Quoting from Wikipedia:
The CAA was established in 1972, under the terms of the Civil Aviation Act 1971, following the recommendations of a government committee chaired by Sir Ronald Edwards. Previously, regulation of aviation was the responsibility of the Air Registration Board.
So how come the CAA was issuing licences before 1972? And there is no reference to the ARB on any of my paperwork?
That is unless the CAA became an authority in it's own right under the 1971 Act. Previously being a Dept/Div of the Board of Trade. Still a mystery to me as to when and how the CAA Dept/Div took over from the ARB.