1950s Notebook

THIS was the era when the foundations for the familiar were laid. With the country recovering from the Second World War, the Festival of Britain in 1951 showcased its versatility and industry, as well as promoting an optimistic future.

It was an age of rapid progress, with atomic energy, the possibility of space travel and the glamour of Hollywood icons and rock-and-roll music. The credit card, contraceptive pill, microchip and non-stick frying pan were invented in the 1950s, but the decade also saw the depletion of many traditional trades and traditions. The country house suffered, too, in part due to lack of staff and a punitive