I heard a piece on the radio a while ago. The widow of the man who recorded the "Mind the gap" announcement found that the system had been updated and the recording of her late husbands announcement had gone. She was understandably saddened, so she wrote to London Transport to ask if they could supply her with a copy of the recording. They did better than that, they reinstated the recording on her local tube station, so whenever she goes anywhere on the tube, her husband makes the announcement to "Mind the gap"
There's a lovely story about the "Mind the gap" voice. Oswald Laurence was a theatre actor and lived in London with his wife, Dr Margaret McCollum, until his death in 2007. Margaret was devastated at the loss of her husband, but one place where she could relive the happy memories was on the platform at Embankment station, where she would sit and listen to Oswald’s voice. One day in November 2012, she made her regular visit to the platform only to find her husband was no longer there as the PA system had been updated. Deeply saddened by what had happened, Margaret was comforted by station staff, who were unaware of the value the previous recording held for her. As the PA system had now been digitalized, it seemed an almost impossible ask to retrieve the tapes and reinstate the announcement with Oswald’s voice. However, Transport for London staff delved deep into the archives and found the old tapes, which were digitalized and restored. If you ever visit the Northbound platform of the Northern line at Embankment station, the voice of Oswald lives on to the present day.
Is it his recording that just constantly goes "MIND THE GAP, MIND THE GAP, MIND THE GAP"? I prefer that one to "mind the gap between the train and the platform".
I can't hear it without thinking of the Milton Jones joke: "My parents names were Pearl and Dean, or as we called them, Mama and Papa-papa-papa-papa Papapaaah."
I loved the fact you used a really british phrase, and didn't notice. You said '......Standing there like a Lemon'. And you didn't batter an eyelid, lol. xxx
Not many people know that is rhyming slang - 'lemon curd'. I won't say what it rhymes with but it was mostly used when someone was 'sold a lemon' - something that was no good.
The BBC radio 'pips' on the hour...Big Ben chimes...the drum roll at the start of the National Anthem...Dr Who music...the sound of a Merlin engine when a Spitfire flies overhead (I'm near Beachy Head so that happens a lot)...the noise of an Underground train approaching...'Mind the Doors' and the accompanying beeps!...what have you started Alanna!
I always used to hear those birds in the morning outside my bedroom in my childhood house - I was told they're wood pigeons. I quite like them as they only really make noise when I'm awake and it's quite comforting.
We often don't notice how the soundscape around us is changing. The childhood sounds I remember most clearly are the rasp of a Morris Minor's exhaust on the overrun, the jingle of glass milk bottles in metal crates combined with the whine of an electric float early in the morning, the "be ready" bell ringing on a station platform to signal the approach of a train, the whistle of a shunting steam engine and squeal of loose-coupled goods wagons in the night, and the rag and bone man's cry in the street. Nowadays my local buses have a recorded voice that says "Gerroff 'ere for th'ospital".
I know what you mean. When I was very little (in the early sixties) I remember being woken at about 6.00am to the sound of the clip clop of the milkman's pony. The same with the rag and bone man who would yell out his unintelligible call for scrap metal. We even had horse drawn coal carts for a while. Then they were replaced with the whine of the electric milk float and the deep rumble of the coal lorry. But even they're gone now. So nostalgic.
"Please remove the item from the bagging area" "Please place the item in the bagging area" "An assistant is coming to help you" "Payment declined" "Please try again"
It's very handy living close to the coast of the sea areas covered in it. Even if only to know if going to be invaded by Seagulls dodging the worst of a force 8.
The way to tell the difference is that the call of collared doves has 3 'syllables' - a pigeon's call has 5 'syllables' - obviously, they're not syllables, but it's the only way I can think to describe it. They just have the same 3 or 5 syllable/beats coos over and over again.
8 a wish, 9 a kiss, 10 is a bird you must not miss - Theme song from 1970s ITV kids' show called Magpie. It was intended as a slightly hipper version of the Blue Peter style magazine show.
8's a wish, 9's a kiss 10 is a bird you must not miss. Some people say, "Good morning Mr Magpie, how are your wife and children." I can't remember if they say afternoon if that's appropriate.
A friend of mine had moved from the U.S and he said the thing that makes him know he's in England is hearing 'BOLLOCKS!' when someone messes something up 🤣 (usually dropping car keys)
The sound of a kettle boiling. Magpies having a loud conversation at 5 am outside my window, in the trees. The barking of a neighbour’s dog on a quiet weekend afternoon( I like it)
As soon as you said 'Pearl & Dean' I knew exactly what the sound was. I haven't been to the cinema for 30+ years. Brought back quite a few memories! Thank you!
Church bells on a Sunday morning. The sound of frying bacon.... one more... that wave of conversation and voices that meets you as you walk into a busy local pub
On my rare trips back to the UK, which are usually at Christmas time, waking up - especially on the first day, has a very British soundtrack of crows cawing in the trees in the garden, the irritating beeping music of BBC breakfast tv, which my mother has on a small tv in the kitchen, the loud clack that terminates the sound of an electric kettle boiling as it turns itself off, and the clatter of the letter box as the mail is delivered. None of these are sounds that I ever hear for years on end, but are absolutely part of the British soundscape.
The words to the magpie rhyme were changed for the kids tv show of the same name. They made it child friendly. I'm old enough to remember the real words which most people have either forgotten or aren't as old as me. 1 for sorrow, 2 for mirth. 3 for a death and 4 for a birth. 5 for silver, 6 for gold. 7 for a secret never to be told.
I like the automated train announcements too, particular the ones on Great Northern trains with the pregnant pause in the middle of 'Welcome aboard this ... service to Cambridge' which just makes it sound totally sarcastic. For some reason, the train company name is just missing - it's been like that for years.
Pearl and Dean brings back memories. When I was teen, I remember the cinema filled with teenagers singing along to Pearl and Dean, popcorn flying. I just remember crying with laughter as I had never seen anything like it before.
