And people say bureaucrats have no souls. This is not universally true. In my experience, a bureaucrat with no reason to dislike you (and who isn't having a _monumentally awful day_ and isn't actually a soulless jobsworth), will do what they can to work with and for you - which is their _job._ The fact that they went to work to find a way to overcome a technical challenge to grant an elderly widow's request to hear her husband again says volumes. Having overcome that technical challenge, they went a step further; with no _requirement_ that they _replace_ the old recording's content, only its medium, they just put the old boy's voice, now digitized, back in service, like a refitted piece of beloved rolling stock.
Abstain the Abys Avoid the Aperture Contemplate the Intermission Beware the Breach Of course that last one is no good because you don't actually want anyone to Be where the breach is
@@RavenBlack74 The software may not have been the problem. The recording was probably on a very rare format. Even if it was on a tape that could be spooled onto a tape real and fed into a reel to reel player, the recording itself may be in a difficult to read format. That’s assuming it was on tape. I’ve seen a lot of these sort of systems on UA-cam that use different formats of disk. That said, someone with electronics knowledge, time and a soldering iron, could probably put a line level output on the old system, then hook that up to a pc, and that is possibly what happened.
Absolutely amazed. A voice from the past heard on a daily basis by thousands and taken for granted without ever knowing the history of how it came to be. Splendid stuff - and fascinating. Thanks.
@@millomweb Well, it is a very appropriate voice... very authoritative, but not unkind. And yes, it is a nice story. Thank you for bringing it to our attention.
TfL really do make an effort to look after their history, and they should be applauded for that. If you have the time and interest, a trip to their Museum depot at Acton is well worthwhile.
I'm so glad the woman could hear Oswald's voice again. It's sort of like keeping the last voice (or text) message on one's phone after the speaker/sender has moved/passed on (which I did myself for quite some time, until I finally felt ready to let it go.)
I've still got a call from my elderly aunt who called on my birthday to sing happy birthday to me, whilst I was asleep, so she left it as a voice-mail. That was two years ago; she passed that winter, and I'm not sure I'll be ready to give it up anytime soon.
Nice to see this was reported accurately, I was at the ready to report an inaccuracy as I myself am in the know about this particular case on the underground. Well done! Love the channel!
I was working in London a few years back and sharing a house with some Bulgarian folk. Of an evening when we all had a beer they would very often shout 'mind the gap' followed by peals of drunken laughter. I never did figure out why
I always liked how he (presumably it was the same feller) went "Stand clear of the doors please". That's something I've always yearned to do. Authoritative yet benevolent and paternalistic. Much like London Transport as a whole I suppose.
This is awesome. I would love if they could digitalize the old records and make special days where they honor the old voices, maybe anouncing who we would be hearing today. It would be a nice way to see how much the way of speaking and phrases evolved. But, as an south american, i would not be able to hear it in persons, but oh well.
I'm sure I used to hear him on the Central Line at Bank - always felt he commanded one (at seemingly full volume) to 'Mind the gap, Mind the gap. Stand clear of the doors please!' Rather miss him there now but good to know his identity.
I used to work with a telecommunication engineer, now retired, who had worked on the Telefunken Public Address System and radio systems s on the underground: his voice was also used at some stations for this iconic announcement. He speaks posh and hails from Fulham/Wimbledon: not a un-cooth northerner like me!
It's actually a shortened version of the announcement that plays on Platform 3 at Embankment these days...Oswald Lawrence's original had "Stand clear of the doors please," at the end (after about 3 or 4 "Mind the Gap" 's!!). Alas the bit about the doors wasn't recovered from the salvage after it was withdrawn the first time! Still, full credit to Tfl for returning Oswald to his "spiritual home" station, his widow must have been overjoyed when she received the news that his voice would be reinstated there!
Ahh, I've heard this story before and like to tell it every time someone mentions Embankment station. I have a soft spot for it as it was my nearest station to uni when I was there.
I'm looking for authentic materials for my English pronunciation course. I think this is a great story and I'll definitely be using it in my class. Thank you.
