What Was A 1970s Record Shop Like? | Turn Back Time: The High Street

In this final episode of the series, Albert Road is transformed once again for family life in the 1970s. Single mum Lisa Rhodes moves in with her two sons, joining the other parents for whom the seventies are all about nostalgia. But as daily life is turned upside down by strikes, the three-day week, power cuts, water shortages and women's liberation, the rose-tinted glasses are off and the parents realise just how tough their own parents had it. With all the mums working, the two dads on Albert Road soon take up the strain at home: Michael Taylor puts on a pinny and cooks chicken kiev, while Phil knuckles down to the housework.

In this episode, the families are thrown into the swinging sixties and the street is introduced to a new family, the Hawkes, who are walking in the shoes of their ancestors who arrived as immigrants from the Caribbean. Brother and sister Jonathan and Rachel arrive on Albert Road first, and are shocked by life in the sixties. They discover life in the sixties was a difficult time, with racism, isolation and separation from loved ones taking its toll.

In this episode, the families face life on the home front with Great Britain at war; they pull together to survive and do their bit for the war effort, as well as enduring a night in a bomb shelter; and Susie Meadows finds herself responsible for everyone's safety.

In this episode the shopkeepers move into the swinging sixties, and big changes hit the high street. Every shop has transformed completely - 1960s mass production of meat, bread and clothing means the bakers find themselves running a milk bar, the butcher sells hardware and the dressmaker is now running a hair salon. The grocers has become self-service, bringing a more modern shopping experience to customers. The bakers have to produce milkshakes and burgers, while the dressmaker turns her hand to bouffants and beehives. The butcher finds himself in direct competition with the grocer. As the shopkeepers struggle with the changes in their trades, the town sees first-hand why Britain turned its back on traditional shops and embraced the supermarket. At the end of the week, history dictates that, for some, it is time to leave, and customers realise just what they're losing.

For the first time profit isn't everything, as the shopkeepers find themselves dealing with rationing, promoting make do and mend, and trying to persuade an entire town to pull together as it would have done sixty years ago. The grocer family struggle with wartime rules and regulations, and customers have to decide whether to stick to rations or to buy from the black market. The bakers feed the town from their British restaurant, while the butcher promotes mutton to modern shoppers. The dressmaker and the blacksmith convince the town of the benefits of 1940s style recycling. But shortages, an air raid and hungry customers all take their toll; will they keep the town onside in the run up to the VE day celebrations at the end of the week?

Journey across Britain with leading archaeologists as they unearth ground-breaking discoveries that rewrite human history. In this documentary episode, we travel from Norwich Castle Museum into the heart of the Cambridgeshire Fens to explore Must Farm - Britain’s "Bronze Age Pompeii" - revealing industrial-scale fishing, pristine log boats, and combat-scarred weaponry. 💚 Join the Absolute History club to get access to exclusive member benefits! 📺 You can now become a History Hit member right here on the original video platform! Join for access to a new exclusive documentary every week, and access to over 160+ of our documentaries presented by world renowned historians like Dan Snow, Eleanor Janega, Tristan Hughes, Mary Beard, Matt Lewis and more.