Scrapping Grandad's Car at Meadway Spares Birmingham November 1969
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- Опубліковано 19 вер 2016
- This is a Cine film taken by my father Cleeve Phillip Belcher at Meadway Spares in Birmingham in November 1969. It shows my Grandfather Cleeve Herbert Belcher taking his car to be smashed up and scrapped at the breakers yard. I understand it's a Wolseley car.
I wish I could go back and live in those days. 2021 is shit!
you must be white
About 20 years ago I popped in to ask for parts for my Allegro, the guy said he didn't have any but gave me detailed directions to a place that might be able to help, walking out the penny dropped that he'd given me directions to the science museum in Birmingham.
Allegro was probably one of the worst cars in the world. Luckily, my grandad's friend managed to stop its production.
@@johnhealy8513
The Allegro wasn't one of the worst cars in the world in the world by a long way.
I don't really like them but there are cars that were far worse.
@@lewis72 Yes it was because that was what came out of Walton v Leyland 1978 and I should know because the Allegro victims had just been to tea at ours shortly before their horrendous crash.
@@johnhealy8513
A valid point, which I wasn't aware of.
However, the Ford Pinto and Chevrolet Corvair must be considered as worse cars.
@@johnhealy8513 there are yes some cars like the old lada riva and Skodas were junk and we knew that because I worked at a scarp yard when I was a young fella in Northern Ireland
Great bit of rare film , love them old scrap yard films .
Damn, that's a very early Wolseley 1500, a very rare car now that was closely related to the Morris Minor. Sadly they could really rust. That one never went far from home, it was probably built in Longbridge, I'm pretty sure XOP is a Birmingham registration so it probably lived in Birmingham all it's life and got scrapped in Birmingham. That would have been barely 10 years old then too. Unfortunately modern cars are going back to the stage where they're pretty much junk at 10 years old now, not due to rust but due to all the electronic components being impossible to repair and the price of replacement units often costing more than the vehicle would be worth. And they call it progress...
XOP was indeed a Birmingham registration, issued in 1959. Unfortunately many of those 1950's monocoque car bodies were very prone to rust and the thing could be falling to pieces well within 10 years, just like the first generation of imported 1970's Japanese cars into the UK. A friend of mine owns an early F-type Vauxhall Victor, which is now an extremely rare car, and most of those had already rotted away and been scrapped by the end of the 1960's!.
Modern stuff is vastly superior structurally as far as rustproofing goes. What kills them is the cost of repairs when the electronics or something major mechanical packs up.
Many of these once ordinary, everyday cars, are now a very rare sight because they were built down to a price when new, and were often run on a shoestring by their 3rd/4th/5th owners back in the day. The ones that still survive are generally the cars with a low owner count, or were only ever driven for low mileages and laid up under cover when all the hard-used, multiple owner, examples were being run into the ground before being crushed.
Indeed - note the 2F Victor in the yard near the start of the film. That would certainly have been less than ten years old. In fact, look at any of the Pathé films of cars being scrapped in the early/mid 60s and F-type Victors feature in them, and they were by no means an old car. The following FB Victor was nowhere near as bad.
You can see on the front panel where the bumper bar is located, the front and rear wheel arches and the left-front passenger door where rust has been. Love the reception "office" - an old caravan with its wheels removed!
@@HowardLeVert Yes, you're right about the FB Victor. I've just restored one, and although it needed welding, Vauxhall's attempt at rustproofing helped it survive longer.
@@TheHorsebox2 Yes, comes as no surprise. My father sold our FB Victor Super at the height of the Oil Crisis in 1973 and replaced it with a Mk. IV Zodiac - our family was just about to get bigger. To my pleasure I saw our little Victor sitting proudly on the garage forecourt for sale at £150 :) Which model have you just restored?
Hello to you all I worked at meadway spares many years ago I worked on the counter with mick had some good laughs there. Can't believe its gone sad don't know if anyone remembers me my name was spike nickname of course. There was some characters that used to frequent the yard good memories.
where was Meadway spares located , exactly .......somewhere near the mackadown ?