What a wonderful telling of this heartwarming story. I had forgotten where you could still hear him so once this pandemic is over, I will go to the northbound platform at Embankment and pay my respects.
I mean what nonsense, the British library had the ability to replay basically every format there is, studios and other organisations also have replay ability in one way or another. So I'm glad they put the effort in to make the transfer.
I knew the story already and grew up with that voice - lovely that you've told the story so well..... Great bit of very human history..... & says a lot about TFL. Tx.....
Excellent video as usual Jago. Well done sir. And so heartwarming that TfL were able to eventually sort his widow's request and bring his voice back into use. Truly lovely. On this subject, sort of, here's a suggestion for a future video perhaps? A list, with examples if possible, of some"non standard" announcements. I'm sure someone will have taped them at some point. I seem to recall a station announcer who was very amusing. He would always start his announcements with "Dear passenger.....". I think it was round Kings Cross or a station or two either side, or maybe somewhere like Barbican . I also was there for the absolutely incredible "Steam on the Met" for the 150th anniversary of the tube and as a steam locomotive had just gone through King's Cross and not that long after their fateful fire , he felt it "prudent" to advise passengers that "If you see some smoke, don't worry, this time, it's just a steam train!!". Ok...Probably not terribly PC, but I love it!! Utterly brilliant!! It's things like that, that make each day just that little more bearable. Lol. Cheers.
One of my favourite announcements that! And one of my favourite stories on the Underground. Missed being there in person in July 2019 with my children. It was still all over the Underground when I first had the pleasure of using the Underground in the mid-1980s. Thank you for the video!
When I first started commuting to London in the 1990's, the announcement concluded with the even more delightfully plumby "Stand clear of the doors, please". What happened to this bit?
That's actually a really sweet story. I'm glad they managed to get his voice to her instead of just saying "no" and continuing to overspend on the Elizabeth Line. Also very interesting to know that the Northern Embankment announcement is actually different - I'm sure I have noticed it subconsciously in the past but I never took any real notice!
Mind The Gap *is* simple and to the point! In Madrid's metro it's, "Attention, curved station! When exiting, take care not to place your foot between the train and the platform"
I love that Mind The Gap even made it into Thunderbirds, alongside it's own iconic utterances and phrases (there's a scene in the 1966 film Thunderbirds Are Go where Lady Penelope tells Alan to Mind The Gap).
Not enough "plummy" voices heard these days, how are people supposed to be inspired to speak properly if all they hear are the likes of Easteners actors? Brian Sewel is sorely missed.
Sewell blew his television career when, in the week after Princess Dianas death, he went on a daytime show and described her as 'the brood mare' to provide children for Charles ...in the atmosphere of praise for all things Diana in that crazy week, his comments went down like a lead balloon
Many thanks, yet again, for your videos. They continue to be comfortable, interesting and calm points as I work my way thru your body of work while the world rushes thru this chaotic time.
You'll have to explain who Mr Sands is, and why he often needs to go to the operations room! That announcement still uses Oswald Laurence's voice, and is now firmly lodged in my memory after the July 7th 2005 bombings.
Ah, you've answered the question I had about whether the 'Inspector Sands' announcement was also by him. In my early days commuting there was obviously some problem at a station I was waiting at, as this was on repeat and I indeed wondered who he was and why he was so important! Maybe there's a story there for Jago to get stuck into - unless this needs to be kept hush, hush...
Mr Sands is the call for a fire somewhere. They don't say fire so as not to panic people. The call basically alerts staff to the fiire and so they are mentally braced and begin physically preparing for the next announcement to follow should the fire be serious. That way they are not surprised by a call to evacuate only commuters are. On a simliar note if you are ever somewhere that does not normally play music and you hear music begin playing this has also been used as a cue in the past (hotel chains to memory). Typically places like train stations and airports use Mr Sands but it varies
Thanks for sharing ! That's interesting ! Other than Embarkment, did we have the same voice in Bank station as well ? I could vaguely remember when I was in London back in the 80's.
wow…they truly got called out there for not even trying to use the old recordings, it was possible for years but they chose to lie to avoid the work. thankfully employees did the right thing and redid the recording for future generations to hear!