Yes, not heard it (until now) for about 15 years but I will remember it for my whole life! As for why it's there, weren't they the marketing company who arranged all the ad's and trailors?
@@DarylPaterson we had local ads, the local steak house, the local fish n chips shop, which coincidently opened just as saturday morning cinema closed, the local cobblers where mum would take you to get your shoes repaired etc.
Using the word 'Cinema' is also very British. Here in Canada I find it confusing when people say they are going to the theatre when they are going to watch a film, even after 27 years of living here. For me it is the sound of sea gulls that most reminds me of home in the UK.
I'm English and 1st time I went abroad with my wife, in the 70s to Spain 🇪🇸, I remember sitting on a beach and thinking something very different from a beach holiday in the UK 🇬🇧 ( apart from Language and Sun ) obviously and it niddled me for a bit until it Suddenly dawned on me No sea Gulls .I couldn't hear the raucous crys of Sea Gulls .
In my career as an Assistant Cinema Manager in London half a century ago my employer was Rank Leisure Services (Theatre Division). The manual which was our ‘bible’ was the Theatre Operation Manual.
@Olichi60 The Sea Gulls or Sky Pirates ☠️. Is the 1st thing I noticed well lack of them and their calls. When I was on the Beach in Spain .I remember walking along a beach at St Ives Cornwall when a Sea Gull swooped down and pinched the Women's Ice cream, The language the women called the Gull made me laugh so much I spilt all the Tea .
"Mind the gap" may date from 1968 but the Goon Show had a reference to "MInd the Doors" from the Underground in "The Scarlet Capsule" first broadcast on 2nd February 1959. Classic episode. 🙂
I was born in 1966 and when I was little Mind the Gap always used to scare me, the gap always seem very big and I always thought I would fall down in because of that message!
In wales I’ve not heard anyone say “good morning Mr. Magpie” however many people salute to magpies, myself included, regardless of how many are together. My brother salutes 3 timers PER magpie. Yes he looks like he’s clinically insane when passing 4 or more magpies
I'm from Wales too and have said "good morning" or "good afternoon Mr magpie, how are you today?" But not really everytime. For some reason I can't explain to myself, I have to salute a single magpie as this is bad luck or will bring sorrow if not, but I won't for 2 (for joy) etc. I wouldn't even say i am superstitious it just happens Haa 😂
My parents (who where born in the 1930s) would always say 'Good morning/afternoon/evening Mr magpie we're on our way to....' and state their destination, they said it was bad luck to do otherwise.
'Whhheeeyyyy!" if you drop a glass in the pub. Church bells, deffo. Very different to European ones. The warning noise at a railway level crossing. If you live in Southport (near Liverpool) the honking of the pink-footed geese flying from the inland fields to the coastal marsh every night during the season. They kept me sane while I was lying awake at boarding school, and I will be forever grateful.
For many years those geese used to fly directly over our house in Maghull on my birthday (October), without fail, whether or not they did on any other day of the year.
I dont know if you were ever on a HST with slam doors, but thats a sound I miss the most. Its 10pm, you're on a train coming back from London on a HST, the train is practically empty and sooo quiet and the train conductor is walking along shutting all the doors. That slam door sound on those trains I miss the most!
I always seem to live within the sound of church bells. ATM, this includes bell ringing practice every Wednesday 7pm-9pm. Can be a pain during a hot summer with the windows open. Ah, to be in England. :)
I think for me when I came back to the UK after living abroad it was church bells. Oh god - no pun intended - I hated them as a kid as my parents house was near the church and woke me up - now I love them.
Sounds that remind me of England is the sound of SeaGulls in the morning ( I live in Cornwall .. It's relentless but also nice ) Also what i find funny is when two people both say .. Hey ! You Alright ? ... And neither of them actually say how they are haha.
Re magpies, its said to bad luck for the lone Magpie as they are normally in pairs. That cinema music takes me back 🙃 I love the sound of Crows (my favourite bird song) lawn mowers, ice cream vans, music for ITV 10pm news (reminds me of laying bed as a child while mum and dad watched the 10pm news in the living room) theme music for Top of the pops, I'm instantly taken back to Thursday evenings in the 70s/80s ❤ I live close to the sea so get the seagulls screeching at 3.30am in the summertime 🙄
The hello/goodbye one is such a southern thing. Come further up north (For example I live in Stoke) and that "Hiya, you alright?" becomes "Ay up, duck yer orate?". And the "See ya later, bye, bye" becomes "See yer in a bit, duck t'ra".
The sound of Big Ben and I don’t even live in London. 🤷♀️. I live outside Southampton. We get the occasional Spitfire fly over; all over goosebumps! Blackbirds singing in the garden on a summer evening. 😍😍😍 PS RAIN ON THE WINDOW! Will summer ever turn up🤦♀️
Our farmhouse was close to the byre ( at one time the buildings were all in a continuous line) . In winter when you came home late and drew up to the back door , on switching the car engine off you'd hear the gentle clinking of the cows chains in the byre. In summer time it would be all quite as it would still be light and they'd be out in the fields anyway.
@@priscillas.5314 It was the last orders for all drinks. At 11pm they allowed you 20 minutes to finish your drinks, then everybody had to leave as the pub was closing for the night. Some pubs did lock the doors with customers still in, and served after time illegally. This was known as a lock-in.
The children’s TV show (as mentioned in other comments) in the 1970s used to do some fund raising from their viewers and they would buy minibuses for Mencap. In the late 1980s I did some work for Mencap and drove around in a very well worn minibus with the Magpie logo on the side.
The pearl and dean cinema theme was sampled by Goldbug in their 1996 cover version of "Whole Lotta Love", which peaked at number 3 in the UK Singles Chart and is credited with the resurgence of retro easy music in British popular culture in the 90s through to the 2000s.
