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Inflation in the UK has fallen to 4.2%. Get the full data over time - and see how it compares to pay
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UK inflation dropped to a six-month low of 4.2% in December, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed today - down from 4.8% for November 2011.

More precisely Consumer Price Index (CPI) measure of inflation stands at 4.2% for December. When looking at this drop it is important to remember that in September this year, when the CPI stood at 5.2%, it had never been higher in recorded history.

The Retail Price Index (RPI) measure of inflation stands at 4.8% down from 5.2% in November.

There are some important differences between these two main ways the ONS use to measure inflation. The government prefers the Consumer Price Index, which also includes services, housing, electricity, food, and transportation, but the Retail Price Index covers more items. The RPI includes housing costs and is used for many pay negotiations and used to be used for pension payments. We've included both here - just click on the links on the spreadsheet. You can get the full list of items in the inflation basket here.

We have also added in pay data - and you can see how inflation is racing ahead of average earnings.

We have gathered all the data for inflation since June 1948. Let us know what you can do with this data.

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DATA: UK inflation since the 1940s - CPI and RPI
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• Inflation
• Economics
• Quantitative easing
• Financial crisis
• Deflation
• Economic policy
• Bank of England
• Government data
• Office for National Statistics
• George Osborne
• Mervyn King

Ami SedghiLisa EvansSimon Rogers
guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Practice which took the Young Architect of the Year award in 2007 beats seven others to house dear old Dolly and the swanky Esperance

The London architects Carmody Groarke have won the design competition for Windermere's new steamboat museum, beating seven others on a shortlist from 114 initial expressions of interest.

Their collection of simple but practical buildings was chosen in a 'blind viewing' of anonymous submissions for the centre north of Bowness, which will have a dock for the museum's wonderful collection of dainty craft, a conservation workshop and a visitor centre.

The £10 million museum is a slimmed-down version of a grandiose project costing £24.7 million which failed to raise enough funding. Money has been found for the more modest scheme which will be run by the Lakeland Arts Trust whose other flagships, Abbot Hall in Kendal, Blackwell south of Windermere and the Museum of Lakeland Life, are all highly-rated attractions.

Carmody Groarke is a relatively new practice which won the Young Architect of the Year award in 2007. Its other flagship project has been the memorial for the victims of the July 7 bombing in London in 2005.

The judges, who took into account people's views at a brief public display of the shortlist in Windermere, say of the winning design:

Carmody Groarke has produced a memorable and sensitive set of design proposals which demonstrated an excellent understanding of the multi-faceted nature of the Brief and the Trust's requirements. The conflicting demands of providing a functional museum to house, display and conserve the historic boat collection within a facility that will create a high-quality visitor experience and have broad audience appeal to encourage repeat visits had been addressed particularly well. The simple forms of the cantilevered buildings were considered to resonate well with the heritage of the site, as well as the Lakeland landscape and steamboat architecture.

The others on the shortlist were:

6a Architects
Adam Khan Architects
Niall McLaughlin Architects
Reiach and Hall Architects
Sutherland Hussey Architects                
Terry Pawson Architects
Witherford Watson Mann Architects

The steamboat museum has been closed since 2007 but has now passed the first stage of approval for a potential Lottery grant of £7.4 million, with the approval of a £494,000 to develop the full bid. Its collection includes Dolly, salvaged from Ullswater after sinking in the great frost of 1895, and the oldest working mechanically powered boat in the world. Another star exhibit will be Esperance, a luxurious craft commissioned by the multi-millionaire ironmaster Henry Schneider who commuted on it and his personal train to Barrow-in-Furness.

The Esperance stood in as Captain Flint's houseboat in films of the Swallows and Amazons stories written by the Manchester Guardian foreign correspondent Arthur Ransome. Other exhibits will include the Dawn, the UK's oldest surviving sailing yacht, built in 1780, and Beatrix Potter's odd, square-shaped rowing dinghy.

• Lake District
• Museums
• Museums
• Boating holidays
• Windermere
• Tourism, transport and travel

Martin Wainwright
guardian.co.uk © 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

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