If only "Mind the Gap" really was only used at stations with curved platforms, where it's actually worthwhile. These days, it seems to be used everywhere on the entire rail network because, apparently, it's necessary to warn people any time a train is more than two millimetres horizontally or vertically from the platform edge.
Thanks for sharing that lovely story of love and care. You've got such an amazing way to take me to the past that fascinates me. Thank you very much indeed
Here in Toronto, the announcement is in a woman's voice: "Stand clear of the doors, please." It can be heard as "Stan clear the doors, please" I've heard that new immigrants have wondered who Stan was.
It has always struck me as a particularly cryptic British term, as if designed only for those ‘in the know’; leading me to wonder just how many puzzled non-natives perhaps came to an unfortunate end, having been too intent on trying to decipher its meaning rather than actually watching their step as required.
Just love this episode of yours , Like all of your videos there is something special about each one but this is such a ...well ...lovely one ... heart warming in fact.... well done sir :-)
Should give the engineer you showed a name check. That is John Wood, then of Sound Techniques Recording Studio, Chelsea, in London. He engineered recordings by many artists, including Fairport Convention, Pink Floyd, Sandy Denny, Richard (& Linda) Thompson, John Martyn ... and so on.
"Go forth and multiply" ... The only other person I heard use that phrase as a substitute for... obvious... was Jasper Carrot. I've become rather addicted to your channel!
You’d need to pretty fit and speedy to get from Charing Cross to Embankment in a couple of minutes. 4 minutes on Google maps. Anyway, with this logic (close it as it’s so close) we’d be closing lots of stations, Leicester Square and Covent Garden, Regent’s Park and Gt. Portland Street, Euston and Euston Square, Cannon Street and Bank, Bayswater and Queensway. I enjoy your commentaries but you do sometimes make the most vapid comments.
Sorry to be late to your excellent party - fascinating video. When I was a boy in London in the 1970s, I can only recall one station at which the 'Mind The Gap' announcement was played - everywhere else, you were expected to look where you were going. I wonder if the platform curvature here is more than at other stations? I also dimly recall, that several stations around here changed names. I THINK (and I know you will know better then I) that Embankment was previously called Charing Cross and there was a Fleet Street Station in there somewhere? But it was a long time ago, so I may be misremembering. I do recall for sure that the Jubilee Line was going to be called the Fleet Line and all the tube maps in the carriages were labelled to show it, but the name was changed to Jubilee before it opened around the time of the Queen's Silver Jubilee. Keep up the good work. PS The tube network is so much better, cleaner and generally 'nicer' than it was back in the 1960s and 70s!
My abiding memory of the mid 1950s voice warnings was those of our Caribbean platform staff, around this part of the Northern Line, shouting out, "Mind dee doors" as a prelude to them closing.
Hi Jago - I realised as I watched and listened to your presentation that the “mind the gap” announcement has always seemed robotic to me, even as a child in the 70’s - the voice, the timing of the words and the sound of the recording itself as not human as if from a machine (technically correct but I refer to the source of the recording) - very touching story if the the tube workers doing it themselves, a good lessen in these times - much love
Yeah, the Washington DC Metro doesn't tell us to 'Mind The Gap'...Though it does instruct us to 'Please Stand Clear Of The Doors' in what I can only describe as a rather exasperated tone.
It is a very nice story. I hope they will keep it even after his widow will eventually pass away as a piece of heritage since his announcement is what comes first to a lot of people's mind when talking about the tube.
I place "Mind the Gap" in the same category as "Have a nice day". Just as some people might have other plans so some people might like gaps. Still more will object to being told what to do or think. I won't take instructions on whether or not to have a nice and don't want to be told whether to mind gaps or not. I will make my own, umm, mind up, thank you. Right now I don't hold strong feelings either way on gaps, and don't particularly mind them.
I thought this was goign to be a story about how some company screwed up the platform dimensions and everyone just decide it'd be cheaper to tell people to mind the gap instead of fixing the platform.
