The phrase "ago at a time" is not correct and does not make sense in written English.
It seems to be a confusion of two separate phrases, "a long time ago" and "at a time."
Example: "A long time ago, I visited that place."
Alternatives: "once upon a time" or "in the past."
It says: "The NHS was designed over half a century ago, at a time of rationing and deep poverty.
Conscription was only abolished here about seven years ago, at a time when other E.U. countries were considering reintroducing it.
And some thought a ban should have been imposed long ago, at a time when it could have directly affected loan quality.
Mr. Alban said the system that processed the data "was developed years ago, at a time when businesses primarily submitted their filings in paper form".
But the third-generation families originally came to the U.S. decades ago, at a time when segregation was prevalent, discrimination was high and immigrants were harshly treated.
The first thing to point out is that it was done 14 years ago, at a time when few children in India had access to computers.
He was named head of the northern zone police, covering nine northern provinces, about a year ago at a time when security in northern Afghanistan was steadily deteriorating.
Some £2.1bn has been accrued to pay staff their salaries, benefits and bonuses compared with £2.2bn a year ago at a time when revenue has dropped from £9bn to £6.3bn.
Launched a decade ago, at a time when the odds were stacked against them, Nathan, Jay, Chad and the team seemed to have the magic touch from the off.
Their combined net worth of $117.5 billion is 15% less than it was a year ago, at a time when the total net worth of The Forbes 400 members increased by more than 7%.
Playas formed roughly 16,000 years ago at a time when eolian activity peaked.
