Jericho, the 'suburb' of Oxford whose wonderful name possibly derives from it being outside the city's long-vanished walls, is crammed with 'two-up, two-down' Victorian terraced houses which used to supply workers for Lucy Ironworks, Oxford University Press, the canal wharves and the colleges.

In the 1970s its proximity to the centre of Oxford attracted young middle-class people and in 1974 two of them successfully applied to the BBC Community Programme Unit to make a film as part of its Open Door series about the changes in the area. This year one of the two raised money to make a follow-up film about the even more dramatic gentrification that has taken place since then. This 2019 film was launched today in the local cinema, and the 1974 film was shown first. Both were enthralling but what had all the grey-haired people around me astonished in the interval was how we had forgotten how much everyone used to smoke. At home, in shops, in pubs - so many frames had wispy curls of cigarette smoke. It's very interesting to realise how much legislation can change a culture.

After an interlude at my ex-workplace's Christmas party, where I was pleased to chat with at least 15 people I know, I spent the evening at the first poetry slam I have been to for ages, possibly years. It was a fun evening's entertainment, with nary an ashtray in sight.