Peter Lodge was one of the sound and projector engineers that installed some of the equipment for AMC/UCI cinemas in the UK. His company was the UK agent for Cinemeccanica 33mm projectors.
@@emmmlodg That's good to hear Em. I remember Peter well. I now live in NZ so doubt I will not hear the MIND THE GAP again. My regards to Graham, next time you see him.
I always remember , in the 60s on the District line , a guy we used to call “the singing porter” . As the train arrived or was about to leave he would announce in a very sing-song manner “Mansion House - Mind the doors!”
The fact that Oswald Laurence's widow would ride the underground to hear her husband's voice makes me smile and cry at the same time.
Same here. Glad someone gave forth the effort to "find a way" and keep a loving Widow happy. Cheers, Indeed!
It is a beautiful story.
I remember hearing it as a child on the Victoria line.
And people say bureaucrats have no souls.
This is not universally true. In my experience, a bureaucrat with no reason to dislike you (and who isn't having a _monumentally awful day_ and isn't actually a soulless jobsworth), will do what they can to work with and for you - which is their _job._
The fact that they went to work to find a way to overcome a technical challenge to grant an elderly widow's request to hear her husband again says volumes. Having overcome that technical challenge, they went a step further; with no _requirement_ that they _replace_ the old recording's content, only its medium, they just put the old boy's voice, now digitized, back in service, like a refitted piece of beloved rolling stock.
I still wish they would have settled on
"Avoid the Void"
Thanks, I'll show myself out...
Perhaps: "Avoid a void"
"Avoid the void between the train and the platform"
I like the sound of that
I would prefer 'Watch the void' or 'please be careful not to enter the dark void below'
Abstain the Abys
Avoid the Aperture
Contemplate the Intermission
Beware the Breach
Of course that last one is no good because you don't actually want anyone to Be where the breach is
"Abjure the Aperture"
The story about Oswald Laurence‘s voice and it’s reinstallation: that is what makes british culture so charming.
Embankment is a perfectly useful station, especially in the situation when you've just exited the nightclub and cant be bothered to walk up that hill
These days, you would just send your ancient recording media to Techmoan to have it digitized.
These days you can mostly do it at home with computer software. If you are lucky to have an old reel to reel player.
@@RavenBlack74 I don't think it was on a conventional format, which is why they couldn't simply transfer it.
His new videos what’s bought me here today lol
@@RavenBlack74 The software may not have been the problem. The recording was probably on a very rare format. Even if it was on a tape that could be spooled onto a tape real and fed into a reel to reel player, the recording itself may be in a difficult to read format. That’s assuming it was on tape. I’ve seen a lot of these sort of systems on UA-cam that use different formats of disk.
That said, someone with electronics knowledge, time and a soldering iron, could probably put a line level output on the old system, then hook that up to a pc, and that is possibly what happened.
I used to have this as my text tone. Loved having it but only got rid of it because I used to crap myself whenever a message came through.
Absolutely amazed. A voice from the past heard on a daily basis by thousands and taken for granted without ever knowing the history of how it came to be. Splendid stuff - and fascinating. Thanks.
'Mind the gap' and the 'ding ding' of a RouteMaster bus must be two of the most iconic noises of London.
Don’t forget “Evening Standard!”
What a nice story
I'd heard his widow 'protested' resulting in his voice returning.
@@millomweb Well, it is a very appropriate voice... very authoritative, but not unkind. And yes, it is a nice story. Thank you for bringing it to our attention.
Thanks!
@@JagoHazzard Subscribed !
@@JagoHazzard Not that you can take credit for it as it's not something you made up :)
TfL really do make an effort to look after their history, and they should be applauded for that. If you have the time and interest, a trip to their Museum depot at Acton is well worthwhile.
I'm so glad the woman could hear Oswald's voice again. It's sort of like keeping the last voice (or text) message on one's phone after the speaker/sender has moved/passed on (which I did myself for quite some time, until I finally felt ready to let it go.)