It's actually called "Sailing By" and was written by Ronald Binge in 1963. It's original use by the BBC was as an easily recognised station identifier for BBC Radio 4 to alert sailors that the shipping forecast was imminent.
Thank you. Yes I agree, the Pearl and Dean jingle is a classic. Here are mine. Elgar, Walton and Vaughan Williams, skylarks singing aloft on a Spring day, the high pitched squeak of a shrew in a hedgerow, a song thrush singing at dawn and the drone of insects on a summer evening. Now those lovely sounds we don't hear anymore - the BBC theme music for Screen Test and gallery theme for Vision On, the mechanical clunk of a cartridge player switching tracks, the tinkling of a block bell in a railway signal box, wind whistling through telegraph wires, a passenger train passing over jointed rails, heavy lorries double clutching on a hill, the rapid shuttling of a weaving loom; and the grind and swish of a windmill at work, ah bliss
That bird sound reminds me of being a teen/early 20s coming home from a night out, drunk, happy, been a good night blissfully ignorant of the rotten hangover I’m about to experience 😂 good times haha
The bells that used to be on small shop doors; a physical bell not some electronic chime or buzz. Haven't heard one for ages and I've bought one for my own front door instead of an electronic doorbell. It's more like the old servant's bell you'd see in Upstairs Downstairs with a bell on a coiled spring and a pull-cord. Also milk bottles rattling in their crates as they were being delivered. Oh yeah! Skylarks! Doesn't feel like summer til you hear a skylark. And Sid James' laugh.
I've only been to the UK once for a week long vacation, and the most iconically British sound I would instantly recognize from that trip is ironically "Annie" the automated announcer in UK railway stations haha. Also "see it, say it, sorted" haha
As someone born and bred in the UK I can honestly say that I NEVER heard that 'Good Morning Mr Magpie' thing until I was in my late 20's when my girlfriend of the time uttered it and I looked at her like she'd gone mad. She insisted it was a commonly used expression but, after asking around, I never found anyone else who'd heard it either...
Oh yes Pearl and Dean, it was so wholesome and brilliant being able to go the cinema after lockdown and hearing that jingle again. I don’t even know what Pearl and Dean do, but you know the lights are about to go down for 2hrs and you’re ready for the film❤️
There used to be a kid's programme on TV called Magpie. That is where I learned the song. Later in life I earned the nickname Magpie because I hoarded stuff.................😜
Alanna, when ever I get on a train these days I'm always worried that the announcement will say " Welcome aboard, this is the South Eastern train service to Hell"🤣 . Also look up the story about the Mind the gap announcement a Embankment Tube station in London, it will bring a tear to your eye.
Love this my friend...whenever i see a Magpie....always say.. "Good morning/evening hows your wife and family....love Canadian's my dear friend Emma married a Canadian..they live in Toronto....been twice including their wedding... Love how Canadian's..need their " caffeee"...and say "sure" all the time...yeah you do... Hope you stay happy with us all here in uk... God bless xx
I believe Perl & Dean are an advertising agency, and the jingle has been on in British cinemas since at least the 70's. The best bit was the post-localised ads, where there was a generic 'south east' narration with a sudden edit to a different voice for the name of the local service such as an Indian Restaurant or some-such.
My family and I immigrated to America when I was 16, so I went back to high school (even though I had finished in England) In the school hallways everyone would say Hi as I walked by, and of course, I was saying HiYa. After a few weeks I decided to start saying Hi and I must say it was so much easier. 😁
Other things like The Speaking Clock, dial 123 (not sure from a mobile) on a landline to get the exact time in the UK in an RP accent. There is a rhyme which even as old as I am still say when eating cherries. Once you are left with the discarded stones you count them by saying 'Tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor, rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief.
@@caw25sha Thanks. I've just dialled it out of curiosity and it's a female voice, although I do remember a man and him saying 'The time sponsored by Accurist is...'
@@AdventuresAndNaps I am a little disappointed Alanna that one of the sounds that reminds you of living here was not: 'Innit bruv'! Or someone calling you a 'bint'!
The sound of Doves sounds like Wood Pigeons to me. The Magpies we have here are Eurasian Magpies. All birds have their own birdsong... which is why they used to sell vinyl record albums of birdsong .
@@shaunw9270 They aren't the same thing, not in the way AutoReport 1 implies. They are very close and belong to the same bird family but the name dove is given to the smaller varieties and pigeon to the larger ones. So there is a difference, even if it's not much. 🙂
One for sorrow, two for mirth, three for a funeral, four for a birth. That's the magpie rhyme I first knew, although I am aware there are several different ones, that's still my favourite.
If you want to hear a very unique Magpie song then look up the Austrlian Magpie. It is more of a warble than a usual birdsong. My favourite reminder of trips to Canada are the sounds of their train horns when I hear them on films or TV. They are so much better (haunting) than the wounded cow sounds you hear on our South Eastern trains (I live in the South East next to a level crossing so hear them frequently).
I love hearing people saying yeah, yeah, yeah, throughout a conversation. I smiled whenever I heard it while I was there. Also, mind the gap. Cheerio. I didn't think anyone ever really said cheerio, I thought it was just from old movies or plays.
That’s a dove outside your window 💕 lovely call. We were in London a year ago this week and these sounds make me very homesick for England!! I would add the courting sound of pigeons in the spring, that low rumbling bumbling of the males as they crowd around a female
I love the sound of pigeons & doves. Are you a light sleeper or summat, Alanna ? They don't wake me up. They often perch on chimneys and the sound is louder because it carries down the chimney.
I visited Great Britain 15 years ago on a 21 day driving tour and fell in love with it. Sadly, I haven't been back due to ill health. What really caught my attention were the same words in England meaning something a bit different in the U.S. Dust bin for example. Not used here. I grew up in a midwestern state. A waste paper basket meant "dust bin". Garbage meant kitchen waste. Trash meant useless stuff tossed into the "garbage dump'. Trash also means litter not in a waste container. I just think so many words meaning the same but don't is interesting.