@@wackadakka3134 meadway spares was on Bordesley green road next door to hughes biscuit factory which later became crypto peerless,
@@malcolmsandford5335 oh thanks
Good to see safety and environmental concerns being ignired😂
Great you had the foresight to record this….enjoyed watching
Such a great film; thanks for sharing it. Great atmosphere; loved seeing the scrap guy in a jacket... a different time.
just worked out that the guy put water into the tank.. excellent video. really enjoyed that mate.
I remember Mr Belcher. Used to deliver his papers on Whitecroft Road. Lovely man :-)
Sheldon Dave Arhh that’s so wonderful to hear! Thanks Dave, yes he lived in Whitecroft road in Sheldon he was a lovely grandad.
Wow!
I lived on Cranes Park, 1972 - 1984.
Just amazing how rusty that car was at just 10 years of age, and it didn't even live near the sea. These days we'd be shocked to find one tiny rust bubble on a ten year old.
You haven't seen many modern fords then
Your right, old 50, 60s cars did rust quickly then. I've got a 2003 clio now, and there isn't any rust on it at all.
@@THISISAANNOYING VW's, surely. Hanging wings, tailgates etc.
In October 78 I bought a 72 cortina, scrapped it end of January 80 coz the back chassis were rotted clean out of it. Completely done at 8 years old. Still I had fun in it lol
A few weeks ago I saw a 1 year old Chinese van with more rust on it than that wolesley
Fascinating. Living in a smaller town in the '70s and early '80s most of the scrap yards nearby didn't have the 'recyling' machinery we see here. Once any saleable or salvage bits were removed most places used a big old steel tank on a crane to drop on the shell and squash it flat. Then they piled them high ready for the lorries from the cities to come and take them.
Really rare film. Shows how we treated our enviroment in the past. Unbelieveable to see how the guy punctured the gas tank and litres of fuel just poured down on the ground! I worked in a scrapyard in 1982, and we also used a pickaxe to drain gas and oil, but at least into a container.
Blau Bär ... I think they poured a load of water in there 1 st.
Blau Bär oh man I could do your job now but not back in 82 I would have felt sick destroying 60s & 70s cars, especially the wagons and full size Chryslers
Blau Bär i presume when a car was set light to the oil would burn also
No, they would not have been litres, we used civilised measurement back then - gallons; anyway it was water.
"Shows how we treated our environment in the past."
- You think it's any better now ?
We have so many throw-away plastic products, the micro-beads in cosmetics and washes... it's a different kind of bad now but I think worse.
Oddly enough it's amazing how many new cars also end up being scrapped before there time.
What a gem .................Thanks for the film.
This is a great video and I like the bit at the end where Cleeve Herbert Belcher puts his old number plate on top of the cube of his former car! On a more practical front the Health and Safety guys of today would have gone apoplectic seeing the practices employed here by the scrappers.
When I was a student a fellow student had a Wolseley 1500 and also a friend's mother at this time- it was 1975. I was told that much of it was similar to the Morris Minor. Back in 1963, we were driven to Birmingham in a Riley 1.5- the " sporty" version of this car- twin carb I seem to recall. I cannot recall the last time I saw one of these cars be it a Riley or Wolseley.
Thanks for uploading this. I have always had a fascination for scrapyards and used to keep my cars alive by visiting them in the 1980s and 1990s. I recall once walking home with a petrol tank for an Austin A40 on my back after mine split and leaked all over the road. We used to be able to go into the yard and remove whatever we needed and then pay for it. Not anymore sadly. Health and safety has made things safer but rather dull.
Here in ireland It wasn't only health and safety, that's at the owners discretion, there was a big scrapyard up Near the boarder woth Northern Ireland that took care of the bombardier fleet and the last of the Leyland Atlanteans from Dublin Bus and older buses from Bus Eireann (Irish bus, the main public transport provider outside Dublin) I was supposed to be going up to help a friend and a few others get parts for the buses they preserved but I got a serious stomach bug and so I wasn't able to go. He rang me when he got back that day so angry. When my friend and his gang arrived at the yard the guy he spoke to that worked for the company told him he couldnt go into the yard, not because of health and safety but because transport photographers had been going into the yard, some with permission, some not over time, and helping themselves to souvenirs without paying. None outside of staff could go. In the yard. You then had to pay a yard worker to get the part and pay for the part itself . I also suspect that was also because scrap metal prices had dropped. Most of the buses were left in a field for some time until the council intervened and told the company ground water was being affected and the buses had to be disposed of. The company still exists, hence I've not named it but it's no longer a scrap yard, it does bus conversions.