I've still got a call from my elderly aunt who called on my birthday to sing happy birthday to me, whilst I was asleep, so she left it as a voice-mail. That was two years ago; she passed that winter, and I'm not sure I'll be ready to give it up anytime soon.
Shame they removed the last part of the "Stand clear of the doors please"
Likely since it often came on too early or late
I find Oswald Laurence's rendition of "Mind the Gap" so powerful that it should be used at all tube stations where it's needed.
Thank you! Oswald Lawrence was my second cousin. Very nice to have this memorial to him!
Nice to see this was reported accurately, I was at the ready to report an inaccuracy as I myself am in the know about this particular case on the underground. Well done! Love the channel!
I was working in London a few years back and sharing a house with some Bulgarian folk. Of an evening when we all had a beer they would very often shout 'mind the gap' followed by peals of drunken laughter. I never did figure out why
Maybe their Hovercraft was full of eels?
I always liked how he (presumably it was the same feller) went "Stand clear of the doors please". That's something I've always yearned to do. Authoritative yet benevolent and paternalistic. Much like London Transport as a whole I suppose.
This is awesome. I would love if they could digitalize the old records and make special days where they honor the old voices, maybe anouncing who we would be hearing today. It would be a nice way to see how much the way of speaking and phrases evolved.
But, as an south american, i would not be able to hear it in persons, but oh well.
This is one of those tiny stories that just make you realise so many facets of life.
I'm sure I used to hear him on the Central Line at Bank - always felt he commanded one (at seemingly full volume) to 'Mind the gap, Mind the gap. Stand clear of the doors please!' Rather miss him there now but good to know his identity.
Correct.
In New York, we are told to "watch the gap." I have done quite often, but it never does anything.
The book Neverwhere imagines tentacled monsters living in the gaps on the Underground.
I used to work with a telecommunication engineer, now retired, who had worked on the Telefunken Public Address System and radio systems s on the underground: his voice was also used at some stations for this iconic announcement. He speaks posh and hails from Fulham/Wimbledon: not a un-cooth northerner like me!
A splendid story with a lovely ending.
I always love his announcement. His accent does make him sound as though he's telling you to mind the "gep".
‘Sex’ is what people who speak like him keep coal in.
It's actually a shortened version of the announcement that plays on Platform 3 at Embankment these days...Oswald Lawrence's original had "Stand clear of the doors please," at the end (after about 3 or 4 "Mind the Gap" 's!!). Alas the bit about the doors wasn't recovered from the salvage after it was withdrawn the first time! Still, full credit to Tfl for returning Oswald to his "spiritual home" station, his widow must have been overjoyed when she received the news that his voice would be reinstated there!
He outlasted “The Mousetrap” it seems. Well done, sir.
Ahh, I've heard this story before and like to tell it every time someone mentions Embankment station. I have a soft spot for it as it was my nearest station to uni when I was there.
Some people have excellent voices for anouncements.
I'm looking for authentic materials for my English pronunciation course. I think this is a great story and I'll definitely be using it in my class. Thank you.
What a wonderful telling of this heartwarming story. I had forgotten where you could still hear him so once this pandemic is over, I will go to the northbound platform at Embankment and pay my respects.
I mean what nonsense, the British library had the ability to replay basically every format there is, studios and other organisations also have replay ability in one way or another. So I'm glad they put the effort in to make the transfer.
There's a Drag Queen called 'Mandy Gap' which was apparently inspired by Mind The Gap.
2:35 "Your tearing me apart!!! Mind the gap mark....~"
‘It’s not true! I didn’t mind the gap. I did naaaaht! Ohai Mark’
We would often visit London when I was a child, my father had many relatives there, for me this will always be the" voice of the tube".
I knew the story already and grew up with that voice - lovely that you've told the story so well..... Great bit of very human history..... & says a lot about TFL. Tx.....
The delhi metro in India has it on stations also adopted in the Kolkata metro east west,metro. Announced inside the metro coaches always.
Excellent video as usual Jago. Well done sir.
