Kentish Express Ashford & District
Retro photos capture town in the 1970s
The 1970s were tempestuous times.
Four General Elections, devastating storms, a 45-day drought, snow in June, the three-day week, the Winter of Discontent and countless strikes – all in one decade.
As ever, Kent was at the centre of the action. Here we pick out some key moments...
■ 1970 - The decade began with Labour in power and Harold Wilson as Prime Minister.
But that was all to change in June when the Tories, led by former Kent grammar school boy Ted Heath, won a majority of 30 seats at the General Election.
■ 1971 - It is now 50 years since the introduction of decimal currency in the UK, in February 1971.
At Rochester Market, prices were shown in both “old” and “new” money.
■ 1972 - In August, Idi Amin, Ugandan dictator, expelled 50,000 Asians with British passports to the UK, claiming they were “sabotaging the Ugandan economy”.
Resettlement centres were set up across the country, including in West Malling.
■ 1973 - It was another year disrupted by a series of strikes, with rail workers, civil servants, firefighters and ambulance drivers all taking industrial action at various points.
■ 1974 - During this tumultuous period, the Prime Minister called an election for February 1974.
But Labour gained 14 seats, resulting in a hung parliament, Mr Heath resigning and Labour’s Howard Wilson returning as Prime Minister.
There were a number of IRA bombings during the year, with targets including the Houses of Parliament.
By the end of 1974 another General Election had been held, giving Labour a slim majority.
■ 1975 - In February, Margaret Thatcher defeated Ted Heath to become Tory leader, while Britain’s coal miners were handed a 35% pay rise by the Labour government.
■ 1976 - The country was hit by a heatwave in the summer of 1976, with temperatures reaching 32.2°C for 15 days running.
■ 1977 - This was the year of the Queen’s silver jubilee and street parties were held across Kent to mark the occasion.
The new Jubilee Way, linking Dover and Whitfield, was also named in Her Majesty’s honour. Unfortunately it had to shut within hours of its opening due to high winds.
■ 1978 - Herne Bay and Margate’s piers were among four in the UK ruined by a North Sea storm surge in January.
And it was a tempestuous time in politics too, with the so-called Winter of Discontent of 1978-79 sparked by a series of strikes.
■ 1979 - The Queen Mother became the first and only woman to hold the title of Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports in 1979. And in May, Margaret Thatcher became the UK’s first female Prime Minister.
■ Steve Salter is away