"The idea that you could take a pill, that meant that you wouldn't get pregnant and you could enjoy sex. That had a magic feel to it."

On 4 December 1961 the contraceptive pill became widely available for free in the UK, through the National Health Service. For married women this form of birth control meant reliable, convenient family planning - for unmarried women it meant sexual freedom.

Hear from the writer Michelene Wandor was a student at Cambridge University at the time.

Photo: The Pill, Credit: Getty Images