Platform Souls ( Poem on the Underground ) It’s an unloved piece of platform, Where the punters never stand; Each with eager expectation, And their baggage in their hand. For, as the train comes rushing in And its doors swish open wide, The travellers queue right next to them To squeeze on for a ride. But the platform in between the queues, Is hardly used and bare. Still, it stops some *Gaps* appearing - So I’m glad that it’s ALL there !
Whoever wrote the theme tune to Farscape must have been a fan of the tune. I always wondered what it reminded me of and, listening out of context, I now realise it's the Pearl and Dean music :)
Hiya. Before your time, well before, at the cinema, the intro music to 'Pathe News'. And the most common sound, of course, rain on the roof or against the windows. Stay safe. All the best to you.
I love the sound of rain no matter where or when, even when it's on the metal rooftop of the workshops, and I know that I'm going to get soaked going home! I adore the smell of rain in the summertime and the sounds of nature when the downpour is over and the sun comes out.
When you walk through a storm, hold your head up high and don't be afraid of the rain. At the end of the storm there's a golden sky and the sweet silver song of the lark. YNWA. You are watching LFC
Hold tight please followed by the TING of the bell as the bus move off. Never heard HIYA all over the country until recently. In the fifties, Good Morning or similar was used but up north Hiya was heard, especially in Liverpool area.
Having lived in Ireland for 6 years, I totally agree with the station announcements. Always find them strangely comforting when I travel from Victoria to Margate when I visit friends and family. Actually getting off at Margate is a different story lol.
I heard a piece on the radio a while ago. The widow of the man who recorded the "Mind the gap" announcement found that the system had been updated and the recording of her late husbands announcement had gone. She was understandably saddened, so she wrote to London Transport to ask if they could supply her with a copy of the recording. They did better than that, they reinstated the recording on her local tube station, so whenever she goes anywhere on the tube, her husband makes the announcement to "Mind the gap"
At one particular station, no where else
“Unexpected item in the bagging area” is what I want played at my funeral as the coffin is wheeled into the furnace…
Haha 😅
😂
🤣 Perfect!!!
Brilliant! 😂😂😂😂
I hear that every time I shop in Canada!
There's a lovely story about the "Mind the gap" voice. Oswald Laurence was a theatre actor and lived in London with his wife, Dr Margaret McCollum, until his death in 2007. Margaret was devastated at the loss of her husband, but one place where she could relive the happy memories was on the platform at Embankment station, where she would sit and listen to Oswald’s voice. One day in November 2012, she made her regular visit to the platform only to find her husband was no longer there as the PA system had been updated. Deeply saddened by what had happened, Margaret was comforted by station staff, who were unaware of the value the previous recording held for her.
As the PA system had now been digitalized, it seemed an almost impossible ask to retrieve the tapes and reinstate the announcement with Oswald’s voice. However, Transport for London staff delved deep into the archives and found the old tapes, which were digitalized and restored. If you ever visit the Northbound platform of the Northern line at Embankment station, the voice of Oswald lives on to the present day.
That is quite beautiful.
Is it his recording that just constantly goes "MIND THE GAP, MIND THE GAP, MIND THE GAP"? I prefer that one to "mind the gap between the train and the platform".
@@karlgookey Yes, the original booming voice.
That is one of the things that made me fall in love with England. The appreciation, the care... what a heartwarming story ❤
Wow. Pearl & Dean jingle at the cinema is so nostalgic and old! Yes!
I can't hear it without thinking of the Milton Jones joke: "My parents names were Pearl and Dean, or as we called them, Mama and Papa-papa-papa-papa Papapaaah."
There used to be an audible groan whenever that came on. Years after they'd changed it the original came back once and it got a cheer.
I believe it was library music. For those who don't know Pearl and Dean are/were a company that sold pre-film slots to advertisers
Asteroid by Peter Moore, 1968.
Reminds me of that song: 'MacArthur park.'
I loved the fact you used a really british phrase, and didn't notice. You said '......Standing there like a Lemon'. And you didn't batter an eyelid, lol. xxx
I think you mean "bat an eyelid" not "batter an eyelid".🤣
@@stumccabe Yep, totally pisspronounced my worms!
Not many people know that is rhyming slang - 'lemon curd'. I won't say what it rhymes with but it was mostly used when someone was 'sold a lemon' - something that was no good.
@@stumccabemaybe she punched someone in the eye 😅
@@simonwatson5299 Excellent response Simon!👍
Pearl & Dean theme is called “Asteroids” written in 1968 by Pete Moore. He was a good friend of my folks - good fella. Have a great week.
I used to have this as my phone ringtone.
Had this for phone ringtone
The BBC radio 'pips' on the hour...Big Ben chimes...the drum roll at the start of the National Anthem...Dr Who music...the sound of a Merlin engine when a Spitfire flies overhead (I'm near Beachy Head so that happens a lot)...the noise of an Underground train approaching...'Mind the Doors' and the accompanying beeps!...what have you started Alanna!
Yes, the Rolls-Royce Merlin! - "An exhaust note composed by Elgar!" - Alain de Cadanet...
I always used to hear those birds in the morning outside my bedroom in my childhood house - I was told they're wood pigeons. I quite like them as they only really make noise when I'm awake and it's quite comforting.
We often don't notice how the soundscape around us is changing. The childhood sounds I remember most clearly are the rasp of a Morris Minor's exhaust on the overrun, the jingle of glass milk bottles in metal crates combined with the whine of an electric float early in the morning, the "be ready" bell ringing on a station platform to signal the approach of a train, the whistle of a shunting steam engine and squeal of loose-coupled goods wagons in the night, and the rag and bone man's cry in the street. Nowadays my local buses have a recorded voice that says "Gerroff 'ere for th'ospital".
