Sixties' top era for a trip in time

The time machine of H G Wells's imagination has yet to be invented but if it were, the public's number-one destination would be the Sixties, a survey will reveal this morning.

Its findings show the British are a pragmatic lot, dismissing the pageantry of the Elizabethan or Regency age for the decade when the Beatles topped the charts.

But although one-fifth of people opted for the 1960s, the future came a surprisingly close second with an 18-per-cent vote in the Mori poll of 886 adults conducted for BBC Homes and Antiques Magazine.

Joint third with 10 per cent of votes was the Victorian age and the 1920s and 1930s - most popular with those aged over 65, partly, perhaps, because it was when they were young.

The popularity of previous eras declines as they recede further into the past and indoor bathrooms, the welfare state and the modern health service become a distant dream.