We used to drive down to Bristol at Easter and Christmas. And believe me it took upwards of 12 hours before the M4 was completed. We started in Wood Green and often it took 2 hours or more to get round the North Circular. Those were the days. And of course I was always travel sick and my stepfather never understood it, I'm sure he thought I was being sick just to annoy him.
No speed bumps, no excessive clutter of road signs, no endless roadwork zones with average speed checks, no speed cameras, no over-painted roads, no enormous SUV's... Must've been nice.
London roads are a joke that’s because every household has 3 or more cars each ! This country will sink soon it’s getting unbearable living in the uk 🇬🇧👎🏻
Pete is never wrong it was correct in that England is a part of Britain,I just find it strange that people don’t seem to separate the countries of the British isles and just say the actual country.
@@skylarius3757 Is that the same EU that has 130km/h limit on motorways as opposed to 112km/h in the UK? or even the same EU thats home to Germany with limit free autobahns? Get a grip.
1963- “now I shall flash my lights and again ! now I shall sound my horn ! and again ! now he’s given me the v sign” ! 2019- “Now I shall flash my lights ! Now I’ve been run off the road beaten up and stabbed” !
George Eyles, my boss at the Institute of Advanced Motorists in the late 60's! Love this footage, especially seeing how little Marlborough town centre has changed in 50 years. George didn't smoke a pipe but he did chain-smoke cigarettes and his fingers were yellow with nicotine. He was a wonderful boss, great fun, and we were always out in posh cars so he could write reviews for the motoring press.
He was a funny old chap I remember...used to take young boys out in posh cars offering cigarettes, I didn't get on with the old fud, he never ever took to me like he did with most of our group, as I didn't smoke.
In 1963 I was 18 and had my first motorbike, but from 1954 my father drove the family from Shepperton to Penzance every summer in the Standard 8 and then the Standard 10, so I know the old road to the West Country quite well. When the driving was good, it was very good, but when it was bad , you wouldn't want to be there. My earliest driving memory was going through a pea-souper of smog on the motorbike, constantly feeling for the kerb with my left foot to be sure I was still on the road. Someone has already mentioned Exeter for its annual summer traffic jam, and I can vouch for its horror, and Exeter was not the only bottleneck. It's also worth remembering that not everyone drove a new car - by any means - and not all cars were roadworthy (the MOT had yet to be introduced), so boiling radiators were inevitable as you waited with the engine idling. As the son of an aircraft mechanic, I took pride in keeping my 1952 Ford Popular and then 1954 Prefect in good working order during my student days, but the speed and acceleration you could get out of a typical car on the road was very variable, and 60mph was really motoring! Speed limits were rather pointless. If you drove a second-hand car, you almost always had to double-declutch going down, and it was an ingrained habit for soldiers who had to drive lorries in WWII. (I would guess that Mr Eyles was a military driving instructor before joining the Institute of Advanced Motoring.) And those were the days when you could assume that anyone driving after 10:30pm, when the pubs closed, was drunk. There was certainly a lot more signalling as very few of the older cars had (semaphore) indicators (that worked), so you drove with the window down and waved your arm around to let people know what you were going to do. Flashing the oncoming cars before overtaking was something you could do at night, but only a Jag and upwards had the circuits that could let you flash during the day. Waving your arm was good enough. Interesting times, I'd say.
@@Isochest .... Before the genocide by Zionist Banksters...... also, the cure for cancer is GcMAF. The MHRA & Cancer research UK have spent a fortune suppressing this information. Our world is ruled by the mob. And 5G is on it's way.
One has to love these random UA-cam recommendations. The chap in the Rapier giving the V sign while utterly ignorant of his own rather abominable driving habits absolutely made my day! Thanks for sharing!
@@kingzippythethird The outside lane is designated as the overtaking lane.Why would the Highway Code suggest it's illegal to overtake on the inside? In the US you can overtake in any lane (and the trucks do!),but not here.``
@Ginger My observations come from driving over 4000 miles across the US and visiting many different States. On the interstate the speed was designated as 70mph and trucks were often both exceeding this and overtaking using any lane.This was confirmed as usual practice by some truckers i met in a truckstop in El Paso who had come down from Washington State. In San Diego i come off the interstate and indicated and changed lane in what i thought was a safe and legal manner.I was pulled over by a motorcycle cop who said it wasn't (although it would have been in the UK).He didn't book me,but asked where i was going and told me to follow him and he took me to the car park of where i was going! I also picked up a speed warning citation in Texas and my licence tag (on a hired car)was pulled in Arizona. The speed limit on most rural roads was 55 mph,unless a school bus had it's amber or red lights flashing. That;'s the experience my comments are based on,what's yours?
@@jdb47games I remember my grandad telling me he decoked his six-cylinder Rover P4 (which would have been a current model in 1963) annually as it would start to feel off. Perhaps he could have got away with doing it less frequently but you could say the same of all car maintenance, it's always a trade-off of prolonging the life of the car and maintaining good performance vs the money and time that could be spent on other things. I am a 12k miles/12 months oil and filters change guy, I used to know a retired chap who changed his oil every 1000 miles (!!!) but I also know people who don't top up the oil until the light comes on and never change it.
I travelled from Norfolk (via Cambridge/Oxford) to Somerset in 1963. I was 11, my father was driving an ageing Ford Consul Corrosion that burned more oil than fuel - and it was a long drag in those pre-M4 days. Seat belts? Air bags? Wide tyres? Forget it! Men were men, women were grateful, and car accident victims were often sent home in kit form. Very different times.
I wanna throw up everytime I hear “quintessentially British”. Newsflash: British is not a culture. British means of Britain, which, if I can count, is made up of 3 countries and many cultures between them. It might be quintessentially English or quintessentially posh, but there isn’t a thing such as British culture.
"Watch the cyclist carefully, just in case she wobbles..." "Acceleration is a safety factor, if you use it wisely!" "It's no good playing 'After you, Claude' on occations like that" "I should hate to be his passanger!" Love the style! Imagine this is just like James May drives.
