The Media and the Internet

This part of the Guide outlines how the media and the Internet can help you with your search for nostalgia. We talk about the internet on other pages, particularly the Where to Go page, because probably the easiest way to find other sources of nostalgia is through the Internet. However, this page explores how the Internet and other media can help you more directly.

Since we've already mentioned the Internet on another page, let's start there. As we said above, even if you're looking for auctions, fairs, car boot sales or whatever, it is easy to find them through looking on the Internet, which is the means to the end. However, for some forms of nostalgia, the Internet may be the end in itself because it is the only place to find what we want.

A good example is if we want to look for people - old school friends or university companions for whom we have grown nostalgic. There are a number of websites through which we might find them. Perhaps the most well-known is Friends Reunited, so have a look and see if you can get in touch with these people. It's free to register and you may well be able to find all those lost friends with whom you can recreate the good old days. If you don't have any luck there, you could try My Old Mate or Britishinformation.com and you might have better luck.

Alternatively, we can sign up with one of the social networking sites such as Facebook or Myspace and it may be that we can find people by that route.

If we're nostalgic for our own family and want to trace our routes through our family tree, the Internet can be a boon. Go to www.ukgenealogy.co.uk or you can go to laterlife's section on genealogy, which will help you get off to the perfect start.

Many people collect old records and there are, of course, many record stores throughout the country that sell them. However, for a much wider choice, go to www.moremusic.co.uk for record shops throughout the world that sell old records.

In our quest for nostalgia we will undoubtedly use the Internet for many different purposes; it's an ideal tool, as we all know, for searching for all sorts of information. However, the examples above are examples where the Internet is not only a useful means to an end, but almost the end itself - almost but not quite!

Radio and television may also be a means to an end or the end itself. It can be a means to the end in the sense that we may come across a programme on one of the mainstream radio or TV channels that is dealing with some aspect of the past that we're interested in. On the other hand, many people satisfy their nostalgia by listening to old radio and television programmes, and then it becomes the end itself.

On the television, there are channels such as UK Gold that specialise in showing old programmes, so we can watch early episodes of 'Only Fools and Horses' to our heart's content. There's also a radio station called Gold, that plays the hits from the 60s, 70s and 80s, so if that's what you're interested in, have a look and a listen. Dave is another TV channel where you can watch old programmes, buy DVDs of them (through their website) and generally indulge your nostalgia.

You can listen to classic radio programmes such as 'Round the Horn' on BBC Radio 7, which mixes new programmes with classics.

If old films are what you desire, you can watch those from time to time on any of the TV channels. However, to watch them regularly, turn on Sky Movies Classics. If you look at their web site you can see the complete listings for any week. You can also go to TCM to see old films. Again, the website will show you what's on.

We can link the Internet and radio by buying CDs and DVDs of old shows through the net. Go to www.oldradioshows.co.uk to see just what's on offer.

The routes to our nostalgia are many and varied but the Internet and other media are certainly very helpful when it comes to providing a helping hand and more. You will maybe need to search for your own interests on the Internet and in other places because this Guide is designed not to be completely comprehensive but to get you thinking and heading in the right direction. Indeed, for those people who are nostalgic, the search is very often part of the challenge and the fun.

So just click on the links in the box, get your appetite whetted and get nostalgic. For a quick start, go to www.coldal.org to see the kind of things that people get nostalgic about. It's definitely a feel-good website, so get yourself into the mood.

If you have anything in particular that you're nostalgic about or you can help other people with their nostalgic longings, let us know through the feedback form or by going to our Forum.