Inflation has hit 9% for the first time since March 1982 - but life in Kent today is very different to 40 years ago.

One obvious example is how the property market has changed.

An old advert from a 1982 edition of the Herne Bay Gazette promotes a new-build block of "supersingle" apartments in the town.

The studio flats in Rye Walk, Broomfield, are priced at £18,000, with 100% mortgages available too (a rarity nowadays since the 2008 housing crash).

Yet today, a one-bed flat in the same block is advertised on Zoopla at £105,000.

Clearly, getting on the property ladder was easier in 1982 - but what else could you do in Kent that you can't now?

You could go shopping at much-loved stores like Woolworths, Courts and Chiesmans, to name a few.

But you had to get in there while you could. Forty years ago, all large shops were closed on Sundays by law, and many shut for a half a day on Wednesdays.

And that wasn't the only way everyday life was different.

Our archive pictures show that this was an era where Tom Selleck-style moustaches and perms were still in vogue.

In terms of entertainment, it was a world away from the plethora of streaming services and TV packages available today.

There were just three channels to choose between, BBC1, BBC2 and ITV - although Channel 4 would launch in November.

Breakfast television had yet to begin, so BBC1 and ITV did not typically start broadcasting on a weekday until lunchtime, while BBC2 filled most of its daytime schedule with programmes for the Open University.

About 14 million households watched television on colour sets, while four million still enjoyed their favourite programmes in black and white.

The most popular shows in March 1982 were This Is Your Life and Coronation Street – both on ITV and each attracting audiences of about 17 million.

Number one in the singles chart for almost the whole of March was The Lion Sleeps Tonight, performed by the three-piece dance act Tight Fit.

In the world of politics, Margaret Thatcher had been battling for two years to bring down inflation - which had hit almost 18% in 1980.

Her government hoped to reduce the amount of money in circulation by cutting spending and raising indirect taxes.

Inflation did start to fall, but not before the economy spent the whole of 1980 and early 1981 in recession.

These events led to a drop in support for the Conservatives.

But the Falklands War, which began when Argentina invaded the Islands in March, sparked a political turnaround for Mrs Thatcher, as the Tories' approval rating soared.

The war ended in June as the Argentines signed their formal surrender aboard HMS Endurance, seen below returning to Chatham Docks in August.

At the time, every single constituency in Kent was held by the Tories - while today Canterbury has a Labour MP.

Another landmark event for the county in 1982 saw John Paul II become the first pope to visit Canterbury Cathedral.

Later that day, after leaving the city via helicopter, he addressed a mass of 80,000 people at Wembley Stadium.

See below for more classic pictures from our archives of Kent in 1982...

Here you can see more classic pictures of Kent in the 1980s.

We've also got archive photos from the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1990s.