Has british bread got softer since the 1970s?

[Nightynight]

or was it always like that?
I am sure I remember it being different long ago.

Eewwww. Off to dust off my breadmaker right now!

its disgucting and full of air nowadays. Then they can charge you a quid for fresh air. ick.

Yes, it has got much worse - book about it here.
He calls the Chorleywood Process 'the cheapest way to make water stand upright'.

I know that bread maker recipes that include milk powder often make really pappy soft bread and that its added to the recipe because that is supposedly what we like. I found a couple of recipes for bread maker loaves without it and they are lovely, they come out like bakery loaves with a nice solid crust and smell quite different.