Thorstein Johannessen ..He was giving a commentary on his, and other people's driving.If you took a I.A.M. Driving test you were required to do this. ( I failed )
A gem. They say memory beautifies the past but actually this is exactly as I remember learning to drive at 17; ok, slower, less comfort and choices but I'm not sure I'd swop those for the sense of calm this engenders. Thanks for posting.
Fantastic! I was 10 when this was filmed and it reminds me so well of how nice car travel was back in the early 1960's. I like tHE comments and the reminder of how much nicer the towns were back then. I had a Mk2 Jaguar in 1975 and driving about then was so much easier with quiet roads during large parts of the day. Thanks for bringing back the good old days!
@Your Comment Gets A Gold Star what about the Krays, who buried a rival in the concrete at Bow interchange? Or the Richardson Gang, famed for their use of a blow torch and pliers to torture debtors? Everyone in the Old Nichol rookery perhaps. If Arthur Morrison is to be believed, then that place makes Tottenham now look like Belgravia. For someone who claims to be from the past, you know very little about it.
@@hamishwhitehenderson5197you ard exaggerating. Nowadays you get violent drug dealers who threaten customers who can't pay back for their drugs. You have always had polite people AS WELL, then, and now!
Well that was jolly interesting. I was 12 when that was filmed, and it was good to see so many of my Father's cars again. A real Time Trip. Well done, long gone Person who did it. 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 .
Jaques de Beaufort I watched the video but I didn’t shed a single tear. I well remember the greyness and rigidity of our lives then, the Victorian disapproval of sex and the revolting class structure which is still part of British culture today. Of course I miss being young, I was 12 years old in 1963. Isn’t that really what you weep for?
The V-sign apparently originated from the English long bow archers who would taunt their French adversaries as the French would cut off the fingers of Captured English archers to prevent them being able to use the bow
@@samsum3738 Me too - I jolly well hope Aunt Fanny is waiting for us when we return to the cottage with those burnt sausages just like we love them. Dick loves Fanny;-)
Fascinating to see what's changed and what hasn't. When I went on my honeymoon to Cornwall in October 2010, we took the same route from Reading, avoiding all motorways and by-passes. Much more fun to drive that way!
I wouldn't say that exactly but it was certainly better in many respects; People took greater pride in their appearance and personal property, people didn't have much but they were grateful. People had more respect for other people and for authority. I can honestly say I don't remember locking my door throughout the 1950s and 60's. As for employment, it is no exaggeration to say you could leave a job in the morning and have another by tea time! I feel so sorry for young people growing up today.
We gave it away willingly. The Britain we live in today was not the path we had to take, and is not an outcome that was in any way inevitable. The Britain of today was chosen by the British people. Perhaps blindly, perhaps naively, but it was their choice.
@@dean1039 Blair and his cronies as well as destroying the Labour party as the party of the white working class destroyed England and 1500 years of its history. At least Brexit shows the indigenous population are now saying enough's enough.
What can one say? The political classes over the last 40-50 years have utterly spoilt it. Now they're answer is to ship in even more to try and show diversity has been a success. This video indeed shows what has been forever lost, it's an absolute tragedy of the highest order.
What a delightful discovery! I know this trip and that era very well. I had just taken work in London and my folks lived in the countryside around Bath - our nearest city. The sight of so little traffic (but not in summer -especially anywhere near the Exeter Bypass!!) is a poignant reminder of how much has changed since. The voice-over is mercilessly lampooned by the likes of Harry Enfield these days - but people spoke that way then...in tones that anyone from anywhere could understand!.
SD card?? What are you talking about with this obsolete tech? It's 1963 ! He clearly purchased into the vehicles built in trip recording subscription service , and registered his UA-cam account for it to upload this video from
Hi there, we've been enjoying watching this. We film natural sight and sound walks in soulful cities and have just filmed Bath, so it's lovely to see the contrast, thank you for taking the time to add it.
Yes most cars were works of art up until the 70s - then things started to deteriorate until by the 90s they all looked the same. I remember being in a breakers yard back in the mid-80 when there were still 60s and early 70s cards there and thinking how aesthetically pleasing they were both inside and out.
They might’ve looked nice but the majority were a pile of shit, deathtraps and constant breakdowns. I drive a Morris minor and I’d have it scrapped tomorrow if it wasn’t for its history and charm. It’s a waste of space otherwise.
Cars are obviously technically much better now but yes many of them have such ugly and repetitive designs. Many manufactures now basically have the same range which includes at least one SUV, some other 'big' car and the economy small car (now not that small) which they've made for years with the same name but in 8 different versions.
I an remember riding in my dads commer van, I was sat on the engine cowl between the seats. My sister was in the back in her pram, there were piglets running around her pram. I mentioned it to my mum. She she said my sister was 10 days old, my dad was taking the piglets to Sturminster Newton market. The date would have been 7 October 1962, I was born in February 1961. You tell the kids today, they don’t believe you.
Sounds like there was a pram inside a van and inside the pram was a baby and some pigs running around inside the pram where the baby was and the implication is that the inside of the pram was bigger than the inside of the van and they were going to market with some ambiguity perhaps about whether the pigs were to be sold for fattening and slaughter or maybe the baby too... I had a dream like this once when I had meningitis.
I was thinking the same thing. How can a baby understand English fluently at that young of an age. My earliest memories go back to when when I was around two and a half, which is fairly common.
@@8176morgan Mine is when I was almost exactly 18 months old - and because of various factors I know the date definitely and it's something quite obscure so no "false memory syndrome". I moved out of my first house at 4 and a half and can describe virtually every room in that first house. They reckon many people are extremely good at one thing - my very early memory is mine.
@ 4.57 !! right in the path of oncoming ! lol my father is buried in Reading so I know this area quite well. Used to go to Chiltern Edge Sec Mod School at about this time. Goodness, so long ago ! Great Video, thank you and happy Christmas from New Zealand
Great film. A lot of the driving tips still relevant today. Someone must retrace the same route as close as possible today and post it up for comparison!
