Major events 70's

Carol married Ray Dobbs whom she met at work.   Robert met Maggie whilst he was still at College, her sister Sheila was married to one of his college pals.  They married on  15 April 1972.  Meanwhile John spent some time working in Germany.

Robert and Maggie started their married life in Thornton Heath before moving to a flat in Caterham.  In 1979 they moved to Bardwell in Suffolk..  Carol and Ray rented a maisonette in Hounslow before buying a home in Northampton.  In 1974 they moved back to Thornton Heath.

In 1977 John & Rachael bought a house with John Jnr and Christine, the first home they had ever owned.  It would be their last home together.

To the delight of John and Rachael the 70's saw the start of the next generation.  Amanda born in 1973, Joanne in 1976 and Lucy in 1978.

Introduced on BBC 2 only in 1967 it extended to main channels of BBC1 and ITV in 1969.  Expense was a problem but by 1972 there were 1.6 million colour sets in the UK.

Women had the right to claim equal earnings to men in the same position or if they performed "like work" or "work of equal value"

This war waged against communist forces in Vietnam had provoked protests around the Western world.  In 1973 after nearly ten years of war with serious allegations of atrocities against the American forces they  pulled out.  

 in 1974 U.S. President Richard Nixon was forced to resign  after being implicated in the Watergate Scandal 

1975 Bill Gates and Paul Allen create Microsoft.  This would be the start of the revolution from main frame computers, which were huge and required special chilled rooms, to personal computers small enough to sit on a desk.  Bill Gates saw a future where everyone would want their own computer, IBM, his employer, told him this was rubbish

Margaret Thatcher was elected as Prime Minister in 1979,.  Many of the policies she adopted would prove controversial but she took the country from  the chaos of the Winter of Discontent and looming recession to economic solvency.

The IRA campaign for  the reunification of the island of Ireland  which had started in the 60's intensified through the 70's and 80's and especially during Mrs Thatcher's time in office. Their bombing campaign spread across Northern Ireland and England and killed many innocent people on both sides of the political divide and on no side of the political divide.  Peace in the Province would not be achieved until the 90's,