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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric,_or,_Little_by_Little

Sorry, that link didn't work. It is a book - Eric, or little by little - that the celebrated author E.Nesbit said was "unreadable"!

Good heavens, it IS another reference to a book I've never read! Thanks!

I have actually heard of it, however.

Another from the Times in 1973
This pile's analysed? So at least we hear (8)
HISTORIC any significance to a jumble of THIS to begin, although I don't see a homophone, or the relevance of an historic pile

"Historic pile" is a derogatory term for some of the more run-down stately homes of England, if that helps? Don't see my way through the rest, though.

I'm sure you're right, chrise, and the homophone is for "annalised", made into a historical record

Thanks all. It now makes sense...

It’s the small ones that end up causing the most problems.
It was no short cut to dreamland (5)
T-A-L so I’m veering towards TRAWL, but no real parsing, so it could be TRAIL

I'm sure it's TRAIL. I believe it refers to an old World War I song, "There's a long, long trail", sung by John McCormack among many others.

"There's a long, long trail a-winding
Into the land of my dreams,
Where the nightingales are singing
And a white moon beams.
There's a long, long night of waiting
Until my dreams all come true;
Till the day when I'll be going down
That long, long trail with you."