I know what you mean. When I was very little (in the early sixties) I remember being woken at about 6.00am to the sound of the clip clop of the milkman's pony. The same with the rag and bone man who would yell out his unintelligible call for scrap metal. We even had horse drawn coal carts for a while. Then they were replaced with the whine of the electric milk float and the deep rumble of the coal lorry. But even they're gone now. So nostalgic.
"Cashier number three, please."
😂 great one!
"Please remove the item from the bagging area"
"Please place the item in the bagging area"
"An assistant is coming to help you"
"Payment declined"
"Please try again"
The Post Office? I haven’t heard that one for a while since our Post Office was relocated into WHSmiths.
Let us not forget the Shipping Forecast!
Good call!
"Aldi, Lidl, Tescoing later. That is the end of the shopping forecast" 😃
The most beautiful of all the sounds
i love the shipping forecast so soothing. Only tend to listen to it in the car usually when up early to go on holiday x
It's very handy living close to the coast of the sea areas covered in it. Even if only to know if going to be invaded by Seagulls dodging the worst of a force 8.
The last orders bell in a pub.... Followed too soon after by "Time ladies and gentlemen please"😊
I Totally agree. 😁
Blackbirds at dawn and dusk. They're such a treat!
…..only in the Spring and early Summer unfortunately. 😁👍🏼
Wood pigeons
@@jillybrooke29 yes.. I think they would. But should they?
lol. Blackbirds sitting on the gable of your house, chirping away.
They be Collared Doves i reckons, ms Brooke.
The way to tell the difference is that the call of collared doves has 3 'syllables' - a pigeon's call has 5 'syllables' - obviously, they're not syllables, but it's the only way I can think to describe it. They just have the same 3 or 5 syllable/beats coos over and over again.
@@Russell-w9k Correct! But, you can't beat a male blackbird aloft a tree or chimney pot singing his heart out during dusk.
1 for sorrow,
2 for joy,
3 for girl and
4 for a boy,
5 for silver,
6 for gold,
7 for a secret never to be told.
Ah, Susan Stranks and Tony Bastable!
8 a wish,
9 a kiss,
10 is a bird you must not miss
- Theme song from 1970s ITV kids' show called Magpie. It was intended as a slightly hipper version of the Blue Peter style magazine show.
@@iainwasson6822
Magpie & How were great early 70's shows
8's a wish, 9's a kiss 10 is a bird you must not miss. Some people say, "Good morning Mr Magpie, how are your wife and children." I can't remember if they say afternoon if that's appropriate.
@@andrewbutler7681 Language !
A friend of mine had moved from the U.S and he said the thing that makes him know he's in England is hearing 'BOLLOCKS!' when someone messes something up 🤣
(usually dropping car keys)
😂
😂
I like making a pigs ear
Sparrows. We forget that the most common birds sing most sweetly! We are blessed to have a recurring family under the eaves.
The Shipping Forecast on BBC Radio is another for me. Been around forever.
The sound of a kettle boiling. Magpies having a loud conversation at 5 am outside my window, in the trees. The barking of a neighbour’s dog on a quiet weekend afternoon( I like it)
As soon as you said 'Pearl & Dean' I knew exactly what the sound was. I haven't been to the cinema for 30+ years. Brought back quite a few memories! Thank you!
Church bells on a Sunday morning. The sound of frying bacon.... one more... that wave of conversation and voices that meets you as you walk into a busy local pub
Bell practice on a Tuesday evening.
@@billyhills9933 I seem to remember ours being on a Wednesday evening but I could be wrong. The church was really close though!
The jingle of the ice cream van !
☺️🍦
"When the jingles play, that means they have run out of ice cream" - Bad Parent!
Particularly Greensleeves stopping abruptly half way through a note.
Eric Morecambe looking out of the window when he hears a siren, "He won't sell many ice creams going at that speed".I
@@caw25sha Every van in every place I've ever lived in in the UK always plays bloody Greensleeves! EVERYWHERE!!
On my rare trips back to the UK, which are usually at Christmas time, waking up - especially on the first day, has a very British soundtrack of crows cawing in the trees in the garden, the irritating beeping music of BBC breakfast tv, which my mother has on a small tv in the kitchen, the loud clack that terminates the sound of an electric kettle boiling as it turns itself off, and the clatter of the letter box as the mail is delivered.
None of these are sounds that I ever hear for years on end, but are absolutely part of the British soundscape.
Yeah...the crows in the early am, cawing in the silence.
The words to the magpie rhyme were changed for the kids tv show of the same name. They made it child friendly.
I'm old enough to remember the real words which most people have either forgotten or aren't as old as me.
1 for sorrow,
2 for mirth.
3 for a death and
4 for a birth.
5 for silver,
6 for gold.
7 for a secret never to be told.
Im nearly 62 and that Pearl and Deans music was played in cinemas when i was a kid
The Pearl & Dean theme brought back some memories!
True. Same for me. Smells and sounds - are the magic that might send you, in a heart beat, to the places you used to be living in.
I like the automated train announcements too, particular the ones on Great Northern trains with the pregnant pause in the middle of 'Welcome aboard this ... service to Cambridge' which just makes it sound totally sarcastic. For some reason, the train company name is just missing - it's been like that for years.
Pearl and Dean brings back memories. When I was teen, I remember the cinema filled with teenagers singing along to Pearl and Dean, popcorn flying. I just remember crying with laughter as I had never seen anything like it before.
Saturday morning cinema:)
Yes, not heard it (until now) for about 15 years but I will remember it for my whole life!
As for why it's there, weren't they the marketing company who arranged all the ad's and trailors?
@@DarylPaterson we had local ads, the local steak house, the local fish n chips shop, which coincidently opened just as saturday morning cinema closed, the local cobblers where mum would take you to get your shoes repaired etc.
Using the word 'Cinema' is also very British. Here in Canada I find it confusing when people say they are going to the theatre when they are going to watch a film, even after 27 years of living here. For me it is the sound of sea gulls that most reminds me of home in the UK.
