England in the late 1940s was famously grim. As I remember it, London back then was a very dirty place, from coal dust and smoke, from the grit stirred up every day by the jackhammers still clearing out rubble from the Blitz.
1940s back blitz
These are some quotes by English author Alexander Cockburn Journalist, who lived between June 6, 1941 and July 21, 2012.