And so heartwarming that TfL were able to eventually sort his widow's request and bring his voice back into use. Truly lovely.
On this subject, sort of, here's a suggestion for a future video perhaps?
A list, with examples if possible, of some"non standard" announcements. I'm sure someone will have taped them at some point.
I seem to recall a station announcer who was very amusing. He would always start his announcements with "Dear passenger.....". I think it was round Kings Cross or a station or two either side, or maybe somewhere like Barbican .
I also was there for the absolutely incredible "Steam on the Met" for the 150th anniversary of the tube and as a steam locomotive had just gone through King's Cross and not that long after their fateful fire , he felt it "prudent" to advise passengers that
"If you see some smoke, don't worry, this time, it's just a steam train!!".
Ok...Probably not terribly PC, but I love it!!
Utterly brilliant!!
It's things like that, that make each day just that little more bearable. Lol.
Cheers.
mind the gap
i said mind the gap
I SAID
MIND THE FUCKING GAP
One of my favourite announcements that! And one of my favourite stories on the Underground. Missed being there in person in July 2019 with my children. It was still all over the Underground when I first had the pleasure of using the Underground in the mid-1980s. Thank you for the video!
Its a lovely story. I have heard it before, but hearing you telling it was extra special.
If I'm not mistaken good old Oswald was also the voice of the Bakerloo line. He was mainly heard between Regent's Park towards E&C. R.I.P. Oswald
i love little a story like this. It adds to London
When I first started commuting to London in the 1990's, the announcement concluded with the even more delightfully plumby "Stand clear of the doors, please". What happened to this bit?
That's actually a really sweet story. I'm glad they managed to get his voice to her instead of just saying "no" and continuing to overspend on the Elizabeth Line.
Also very interesting to know that the Northern Embankment announcement is actually different - I'm sure I have noticed it subconsciously in the past but I never took any real notice!
Its also played at 120db just to make sure you heard! By far one of the loudest platforms in terms of announcements.
Mind The Gap *is* simple and to the point!
In Madrid's metro it's, "Attention, curved station! When exiting, take care not to place your foot between the train and the platform"
I love that Mind The Gap even made it into Thunderbirds, alongside it's own iconic utterances and phrases (there's a scene in the 1966 film Thunderbirds Are Go where Lady Penelope tells Alan to Mind The Gap).
Londons history is just unbelievable.
I remember this being on the news. Always a delight to be reminded of it.
Probably where I knew about it from.
Not enough "plummy" voices heard these days, how are people supposed to be inspired to speak properly if all they hear are the likes of Easteners actors? Brian Sewel is sorely missed.
I remember Paul Merton once saying that Brian Sewell made the Queen sound common.
Sewell was having trouble with the whirring in his house.
Remedied by an electrician. His words. True story
Sewell blew his television career when, in the week after Princess Dianas death, he went on a daytime show and described her as 'the brood mare' to provide children for Charles ...in the atmosphere of praise for all things Diana in that crazy week, his comments went down like a lead balloon
@@jimtuite3451 undiplomatic for sure but right all the same.
@@jerribee1 I used to have a cassette tape of Victor Lewis Smith prank calls. His call to Brian Sewell was hysterically funny.
This story just made me all emotional. It's the little things...
Many thanks, yet again, for your videos. They continue to be comfortable, interesting and calm points as I work my way thru your body of work while the world rushes thru this chaotic time.
You'll have to explain who Mr Sands is, and why he often needs to go to the operations room! That announcement still uses Oswald Laurence's voice, and is now firmly lodged in my memory after the July 7th 2005 bombings.
Ah, you've answered the question I had about whether the 'Inspector Sands' announcement was also by him. In my early days commuting there was obviously some problem at a station I was waiting at, as this was on repeat and I indeed wondered who he was and why he was so important! Maybe there's a story there for Jago to get stuck into - unless this needs to be kept hush, hush...