Blimey they had dashcams in the 60's and we never new it! My firsr job was at a company called Kode Services in the 70's based in Calne at the time, used to love going down there on courses and staying in Marlborough, Devizes or Chippenham. Fond memories of a lovely part of the world. #TravelMusic
At 9:10 you can just see a glimpse of an Esso petrol station on the left. This is just on the outskirts of a village called Box where I grew up. Great to see... Wish they had showed the whole journey through the village. Petrol station is still there (albeit a modernized version)
“I’m going to give him a VERY wide birth”, “I should hate to be his passenger”, and “I hope that’s the last I’m going to see of you, old chap” are derogatory sentences which I shall definitely use more in conversation from now on
It's refreshing to see someone being allowed to make progress at their own discretion. Nowadays we need 20 MPH zones, speed bumps and average speed cameras for some reason.
For 'some' reason? Well, road deaths have dropped by 95% (car for car) since the early sixties. That might be one reason. Mind you, the 1920s were even worse, believe it or not -- but that was before driving tests, traffic lights, or speed limits in towns.
escoville1 Could have something to do with seatbelts, airbags, toughened frames, ABS, TCS, ESC, & better tyre technology too. My bet would increased anti-driver legislation having not very much to do with it.
He seemed obsessed with overtaking. 'No, can't overtake here' he says in a built up area full of traffic and pedestrians. Well of course not! Why would you even think of it?
Progressive driving. Obviously not in built up areas, but sadly overtaking has become this thing seen as an aggressive manoeuvre when years ago it was just part and parcel of driving.
@@cw205mi16 Possibly because cars were slower and less powerful then. Nowadays there are few opportunities to overtake and often when it is done it is indeed done in an aggressive or impatient way.
Yes, he does and it is the Institute of Advanced driving thing. I failed it once and this is one of the reasons why I declined to take it again. I agree with you he seemed to be discussing O/T down a town centre high street. I wouldnt have said any thing if you hadn't but I did the same thing.
@@cw205mi16 The bleeping on the horn these days would almost start WW3. I 've have almost for getten how to do Progressive driving as the power in my van is just not sufficient for it. On my main roads there is now just a sheer bulk of traffic with out at least 400 BHP its an in****ability.
@@davidfarmer2049 I hadn't heard of Progressive driving so I looked it up. It seems to mean going as fast and safely as you can whilst still staying within the speed limit. In effect I take this to mean don't dawdle. The emergency services obviously exceed the speed limit so I don't think that can be classed as progressive. Since that film was made we have many more motorways, dual carriage ways and bypasses so I guess the need to overtake is much reduced. When I had first passed my test, way back in 1982, I over took a learner who hed the temerity to be in front of me going 20 mph. I nearly came a cropper because I misjudged the speed of an oncoming car. It taught me a short sharp lesson that you have much less time to overtake than you think you do. I guess I have a thing about overtaking now, and I always advise newly quailified drivers not to overtake until they've been driving a while, say 6 months.
Brilliant film. Lot of sound advise for today's motorist in there - particularly like at 5:10 - don't get involved with those sort of drivers, let them go!
The national system of destination and direction signs in colour, from the Ministry of Transport, started in the 1960s. Earlier, there was a much less numerous set of more complicated black-on-white signs put up by the RAC when it was a private club. Local authorities indicated distances by means of milestones and posts with several pointers on top: more useful for those on a horse or open cart.
A fantastic slice of life from that period. I grew up watching things like this. The background music they used back then has given me a lifelong yen for jazzy, chamber swing style light music. The test-card was also a good source of that kind of material.
@@johnr6168 Thanks for your reply. For some reason I feel strongly about this subject. It seems to me that any music used to accompany images has a profound effect on my reaction as a viewer. I find modern (post 1970s) backgrounds to documentary type films are either neutral in tone or are actively drained of anything that could be construed as sentimental/nostalgic/emotional.
I'm not sure why this came up in my feed but brilliant to watch. So l was 5 years old then and my dad also had a Jaguar a MK 2 3.8 We drove to Spain through France and wherever we stopped we always had people admiring the car.
"I've got a chap driving right up me exhaust pipe" An occurrence on nearly every f*cking daily commute I undertake. Audi saloons, Range Rovers and BMWs driving so close it's just about the most annoying and dangerous distraction you could possibly imagine. This is coming from someone who drives at the UK speed limits like most others...
Lived here on the M4 corridor all my life and this was the last of the good old days. Recognise it all but god how its changed. That numpty in the herald spawned hundreds of them in Hungerford.
This is so awesome! My parents lived in Thatcham, at 54 Bath Road in the 50's and 60's, my dad (with mom, my sister and brother, I didn't come a long until 71) was stationed at Greenham Common, I am so excited to show him this in the morning, dad is going to love it! When they went into Reading and London, Bath Road/A4 was it 👍 Mom, sadly, passed away in 2017 😥
I was 12 when this was shot, I can probably name every model of car in this video ( sorry, cine camera film ) including my first rust bucket when I was 18, the Ford Classic, on its last legs at 59,000 miles! Excellent film, brought back some memories of a less complicated time, thanks.
I burst out laughing at the bit where he starts beeping on the motorway If that was now the Police would try & do him for improper use of the horn, and the other guy for taking his hand off the wheel
Ahh those old Smiths speedos that randomly wave about. Brings back memories of the one in my 1970 Mini long ago. You just know that at some point during the pointers travel it will be reading the right speed.
@ 3:50- the two tone Humber Super Snipe at the clock tower ,Newbury-was one of 3 we had in the 60's -90's.Beautifully built cars.When my Dad asked the petrol station attendant to "fill her up please",we kids had bets on how long it would take him to find the filler cap.
Nice Jaguar. The driver's commentary was most entertaining, he sounded rather like Noel Coward. But why did he keep mentioning overtaking? He certainly knew how to drive well and commentate simultaneously like a Police pursuit driver. I must admit though, I think the flashing the lights and blasting the horn at the car he wished to pass was rather aggressive driving, apart from that it was a pleasure to watch.
+Daniel Owen Interesting that the motorway had only two lanes, and I think most people would have done the same today he was in the fast lane doing 55mph (HGV's do 56) so he would be really annoying today!