I'm English and 1st time I went abroad with my wife, in the 70s to Spain 🇪🇸, I remember sitting on a beach and thinking something very different from a beach holiday in the UK 🇬🇧 ( apart from Language and Sun ) obviously and it niddled me for a bit until it Suddenly dawned on me No sea Gulls .I couldn't hear the raucous crys of Sea Gulls .
In my career as an Assistant Cinema Manager in London half a century ago my employer was Rank Leisure Services (Theatre Division). The manual which was our ‘bible’ was the Theatre Operation Manual.
@Olichi60 The Sea Gulls or Sky Pirates ☠️. Is the 1st thing I noticed well lack of them and their calls. When I was on the Beach in Spain .I remember walking along a beach at St Ives Cornwall when a Sea Gull swooped down and pinched the Women's Ice cream, The language the women called the Gull made me laugh so much I spilt all the Tea .
"Mind the gap" may date from 1968 but the Goon Show had a reference to "MInd the Doors" from the Underground in "The Scarlet Capsule" first broadcast on 2nd February 1959. Classic episode. 🙂
I was born in 1966 and when I was little Mind the Gap always used to scare me, the gap always seem very big and I always thought I would fall down in because of that message!
In wales I’ve not heard anyone say “good morning Mr. Magpie” however many people salute to magpies, myself included, regardless of how many are together. My brother salutes 3 timers PER magpie. Yes he looks like he’s clinically insane when passing 4 or more magpies
I'm from Wales too and have said "good morning" or "good afternoon Mr magpie, how are you today?" But not really everytime. For some reason I can't explain to myself, I have to salute a single magpie as this is bad luck or will bring sorrow if not, but I won't for 2 (for joy) etc. I wouldn't even say i am superstitious it just happens Haa 😂
53 years old, lived in England all my life, never heard someone ask a magpie how it's wife is.
I always greet magpies, have done since I was a small kid in the 70s, something I've picked up from grandparents.
Me neither and i'm 65
My parents (who where born in the 1930s) would always say 'Good morning/afternoon/evening Mr magpie we're on our way to....' and state their destination, they said it was bad luck to do otherwise.
I thought you were meant to salute them? Probably varies by region.
I'm 53 ive heard it loads
Bless you for the sneezes
'Whhheeeyyyy!" if you drop a glass in the pub.
Church bells, deffo. Very different to European ones.
The warning noise at a railway level crossing.
If you live in Southport (near Liverpool) the honking of the pink-footed geese flying from the inland fields to the coastal marsh every night during the season. They kept me sane while I was lying awake at boarding school, and I will be forever grateful.
For many years those geese used to fly directly over our house in Maghull on my birthday (October), without fail, whether or not they did on any other day of the year.
I dont know if you were ever on a HST with slam doors, but thats a sound I miss the most. Its 10pm, you're on a train coming back from London on a HST, the train is practically empty and sooo quiet and the train conductor is walking along shutting all the doors. That slam door sound on those trains I miss the most!
I always seem to live within the sound of church bells. ATM, this includes bell ringing practice every Wednesday 7pm-9pm. Can be a pain during a hot summer with the windows open. Ah, to be in England. :)
Just be thankful you don't live near a mosque.
I think for me when I came back to the UK after living abroad it was church bells. Oh god - no pun intended - I hated them as a kid as my parents house was near the church and woke me up - now I love them.
Oh yes definitely church bells. All peals are different and all equally welcome at practise midweek evenings, Sunday service or weddings😊
Instead of saying "hiya, you alright?" I always just say "alright" with a little nod instead.
Sounds that remind me of England is the sound of SeaGulls in the morning ( I live in Cornwall .. It's relentless but also nice )
Also what i find funny is when two people both say .. Hey ! You Alright ? ... And neither of them actually say how they are haha.
Re magpies, its said to bad luck for the lone Magpie as they are normally in pairs.
That cinema music takes me back 🙃 I love the sound of
Crows (my favourite bird song) lawn mowers, ice cream vans, music for ITV 10pm news (reminds me of laying bed as a child while mum and dad watched the 10pm news in the living room) theme music for Top of the pops, I'm instantly taken back to Thursday evenings in the 70s/80s
❤ I live close to the sea so get the seagulls screeching at 3.30am in the summertime 🙄
The hello/goodbye one is such a southern thing. Come further up north (For example I live in Stoke) and that "Hiya, you alright?" becomes "Ay up, duck yer orate?". And the "See ya later, bye, bye" becomes "See yer in a bit, duck t'ra".
🤣 Such a mix up throughout the country, but everyone would understand, at least most would. I love it.
The Magpie thing probably goes back a 1000 years. The greeting varies regionally - where I grew up it was "Good Morning Captain"
The sound of Big Ben and I don’t even live in London. 🤷♀️. I live outside Southampton. We get the occasional Spitfire fly over; all over goosebumps! Blackbirds singing in the garden on a summer evening. 😍😍😍
PS RAIN ON THE WINDOW! Will summer ever turn up🤦♀️
Our farmhouse was close to the byre ( at one time the buildings were all in a continuous line) . In winter when you came home late and drew up to the back door , on switching the car engine off you'd hear the gentle clinking of the cows chains in the byre. In summer time it would be all quite as it would still be light and they'd be out in the fields anyway.
Yes, the lovely blackbirds with their yellow beaks. They have a very beautiful song.
I have heard the Pearl and Dean music at the cinema for as long as I can remember, and I am 56.
Pearl & Dean was spot on! Been hearing it since the early 60s, and yes, it says 'Cinema' to me! Great episode!
"Last orders please!" - do they even say that now? That used to be the call at 22:50 before the pubs stopped serving at 23:00.
