@Rv1333 haha think you ment to say at the end "this guys mental wicked sweet Awesome " 🤣 but yeah I had to rewind as when I first watched it like wait what did he say what I thought he said nahh surely not hahah nope he did indeed 🤣
If anyone is interested in aircraft and wants to find out more about Dehavilland, the excellent dehavilland aircraft museum is a few miles down the road next to the M25 at Salisbury Hall near London Colney which was the companies original R&D site. They have a UA-cam account too.
Thanks Jon for the thoughts on that first small 1914-1918 disagreement. On the day this video was released an over one hundred year old desire was completed in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador with the repatriation from France and internment of an unknown Newfoundlander at the local War Memorial. During the times of those two small disagreements Newfoundland was a separate country, in 1949 Canada joined Newfoundland. In a consession to Canada, in Newfoundland and Labrador the morning of July 1st is Memorial Day while in the afternoon it is Canada Day.
The structure behind the trees is a Very High Frequency Omnidirectional Range Station (VOR). Its a type of short-range radio navigation system for aircraft, enabling aircraft with a receiving unit to determine its position and stay on course by receiving radio signals transmitted by a network of fixed ground radio beacons. EDIT - After some replies to this comment I decided to dig deeper and actually I found out that this was labelled on old maps as a VDF or VHF Direction Finder. Its a ground based radio aid that consists of a directional antenna system and a VHF radio receiver, tuned to the operating frequency of an air traffic services unit. Thus, when a transmission is received from an aircraft, the VDF provides the direction that transmission came from. Whilst very similar to VOR, the VDF requires an operator on a voice channel to pass the information to the aviator. In effect, VOR is a more sophisticated VDF. Physically they both consist of multiple directional antennas mounted in a radial pattern around a central brick and/or concrete box style structure, and are commonly mistaken for each other.
All the VOR facilities I've seen are usually quite a bit bigger than this, however this may be all that's left of it. Everything I can find online simply says it's an airfield ground station.
'Tring' always makes me think of a bicycle bell. I have successfully avoided Hatfield for many years. Last time I went there, the De Havilland company buildings were still there, and there was a De Havilland Mosquito as a gate guardian. On the day of the Buncefield explosion, I was at work at Ipswich docks. I was getting ready to go home after a nightshift, and, at about 6 am, there was a crack, and something rattled the windows of the gatehouse I was in. A few moments later, I got a phonecall from the dock radar control, which was about a mile away from me, and was asked if anyone was letting off fireworks, as something had rattled their windows. Nobody was letting anything off locally, but about 90 miles away, all hell had broken loose. Somewhere, there is an ancient logbook with my note about the odd noise in it. Tidy video as always, Jon and a lot of fun. Nice one. 👍👍👍
It always reminds me of George Stevenson arguing that The Great Western Railway was pointless, because his railway could build a branch to Bristol from Tring.
I live about 5 miles from Hemel and whilst I don't recall any large explosion I must have subconsciously heard it as I woke up. I do recall the bedroom door rattling. All I could think of was that a plane has crashed near by. Of course De Havillands still partly exists in the form of Harry Potter World at Leavesden the ex De Havilland engine works. Where I did my appriceship and about 10 years after me Bradley Walsh. I believe he started at the Rolls Royce social club there.
The DeHavilland plant was the site of one of the more unique episodes of the second small disagreement. A once and future career criminal named Eddie Chapman was working as a double agent for MI5, and he had been tasked by the Germans with blowing up that factory. Apparently, they found Mosquitoes very annoying and wanted to stop their production. With the help of a magician named Jasper Maskelyne, they dressed up the building to look from the air or from a distance like it had been heavily damaged. The Germans were sufficiently impressed with Chapman’s “sabotage” that they awarded him the Iron Cross. By the way, before this, Maskelyne had a hand into tricking Erwin Rommel into expecting an attack from the wrong direction at the Second Battle of El Alamein.
Couple of days after Buncefield failed to destroy the surroundings I was driving back from Watford up the A1 and the whole sky had a very leaden smoky feel to it, all the way back to my gaff in north Herts. It was very bizarre, but not as bizarre as McD’s running out of burger buns because they had a warehouse next to the site. One of my old co-workers also had a computer room next to the site and his pics of the place once he was allowed back in are something else. Excellent your mum joke too, proper chortle at that.
The nutter was short of a Zebra for his coach and also needed a Horse to lead the Zebras which are not suited to domestication so he painted stripes on a horse. Within the Museum you will find a case with two dressed fleas, really worth a look. Cheers
Could have diverted off the A4251 between Berkhamsted and Tring and popped to the village of Aldbury, gorgeous little village with a central duck pond and featured in the Avengers with Diana Rigg many times, fab video as always Jon, thank you 🙏
For me Hatfield is notable for the road sign on the A1(M) leaving London - 'Hatfield and the North' - which meant 1970s holidays in places like Scarborough. It's also the name of a very charming 1970s Canterbury scene jazz-influenced rock band, whose music I enjoy very much.
Great band :) Sadly, all the road signs seem to say "The North. Hatfield", nowadays, but that doesn't stop me sticking my copy of The Rotter's Club on the stereo from time to time. On a separate note, as a kid I was at school with Jamie McMullen of the brewing family. Fascinating, eh?
