Not sure if this video has been posted before, but I thought it might be of interest.
tinyurl.com/ydpv2la
I know a lot of you have many years driving experience, but I am guessing that not many of you were driving pre-WWII :)
Last edited by: SteelSpark on Tue 30 Mar 10 at 19:06
|
|
I'm sure a young Lud was in one of the opening frames - good video - nice site
|
Lud was the old bloke pushing the cart up the road.
"spare a farvin for a starvin worka guvner?"
|
|
those views of stamford have barely changed a jot. Except the A1 doesent go through it any more.
|
|
The old chap pushing the handcart actually stopped at the lights when they changed.
|
|
Having lived 200 yards from the Biggleswade memorial a few years ago and having been a courier driver at the time, I know the whole of that end of the A1 in great detail. I was mesmerised the whole way through the film and recognised virtually every scene! I've forwarded the link on to quite a few friends, absolutely fascinating.
|
|
the memorial , has it been moved? i looked on google streetview and it seems to have been relocated from in front of the large tudor building on the bend, now a roundabout
|
|
I'd forgotten that the vast majority of pre-war cars were black. Only about 20 years, I suppose after the heyday of the Model T Ford and Hery's famous dictum.
|
|
very noticeable that, I only counted 4 light coloured cars in the whole 7 mins.
|
|
there was quite a bit of tailgating going on, even tho traffic levels were light
|
>> there was quite a bit of tailgating going on even tho traffic levels were light
>>
and brakes rubbish.
I was fascinated by the telegraph poles. First the nostalgia effect, then the ridiculous feeling that they were growing more branches as the journey progressed northward.
|
>> I'd forgotten that the vast majority of pre-war cars were black. Only about 20 years
>> I suppose after the heyday of the Model T Ford and Hery's famous dictum.
>>
The ' Dictum ' actually pre-dates Henry Ford, being attributed to Francis Webb, Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London & North Western Railway when deciding on colours for his new locomotives in the Victorian era.
Just thought y'all might like to know that !
Ted
|
|
Am I the only one who's had a suspicious website warning (ZoneAlarm) when clicking on the link ?
|
>> Am I the only one who's had a suspicious website warning (ZoneAlarm) when clicking on
>> the link ?
I don't get any warnings. I typed it into McAfee Site Advisor which seems to generally give the site a full bill of health, and I believe the site to be reputable (doesn't mean that it couldn't be temporarily infected with a virus though).
Here is the direct youtube link for the video, if anybody is concerned by the original site:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYmFxoLb4OM
|
|
No probs here and thanks SS, enjoyed that especially the London Brick truck early on.>> >>
|
Great stuff, made when I was a year old. Seeing it I had a strong unconscious feeling that said: Aaaah! Real cars! Real roads! Real road signs!
I used to hitch the A1 when it still went through the middles of Stamford, Biggleswade, Grantham etc., so it looked pretty familiar here and there.
What was the film-maker's car though, visible from the rear, parked, in several shots? Looks American to me but could be a big Vauxhall.
Last edited by: VxFan on Wed 31 Mar 10 at 01:26
|
|
May not have been driving in those days but have driven many of the cars shown!
|
Thankfully Wansford and Stamford haven't really changed much, but how did we all get over that bridge?
Those loavely sheeted loads on the lorries were a pleasure to see.
Pat
|
>> Thankfully Wansford and Stamford haven't really changed much but how did we all get over
>> that bridge?
Which bridge? If you mean the one at Wansford, that looks like it had already been bypassed
(the clip switches to the new one)
|
>> What was the film-maker's car though visible from the rear parked in several shots? Looks
>> American to me but could be a big Vauxhall.
An interesting question, Carmel Hussein.
I fancied it as a Humber Super Snipe. I had to put my video of ' The Blue Lamp ' on and look at the opening scene of the high speed chase.. Very Humberish but the Met cars had an oblong number plate between 'D' lamps. The boot and back window are very similar.
I commend it to you.
Ted
|
The boot is too curvaceous for a Humber, Hannibal Injector... And the front wing shape, complete with spare wheel, is non-Humberish too. I went in quite a few forties and fifties Humbers because the Navy had them, and their boot shape was quite small and a bit pinched.
All of that said though, things do slide about in the memory. I saw a small Ford and Hillman Minx in the film whose shapes I had completely forgotten until this wonderful clip.
|
Thanks SS, I enjoyed that.
JH
|
|
What about the bloke overtaking a car that was passing a parked vehicle ! There have always been idiots.
|
This is also good of London; barely changed, actually, over (virtually) 100 years. Only that the gentlemen no longer wear hats, and the policemen no longer direct traffic. www.howtobearetronaut.com/2010/02/stunning-colour-film-of-1920s-london
/
|
|
I remember walking along the Great North Road with my uncle in 1956, driving a flock of sheep from South Witham to his other farm nearer to Grantham on the other side of the road.
|
Great film SS... thanks for linking.
Having lived a few miles one side or other of the A1 in Cambs for over 30yrs so much of this is very familiar. Younger folks these days are unable to comprehend how the A1 could possibly have gone through all those places like Biggleswade, Buckden, Wansford etc.
Probably the most telling for me is the wide main street of Stilton with the Bell Inn which still looks exactly the same... but these days the A1 is a 8 lane motorway a few hundred metres to the east.
It struck me how much better it all looks without the clutter of modern road markings and signs.
|
Question
whats the indian Resturant like in stilton? Alas there is no other decent ruby house east of the A5 or north of Watford. Curry houses in the east midlands and the swamp lands are dire.
|
One here for Spamcan.. Thought I'd slip it in here as historic film
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pprSD2Cab14&NR=1
Ted
|
>>
>> One here for Spamcan.. Thought I'd slip it in here as historic film
>>
>> www.youtube.com/watch?v=pprSD2Cab14&NR=1
>>
>> Ted
>>
Cheers Ted, yes some good footage there.
|
|
wow thats Woking, next stop down the line from me.
|
Woking IS my stop, the station hasn't changed much either - absolutely recognisable.
What surprises me is the size of the locomotives on the stopper (Class 5s I think), I regularly commute to Waterloo on the modern equivalents.
|
|
Surbiton and Woking are / were jewels of Art Deco architecture, ruined over the years by varius "improvements"
|
Stilton curry house....
Never been to the Angel Spice Zero but word on the local street is that it's good. Owner had a place nearby before (might have them both now) and was well thought of with that first one.
It's directly opp the Bell and the building looks smart.
|
I'm fairly sure that the film-makers' car, parked so suicidally in the inside lane, was something American - maybe a Packard? There were quite a lot of RHD American cars around when I was a child in the 50s.
Again many thanks for this SS - riveting. There's something particularly fascinating about cars from the era just before one was born (1948 in my case) - maybe others find the same thing.
Last edited by: Avant on Wed 31 Mar 10 at 23:30
|
|
Talking of Art Deco, and the A1, I wonder what will happen to the old art deco pub/little chef at Wansford?
|
A1 road trip, August 1939 - R.P.