In those days it only took 9 minutes and 51 seconds to get from London to Bath. Ahhh.....those were the days.
tigermunky now its 9 years and 51 months lol
We used to drive down to Bristol at Easter and Christmas. And believe me it took upwards of 12 hours before the M4 was completed.
We started in Wood Green and often it took 2 hours or more to get round the North Circular. Those were the days.
And of course I was always travel sick and my stepfather never understood it, I'm sure he thought I was being sick just to annoy him.
Where do you stop for the fancy food and teeth straitening?
In my terms. Good young days. But now its old days.
@@edwardwoodward8052 barley sugars...and benzedrine from chemists
"He's giving me the V-sign. I can't think why he thinks I am interested in his politics."
Class :)
Love this video, it's very good
Are you still alive after 9 years lol
made me laugh too. XD
@@bekabeka71 Feels cold don't it?
Stiff upper-lip and all that, old chap
Old school V sign! Happy days
No speed bumps, no excessive clutter of road signs, no endless roadwork zones with average speed checks, no speed cameras, no over-painted roads, no enormous SUV's...
Must've been nice.
There would have been more "freedom on the road"!
All gone forever...
Mystere1985 Seventy years before this film was shot there would have been no cars at all.
Must’ve been nice.
@@majordendrocopos Eighty anyway. There WERE motor cars around in 1893 - but very, very few of them, admittedly.
London roads are a joke that’s because every household has 3 or more cars each ! This country will sink soon it’s getting unbearable living in the uk 🇬🇧👎🏻
This is what Americans actually think that Britain is like now....
I think you mean ‘England’
U mean United Kingdom
Pete is never wrong I’m sure there’s a country called England,you know,the one in the video.
Pete is never wrong it was correct in that England is a part of Britain,I just find it strange that people don’t seem to separate the countries of the British isles and just say the actual country.
@Pete is never wrong England has it's own parliament.
It just goes to show how little you understand British politics.
British Road rage :
"I should hate to be his passenger! I hope it's the last I'll see of you, old chap"
In the in 1960s maybe, today is a different story 🤣
Haha in the 1960s
I would agree that today is different. There are some angry people in this country..
"Acceleration is a safety factor, you know, if you use it wisely." Fantastic.
Very useful advice for shoplifters as well
that is so very true. saved my life more than once. in 62 years driving.
This is a sweet example on how we should learn on how to appreciate small things
@@bwghall1 yes and when the EU gets it's way, new cars will be fitted with a speed limiter.
@@skylarius3757 Is that the same EU that has 130km/h limit on motorways as opposed to 112km/h in the UK? or even the same EU thats home to Germany with limit free autobahns? Get a grip.
1963- “now I shall flash my lights and again ! now I shall sound my horn ! and again ! now he’s given me the v sign” !
2019- “Now I shall flash my lights ! Now I’ve been run off the road beaten up and stabbed” !
TPF 591 sad, but true.
TPF 591 --- Nonsense, you've been reading too much Daily Fail...
🖕🖕🖕🖕
That's because I drive a Jaaag.
Thank god we now have the M4
Don't be naive they did a lot of stabbings and such in the razor gangs back then
George Eyles, my boss at the Institute of Advanced Motorists in the late 60's! Love this footage, especially seeing how little Marlborough town centre has changed in 50 years. George didn't smoke a pipe but he did chain-smoke cigarettes and his fingers were yellow with nicotine. He was a wonderful boss, great fun, and we were always out in posh cars so he could write reviews for the motoring press.
He was a funny old chap I remember...used to take young boys out in posh cars offering cigarettes, I didn't get on with the old fud, he never ever took to me like he did with most of our group, as I didn't smoke.
"take young boys out in posh cars"...careful
Sue Willis ..I took the I.A.M .test in 1963...I failed !!!!
...so, did you retake the test?
@@vincentdeguard4726 Oh Dear:-((
This guy makes a lot of great points that still hold up today in professional driving
In 1963 I was 18 and had my first motorbike, but from 1954 my father drove the family from Shepperton to Penzance every summer in the Standard 8 and then the Standard 10, so I know the old road to the West Country quite well. When the driving was good, it was very good, but when it was bad , you wouldn't want to be there. My earliest driving memory was going through a pea-souper of smog on the motorbike, constantly feeling for the kerb with my left foot to be sure I was still on the road. Someone has already mentioned Exeter for its annual summer traffic jam, and I can vouch for its horror, and Exeter was not the only bottleneck. It's also worth remembering that not everyone drove a new car - by any means - and not all cars were roadworthy (the MOT had yet to be introduced), so boiling radiators were inevitable as you waited with the engine idling. As the son of an aircraft mechanic, I took pride in keeping my 1952 Ford Popular and then 1954 Prefect in good working order during my student days, but the speed and acceleration you could get out of a typical car on the road was very variable, and 60mph was really motoring! Speed limits were rather pointless. If you drove a second-hand car, you almost always had to double-declutch going down, and it was an ingrained habit for soldiers who had to drive lorries in WWII. (I would guess that Mr Eyles was a military driving instructor before joining the Institute of Advanced Motoring.) And those were the days when you could assume that anyone driving after 10:30pm, when the pubs closed, was drunk. There was certainly a lot more signalling as very few of the older cars had (semaphore) indicators (that worked), so you drove with the window down and waved your arm around to let people know what you were going to do. Flashing the oncoming cars before overtaking was something you could do at night, but only a Jag and upwards had the circuits that could let you flash during the day. Waving your arm was good enough. Interesting times, I'd say.
Thank you Tony.👍 splendid observation ☮️
Good logic for the day. It is Interesting some African countries such as Ethiopia have just introduced a drink drive limit of 0.08%
"Rather heavy traffic here" My god he should see it today !!!!
I thought that
That is because you have a car and I have a car. We are part of the problem.
He can’t. He’s dead.
He’s dead
We need to build up
Not to weep for what's gone; you can do nothing about that........weep for what is to come; you can do something about that.
Three dots in an ellipses you illiterate, racist subhuman.
@Your Comment Gets A Gold Star Not an anime avatar.