Wasn't it "last call for alcohol"? 😁
@@priscillas.5314 It was the last orders for all drinks. At 11pm they allowed you 20 minutes to finish your drinks, then everybody had to leave as the pub was closing for the night. Some pubs did lock the doors with customers still in, and served after time illegally. This was known as a lock-in.
Great video Alanna! Lots of train references, that will please a certain part of your audience 😂
👀😂
The children’s TV show (as mentioned in other comments) in the 1970s used to do some fund raising from their viewers and they would buy minibuses for Mencap. In the late 1980s I did some work for Mencap and drove around in a very well worn minibus with the Magpie logo on the side.
The pearl and dean cinema theme was sampled by Goldbug in their 1996 cover version of "Whole Lotta Love", which peaked at number 3 in the UK Singles Chart and is credited with the resurgence of retro easy music in British popular culture in the 90s through to the 2000s.
QI. TY.
Sail on by - the last thing on Radio 4 at night . Before you mock - Jarvis Cocker requested on Desert Island Discs.!
It's actually called "Sailing By" and was written by Ronald Binge in 1963. It's original use by the BBC was as an easily recognised station identifier for BBC Radio 4 to alert sailors that the shipping forecast was imminent.
Thank you. Yes I agree, the Pearl and Dean jingle is a classic. Here are mine. Elgar, Walton and Vaughan Williams, skylarks singing aloft on a Spring day, the high pitched squeak of a shrew in a hedgerow, a song thrush singing at dawn and the drone of insects on a summer evening. Now those lovely sounds we don't hear anymore - the BBC theme music for Screen Test and gallery theme for Vision On, the mechanical clunk of a cartridge player switching tracks, the tinkling of a block bell in a railway signal box, wind whistling through telegraph wires, a passenger train passing over jointed rails, heavy lorries double clutching on a hill, the rapid shuttling of a weaving loom; and the grind and swish of a windmill at work, ah bliss
The Vision On theme is called 'Left Bank Two' by The Noveltones
That bird sound reminds me of being a teen/early 20s coming home from a night out, drunk, happy, been a good night blissfully ignorant of the rotten hangover I’m about to experience 😂 good times haha
I LOVE the black bird at 3.30am I adore the socks of him
The bells that used to be on small shop doors; a physical bell not some electronic chime or buzz. Haven't heard one for ages and I've bought one for my own front door instead of an electronic doorbell. It's more like the old servant's bell you'd see in Upstairs Downstairs with a bell on a coiled spring and a pull-cord.
Also milk bottles rattling in their crates as they were being delivered. Oh yeah! Skylarks! Doesn't feel like summer til you hear a skylark. And Sid James' laugh.
After watching this Channel for a few years - Alanna's voice now reminds me of England when I am abroad!
I still recall the sound of the now defunct bus conductor's ticket machine dispenser, as the 'clippie' rotated the handle! Can't describe it tho' 🧐
I've only been to the UK once for a week long vacation, and the most iconically British sound I would instantly recognize from that trip is ironically "Annie" the automated announcer in UK railway stations haha. Also "see it, say it, sorted" haha
We get owls, wood pigeons, black birds, thrushes, even an occasional peacock and crow making rackets near my bedroom window.
Yeah, lets see how much you love Seagulls!!! Especially if you have open bins outside your bedroom at Christmas.
The postal or 1st edition newspaper trains (discontinued) in the early hours when living in Runcorn (near Liverpool).
Great video! For me it's not a sound but the smell of the underground, not pleasant necessarily but it's definitely "Ah yes, back in London!"
As someone born and bred in the UK I can honestly say that I NEVER heard that 'Good Morning Mr Magpie' thing until I was in my late 20's when my girlfriend of the time uttered it and I looked at her like she'd gone mad. She insisted it was a commonly used expression but, after asking around, I never found anyone else who'd heard it either...
I think it is a southern thing
@@lucylane7397 You might well be right, I grew up in the North West near Manchester, could indeed by a South thing!
I've never heard of it either and I live in the Midlands. Definitely a southern expression
I'm in the north west near Manchester too and I've known this saying all my life!
@@ShelleyNuttingnot a southern thing, it's used all over, but is quite uncommon these days.
Oh yes Pearl and Dean, it was so wholesome and brilliant being able to go the cinema after lockdown and hearing that jingle again. I don’t even know what Pearl and Dean do, but you know the lights are about to go down for 2hrs and you’re ready for the film❤️
There used to be a kid's programme on TV called Magpie. That is where I learned the song. Later in life I earned the nickname Magpie because I hoarded stuff.................😜
Looking at the train clip made me think of Ben Elton and “double seat, double seat, got to get a double seat “
I am also in my 50's
Wade ashore through the ripples of the piss lake
Alanna, when ever I get on a train these days I'm always worried that the announcement will say " Welcome aboard, this is the South Eastern train service to Hell"🤣 . Also look up the story about the Mind the gap announcement a Embankment Tube station in London, it will bring a tear to your eye.
Love this my friend...whenever i see a Magpie....always say..
"Good morning/evening hows your wife and family....love Canadian's my dear friend Emma married a Canadian..they live in Toronto....been twice including their wedding...
Love how Canadian's..need their " caffeee"...and say "sure" all the time...yeah you do...
Hope you stay happy with us all here in uk...
God bless xx
I believe Perl & Dean are an advertising agency, and the jingle has been on in British cinemas since at least the 70's. The best bit was the post-localised ads, where there was a generic 'south east' narration with a sudden edit to a different voice for the name of the local service such as an Indian Restaurant or some-such.
My family and I immigrated to America when I was 16, so I went back to high school (even though I had finished in England) In the school hallways everyone would say Hi as I walked by, and of course, I was saying HiYa. After a few weeks I decided to start saying Hi and I must say it was so much easier. 😁
Other things like The Speaking Clock, dial 123 (not sure from a mobile) on a landline to get the exact time in the UK in an RP accent. There is a rhyme which even as old as I am still say when eating cherries. Once you are left with the discarded stones you count them by saying 'Tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor, rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief.
