Changing Lincolnshire 1940 - 1980

Adrian Gray is taking to the stage at Lincoln Central Library on Thursday 14 January, with a talk that looks back at life in Lincolnshire between 1940 and 1980. It's presented by the Society for Lincolnshire History & Archaeology, and the whole thing is pitched as a light-hearted trip back to the way things used to be around here.

Gray's talk doesn't stick to the usual local history beats. He spends a good chunk of it on the forgotten arts of the county — how to make rook pie and how to go poaching, for a start. From there he moves on to the many uses for a pig, and Boston's strange obsession with exploding fungi. He also looks at which towns held the most censorious attitude towards 'X' films, and takes a visit to the outdoor privy. It's a bit of a mixed bag, but that's the point: it's about the small, odd details of everyday life that usually get left out of the official record.

If you've spent any time in the county, some of this will feel familiar, and some will be completely new. The period he covers — 1940 to 1980 — spans a lot of change, so it's as much about what's gone as what stayed the same. It's a talk that works whether you've lived here your whole life or just moved here and are wondering what the place was like before the modern version took over.

The session runs from 14:00 to 15:30, so it's a ninety-minute afternoon slot. It's free to attend, and the library is on Free School Lane in the city centre, so it's an easy one to drop into on a weekday.