What do you suggest we do Virgil....Thunderbird Two..?
👍
The narrator is so clear and exact with his descriptions. It was a pleasure just listening to his wise words.
it's a requirement of the IAM (institute of Advanced Motoring) test, a running commentary as you drive...
The British brought class and austere to driving that was never seen before.
A rather charming style of commentary.
So great to see England back in the day.
This was the UK as it should be now!
@@Isochest .... Before the genocide by Zionist Banksters...... also, the cure for cancer is GcMAF. The MHRA & Cancer research UK have spent a fortune suppressing this information. Our world is ruled by the mob. And 5G is on it's way.
It's englastan now.
imdbist unlucky mate
Back before the EU Reich we were truly Sovereign!
Chippenham - 'the traffic is fairly heavy' Three cars !
There's like 5 cars these days
Priceless, love the flashing of lights and hooting to over take!!
One has to love these random UA-cam recommendations. The chap in the Rapier giving the V sign while utterly ignorant of his own rather abominable driving habits absolutely made my day! Thanks for sharing!
There is no 'fast' lane! You are the idiot mate
@@kingzippythethird The outside lane is designated as the overtaking lane.Why would the Highway Code suggest it's illegal to overtake on the inside?
In the US you can overtake in any lane (and the trucks do!),but not here.``
@@davidbarlow350 - Not so. "Overtaking" (ie: passing) is legally from the farthest left lane.
@Ginger My observations come from driving over 4000 miles across the US and visiting many different States.
On the interstate the speed was designated as 70mph and trucks were often both exceeding this and overtaking using any lane.This was confirmed as usual practice by some truckers i met in a truckstop in El Paso who had come down from Washington State.
In San Diego i come off the interstate and indicated and changed lane in what i thought was a safe and legal manner.I was pulled over by a motorcycle cop who said it wasn't (although it would have been in the UK).He didn't book me,but asked where i was going and told me to follow him and he took me to the car park of where i was going!
I also picked up a speed warning citation in Texas and my licence tag (on a hired car)was pulled in Arizona.
The speed limit on most rural roads was 55 mph,unless a school bus had it's amber or red lights flashing.
That;'s the experience my comments are based on,what's yours?
How beautiful the vehicles were in those days.
@Aussie Pom Once a year? Nothing like that frequently.
@@jdb47games I remember my grandad telling me he decoked his six-cylinder Rover P4 (which would have been a current model in 1963) annually as it would start to feel off.
Perhaps he could have got away with doing it less frequently but you could say the same of all car maintenance, it's always a trade-off of prolonging the life of the car and maintaining good performance vs the money and time that could be spent on other things.
I am a 12k miles/12 months oil and filters change guy, I used to know a retired chap who changed his oil every 1000 miles (!!!) but I also know people who don't top up the oil until the light comes on and never change it.
thrunsalmighty --- The cars were ugly and dangerous. The only good thing about them was that they were small.
Garbage, they were noisy and uneconomical and hard to maintain.
Some of them looked good but mechanically were terrible. Tech moves on like life.
I travelled from Norfolk (via Cambridge/Oxford) to Somerset in 1963. I was 11, my father was driving an ageing Ford Consul Corrosion that burned more oil than fuel - and it was a long drag in those pre-M4 days. Seat belts? Air bags? Wide tyres? Forget it! Men were men, women were grateful, and car accident victims were often sent home in kit form. Very different times.
Humboles @really? You can still remember?
Yeah but with all that you could literally smell the freedom!
Women were grateful? Men were men? Lol get a grip.
@@whichdoctor4858 It is called humour. Google it.
person X Google laughing on your own...
Really do love watching this...quintessentially British. Wish there were more .
Try this:
ua-cam.com/video/KliWHCzE16c/v-deo.html
I wanna throw up everytime I hear “quintessentially British”. Newsflash: British is not a culture. British means of Britain, which, if I can count, is made up of 3 countries and many cultures between them. It might be quintessentially English or quintessentially posh, but there isn’t a thing such as British culture.
Your Comment Gets A Gold Star it’s figurative.
"Watch the cyclist carefully, just in case she wobbles..."
"Acceleration is a safety factor, if you use it wisely!"
"It's no good playing 'After you, Claude' on occations like that"
"I should hate to be his passanger!"
Love the style! Imagine this is just like James May drives.
Thorstein Johannessen ..He was giving a commentary on his, and other people's driving.If you took a I.A.M. Driving test you were required to do this. ( I failed )
I am a cyclist motorcyclist and motorist. My daughter is a cyclist. Drive safely. Dont take the piss. That indicates contempt for others. A bad idea.
he is talking you through the advance driving test as he goes.
How most people where then
@@sebby324 very doubtful, but a good role model none the less.
Lovely driving & commentary. Good times.
“...so I shall just thank him and proceed...”
Bloody marvellous!
Can this man like narrate my life.
His voice is so soothing yet sophisticated
A gem. They say memory beautifies the past but actually this is exactly as I remember learning to drive at 17; ok, slower, less comfort and choices but I'm not sure I'd swop those for the sense of calm this engenders. Thanks for posting.
Can you imagine this style of commentary in GTA 😂
Ha ha! Not my thing at all but I've seen my nephews playing it. I think that would work brilliantly portrayed as cold, calculating and sinister.
Play GTA London 🙂
It's very sad to see because this was when I was a youth and it was so much better then than nowadays, this clip brings back memories !
Modern drivers would do well to check this presentation out - it's excellent and everything he explains still applies today.
Just what I thought Ian, Imagine how many people & their descendants who never got born would be alive today if everyone followed this.
You mean giving way to cars entering from the left?
? he's a terrible driver
I loved the bus conductor indicating the driver's intention. I didn't realise they used to do that.
Yes I remember that.
Funny that we had freedom of movement then.
What an insanely dangerous thing to do. Clearly Mr Eyles was not expecting him to do that. Was that really the conductor's duty?