Mr Sands is the call for a fire somewhere. They don't say fire so as not to panic people. The call basically alerts staff to the fiire and so they are mentally braced and begin physically preparing for the next announcement to follow should the fire be serious. That way they are not surprised by a call to evacuate only commuters are. On a simliar note if you are ever somewhere that does not normally play music and you hear music begin playing this has also been used as a cue in the past (hotel chains to memory). Typically places like train stations and airports use Mr Sands but it varies
That was really hearwarming. Plus I think his is such a special sound too.
not to be rude to lurence but i find it creepy the first time i heard it but then i started liking it and dont find it creepy
It's good to have you back, Mr. Laurence.
Thanks for sharing ! That's interesting ! Other than Embarkment, did we have the same voice in Bank station as well ? I could vaguely remember when I was in London back in the 80's.
wow…they truly got called out there for not even trying to use the old recordings, it was possible for years but they chose to lie to avoid the work. thankfully employees did the right thing and redid the recording for future generations to hear!
3:24 Serious floodgate defence mechanism there in the ceiling !
If only "Mind the Gap" really was only used at stations with curved platforms, where it's actually worthwhile. These days, it seems to be used everywhere on the entire rail network because, apparently, it's necessary to warn people any time a train is more than two millimetres horizontally or vertically from the platform edge.
Thanks for sharing that lovely story of love and care. You've got such an amazing way to take me to the past that fascinates me. Thank you very much indeed
What a great story. A lovely reminder in difficult times that large corporations can do the right thing from time to time.
That was a truly heart warming story! Thank you so much Jago.
Here in Toronto, the announcement is in a woman's voice: "Stand clear of the doors, please." It can be heard as "Stan clear the doors, please" I've heard that new immigrants have wondered who Stan was.
I'm sure the same announcement was used by Lego on the Lego model underground train at Legoland.
"MMMYND. THE. GAP."
*Please consider the giant void next to you as you disembark the train*
I read a fiction book called *Mind the Gap* which is partially inspired by Dr McCallum wanting to hear her late husband's voice at Embankment.
I’ll have to look that one out.
@@JagoHazzard It's by Phil Earle. I saw it in a charity shop window a couple of years ago and bought it straight away!
Such a civilized country. Well done TFL for finding a way to provide her with the recording - and thus still using it. Brilliant.
It’s ‘MIND THE GAP’ not ‘MINDFUL GAP’
JJJJJJJJJJJaffa ‘The Mindful Gap’???? Explain.
It's a subtle pun. The story gives the context.
I like the idea of making it all sound the same like "Kindly Consider the Crevasse"
Or "Please Pontificate the Precipice"
It has always struck me as a particularly cryptic British term, as if designed only for those ‘in the know’; leading me to wonder just how many puzzled non-natives perhaps came to an unfortunate end, having been too intent on trying to decipher its meaning rather than actually watching their step as required.
Do you assume, non-natives don't understand english ? Well maybe it was true in the 50ies.
Just love this episode of yours , Like all of your videos there is something special about each one but this is such a ...well ...lovely one ... heart warming in fact.... well done sir :-)
mind the gap
fighter group ZIG is departing
all personel MIND THE GAP
heres to you oswald
The fact that Tfl staff did that restores a bit of faith in "big business" lol
Have you considered making a video about the former Primrose Hill station (and how it narrowly missed becoming part of the London Overground)?
I came across it while researching another upcoming video (also on abandoned stations). Definitely one on my list for the future!
Minda the gap?
MIND THE GAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1!!!!!!!!!!
In years to come, I suspect the famous UA-camr Jago Hazzard will be invited to record the message 'Mind the Gap'
Should give the engineer you showed a name check. That is John Wood, then of Sound Techniques Recording Studio, Chelsea, in London. He engineered recordings by many artists, including Fairport Convention, Pink Floyd, Sandy Denny, Richard (& Linda) Thompson, John Martyn ... and so on.
London: "Mind the Gap."
Warsaw: "pRoSzę OdSuNąĆ sIę Od KrAwĘdzI pErOnU"
"Go forth and multiply" ... The only other person I heard use that phrase as a substitute for... obvious... was Jasper Carrot. I've become rather addicted to your channel!
