5 ms·

Driving London to Bath 60 years ago

mtmail 3y ago
There's also a fascinating and super detailed video how to drive from West Germany to Berlin as member of British military during Cold War times https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QS1xvtLV8Xw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QS1xvtLV8Xw
lqet 3y ago
If you enjoy that kind of peek into the past, there is a video of a tram ride through 1931 Leipzig on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CETIdLkJM4k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CETIdLkJM4k
throw0101c 3y ago
The soundtrack is definitely from the 1960s. Can someone say what genre (of jazz?) that is?
- petercooper 3y ago
  I'd call it easy listening 60s jazz. Some of the tracks in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJuqUErChmM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJuqUErChmM are very similar.
viraptor 3y ago
Not quite the same time period :) but I enjoyed it when it happened: Sigur Rós doing a whole day loop around Icelandic Route 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G54tllj-SKI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G54tllj-SKI (with their soundtrack)
petercooper 3y ago
Thanks to this I've learnt that Heathrow Airport had a terminal in central London at the time! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_London_Air_Terminal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_London_Air_Terminal It's also interesting to see how many things this "advanced motorist" does that would result in a test fail or fine nowadays. Like at 8:21 when he flashes his lights and honks at traffic to get out of the way(!) A pointless manoeuvre at 12:14 and a very poor overtake at 15:05 that forces oncoming traffic to slow down. Baseline standards have certainly improved since then..
- jen20 3y ago
  Not having an “in town checkin” system like Hong Kong (or, indeed, the London Airport of the past!) is one of the most miserable things about flying out of there. Imagine how much easier it would be to take the Piccadilly line without a suitcase…
  - petercooper 3y ago
    You're not wrong, however we now finally have the Elizabeth Line which gets rid of that entire headache and you get air conditioning too! :)
    - jen20 3y ago
      True, I haven’t been back since that opened, it might be sufficient improvement!
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- Freak_NL 3y ago
  That overtaking sequence at 8:20! The narrator in a gentle documentary voice: > Just keep on my lane, check my mirror; nothing behind me that wants to overtake. > And now I shall start to close up, and first of all signal him with my headlights. > And again. > It hasn't closed that I'm here so I shall sound the horn. [HONK] > And again. [IMPATIENT HONKING] > Yes; he's pulling in, and I can go past. > […] giving me the V-sign. I can't think why he should think that I'm interested in his politics. (The V-sign being the conventional British hand sign for 'Oi, sod off you twat!', or something along those lines.)
  - petercooper 3y ago
    I quite like the French autoroute approach to this situation. They sit in the outside lane with their indicator on to indicate they want to go around you but can't. Somewhat less aggressive but makes the point.
  - 3y ago
TeamMCS 3y ago
It's amazing to see these old videos. The roads were busy than I expected, I thought cars were incredibly expensive back then? (not that they aren't now). In 60 years time when we're all driving hover cars like the Jetsons imagine how much footage they'll have of us. Dashcams everywhere
- inglor_cz 3y ago
  Cars were already mass-produced 60 years ago and, compared to contemporary cars, rather simple. (No electronics, no airbags etc.) So they couldn't have been that expensive. Also, parking was mostly free, no congestion duties when driving into London... IDK if there were taxes on gasoline and how high.
  - ljlolel 3y ago
    And before the ‘70’s oil embargo
  - Tade0 3y ago
    Depends on the country. In Italy there's still to this day a tax on gasoline originally imposed to finance the Italo-Ethiopian war in 1935. Naturally that wasn't even the last tax of this sort, the latest addition being from 2012.
- kcplate 3y ago
  > In 60 years time when we're all driving hover cars… Don’t get your hopes up. In the seventies we were promised personal jet packs by now.
- SilverBirch 3y ago
  About 5 million cars in 1960s vs over 30 million now. But that journey done today would be practically all on the M4, a 3 lane uninterrupted motorway, so capacity has massively increased.
tecleandor 3y ago
Funny the blinker was still called "trafficator". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trafficators https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trafficators
- stevecat 3y ago
  We call them indicators in the UK now.
andyjohnson0 3y ago
I didn't watch it all, but I was struck by the absence of traffic lights - both at junctions and pedestrian crossings, where they're ubiquitous in urban areas now.
barrkel 3y ago
IAM uses IPSGA today - information, position, speed, gear, acceleration. Information is further broken down to Take, Use, Give. In the video, it's a little different, but not by much: course, mirror, signal, brake, gear, accelerator.
haunter 3y ago
Similar vein: Great North Road in 1939 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPhkZSWxt_I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPhkZSWxt_I
half-kh-hacker 3y ago
Chippenham and Calne are so different :O