Only when they had a maniac behind them
@@DARREN964 could you go and travel work in Poland, Latvia etc
Fantastic! I was 10 when this was filmed and it reminds me so well of how nice car travel was back in the early 1960's. I like tHE comments and the reminder of how much nicer the towns were back then. I had a Mk2 Jaguar in 1975 and driving about then was so much easier with quiet roads during large parts of the day. Thanks for bringing back the good old days!
The England I grew up in. Good manners everywhere, correctly spoken English everywhere. I miss it so much
@Your Comment Gets A Gold Star Innit fam (joking lol)
Wot u sayin fam, Manz still chattin English like old school ya get me
"Good manners everywhere".. ahh so that explains the driver who flipped off the camera car then?
@Your Comment Gets A Gold Star what about the Krays, who buried a rival in the concrete at Bow interchange? Or the Richardson Gang, famed for their use of a blow torch and pliers to torture debtors? Everyone in the Old Nichol rookery perhaps. If Arthur Morrison is to be believed, then that place makes Tottenham now look like Belgravia. For someone who claims to be from the past, you know very little about it.
@@hamishwhitehenderson5197you ard exaggerating.
Nowadays you get violent drug dealers who threaten customers who can't pay back for their drugs. You have always had polite people AS WELL, then, and now!
GREAT video. I grew up in the 1960's and those cars bought back soooooooo many fond memories. Thanks whoever you are :)
Well that was jolly interesting.
I was 12 when that was filmed, and it was good to see so many of my Father's cars again.
A real Time Trip.
Well done, long gone Person who did it.
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
.
Very pleasant auditory experience, with the perfect King's English accent and the suave jazz music as background.
Watch this and weep for the country we have lost.
do yoo want are cuntry bak?
We didnt lose it..... Blair gave it away....
@@nervo6321 Don't worry I'm sure Boris will get it back for you. Who knows we could be the new Puerto Rico if Boris plays his cards right with Trump.
Jaques de Beaufort I watched the video but I didn’t shed a single tear. I well remember the greyness and rigidity of our lives then, the Victorian disapproval of sex and the revolting class structure which is still part of British culture today. Of course I miss being young, I was 12 years old in 1963. Isn’t that really what you weep for?
By Gum it was dull.
A brilliant piece of film, it would be great to see a modern run on the same roads.
Best driving vlog I've ever seen old chap!
Wow, it’s so strange seeing my house in this (Hungerford)
1:30 - "giving me the V-sign. I can't think *why* he thinks I should be interested in his politics".
The V-sign was too English. Now a driver in such a position would use the American middle finger or the international sign of male self-gratification.
The V-sign apparently originated from the English long bow archers who would taunt their French adversaries as the French would cut off the fingers of Captured English archers to prevent them being able to use the bow
Not proven, it is a nice thought that this originated at Agincourt, but truth is it was manufactured in the 1970s. In truth total bollocks!
Looks like ignorant twats who hog the outside lane existed then too.
@@colind9638 ..I've heard this also from when I worked at the Tower of London.
The King of Defensive Driving. An English Gentleman for sure. We need these values today!
I say anyone feel like having lashings and lashing of ginger beer after that commentary?! 🍺😆
Rather .
@@samsum3738 Me too - I jolly well hope Aunt Fanny is waiting for us when we return to the cottage with those burnt sausages just like we love them. Dick loves Fanny;-)
Sam Sum beat me to it
I'd say most would except tory politicians who prefer lashings from a dominatrix.
The tree huggers and sandal wearers would go mental today listening to some of that commentary. Lol
Thoroughly enjoyed that. Thank you. So glad, people saw fit to make films for posterity. All those people gone, but not. Fabulous.
Can you believe what you are seeing and hearing. Flash your lights, blast your horn, absolute classic.
Fascinating to see what's changed and what hasn't. When I went on my honeymoon to Cornwall in October 2010, we took the same route from Reading, avoiding all motorways and by-passes. Much more fun to drive that way!
they should do another one of this run, to see how much this route has changed. :)
It's actually amazingly little changed from those days. Of course the bulk of the traffic now takes the M4 motorway.
was just thinking the same, I think I might do this next summer in the old motor :)
Cool, steve26. If you do, be sure to let us know its on YT. :)
Kazandra1 yes, a nice summers day required! It would be tricky, I think id need
the old film running and the new to try and keep it in sync
I recognised alot of it, parts of the M4 (3 lanes now, soon to be 4), Marlborough is more or less exactly the same.
I wouldn't say that exactly but it was certainly better in many respects; People took greater pride in their appearance and personal property, people didn't have much but they were grateful. People had more respect for other people and for authority. I can honestly say I don't remember locking my door throughout the 1950s and 60's. As for employment, it is no exaggeration to say you could leave a job in the morning and have another by tea time! I feel so sorry for young people growing up today.
He’s giving me the v sign, I can’t understand why he thinks I would be interested in his politics. Wow what an amazing film, thanks for sharing
Fantastic film, lovely Jag and a part of the country I'm familiar with. Heart breaking to see what we have lost and whats become of Britain.
We gave it away willingly. The Britain we live in today was not the path we had to take, and is not an outcome that was in any way inevitable. The Britain of today was chosen by the British people. Perhaps blindly, perhaps naively, but it was their choice.
@@dean1039 Blair and his cronies as well as destroying the Labour party as the party of the white working class destroyed England and 1500 years of its history. At least Brexit shows the indigenous population are now saying enough's enough.
What can one say? The political classes over the last 40-50 years have utterly spoilt it. Now they're answer is to ship in even more to try and show diversity has been a success. This video indeed shows what has been forever lost, it's an absolute tragedy of the highest order.
@@andypandy4078 what a complete load of bullshit
Great times I used to drive this most weekends from South Wales to Aldershot in my mini van when I was in the army 👌🏴
What a delightful discovery! I know this trip and that era very well. I had just taken work in London and my folks lived in the countryside around Bath - our nearest city.
The sight of so little traffic (but not in summer -especially anywhere near the Exeter
Bypass!!) is a poignant reminder of how much has changed since. The voice-over
is mercilessly lampooned by the likes of Harry Enfield these days - but people spoke
that way then...in tones that anyone from anywhere could understand!.