@@highpath4776 Cruel but funny. I remember as a boy having a book about the Comet and how it was going to completely revolutionise air travel. (I don't think there was a second edition.) Unusually, the book was in landscape format, with proportion about 1 to 2. Which, if you think about it, is _really_ sensible for a book about airliners. I don't think I have ever seen that format used again.
Should have mentioned when talking about St Albans that not only has it had one battle named after it but two. 1st Battle of St Albans 14 May 1455 and 2nd Battle of St Albans 17 Feb 1461.
I did 5yrs penance in Hatfield uni 92-97. To alleviate the problem me and my housemates would drive the back roads to Hertford via Wild Hill, Essendon & Bayfordbury. Our ‘landlord’ Steve, studying for a Construction degree (his dad bought him a cheapo end-of-terrace house: 93 Garden Avenue, Hatfield) got caught out by the second of the two 90 deg bends in Essendon going North on a wet day, took out some bloke’s fence and narrowly missed writing his mums Golf off. A lesson for the kids of today: when driving too fast for your own skills, always wait until you’ve unwound the steering wheel from full lock to straight ahead *before* burying the throttle in 2nd gear, that way you won’t under steer off the road in heavy rain and narrowly miss a very heavy and thick fence post…
The amount of research you must put into each videos is always what sets them apart from any others ive seen. You have a real quality about you John, I would love to see you on a Top Gear esque travel show! You woulda fit in so well with Clarkson, Hammond and May.
Worth mentioning that the Rothchilds accidentally introduced the edible dormouse into the Chilterns area accidentally and that whilst very cute is a thorough pest.
In the subsequent report on the A413 from Buckingham to Wendover Mr AS visits the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre but goes to Aylesbury on the A41. That would have taken him to Waddesden. Another Rothchilds village. Then went to Wendover right next the Halton another Rothchilds village. That only leaves Mentmore and he would have done a clean sweep of Rothchilds places.
Berkhamsted was called Great Berkhamsted because there's another Berkhamsted (called Little Berkhamsted), a village on the other side of the county near Hertford. I used to live in Little B as it's is known locally; a nice place, though naturally often confused with its bigger namesake.
Haha, I do love your presentation. Having to work in those areas frequently I totally agree with you, they have been ruined beyond hope by ‘modernisation’. And The road junctions in some places are just bonkers… That area has given me a unique experience, I.e. being glad to make it back on to the M25 in one piece!
Buncefield was always a bit leaky mate, I used to drive past it on the M1 regularly and there was often a haze over the motorway and stink of petrol. When it went up it woke me up, I live in Letchworth for context.
I was in Letchworth and didn't wake up perhaps because my bedroom was on the far side relative to the explosion. That day a large black cloud pretty much filled the western part of the sky.
That thing behind the trees is a VOR or VHF Omnidirectional Range Station. In simple terms; it first broadcasts an omnidirectional signal burst, followed by a directional signal that sweeps s full 360 degrees in a fixed time - a bit like the light beam from a lighthouse. Measure the time between the burst and your receiving the swept signal, and you have your bearing to/from that location. The instrument in an aircraft would display this to/from bearing, and with two or more of these stations you could triangulate your position.
We flew back from Amsterdam and the pilot told us to look out to the left so we could see the fire. We were actually on a temporary flight path diverting aircraft further east than normal.
i was on a flight from Heathrow to Ausralia and saw the smoke from the fire and funny enough i had on several occasions had worked in there on the pipework as a welder and when they were building the terminal i had tried to get a job there but no luck.
Tring museum always made for a fun school trip and we often went there when I was at junior school,in Weston. Easier to keep us under control there than at Whipsnade Zoo I guess.
Hi Jon, "hippos like my mum" well my dad is a walrus what that make me🤣🤣Hatfield that an original name, was there a field and some left there hat there and some said lets build a town there and said ware not ware that's taken were no that's taken. as always a great video and full respect for 1914-18 small disagreement. catch you soon take care
As always Jon another gem of a vlog, enhanced by paying due respect to all those who gave their lives in the Great War. "All gave some, Some gave all!"
4:40 When De Havilland left this building, it was used by the University of Hertfordshire Art and Design department from '94-onwards - I studied Industrial Design there, and we got to sit at the original De Havilland drawing boards in our class area. There were still some old design drawings left behind in old filing cabinets - it was very inspirational to study Design there. Hi to our tutor, Mike Goatman.
Hi Jon mentioning Barnet By-Pass part of the A1 got me thinking you should visit the Barnet bypass for its old police box that was situated on the junction of Holmshill and Rowley Lanes.. It was installed there in 1937 and the BBC even made radio report about how the public could use one... Policing boundaries changed in the 1960s and this lead the Barnet Box to be saved from execution when the then Home Secretary Roy Jenkins ordered all Met Boxes to be decommissioned ... It was even re-positioned when the A1 was dualled in 1964... However the stay of removal would not last.. the construction of the M25 at South Mimms in 1980 lead to the Barnet's widening again... The box had even been considered for use in Tom Baker's final serial Logopolis to be shot in Jan 1981 However by then the box had been removed and instead the BBC used two of their prop boxes on the A413 Amersham Road lay-by near to the Chalfont viaduct,,, this Layby too would also succumb to the M25s construction too... two years later when it marched straight through the arches of the Chalfont viaduct with the A413's Lay-by straight in its path...Its like the M25's construction cursed Doctor Who's TARDIS ! Loved your parting shot on this vid too on Tring's Short but Sweet Motorway by-pass Best Wishes from the North East Ian...