There's also a fascinating and super detailed video how to drive from West Germany to Berlin as member of British military during Cold War times https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QS1xvtLV8Xw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QS1xvtLV8Xw

lqet 3y ago

If you enjoy that kind of peek into the past, there is a video of a tram ride through 1931 Leipzig on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CETIdLkJM4k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CETIdLkJM4k

throw0101c 3y ago

The soundtrack is definitely from the 1960s. Can someone say what genre (of jazz?) that is?

petercooper 3y ago
I'd call it easy listening 60s jazz. Some of the tracks in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJuqUErChmM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJuqUErChmM are very similar.

viraptor 3y ago

Not quite the same time period :) but I enjoyed it when it happened: Sigur Rós doing a whole day loop around Icelandic Route 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G54tllj-SKI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G54tllj-SKI (with their soundtrack)

petercooper 3y ago

Thanks to this I've learnt that Heathrow Airport had a terminal in central London at the time! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_London_Air_Terminal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_London_Air_Terminal It's also interesting to see how many things this "advanced motorist" does that would result in a test fail or fine nowadays. Like at 8:21 when he flashes his lights and honks at traffic to get out of the way(!) A pointless manoeuvre at 12:14 and a very poor overtake at 15:05 that forces oncoming traffic to slow down. Baseline standards have certainly improved since then..

jen20 3y ago
Not having an “in town checkin” system like Hong Kong (or, indeed, the London Airport of the past!) is one of the most miserable things about flying out of there. Imagine how much easier it would be to take the Piccadilly line without a suitcase…
- petercooper 3y ago
  You're not wrong, however we now finally have the Elizabeth Line which gets rid of that entire headache and you get air conditioning too! :)
  - jen20 3y ago
    True, I haven’t been back since that opened, it might be sufficient improvement!
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
Freak_NL 3y ago
That overtaking sequence at 8:20! The narrator in a gentle documentary voice: > Just keep on my lane, check my mirror; nothing behind me that wants to overtake. > And now I shall start to close up, and first of all signal him with my headlights. > And again. > It hasn't closed that I'm here so I shall sound the horn. [HONK] > And again. [IMPATIENT HONKING] > Yes; he's pulling in, and I can go past. > […] giving me the V-sign. I can't think why he should think that I'm interested in his politics. (The V-sign being the conventional British hand sign for 'Oi, sod off you twat!', or something along those lines.)
- petercooper 3y ago
  I quite like the French autoroute approach to this situation. They sit in the outside lane with their indicator on to indicate they want to go around you but can't. Somewhat less aggressive but makes the point.
- 3y ago

TeamMCS 3y ago

It's amazing to see these old videos. The roads were busy than I expected, I thought cars were incredibly expensive back then? (not that they aren't now). In 60 years time when we're all driving hover cars like the Jetsons imagine how much footage they'll have of us. Dashcams everywhere

inglor_cz 3y ago
Cars were already mass-produced 60 years ago and, compared to contemporary cars, rather simple. (No electronics, no airbags etc.) So they couldn't have been that expensive. Also, parking was mostly free, no congestion duties when driving into London... IDK if there were taxes on gasoline and how high.
- ljlolel 3y ago
  And before the ‘70’s oil embargo
- Tade0 3y ago
  Depends on the country. In Italy there's still to this day a tax on gasoline originally imposed to finance the Italo-Ethiopian war in 1935. Naturally that wasn't even the last tax of this sort, the latest addition being from 2012.
kcplate 3y ago
> In 60 years time when we're all driving hover cars… Don’t get your hopes up. In the seventies we were promised personal jet packs by now.
SilverBirch 3y ago
About 5 million cars in 1960s vs over 30 million now. But that journey done today would be practically all on the M4, a 3 lane uninterrupted motorway, so capacity has massively increased.

tecleandor 3y ago

Funny the blinker was still called "trafficator". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trafficators https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trafficators

stevecat 3y ago
We call them indicators in the UK now.

andyjohnson0 3y ago

I didn't watch it all, but I was struck by the absence of traffic lights - both at junctions and pedestrian crossings, where they're ubiquitous in urban areas now.

barrkel 3y ago

IAM uses IPSGA today - information, position, speed, gear, acceleration. Information is further broken down to Take, Use, Give. In the video, it's a little different, but not by much: course, mirror, signal, brake, gear, accelerator.

haunter 3y ago

Similar vein: Great North Road in 1939 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPhkZSWxt_I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPhkZSWxt_I

half-kh-hacker 3y ago

Chippenham and Calne are so different :O