I remember finishing up in hospital after an accident getting a part from a scrapyard for my first Hillman Avenger. I got the part I needed but leaked blood onto the floor. I still drive a Hillman Avenger but it's been over 20 years since I was able to get any parts from a scrap yard for it.
Wow that old Wolsley was rough for the age it was then, when I was a young fellow in the 80's in New Zealand we were buying cars of that vintage to get around in and they were mostly in better condition than that.
My very first car was an Austin A30 delivery van, bought it off a mate for $70 in 1984 when I was 15 years old, the starter was shot but fortunately it had the notch hole in the front main engine pully and a hole through the front bumper for a hand crank handle so that's how I had to start it, old girl never ever failed to start and never gave any trouble whatsoever.
Thanks for the upload, fascinating little film...
That was brilliant. I really enjoyed watching that.
I'd love to have that old car now.
There was no need to scrap it.
It looked okay to me.
Thank you for sharing the old super 8 film.
Look at the poor little Wolseley 1500 going off to meets it's fate. I used to co-own one of them until 2011, when I sold it, it was a hoot to drive, quite nippy with twin SU carbs. How I would love to have gone back in time and get some spares for my classic car. Interesting film.
Well , my dad had a Simca 1100 in the 70s .
From new to rusty scrap in 7 - yes seven - years , can you imagine ?
So, what have we learned? If you are having trouble removing your engine, simply throw a lit handkerchief inside the car, then flip it over and it pops right out! 😉 GREAT video. Cheers. I need a bacon sandwich now with a cup of tea from an oily mug.
Million quid in that yard today
Always sad to see the family workhorse reach the finish..Those boys didn,t let health and safety get in the way ..At least he watered the tank.
A different era fluids drained with a pick axe through the tank before the cutting torch did its work with the shower of sparks. Imagine how much the number XOP 421 would make now!
Outstanding and (intellectually) valuable archive. This occurred a year before i was born and until recently i had little idea of the extent of the hack & hope practices widely employed in the past. i think i had a rose tinted view of piles of cars 5 high waiting for spare parts to be robbed, then crushed after a year if they were not worth keeping.
Earlier today I came across another video which was about the glut of abandoned cars prevalent in the English landscape of the 70s. I guess scrapping cars had not been particularly profitable and owners were sometimes actually charged to take away their cars. So they imported a much more automated mass-scrapping factory setup to be established throughout the country, and thereafter the abandoned car issue was somewhat cleared up.
@@denniseldridge2936 I saw that video and I think it was from the early 60s not the 70s because the narrator said they'd be building the factories in 1967
how many idiots have to say about saving the fuel. it was likely run in with a very near empty tank (done it myself on many occasions) the tank was filled with water ( thats what is pouring out) the water displaces the petrol and leaves no room for fumes, puncture the bottom. and the drained tank is safe, might not be todays health and safety piss, but it worked.
georgeh ... he DROVE the car in !?
@@marksommers6764 yea, they filled it with water in the yard..
Last August my 94 caddy fleetwood was sideswiped by an 18 wheeler and insurance company totaled it. The night before they came to pick it up I literally coasted into the gas station on fumes after work and put 1 gallon of gas in the tank, just enough to drive the 6 short miles to my house.
Before new rules all fuel was strewn all over the heap, It wasn't saved, where I worked anyway
We saved all fuel and still do
Really well put together piece.
It's a Wolseley 1500, great little car. Made between 1957 and 1965.
Great hearted car wolseley was always my favourite make glad I still have my matchbox 1500
Poor old Wolseley . My teacher had a green one same age pre. suffix. Thank for that great film
Old man reminds me of my Dad when he had his scrapyard. Scruffy suit, dirty shirt, trilby hat.
4 F Series Victors. Cant stop crying. Grandads had a good rear bumper too.
Fascinating to watch how it used to be - Health & Safety now would go nuts !.
Thanks for uploading this. The Wolseley was just 10 years old by then
Pity they didn't save the badge on the radiator. Just shows though, like it or not, how rotten the old cars would get in a fairly short time. Now of course it's the electronics or engines that go, like the Rover K - series, or those Vauxhall Corsas unlucky enough to have the 998 cc 3 cylinder lump...
