1983: A Harrods department store bomb planted by the IRA during Christmas shopping season kills six (three police) and wounds 90.
As Adactio put it: "If there's one thing that Londoners can do well, it's this: they cope."
Isn't it marvelous how the brain glosses over the unpleasant parts of memories. How the stuff in the memories tends to get better and better, until we arrive at the good 'ol ages?
And yes, memories do seem to get better with age, like a good wine... 
And still... part of me can't help but think that during the Cold War, "the enemy" was at least clear. No matter how simple-minded that idea is, it does seem a bit safer if you at least know in what direction to look. And it's like there was a precarious balance. I'm not saying it actually *was* better or safer (and as James already pointed out, terrorist attacks happened then as well); it just seems that way sometimes.
I was 10 in 1981 when gen. Jaruzelski declared SoW in Poland, so I can remember most of what happened at this time. My father went to army for nearly whole year. There was some marriage in my family and we needed special pass to be able to travel to other city, ~200km from where we lived then. Each night tanks and armoured vehicles stayed on the street with guns aimed at our house's windows. Once on my way to school I counted soldiers on street and resigned after 80.
Nah, I would not call this "nice and safe time". There was no islamists in Poland these days, but we had ZOMO (police), SB (govt. security service) and all these communist pigs.