Looks like he remembered to insert the SD card into his dash cam.
🤣🤣
Yes, or perhaps a reel of 16mm film, or three.
SD card?? What are you talking about with this obsolete tech? It's 1963 !
He clearly purchased into the vehicles built in trip recording subscription service , and registered his UA-cam account for it to upload this video from
Wonderful stuff, great soundtrack too.
Absolutely loved watching this. Driving his lovely Jaguar 👍
UA-cam recommendation! Actually a good one for a change! 😄😄
Lovely to see what the roads were like back then!
Strangely very soothing watching this. Though it was recorded the year I was born and am now feeling really damned old lol.
Hi there, we've been enjoying watching this. We film natural sight and sound walks in soulful cities and have just filmed Bath, so it's lovely to see the contrast, thank you for taking the time to add it.
Seeing this makes me realise we live in a world that's no better and probably worse these days.. How I would love to go back in time.
This is delightful. Ireland has gone diwnhill since then as well. Thank you for posting this.
One of the best things about watching this is seeing all the amazingly good-looking vehicles, not like the plastic boxes on the roads now.
Yes most cars were works of art up until the 70s - then things started to deteriorate until by the 90s they all looked the same. I remember being in a breakers yard back in the mid-80 when there were still 60s and early 70s cards there and thinking how aesthetically pleasing they were both inside and out.
They might’ve looked nice but the majority were a pile of shit, deathtraps and constant breakdowns. I drive a Morris minor and I’d have it scrapped tomorrow if it wasn’t for its history and charm. It’s a waste of space otherwise.
Cars are obviously technically much better now but yes many of them have such ugly and repetitive designs. Many manufactures now basically have the same range which includes at least one SUV, some other 'big' car and the economy small car (now not that small) which they've made for years with the same name but in 8 different versions.
I an remember riding in my dads commer van, I was sat on the engine cowl between the seats. My sister was in the back in her pram, there were piglets running around her pram. I mentioned it to my mum. She she said my sister was 10 days old, my dad was taking the piglets to Sturminster Newton market. The date would have been 7 October 1962, I was born in February 1961. You tell the kids today, they don’t believe you.
They don't care more like.
Sounds like there was a pram inside a van and inside the pram was a baby and some pigs running around inside the pram where the baby was and the implication is that the inside of the pram was bigger than the inside of the van and they were going to market with some ambiguity perhaps about whether the pigs were to be sold for fattening and slaughter or maybe the baby too... I had a dream like this once when I had meningitis.
I don't believe you either: your earliest memory is when you were 20 months old?
I was thinking the same thing. How can a baby understand English fluently at that young of an age. My earliest memories go back to when when I was around two and a half, which is fairly common.
@@8176morgan Mine is when I was almost exactly 18 months old - and because of various factors I know the date definitely and it's something quite obscure so no "false memory syndrome". I moved out of my first house at 4 and a half and can describe virtually every room in that first house. They reckon many people are extremely good at one thing - my very early memory is mine.
@ 4.57 !! right in the path of oncoming ! lol my father is buried in Reading so I know this area quite well. Used to go to Chiltern Edge Sec Mod School at about this time. Goodness, so long ago ! Great Video, thank you and happy Christmas from New Zealand
4:57
Commentary driving. I remember doing this exercise during my driver instructor course. Found it very useful.
Great film. A lot of the driving tips still relevant today. Someone must retrace the same route as close as possible today and post it up for comparison!
Blimey they had dashcams in the 60's and we never new it! My firsr job was at a company called Kode Services in the 70's based in Calne at the time, used to love going down there on courses and staying in Marlborough, Devizes or Chippenham. Fond memories of a lovely part of the world. #TravelMusic
Interesting footage ,thanks for sharing :)
Oddly therapeutic and a great source of fun phrases. "Just in case she wobbles" is one of many new additions to my lexicon.
At 9:10 you can just see a glimpse of an Esso petrol station on the left. This is just on the outskirts of a village called Box where I grew up. Great to see... Wish they had showed the whole journey through the village.
Petrol station is still there (albeit a modernized version)
What a find! A million thanks for uploading it!!! :)
“I’m going to give him a VERY wide birth”, “I should hate to be his passenger”, and “I hope that’s the last I’m going to see of you, old chap” are derogatory sentences which I shall definitely use more in conversation from now on
Enjoyable driving is a thing of the past!
It's good north of Perth :-)
@@SuperNevile wheesht
@@Not_Yandere_Im_Ayano I gettit .... and I will... ;-)
@@donmcgee2081 That's me telt........ but that is a GREAT road........
The cars back then we're so small. Very cool video
Superb - reminded me very much of driving with my dad in the 1960s
It's refreshing to see someone being allowed to make progress at their own discretion. Nowadays we need 20 MPH zones, speed bumps and average speed cameras for some reason.
Nanny(state)knows best !
+FL34747 Yes and an instructor talking about overtaking and making progress is refreshing too.
For 'some' reason? Well, road deaths have dropped by 95% (car for car) since the early sixties. That might be one reason. Mind you, the 1920s were even worse, believe it or not -- but that was before driving tests, traffic lights, or speed limits in towns.
escoville1
Could have something to do with seatbelts, airbags, toughened frames, ABS, TCS, ESC, & better tyre technology too. My bet would increased anti-driver legislation having not very much to do with it.
Money.
He seemed obsessed with overtaking. 'No, can't overtake here' he says in a built up area full of traffic and pedestrians. Well of course not! Why would you even think of it?
Progressive driving. Obviously not in built up areas, but sadly overtaking has become this thing seen as an aggressive manoeuvre when years ago it was just part and parcel of driving.
@@cw205mi16 Possibly because cars were slower and less powerful then. Nowadays there are few opportunities to overtake and often when it is done it is indeed done in an aggressive or impatient way.
Yes, he does and it is the Institute of Advanced driving thing.
I failed it once and this is one of the reasons why I declined to take it again.
I agree with you he seemed to be discussing O/T down a town centre high street.
I wouldnt have said any thing if you hadn't but I did the same thing.
@@cw205mi16 The bleeping on the horn these days would almost start WW3.