Just the same throwaway society then as we have today. Just done a bit more crudely, that's all.
10 years! Wow they deteriorated fast! I won’t tell that to my well kept 1974 Daimler Double Six VDP then...
That petrol is worth more now than he got for the car then it’s a funny old world we live in. 🏴👍
It looks like he filled the gas tank with water, its still not safe but that's what he did.
when i used to drain the fuel i used to contain it then use it in my land rover . so long as the fuel looked o.k..
I once saw on TV how an e -type jaguar was being treated when scrapped in 1975 obviously worth a fortune today but useless scrap metal then.
The used car market must have been insanely juicy arond that time - here they are scrapping a 12 year old Wolseley...in Australia, that model (and its Austin and Morris cousins) still commanded good prices. Granted, rust was always less of a problem here, and the locally made variant en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_Major is also more robust.
the good old days of health and safety was at it's best
Served my apprenticeship just down the road, MCC ,all gone now , very sad...!!
Funny How A Lot Of (Late) 1940s And (Mid) 1950s Cars Were In Rust Condition In The 1960s.
This begs the question: Given that it's 1969 and there are loads of interesting cars about, both new and secondhand, what did he replace it with?
Hi Paul, I think it was a Morris Traveller😂
A crappy blue chevy nova.
just dropping that 40ltrs of petrol like it's water .." it's liquid gold my friend "
Be great to see any more old videos you have.
I wish I had more, I’ve uploaded all my dad filmed on his cine cam, the rest were just family home movies👍🏼
I remember this scrap yard well 👌🏻😎
Ha! Having owned several English cars in the past I am surprised that it took that much effort do take it apart!
If this little car had survived it would now have far more vintage than scrap value
That's great, must be a rare bit of film, is meadway spares still going?
MrRoverone no they closed around 5 years ago. Still scrapyards next to where meadway used to be.
Poor old girl!
Rest in Pieces poor old Wolseley !!!!
Funny thing I saw, the car that "drove in" did not have primer paint around the drivers side door...different car??
Although I only ever refer to cars as "it" and never give my own cars a name I still wouldn't be able to send one of mine off to the scrappers; this is why I own 5 cars now, I guess.
Same here
Same!
The English Ford Anglia is held in high regard in the states. 1:56.
@paul austin Yes. Great gasser material. The early Thames panel was a favorite with me.
I assume the scrap yard is gone now and the site is brownfield. I am guessing its part of a retail park or industrial estate now??
Pobre auto! Qué sufrimiento! También se destaca lo peligroso de perforar el depósito de combustible con un pico...Saludos desde Argentina.
pity about the old banger i wonder if there is a model of this motor.
Poor thing. Its engine was still warm while it was scrapped :(
That was a sad video...
The Best way to Save a Lot of Monet in those days,
Man in white hat in the beggining of the video is Bill Morris, owner of that business.
WayneB27 Arhh that’s nice to know. Wonder if any of his family know he’s on this film!
I wonder how Much Jane's grand dad got for the Wolseley . Probably a couple of quid just to make the transaction legal(ish) . I have been going to scrap yards and wreckers most of my life and still today the practices being shown here are still being done. There is a whole new crowd in Australia running car wreckers today, Afghans. They make big money because they were smart enough to look beyond just selling bits off cars ,with contacts in the steel industry in China being developed . When they get a car in ,it's lasts a few minutes. They rip out the engine which is usually dumped into a shipping container . When the container is full it is sent off to Dubai where brokers sell the contents to little countries where they're separated into the various metals. One container can generate $25,000. And it's not all old cars, Around me,there 6 yards full of cars waiting to be scrapped and the average age is 5 years.
One thing I saw at the beginning was what looks like a PB Vauxhall Estate parked out the front.
The days when most 10 yr old cars were only fit for the scrap heap and worth very little. Nine years earlier than this footage the 1960 Road Traffic Act brought into being the Ministry of transport test as to roadworthy and fitness to use on the road. (MOT as we now know it by) Before then there were many vehicles on the road in an appalling state of disrepair. Thank goodness these vehicles were weeded out and ended their days direct from test to the scrap yard. It came in stages cars of ten years old then five then as we now know it, 3 yrs old.