Your point about Stevenidge is pretty apt. As spent 2 weeks there in the housing area, which was close to the station and where you stood in your presentation. I found the old town better, the new town was hopeless, just like we have in poor areas, in Australia..Sterile but not worth going there.
I live in Hertfordshire and recognise all the places. I could think of far worse places than Hemel and yes I agree with you Jon, St Albans is a traffic nightmare .
John, you should of gone to Hatfield House, which is where Queen Elizabeth the first was staying when she became Queen. There's an oak tree where she was sitting under when she was told she was Queen. I used to work farming this land a few years ago, and although the oak tree is still there and open to the public it is not the original tree, the remainder of which is still growing in a secluded part of the estate which is not open to the public, even I who worked there wasn't allowed anywhere near it. All the fields on this estate had names like "druids bottom" and the like apart from one, which was called "search lights" This massive field (not open to the public) was where they tested a new invention in the first slight disagreement called the tank. Next to the field are dug western front trenches to test these beasts, which are now overgrown with huge trees. I felt privileged to be able to explore them. All part of the Lord "Bob's your uncle" (although that's another story) Salisbury estate. And yes, I did meet him and his son and they were both pompous arses.
"you should of gone to Hatfield House, which is where Queen Elizabeth the first was staying when she became Queen." Is that the old house next to the current one as I thought Hatfield House, the bigger one, was Jacobian?
Your opening sequence would have been impossible back in the 1980s. That area was still operating gravel pits. I grew up in Bengeo backing onto Waterford marsh and that was our childhood playground. The brewery was still occupying the whole area now occupied by Sainsbury's and even the original Hertford station was still there. Remember the Hatfield tunnel being built and it made a massive difference. But that meant not going round the Comet roundabout
I would like to make an observation on the Bell Common tunnel, my recollection is that it was bored. The reason for this was the requirement to leave the cricket table and surrounding ground undisturbed owing to it's history on the common. The other thing, regarding Buncefield is that I was collecting CHEP pallets from the firm supplying Maccy D when it all went off, and I wasn't allowed to leave the industrial estate for several hours which was a bit of a bugger. Keep up the good work Jon!!
Fun fact about the old Hatfield Aerodrome: Some scenes from Band of Brothers (you know, that film which documented a small part of the second disagreement) where filmed there. Saw many changes to that area during my time there, especially during 2001 onwards when it became more commercialized (Ocado warehouses etc). WItnessed the old hanger being converted into the David Lloyd gym (or whatever it is now).
Worked at Hertford East, probably in office buildings that had been built on some of the sidings / coal yards and link tracks to Herford North. Had a suitcase nicked out of my van (i was working overnight, knackered and forgot to lock it) , so if you found a blue and white teddy bear that was my sons (returning it after he left it on holiday), and a pair of pyjamas (mine- dont ask) on your wanderings around Hertford please let me know.
9:18 Grandad made it back, although with three German machine bullets destroying his left lung, and massive exit wounds. Still, his important gentlemanly bits still worked, which is why I'm here.
Many many Many years ago when I was doing a gig at Hertford Castle Hall I had some time to kill inbetween the afternoon rehearsal the evening concert so I went for a look at the castle. That was a disappointment. I found a play park instead.
Splendid mix of humour, heart, research and esoteric history. Excellent stuff! You’re getting perilously close to my neck of the woods here, mind the A418 out of A*lesb*ry as it’s having several closures due to HS2 work.
5:52 looks like the remains of a Direction Finder. I worked on DRDF in the early nineties which was an updated version using the same style of building. It would use an antenna array (and some maths) to work out the direction a transmission was coming from, and usually paint that as a line on Air Traffic displays. A forerunner to modern beam-forming used in technologies like Wi-fi and smart glasses.
I've just watched your video on the A226. I have a good one for you, the A432 Badmington Rd, Bristol to Yate Rd. It's gonna be closed for 2 years and it's the main Rd to Yate from Bristol. The diversion depending on the way you are coming is ridiculous. I'll watch this video now.
Hi John, I have not been having a good week. Work shit, sick child, unwell me.. But you hippo comment just made my day.. Thank you so very much for that. You are one of my best seen channels. Thank you for lifting me.
IIRC, the explosive mist around buncefield was ignited by some automatic electic timing equipment which caused a spark. The rest, as they say, was nearly all history. Thanks Jon.
"So instead let's talk about Trench Warfare" that cut was so perfect you could supply it to a Michelin star restaurant You handled such a topic highly respectfully tho, really good bit of presenting
I grew up in Tring, went to primary school in Berko, and secondary school in Hemel, so really liked this one. I’m also an aviation enthusiast with a bit of a fascination with old airfields, so I’m glad you covered DeHaviland at Hatfield, thank you!