I 've have almost for getten how to do Progressive driving as the power in my van is just not sufficient for it. On my main roads there is now just a sheer bulk of traffic with out at least 400 BHP its an in****ability.
@@davidfarmer2049 I hadn't heard of Progressive driving so I looked it up. It seems to mean going as fast and safely as you can whilst still staying within the speed limit. In effect I take this to mean don't dawdle. The emergency services obviously exceed the speed limit so I don't think that can be classed as progressive.
Since that film was made we have many more motorways, dual carriage ways and bypasses so I guess the need to overtake is much reduced. When I had first passed my test, way back in 1982, I over took a learner who hed the temerity to be in front of me going 20 mph. I nearly came a cropper because I misjudged the speed of an oncoming car. It taught me a short sharp lesson that you have much less time to overtake than you think you do. I guess I have a thing about overtaking now, and I always advise newly quailified drivers not to overtake until they've been driving a while, say 6 months.
'Trafficator' - I remember those rather quaint things.
That was brilliant. 10 minutes of ‘spot the car’. Bloody marvellous.
Fascinating. There seems to be an obsession with overtaking!
Brilliant film. Lot of sound advise for today's motorist in there - particularly like at 5:10 - don't get involved with those sort of drivers, let them go!
THe lack of gaudy road signs everywhere was better than today.
Not a speed camera sign in sight!
The national system of destination and direction signs in colour, from the Ministry of Transport, started in the 1960s. Earlier, there was a much less numerous set of more complicated black-on-white signs put up by the RAC when it was a private club.
Local authorities indicated distances by means of milestones and posts with several pointers on top: more useful for those on a horse or open cart.
1m27secs: "Giving me the V sign. I can't think why he should think that I am interested in his politics" Love it!
A fantastic slice of life from that period. I grew up watching things like this. The background music they used back then has given me a lifelong yen for jazzy, chamber swing style light music. The test-card was also a good source of that kind of material.
Yes, It's sad that so many TV programmes use rock/pop as so called 'background' music these days. It's usually more like 'foreground' music now.
@@johnr6168 Thanks for your reply. For some reason I feel strongly about this subject. It seems to me that any music used to accompany images has a profound effect on my reaction as a viewer. I find modern (post 1970s) backgrounds to documentary type films are either neutral in tone or are actively drained of anything that could be construed as sentimental/nostalgic/emotional.
I'm not sure why this came up in my feed but brilliant to watch. So l was 5 years old then and my dad also had a Jaguar a MK 2 3.8 We drove to Spain through France and wherever we stopped we always had people admiring the car.
I like how in a 30 mph zone he's looking to overtake.
"I've got a chap driving right up me exhaust pipe"
An occurrence on nearly every f*cking daily commute I undertake. Audi saloons, Range Rovers and BMWs driving so close it's just about the most annoying and dangerous distraction you could possibly imagine. This is coming from someone who drives at the UK speed limits like most others...
Perhaps he wants to get inside your boot ?
Fit spikes to the back of your car
A Beemer is an Ass Reamer!
How dare you. Bmws and audis have a legal right to go 100mph in a 30, it's written in the law dont you know??
@Jim Stewart And you would hopefully be arrested.
"I should hate to be his passenger."
S E R V E D
Lived here on the M4 corridor all my life and this was the last of the good old days. Recognise it all but god how its changed. That numpty in the herald spawned hundreds of them in Hungerford.
This is so awesome! My parents lived in Thatcham, at 54 Bath Road in the 50's and 60's, my dad (with mom, my sister and brother, I didn't come a long until 71) was stationed at Greenham Common, I am so excited to show him this in the morning, dad is going to love it! When they went into Reading and London, Bath Road/A4 was it 👍 Mom, sadly, passed away in 2017 😥
This makes me want to cry. I wish I had a time machine to go back to then. sigh.
Are you still about 11 years on ,now you really do what hell is like
As a Morris Minor driver myself, it was a pleasure to see so many moggies on the road.
BoredInNW6 great stuff I drive a hillman 69 Minx .
59 Minx I ment sorry
I believe you can buy plastic wheel arch liners now to protect the wings from rotting.
Mark C Littler good to know thanks. The Vauxhal crestas a nice car.
@@midcenturymadness6935 Yeah the Vauxhall Cresta's crome is off the planet.
enjoyed this video, thank you
I was 12 when this was shot, I can probably name every model of car in this video ( sorry, cine camera film ) including my first rust bucket when I was 18, the Ford Classic, on its last legs at 59,000 miles! Excellent film, brought back some memories of a less complicated time, thanks.
4:58 dangerous overtake, this coupled with the tailgating and beeping on the motorway this man is like a modern day BMW driver
Ah the good old days, when I was a single cell organism. A mere amoeba.
I burst out laughing at the bit where he starts beeping on the motorway
If that was now the Police would try & do him for improper use of the horn, and the other guy for taking his hand off the wheel
Ahh those old Smiths speedos that randomly wave about. Brings back memories of the one in my 1970 Mini long ago. You just know that at some point during the pointers travel it will be reading the right speed.
@ 3:50- the two tone Humber Super Snipe at the clock tower ,Newbury-was one of 3 we had in the 60's -90's.Beautifully built cars.When my Dad asked the petrol station attendant to "fill her up please",we kids had bets on how long it would take him to find the filler cap.
Nice Jaguar. The driver's commentary was most entertaining, he sounded rather like Noel Coward. But why did he keep mentioning overtaking? He certainly knew how to drive well and commentate simultaneously like a Police pursuit driver. I must admit though, I think the flashing the lights and blasting the horn at the car he wished to pass was rather aggressive driving, apart from that it was a pleasure to watch.
+Daniel Owen Interesting that the motorway had only two lanes, and I think most people would have done the same today he was in the fast lane doing 55mph (HGV's do 56) so he would be really annoying today!
I have to agree. The commentary was jolly spiffing and made me think of lashings and lashings of ginger beer!
We had outside lane hoggers even back then
I dont think he was driving and talking at the same time ( shaking a bent head with hand over eyes )