It used to be TIM(e) or 846 I think therefore the speaking clock was called Tim.
@@caw25sha Thanks. I've just dialled it out of curiosity and it's a female voice, although I do remember a man and him saying 'The time sponsored by Accurist is...'
Just started watching but if 'the pips' on the hour on Radio 4 isn't included I am rioting.
I don't listen to the radio 💔
@@AdventuresAndNaps blasphemy (joking, well, half joking)
... And the Big Ben bongs!
@@AdventuresAndNaps Then we need an "I listened to Radio 4 for a week" video...
@@AdventuresAndNaps I am a little disappointed Alanna that one of the sounds that reminds you of living here was not:
'Innit bruv'!
Or someone calling you a 'bint'!
Great video 👍 I remember the sound of the old train train doors and the smell will never be
experienced by new generations 😊
The sound of Doves sounds like Wood Pigeons to me. The Magpies we have here are Eurasian Magpies. All birds have their own birdsong... which is why they used to sell vinyl record albums of birdsong .
Birds have accents, different songs in different places.
Doves are pigeons. Dove is the Saxon word, pigeon is the Old French. Same thing.
@@AutoReport1 Fair enough. I still have never heard anyone call a Wood Pigeon a Dove .
Wood Pigeons or Collared Doves are the most likely.
@@shaunw9270 They aren't the same thing, not in the way AutoReport 1 implies. They are very close and belong to the same bird family but the name dove is given to the smaller varieties and pigeon to the larger ones. So there is a difference, even if it's not much. 🙂
One for sorrow, two for mirth, three for a funeral, four for a birth. That's the magpie rhyme I first knew, although I am aware there are several different ones, that's still my favourite.
If you want to hear a very unique Magpie song then look up the Austrlian Magpie. It is more of a warble than a usual birdsong.
My favourite reminder of trips to Canada are the sounds of their train horns when I hear them on films or TV. They are so much better (haunting) than the wounded cow sounds you hear on our South Eastern trains (I live in the South East next to a level crossing so hear them frequently).
I love hearing people saying yeah, yeah, yeah, throughout a conversation. I smiled whenever I heard it while I was there. Also, mind the gap. Cheerio. I didn't think anyone ever really said cheerio, I thought it was just from old movies or plays.
See a magpie when out cycling, I say 'Good morning Captain' - don't do the salute though
The whistling sound of a kettle coming to the boil
That’s a dove outside your window 💕 lovely call. We were in London a year ago this week and these sounds make me very homesick for England!! I would add the courting sound of pigeons in the spring, that low rumbling bumbling of the males as they crowd around a female
I love the sound of pigeons & doves. Are you a light sleeper or summat, Alanna ? They don't wake me up. They often perch on chimneys and the sound is louder because it carries down the chimney.
Lovely! Pearl and Dean - very sensitively spotted. How about "Time Gentlemen Please" and its variants? I do enjoy your videos!
I visited Great Britain 15 years ago on a 21 day driving tour and fell in love with it. Sadly, I haven't been back due to ill health. What really caught my attention were the same words in England meaning something a bit different in the U.S. Dust bin for example. Not used here. I grew up in a midwestern state. A waste paper basket meant "dust bin". Garbage meant kitchen waste. Trash meant useless stuff tossed into the "garbage dump'. Trash also means litter not in a waste container. I just think so many words meaning the same but don't is interesting.
Platform Souls ( Poem on the Underground )
It’s an unloved piece of platform,
Where the punters never stand;
Each with eager expectation,
And their baggage in their hand.
For, as the train comes rushing in
And its doors swish open wide,
The travellers queue right next to them
To squeeze on for a ride.
But the platform in between the queues,
Is hardly used and bare.
Still, it stops some *Gaps* appearing -
So I’m glad that it’s ALL there !
The football results on a Saturday afternoon on 5 Live. Not even a massive football fan but could listen to them forever.
Unexpected item in the bagging area ! I love that one . When I hear it I am reminded of the need for human beings
I grew up in Port Hope, Ontario and heard Mourning Doves cooing all the time in summer.
Oh no! What were the poor doves mourning?
I love a bit of Pearl and Dean 😂 In all seriousness I totally agree with you
You know you are truly Britishised when you sing along to the Pearl and Dean tune as you hear it!
Whoever wrote the theme tune to Farscape must have been a fan of the tune. I always wondered what it reminded me of and, listening out of context, I now realise it's the Pearl and Dean music :)
Hiya. Before your time, well before, at the cinema, the intro music to 'Pathe News'. And the most common sound, of course, rain on the roof or against the windows. Stay safe. All the best to you.
I love the sound of rain no matter where or when, even when it's on the metal rooftop of the workshops, and I know that I'm going to get soaked going home!
I adore the smell of rain in the summertime and the sounds of nature when the downpour is over and the sun comes out.
pearl and dean is a classic, i remember it and see it still and have been seeing since the 80's... and it was prob from long before that.
We have a bunch of weird songs for animals in England. I still hear my Nan singing "Shoo fly, don't bother me" any time I see one.
Milton Jones used to joke "My grandparents are Pearl and Dean - or as we call them, Grandma and Grandpa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-papapa"
There,s a lot more to the Magpie song than you might think. The Unthanks sing "Magpie" at the BBC Folk Prom 2018
When you walk through a storm, hold your head up high and don't be afraid of the rain. At the end of the storm there's a golden sky and the sweet silver song of the lark. YNWA. You are watching LFC
Hold tight please followed by the TING of the bell as the bus move off. Never heard HIYA all over the country until recently. In the fifties, Good Morning or similar was used but up north Hiya was heard, especially in Liverpool area.
Having lived in Ireland for 6 years, I totally agree with the station announcements. Always find them strangely comforting when I travel from Victoria to Margate when I visit friends and family. Actually getting off at Margate is a different story lol.