Was that hippo joke a reference to The Mary Whitehouse Experience? It might just be me in my old age fug but that is immediately where my mind went! Another cracking video.
As an ex-Stevenage resident and someone who went to "university" in Hatfield, I have to say.... I agree entirely with your views! You give yourself away as someone brought up in Herts by calling HH just Hemel of course.
Berko Castle is where the Norman Conquest basically ended. Everyone knows about the Battle of Hastings where it started, but Berko is where it ended, and we've been French ever since.
It's where the last person of any other power at the time surrendered to William ... the Archbishop of York, the castle was to retain and defend the route north
@@davidioanhedges Scandinavians are Germans. You're thinking of Germany the nation (I assume), whereas I am talking about ethno groups tracked via linguistics and culture. Norse are part of the "North Germanic" group which split off from the Germanic branch of Indo-European Language/Culture. Additionally the Normans were not just Norse, they were a mixture of Norse, Frank and Gaul.
@@jimmydesouza4375 They are Germans or even Germanic in no way - unless you believe certain German leaders from the 1940's ...all heavily debunked - Scandinavian culture is distinct from Germanic culture The Normans had been in the area for long enough to intermarry, and spoke Norman French, they were a mixture
At 5:50 that's the remains of a counterpoise topped shelter for a CVOR (Conventional VHF Omnidirectional Range) or, more likely, a HRDF (High Resolution Direction Finder). I install and maintain; ILS, DME, NDB, VOR, DF and other aircraft navigation aids/beacons, if you'd like any more info. Sweet video as always, thanks very much for your hard work!
"But Sadly not hemal"
"& Hippos like your mum"
😐🤣 ohhh that was wicked sweet awesome 🤣
sadly not hemel made me snort painfully
I'd just taken a mouthful of drink at "but sadly not Hemel". That was an error.
I had to rewind it to make sure he said hippos like your mum 😂 this guys mental
@Rv1333 haha think you ment to say at the end "this guys mental wicked sweet Awesome " 🤣 but yeah I had to rewind as when I first watched it like wait what did he say what I thought he said nahh surely not hahah nope he did indeed 🤣
I love how you go from a beautiful and poignant moment to a your mum joke without missing a beat - pure class!
😂😂😂😂
As much as I enjoy your humour Jon, I am glad to see you paid due respect to the 1914-1918 small disagreement.
was quite the disagreement aswell
That's the problem with war, it's not about who's right, it's about who's left 😞
Those training trenches looked poignantly similar to the remains of the real things that I've seen at Vimy Ridge and Verdun.
'Places like this make you think...' Yes. Yes they do...
Not been the best week tbh
If anyone is interested in aircraft and wants to find out more about Dehavilland, the excellent dehavilland aircraft museum is a few miles down the road next to the M25 at Salisbury Hall near London Colney which was the companies original R&D site. They have a UA-cam account too.
Thanks Jon for the thoughts on that first small 1914-1918 disagreement. On the day this video was released an over one hundred year old desire was completed in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador with the repatriation from France and internment of an unknown Newfoundlander at the local War Memorial. During the times of those two small disagreements Newfoundland was a separate country, in 1949 Canada joined Newfoundland. In a consession to Canada, in Newfoundland and Labrador the morning of July 1st is Memorial Day while in the afternoon it is Canada Day.
The dressed up flees are the best bit in the Tring museum.
The structure behind the trees is a Very High Frequency Omnidirectional Range Station (VOR). Its a type of short-range radio navigation system for aircraft, enabling aircraft with a receiving unit to determine its position and stay on course by receiving radio signals transmitted by a network of fixed ground radio beacons.
EDIT - After some replies to this comment I decided to dig deeper and actually I found out that this was labelled on old maps as a VDF or VHF Direction Finder. Its a ground based radio aid that consists of a directional antenna system and a VHF radio receiver, tuned to the operating frequency of an air traffic services unit. Thus, when a transmission is received from an aircraft, the VDF provides the direction that transmission came from. Whilst very similar to VOR, the VDF requires an operator on a voice channel to pass the information to the aviator.
In effect, VOR is a more sophisticated VDF.
Physically they both consist of multiple directional antennas mounted in a radial pattern around a central brick and/or concrete box style structure, and are commonly mistaken for each other.
Thanks Lewis!
Are the cows necessary to correct functioning?
I would actually say this is a receiving only direction finder. I am ex RAF airfield engineer and was taught how to maintain these.
In road transport VOR means vehicle off road.
All the VOR facilities I've seen are usually quite a bit bigger than this, however this may be all that's left of it. Everything I can find online simply says it's an airfield ground station.
You went to St Albans and didn't visit Norman Stanley Fletcher's temporary accommodation 😮
I like how Jon can go from 9:15 comment on WWI survivability rates to 10:18 Mum jokes! Quality documentary making :D
Nearly spat out my tea XD
'Tring' always makes me think of a bicycle bell. I have successfully avoided Hatfield for many years. Last time I went there, the De Havilland company buildings were still there, and there was a De Havilland Mosquito as a gate guardian.