Was that fuel being poured out on to the ground? Why not reuse it? At 3:27.... and no reuse of parts?....
snoozinghipo think it’s water, they filled the tank to dilute any remaining fuel, there’s no way grandad would have taken it in to be scrapped with much in the tank!
Looks better than my car
Jeez noooooohhh😢
JUBILEE SPARES STILL OPERATE TILL THIS DAY
How did people survive without wearing a high vis vest? :) Great video
Vic you are so right. The building/construction industry had a particularly appalling death rate back in the 50s and 60s.
@Vic Denton Vic Could not agree more. Not everything in the "good old days" was that good. I grew up in the 60s and 70s and can remember seeing blokes tying wooden ladders together with rope. I mean no one with all their marbles would suggest that outlawing that on building sites is nannying.
They didn't even bother to save the parts., they just destroyed it. Omg!! My dad bought his first car in 1968 ,around 1972 the car was scrapped. (rust)
Cutting with torches next to where gas was spilled also man sat next to compression machine. If spring or strunt slipped off it would knock guy head off. DANGEROUS!
They sucked the remaining petrol out and then filled the tank with water
That poor little car😭
Where is this place? Looks like Aston
The Meadway, Birmingham. Pretty much Aston.
I was brought up in the area it was on the Sheldon Heath Road up the road from the pool way shopping centre and lea Hall fire station.
Back in the days there was nothing like pollution and emissions. Smoke was not a problem for the scrap yard now its environmental pollution
I couldn't believe them dumping all that gasoline on the ground after the worker punched holes in the gas tank.
Sad video!
May I share a screenshot of the green Vauxhall Victor at 1:58 with a facdbook group. Full credit and acknowledgement will be given and the video linked in. Thanks in advance ✅️
Hello Robert, yes of course you can share and thank you for linking to the video. Grandad would have been astonished at the response to his cine film! 👍🏼
this could be India 2019 !!
Burning out the interior?
Very common at the time. Quickest way of dealing with it.
Yeah worked in scrap yard years ago, pick axe the tank take battery off, then bail it up no cats or airbags then.
What a sad end to a lovely little car, it would have only been a little more then 10 yeas old!
An oxy torch and no googles it was a different time
horrible looking old car but still a crying shame!!!! a sad end !! i dread to think how many mk1 ford cortinas were scrapped there !!!! they are worth an absolute small fortune now!!!!!
poor car got the shit beat out of it
Waste of petrol. Get it into a container, if it still OK would of the yard workers could put it in his car.
@Vic Denton I see the water going on to the petrol tank. Now you mention it.
That eould've been a good banger car!
The Good old days
Ils avaient d'étrangent façons de mettre une caisse à la casse : on vide le réservoir dans la nature à coup de pioche puis on met le feu à la bagnole et enfin on arrache le moteur avec une grue mais franchement pour faire ça autant la garder dans une grange et la revendre 40 ans plus tard
3:28 dangerous smashing the petrol tank with an axe to empty the remaining fuel - sparks ? And in a few short weeks that remarkable decade the 1960s would end.
Sparks won;t ignite the fuel under the fluid level.
Gallons! It was 1982.....
what a waste i need those parts now and cant find them should have stored that car so i could buy the part i need now thanks alot
What a waste, a running, driving car destroyed ......no parts/spares taken to keep others on the road, nothing saved to use again . Disgraceful ......🥵🥵🥵
I LOOKING AT THIS AND THAT CAR GOING FOR SCRAPERS THAT IS A WASTE .I REMEMBER SAVING A 66 CHEV BISCAYNE FROM THE CRUSHER AND DID IT BUT THIS IS SO VERY TRUE OF IGNORANT PEOPLE.
Probably came back as a washing machine fridge coke can.
A neat magic trick...
Drive it in and watch it
disappear...not a kind way to treat your trusty steed after all its done for you, especially since it still runs....
So much for health and safety
Looks like they didn;t salvage anything. Everything was smashed to pieces.
How much did grandad get
We don’t know, sadly. The car didn’t look that bad so hopefully a fair price!
We have Disneyland. Cars have this.
Why did they bother to burn them..?
bonkey dollocks to get rid of all the wood inside
@@paulbackhard6315 oh yea before the crusher, got it.