Midlands Memories: Delve into the archive!

It's February 29th today, a Leap Year date, and according to tradition, it's a date when a woman can propose to her partner. So for our latest Midlands Memories look-back, we've found some interviews from 1976 (after the introduction of the Sex Discrimination Act) where people in Birmingham give their thoughts on Leap Year proposals and debate the issue of equality.

Click here for more Midlands Memories highlights from ITV News Central.

Forty years ago today Concorde took off on its first commercial flight - and it was incredibly popular with the public. The Chief Pilot was Mike Bannister from Burton-on-Trent and the engines were built by Rolls Royce in Derby.

When it landed at Birmingham Airport in 1991 for the opening of the new terminal, thousands turned out to catch a glimpse.

The last Concorde commercial flight was 13 years ago, and though gone, is certainly not forgotten. In our latest Midlands Memories update, take a look at an earlier re-incarnation of the aviation giant - 1960's-style.

This video takes a look at the interior fashions of a 1967 plane, designed by post-war textile designer Tibor Reich of Stratford.

Watch more on the big Concorde anniversary on ITV News Central at 6pm.

Click here for lots more archive updates in our Midlands Memories series.

As the latest Star Wars installment "The Force Awakens" opens in cinemas worldwide, our archive trawl proves that the Midlands can definitely claim a slice of that earlier cinematic success.

For our latest Midlands Memories update, we've gone back to October 1982, when toy-maker Palitoy from Coalville in Leicestershire manufactured and sold around £150 million pounds worth of Star Wars toys from the earlier films.

Recognise the toys ? Still own yours from this era ? Let us know via our Twitter or Facebook pages !

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The Christmas crops are in full force with mistletoe, brussels sprouts and trees among the most festive output.

But for our latest Midlands Memories lookback in the archives, we've found a report from the 1960's about the methods and teamwork needed to create a good apple crop.

Peter Brown reports from Herefordshire - and talks about the ancient custom of wassailing - click above for his full fun report !

Thousands of people across the Midlands are marking Diwali Day today. Leicester is now well-established as hosting the biggest Diwali celebrations outside of India, with 37,000 people turning out to see around 6,000 lights being switched on Belgrave Road earlier.

Birmingham's Soho Road is also home to some of the Midlands' biggest celebrations for the Festival of Light. It's mainly celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains.

So for our latest Midlands Memories update, we've found a 1976 short video showing residents in Leicester preparing to celebrate Diwali at home with lots of Rangoli patterns. Watch our video as one resident explains why she's decorating her doorstep with lots of colour patterns.

Click here for the big build-up to the Diwali lights switch-on in Leicester.

Ahead of this weekend's Remembrance Day parades across the Midlands, we've found an archive video of a parade from around the 1940s, marking the heroic efforts of our personnel.

Take a look at this short clip showing a Remembrance Day parade in Sandiacre in Derbyshire.

Cooks from all over the country are competing in the annual Curry Chef Awards in Northampton.

The Midlands is already home to areas famed for "curry cuisine" like Belgrave Road in Leicester and the Balti Triangle in Birmingham - and for our latest Midlands Memories update, we've found a 1982 archive video about one shop offering customers an alternative Asian food to the curry - very different to the food choices back then - click the video below to see how much this area has since grown !

As the world eagerly awaits the latest James Bond film "Spectre", we've gone through our archive for our latest Midlands Memories look-back to bring you a 1964 clip for all Bond film and motoring enthusiasts - the Aston Martin DB5 car from "Goldfinger".

The latest Historic England's "Heritage at Risk Register" is out, and there are a number of sites across the East Midlands getting a slice of nearly a million pounds of grant money for improvements. Tune into ITV News Central at 6pm in the East Midlands for a full report on this.

So for the latest of ITV News Central's "Midlands Memories" online archive series, take a look at this short video below from the 1970's, and the campaign to save Leicestershire's heritage and "quaint and unusual road names" of the time - recognise any ?

One Direction, widely recognised as the world's biggest boyband, played a concert in front of thousands of fans in Birmingham last night.

ITV News Central will have more from our exclusive chat with the guys, including Liam Payne from Wolverhampton at 6pm tonight - but before that, take a look below at our latest Midlands Memories update - and it's crowds again queuing up to see the world's biggest boyband ahead of a concert in the Midlands - but this time back in the 1960's !

The Beatles were becoming a huge name and our 1963 archive video below shows scores of queues of fans at Coventry Theatre trying to get tickets for their next big gig.

Nowadays those waiting scenes are replicated online as websites crash under the amount of fans trying to buy tickets for their favourite bands and artists !