche Grens. 57.— 22.— ,,
1.6 Geteloh. 58.6 20.4 ,,
4.— Uelsen. 62.6 16.4 ,,
5.9 Neuenhaus. 68.5 10.5 K.
10.5 NORDHORN. 79.— — K. G.

Men verlaat Deventer langs de Keizerstraat en dan langs de

1939, 1940 en 1941 en volgt den straatweg steeds rechtuit. In

Holten 76 links houden. Voorbij H. bij K.M.-paal 20 29

linksaf naar Rijssen. Door R. en dan linksaf 1421. In Wierden

rechtsaf 63 naar Almelo. In Almelo het Marktplein over, dan bij

het politiebureau linksaf 2269; men verlaat A. door [72]de

Ootmarsumschestraat 2266, aan den driesprong even buiten de

stad 220 rechts, en circa 3 K.M. verder aan den driesprong

77 linksaf. Tusschen deze beide driesprongen in passeert men een
tol (R v r ij , MR 1 0 c., A 40 c.) en rechtuit naar Tubbergen. Aldaar
bij den viersprong 1354 linksaf, door T. rechtsaf 2020 en
dan steeds rechtuit door Mander (v o o r b ij M a n d e r : D u i t s c h e
d o u a n e ) en Geteloh tot een driesprong; hier rechtsaf naar Uelsen.
(A l d a a r o p e e n b e r g e e n e b e l v é d è r e , ’ t h o o g s t e
p u n t i n d e z e s t r e e k .) Nu rechtuit en in Neuenhaus langs de
Markt, langs het postkantoor rechtuit naar Nordhorn.

Vóór Tubbergen en Uelsen eene stijging.

Naar Ootmarsum: 1½ K.M. voorbij Tubbergen verlaat men den weg,

die naar Mander loopt rechtsaf, en rijdt over Vasse en Nutter naar
Oud-Ootmarsum. Aldaar rechtsaf naar Ootmarsum. Deze weg voert
van Vasse af door een mooi, heuvelachtig, boschrijk terrein, met
schoone vergezichten. Van Vasse tot Nutter geleidelijke stijging,
daarna tot Oud-Ootmarsum langdurige daling.

Men kan ook van Tubbergen naar Ootmarsum als volgt rijden: Bij

den viersprong te Tubbergen rechtsaf 1354 en den grintweg

volgen tot een viersprong bij Fleringen 74; hier linksaf. Vóór
Ootmarsum vrij gevaarlijke daling. Men passeert tusschen
Tubbergen en Fleringen en tusschen Fleringen en Ootmarsum een
tol (R vrij, MR 10 c., A 40 c.).

Naar Weerselo: Bij den viersprong bij Fleringen hierboven genoemd,

74, rechtuit.

De geheele weg mag en kan met automobielen bereden worden. [73]