On the day of the Buncefield explosion, I was at work at Ipswich docks. I was getting ready to go home after a nightshift, and, at about 6 am, there was a crack, and something rattled the windows of the gatehouse I was in. A few moments later, I got a phonecall from the dock radar control, which was about a mile away from me, and was asked if anyone was letting off fireworks, as something had rattled their windows. Nobody was letting anything off locally, but about 90 miles away, all hell had broken loose. Somewhere, there is an ancient logbook with my note about the odd noise in it.
Tidy video as always, Jon and a lot of fun.
Nice one. 👍👍👍
It always reminds me of George Stevenson arguing that The Great Western Railway was pointless, because his railway could build a branch to Bristol from Tring.
I live about 5 miles from Hemel and whilst I don't recall any large explosion I must have subconsciously heard it as I woke up. I do recall the bedroom door rattling. All I could think of was that a plane has crashed near by.
Of course De Havillands still partly exists in the form of Harry Potter World at Leavesden the ex De Havilland engine works. Where I did my appriceship and about 10 years after me Bradley Walsh. I believe he started at the Rolls Royce social club there.
Greatest post war fire/explosion in Europe.
I have a friend who was due to go on a course the next day in the office complex next door.
Lucky escape.
Some of the local residents with damaged houses had to wait a very long time so get compensation and get their houses repaired.
"Tring" must always be pronounced like a ringing phone (old school style-y).
The DeHavilland plant was the site of one of the more unique episodes of the second small disagreement. A once and future career criminal named Eddie Chapman was working as a double agent for MI5, and he had been tasked by the Germans with blowing up that factory. Apparently, they found Mosquitoes very annoying and wanted to stop their production.
With the help of a magician named Jasper Maskelyne, they dressed up the building to look from the air or from a distance like it had been heavily damaged. The Germans were sufficiently impressed with Chapman’s “sabotage” that they awarded him the Iron Cross. By the way, before this, Maskelyne had a hand into tricking Erwin Rommel into expecting an attack from the wrong direction at the Second Battle of El Alamein.
Thanks
Thanks a lot mate, appreciate it!
Couple of days after Buncefield failed to destroy the surroundings I was driving back from Watford up the A1 and the whole sky had a very leaden smoky feel to it, all the way back to my gaff in north Herts. It was very bizarre, but not as bizarre as McD’s running out of burger buns because they had a warehouse next to the site. One of my old co-workers also had a computer room next to the site and his pics of the place once he was allowed back in are something else. Excellent your mum joke too, proper chortle at that.
The nutter was short of a Zebra for his coach and also needed a Horse to lead the Zebras which are not suited to domestication so he painted stripes on a horse.
Within the Museum you will find a case with two dressed fleas, really worth a look. Cheers
oh its the shenanigan's guy we like him
Could have diverted off the A4251 between Berkhamsted and Tring and popped to the village of Aldbury, gorgeous little village with a central duck pond and featured in the Avengers with Diana Rigg many times, fab video as always Jon, thank you 🙏
Never change your sense of humor Jon
I lived in Japan for 10 years. The amount of concrete there is insane. That aerial view of Stevenage would be considered beautiful.
For me Hatfield is notable for the road sign on the A1(M) leaving London - 'Hatfield and the North' - which meant 1970s holidays in places like Scarborough. It's also the name of a very charming 1970s Canterbury scene jazz-influenced rock band, whose music I enjoy very much.
Great band :) Sadly, all the road signs seem to say "The North. Hatfield", nowadays, but that doesn't stop me sticking my copy of The Rotter's Club on the stereo from time to time. On a separate note, as a kid I was at school with Jamie McMullen of the brewing family. Fascinating, eh?
Yeah. Mussed the opportunity for some Cock of the North jokes there...
04:51 "this was a time when jet-engined aircraft were really starting to take off so a proper runway was needed." 😂
How many people said out loud "... and land"?
@@kgbgb3663I thought “bah dum, tsss” instead 😂
@@kgbgb3663they haven’t left one up there yet!
@@kgbgb3663 It was a comet, you needed a bucket for the bits half the time rather than a runway
@@highpath4776 Cruel but funny. I remember as a boy having a book about the Comet and how it was going to completely revolutionise air travel. (I don't think there was a second edition.) Unusually, the book was in landscape format, with proportion about 1 to 2. Which, if you think about it, is _really_ sensible for a book about airliners. I don't think I have ever seen that format used again.
Jon, you missed the dressed fleas in Tring Museum.
Comedy genius as always!
I will always - ALWAYS - watch all the way through the wavy pull back at the end titles until the licks at the end of the music. It's compelling.
"your mum" jokes. Now that is wicked, sweet, awesome 😅😅😅
He certainly managed to slip that one in surreptitiously...
Loved it!
Caught me off guard. Had to rewind to confirm. 😂
Should have mentioned when talking about St Albans that not only has it had one battle named after it but two. 1st Battle of St Albans 14 May 1455 and 2nd Battle of St Albans 17 Feb 1461.
I did 5yrs penance in Hatfield uni 92-97. To alleviate the problem me and my housemates would drive the back roads to Hertford via Wild Hill, Essendon & Bayfordbury.