Lawrence's is the best 'mind the gap' - childhood memories! 😁
You’d need to pretty fit and speedy to get from Charing Cross to Embankment in a couple of minutes. 4 minutes on Google maps. Anyway, with this logic (close it as it’s so close) we’d be closing lots of stations, Leicester Square and Covent Garden, Regent’s Park and Gt. Portland Street, Euston and Euston Square, Cannon Street and Bank, Bayswater and Queensway. I enjoy your commentaries but you do sometimes make the most vapid comments.
A small token of appreciation from TFL after all for sterling advice given over the years though....
Sorry to be late to your excellent party - fascinating video. When I was a boy in London in the 1970s, I can only recall one station at which the 'Mind The Gap' announcement was played - everywhere else, you were expected to look where you were going. I wonder if the platform curvature here is more than at other stations? I also dimly recall, that several stations around here changed names. I THINK (and I know you will know better then I) that Embankment was previously called Charing Cross and there was a Fleet Street Station in there somewhere? But it was a long time ago, so I may be misremembering. I do recall for sure that the Jubilee Line was going to be called the Fleet Line and all the tube maps in the carriages were labelled to show it, but the name was changed to Jubilee before it opened around the time of the Queen's Silver Jubilee. Keep up the good work. PS The tube network is so much better, cleaner and generally 'nicer' than it was back in the 1960s and 70s!
My abiding memory of the mid 1950s voice warnings was those of our Caribbean platform staff, around this part of the Northern Line, shouting out, "Mind dee doors" as a prelude to them closing.
Very interesting. But of f what relevance is Oswald Lawrence’s IMDB page? You described him as a theatre actor, from the outset.
Mind the gap?
More like
MIND THE HAZZARD!
Hi Jago - I realised as I watched and listened to your presentation that the “mind the gap” announcement has always seemed robotic to me, even as a child in the 70’s - the voice, the timing of the words and the sound of the recording itself as not human as if from a machine (technically correct but I refer to the source of the recording) - very touching story if the the tube workers doing it themselves, a good lessen in these times - much love
Yeah, the Washington DC Metro doesn't tell us to 'Mind The Gap'...Though it does instruct us to 'Please Stand Clear Of The Doors' in what I can only describe as a rather exasperated tone.
It is a very nice story. I hope they will keep it even after his widow will eventually pass away as a piece of heritage since his announcement is what comes first to a lot of people's mind when talking about the tube.
Kingston did an advert using this story: ua-cam.com/video/_EK5N7sHwyQ/v-deo.html
Sure, it was inaccurate as heck, but it was good story telling :)
I place "Mind the Gap" in the same category as "Have a nice day". Just as some people might have other plans so some people might like gaps. Still more will object to being told what to do or think. I won't take instructions on whether or not to have a nice and don't want to be told whether to mind gaps or not. I will make my own, umm, mind up, thank you. Right now I don't hold strong feelings either way on gaps, and don't particularly mind them.
What a great story, next time I'm in London I will make a point of going to listen ti the announcement at embankment . Thank you
I always thought the voice was Patrick Macnee of The Avengers!
Wonderful storey. Jago have you ever thought of producing a dvd set with all your jems in a collection
I thought this was goign to be a story about how some company screwed up the platform dimensions and everyone just decide it'd be cheaper to tell people to mind the gap instead of fixing the platform.
Peter Lodge was one of the sound and projector engineers that installed some of the equipment for AMC/UCI cinemas in the UK. His company was the UK agent for Cinemeccanica 33mm projectors.
Yes indeed. Sound Associates. Now run by his son Graham.
the voice at embankment is still peter's, he was my grandad. there is no doubt in any of our minds!!
@@emmmlodg That's good to hear Em. I remember Peter well. I now live in NZ so doubt I will not hear the MIND THE GAP again. My regards to Graham, next time you see him.
I find this quite cute and the fact they brought back his voice for his window just- ((a))
I always remember , in the 60s on the District line , a guy we used to call “the singing porter” . As the train arrived or was about to leave he would announce in a very sing-song manner “Mansion House - Mind the doors!”