Here is an interesting advert from the Press and Journal on 14 July 1949, which has popped up on another Facebook group I follow.

It shows that a return fare by train from Newtonhill to Aberdeen was 1s 6d (for those of a younger vintage that is 7 1/2 pence). The Portlethen/Aberdeen return was 1s (i.e. 5p).

One pound in 1949 is equivalent in purchasing power to about £39.28 today. The inflation rate then was 2.89%.

And just for clarity, I don’t remember those days – I wasn’t born.

I wonder how much today’s equivalent would be. Google tells me that from Portlethen an Anytime Day Single to Aberdeen is £4.30 and an Off-Peak Day Return is £5.20. An on-line calculator tells me £5.20 is the equivalent to 13p in 1949, or 2s 7d. So it is more than double the price now.