Our ‘landlord’ Steve, studying for a Construction degree (his dad bought him a cheapo end-of-terrace house: 93 Garden Avenue, Hatfield) got caught out by the second of the two 90 deg bends in Essendon going North on a wet day, took out some bloke’s fence and narrowly missed writing his mums Golf off. A lesson for the kids of today: when driving too fast for your own skills, always wait until you’ve unwound the steering wheel from full lock to straight ahead *before* burying the throttle in 2nd gear, that way you won’t under steer off the road in heavy rain and narrowly miss a very heavy and thick fence post…
4:20 that excellent series on motorways, was indead excellent.
The amount of research you must put into each videos is always what sets them apart from any others ive seen. You have a real quality about you John, I would love to see you on a Top Gear esque travel show! You woulda fit in so well with Clarkson, Hammond and May.
Side note - I really wanna go visit that Museum in Tring now!
Autoshenanigans videos never get dull - in fact they get better and better. Cheers Jon.
Worth mentioning that the Rothchilds accidentally introduced the edible dormouse into the Chilterns area accidentally and that whilst very cute is a thorough pest.
In the subsequent report on the A413 from Buckingham to Wendover Mr AS visits the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre but goes to Aylesbury on the A41. That would have taken him to Waddesden. Another Rothchilds village. Then went to Wendover right next the Halton another Rothchilds village. That only leaves Mentmore and he would have done a clean sweep of Rothchilds places.
Berkhamsted was called Great Berkhamsted because there's another Berkhamsted (called Little Berkhamsted), a village on the other side of the county near Hertford. I used to live in Little B as it's is known locally; a nice place, though naturally often confused with its bigger namesake.
Haha, I do love your presentation. Having to work in those areas frequently I totally agree with you, they have been ruined beyond hope by ‘modernisation’. And The road junctions in some places are just bonkers… That area has given me a unique experience, I.e. being glad to make it back on to the M25 in one piece!
Hatfield is, perhaps, well known for 2 things... 3:32 .... That and the large rail crash in 2000
Another great video, thank you very much.
9:18 Jon I appreciate your pause for thought we cannot let the buggers get away with it Remembrance is all important
Sadly we forget the lessons of history
Buncefield was always a bit leaky mate, I used to drive past it on the M1 regularly and there was often a haze over the motorway and stink of petrol. When it went up it woke me up, I live in Letchworth for context.
I was in Letchworth and didn't wake up perhaps because my bedroom was on the far side relative to the explosion. That day a large black cloud pretty much filled the western part of the sky.
Sunday is complete when you see Jon waving goodbye. Wicked sweet awesome.
I spent 5 years at uni in Hatfield, not exactly a rip-roaring place to live but the old town has some nice pubs 😊
That thing behind the trees is a VOR or VHF Omnidirectional Range Station.
In simple terms; it first broadcasts an omnidirectional signal burst, followed by a directional signal that sweeps s full 360 degrees in a fixed time - a bit like the light beam from a lighthouse. Measure the time between the burst and your receiving the swept signal, and you have your bearing to/from that location. The instrument in an aircraft would display this to/from bearing, and with two or more of these stations you could triangulate your position.
We flew back from Amsterdam and the pilot told us to look out to the left so we could see the fire. We were actually on a temporary flight path diverting aircraft further east than normal.
IIRC some of the fuel stored there was for aircraft at Heathrow Airport.
i was on a flight from Heathrow to Ausralia and saw the smoke from the fire and funny enough i had on several occasions had worked in there on the pipework as a welder and when they were building the terminal i had tried to get a job there but no luck.
Wot No Ringway Manchester to help on that radio thingy ?
Tring museum always made for a fun school trip and we often went there when I was at junior school,in Weston. Easier to keep us under control there than at Whipsnade Zoo I guess.
The dressed fleas are still there. Do you remember seeing those?
Oh yes. Always one of the highlights.
I used to love just over the border in Buckinghamshire, and visited Tring and Berko on my bike as a teenager regularly. Good to see them again.
Hi Jon, "hippos like my mum" well my dad is a walrus what that make me🤣🤣Hatfield that an original name, was there a field and some left there hat there and some said lets build a town there and said ware not ware that's taken were no that's taken. as always a great video and full respect for 1914-18 small disagreement. catch you soon take care
love your humour as good as always .🤣
That structure at the old airport you mentioned is in-fact an old VOR
Thanks John. Always full of information with the right amount of humor. Keep it up please.
As always Jon another gem of a vlog, enhanced by paying due respect to all those who gave their lives in the Great War. "All gave some, Some gave all!"
Sunday's would be Sunday's without a video from Jon, keep up the great work Jon :D
Entertaining as ever John. Your style of narration really makes me laugh. 😊
John has definitely found his groove.
4:40 When De Havilland left this building, it was used by the University of Hertfordshire Art and Design department from '94-onwards - I studied Industrial Design there, and we got to sit at the original De Havilland drawing boards in our class area. There were still some old design drawings left behind in old filing cabinets - it was very inspirational to study Design there. Hi to our tutor, Mike Goatman.
I was staying in a hotel in milton keynes and that explosion woke me up!
Hi Jon mentioning Barnet By-Pass part of the A1 got me thinking you should visit the Barnet bypass for its old police box that was situated on the junction of Holmshill and Rowley Lanes.. It was installed there in 1937 and the BBC even made radio report about how the public could use one... Policing boundaries changed in the 1960s and this lead the Barnet Box to be saved from execution when the then Home Secretary Roy Jenkins ordered all Met Boxes to be decommissioned ... It was even re-positioned when the A1 was dualled in 1964... However the stay of removal would not last.. the construction of the M25 at South Mimms in 1980 lead to the Barnet's widening again... The box had even been considered for use in Tom Baker's final serial Logopolis to be shot in Jan 1981 However by then the box had been removed and instead the BBC used two of their prop boxes on the A413 Amersham Road lay-by near to the Chalfont viaduct,,, this Layby too would also succumb to the M25s construction too... two years later when it marched straight through the arches of the Chalfont viaduct with the A413's Lay-by straight in its path...Its like the M25's construction cursed Doctor Who's TARDIS ! Loved your parting shot on this vid too on Tring's Short but Sweet Motorway by-pass Best Wishes from the North East Ian...
Very nice viewing, nice little bit of entertainment for 11 minutes or so...........like ya mum!! Cheers Jon, great as always.
Thanks
Thanks mate, hope you are well
@@AutoShenanigans Its been a really tough couple of years, but I'm coping just. Thank you so much for all the smiles :-)
Your point about Stevenidge is pretty apt. As spent 2 weeks there in the housing area, which was close to the station and where you stood in your presentation. I found the old town better, the new town was hopeless, just like we have in poor areas, in Australia..Sterile but not worth going there.
There are loads of windows and doors in Hemel that dont close properly since the big bang!
thx jon, good episode, commenting 4 ur ego n the al;go
Please visit the de havilland museum. The volunteers are so incredibly helpful and passionate! Really is worth it.
As a Hatfield resident I must say you were very generous with describing how much of a dump this place is
Childish humour like But Lane and now your mom jokes😂. Awesome as was your respect at the training grounds 👏. Safe travels Jon.
I heard him say 'mum' - this is Ingerland goddammit.
Thank you Jon for another delightful journey and enjoyable video.
I live in Hertfordshire and recognise all the places. I could think of far worse places than Hemel and yes I agree with you Jon, St Albans is a traffic nightmare .
You missed Hatfield House, where
Elizabeth I was told she was queen after the death of Mary I.
John, you should of gone to Hatfield House, which is where Queen Elizabeth the first was staying when she became Queen. There's an oak tree where she was sitting under when she was told she was Queen.
I used to work farming this land a few years ago, and although the oak tree is still there and open to the public it is not the original tree, the remainder of which is still growing in a secluded part of the estate which is not open to the public, even I who worked there wasn't allowed anywhere near it.
All the fields on this estate had names like "druids bottom" and the like apart from one, which was called "search lights" This massive field (not open to the public) was where they tested a new invention in the first slight disagreement called the tank. Next to the field are dug western front trenches to test these beasts, which are now overgrown with huge trees. I felt privileged to be able to explore them.
All part of the Lord "Bob's your uncle" (although that's another story) Salisbury estate.
And yes, I did meet him and his son and they were both pompous arses.
They are. My dad lives in Old Hatfield and says the same.
"you should of gone to Hatfield House, which is where Queen Elizabeth the first was staying when she became Queen." Is that the old house next to the current one as I thought Hatfield House, the bigger one, was Jacobian?
Your opening sequence would have been impossible back in the 1980s. That area was still operating gravel pits. I grew up in Bengeo backing onto Waterford marsh and that was our childhood playground. The brewery was still occupying the whole area now occupied by Sainsbury's and even the original Hertford station was still there. Remember the Hatfield tunnel being built and it made a massive difference. But that meant not going round the Comet roundabout
Wow, the rapid-fire quips are just brilliant! Love it!
We need a super cut of these journeys, so much info stuffed into such a little vid, complilation of all the journeys in one vid with intro/outpost cut
???????
Mummy look there's a nutter on that bridge waving at the sky.
I would like to make an observation on the Bell Common tunnel, my recollection is that it was bored. The reason for this was the requirement to leave the cricket table and surrounding ground undisturbed owing to it's history on the common. The other thing, regarding Buncefield is that I was collecting CHEP pallets from the firm supplying Maccy D when it all went off, and I wasn't allowed to leave the industrial estate for several hours which was a bit of a bugger. Keep up the good work Jon!!
Another fine video by Mr Shenanigans 👍
Fun fact about the old Hatfield Aerodrome: Some scenes from Band of Brothers (you know, that film which documented a small part of the second disagreement) where filmed there.
Saw many changes to that area during my time there, especially during 2001 onwards when it became more commercialized (Ocado warehouses etc). WItnessed the old hanger being converted into the David Lloyd gym (or whatever it is now).
Worked at Hertford East, probably in office buildings that had been built on some of the sidings / coal yards and link tracks to Herford North. Had a suitcase nicked out of my van (i was working overnight, knackered and forgot to lock it) , so if you found a blue and white teddy bear that was my sons (returning it after he left it on holiday), and a pair of pyjamas (mine- dont ask) on your wanderings around Hertford please let me know.
That mum joke may yet cost you dear. Great episode again.
9:18 Grandad made it back, although with three German machine bullets destroying his left lung, and massive exit wounds. Still, his important gentlemanly bits still worked, which is why I'm here.
Many many Many years ago when I was doing a gig at Hertford Castle Hall I had some time to kill inbetween the afternoon rehearsal the evening concert so I went for a look at the castle. That was a disappointment. I found a play park instead.
Great episode as usual, perhaps my favorite so far!
Splendid mix of humour, heart, research and esoteric history. Excellent stuff! You’re getting perilously close to my neck of the woods here, mind the A418 out of A*lesb*ry as it’s having several closures due to HS2 work.
Is that town a rude word now?
9:18 Of the 12,000, over half were wounded. 2,200 were killed.
The almost apologetic look after the jet engine gag was sublime sir!
5:52 looks like the remains of a Direction Finder. I worked on DRDF in the early nineties which was an updated version using the same style of building. It would use an antenna array (and some maths) to work out the direction a transmission was coming from, and usually paint that as a line on Air Traffic displays. A forerunner to modern beam-forming used in technologies like Wi-fi and smart glasses.
Hey Jon, love your videos. Any chance of you doing Northern Ireland’s secrets of the motorway? 👀
That closing shot ……. 👌
Amazing channel that makes road driving interesting
Just to add saving private Ryan last battle was filmed at old aerospace ground
Band of Brothers was also filmed on Hatfield airfield
I've just watched your video on the A226. I have a good one for you, the A432 Badmington Rd, Bristol to Yate Rd. It's gonna be closed for 2 years and it's the main Rd to Yate from Bristol. The diversion depending on the way you are coming is ridiculous.
I'll watch this video now.
Oh and what is causing the delay, dormice, they are a protected species. 😅😅😅😅😅
Hi John, I have not been having a good week. Work shit, sick child, unwell me.. But you hippo comment just made my day.. Thank you so very much for that. You are one of my best seen channels. Thank you for lifting me.
Whatever the small building on the ex-airport is, it's run by cows, for cows now... :P
IIRC, the explosive mist around buncefield was ignited by some automatic electic timing equipment which caused a spark. The rest, as they say, was nearly all history. Thanks Jon.
Could have visited fellow UA-camr Dan at Tring Shoe Repairs
I like this video so I pressed the button specifically for that 👉🏻
You get a thumbs up for that Adam
WickedSweetAwesome
Same
How is the Specific Button pressing finger? No RSI as yet?
I was living in Milton Keynes when the oil refinery went up my whole house vibrated and shake it was early in the morning about 5:00 or 6:00💩.
I heard it in SW London. Damn insomnia.
@@paulqueripel3493 😮
“… and hippos like ya Mum” 😂
"So instead let's talk about Trench Warfare" that cut was so perfect you could supply it to a Michelin star restaurant
You handled such a topic highly respectfully tho, really good bit of presenting
He could have cut it with a hammer and *still* made it look good. 🙂
I grew up in Tring, went to primary school in Berko, and secondary school in Hemel, so really liked this one. I’m also an aviation enthusiast with a bit of a fascination with old airfields, so I’m glad you covered DeHaviland at Hatfield, thank you!
Love a good mum joke 🤣🤣
Was that hippo joke a reference to The Mary Whitehouse Experience? It might just be me in my old age fug but that is immediately where my mind went! Another cracking video.
Or possibly a The Rise and Fall of Reginald Perrin reference.
@@markdatko4832 agreed on that, the image came immediately into my mind
@@markdatko4832 Yes, of course it is! Thank you.
As an ex-Stevenage resident and someone who went to "university" in Hatfield, I have to say.... I agree entirely with your views!
You give yourself away as someone brought up in Herts by calling HH just Hemel of course.
Berko Castle is where the Norman Conquest basically ended. Everyone knows about the Battle of Hastings where it started, but Berko is where it ended, and we've been French ever since.
German ever since. The Normans were Germans. They just also happened to conquer France and Scandinavia a couple of centuries before they conquered us.
@@jimmydesouza4375 The Normans were Northmen - i.e. Norse - Scandinavian ...
It's where the last person of any other power at the time surrendered to William ... the Archbishop of York, the castle was to retain and defend the route north
@@davidioanhedges Scandinavians are Germans. You're thinking of Germany the nation (I assume), whereas I am talking about ethno groups tracked via linguistics and culture. Norse are part of the "North Germanic" group which split off from the Germanic branch of Indo-European Language/Culture.
Additionally the Normans were not just Norse, they were a mixture of Norse, Frank and Gaul.
@@jimmydesouza4375 They are Germans or even Germanic in no way - unless you believe certain German leaders from the 1940's ...all heavily debunked - Scandinavian culture is distinct from Germanic culture
The Normans had been in the area for long enough to intermarry, and spoke Norman French, they were a mixture
At 5:50 that's the remains of a counterpoise topped shelter for a CVOR (Conventional VHF Omnidirectional Range) or, more likely, a HRDF (High Resolution Direction Finder).
I install and maintain; ILS, DME, NDB, VOR, DF and other aircraft navigation aids/beacons, if you'd like any more info.
Sweet video as always, thanks very much for your hard work!
Nice one..... again