Video London Transport in the 1960s

Dan Randall

Western Thunderer
Just watched this cracking film about London Transport in the 1960s....

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIgORp3Rvuc&ved=2ahUKEwiU8a-u2YzkAhWDLFAKHfLEAyEQo7QBMAB6BAgAEAI&usg=AOvVaw01aOdLUNlXp9-BZwqFWxV0


It was twenty minutes of pure nostalgia for me and reminded me of childhood trips to the capital with my parents to places like Regents Park Zoo, The Science Museum, St. Paul's Cathedral and Tower Bridge. The tube trains, buses, cars, lorries, buildings and fashions - it was all just, in my opinion, so much nicer then.

Whether you remember London in the 1960s or not, this film will take you back to a colourful, post-war Britain, where men wore shirts & ties, women wore pretty dresses and tattoos, or rings through nostrils (ugh!), would only be seen on Hell's Angels and farm animals. I feel privileged to have been there.


Regards

Dan
 
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djparkins

Western Thunderer
Just watched this cracking film about London Transport in the 1960s....

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIgORp3Rvuc&ved=2ahUKEwiU8a-u2YzkAhWDLFAKHfLEAyEQo7QBMAB6BAgAEAI&usg=AOvVaw01aOdLUNlXp9-BZwqFWxV0


It was twenty minutes of pure nostalgia for me and reminded me of childhood trips to the capital with my parents to places like Regents Park Zoo, The Science Museum, St. Paul's Cathedral and Tower Bridge. The tube trains, buses, cars, lorries, buildings and fashions - it was all just, in my opinion, so much nicer then.

Whether you remember London in the 1960s or not, this film will take you back to a colourful, post war Britain, where men wore shirts & ties, women wore pretty dresses and tattoos, or rings through nostrils (ugh!), would only be seen on Hell's Angels and farm animals. I feel privileged to have been there.


Regards

Dan

Dan -

Got the film on DVD but thanks for posting the link. I don't watch those old films much though as I'm not greatly given to looking back.

There was always a golden age and it was usually about fifty-sixty years before the present. If I didn't like it so much, I would resist the temptation to repeat the old quip about nostalgia not being what it used to be.

I was a trainspotter as I kid. I recall Rebuilt Merchant Navies hurtling through New Milton or Hinton Admiral on The Bournemouth Belle at over 80mph. It stirred me, but absoloutley no more than it still does to see a modern freight train on the move today. I loved railways then , and I still love them just as much today. That is how I know that those kids who still watch trains in 2019 will be every bit as excited as I was with my Bulleid Pacifics, when they see a Class 66 or a Class 70 start away with a heavy freight.

I think we also have to be careful about being nostalgic for a society where everyone was expected to conform. I think I've worn a tie three times [to funerals] since I left school - and that was in 1968! My partner has both piercings and tattoos, plus coloured streaks in her hair, and is a good, good person. An ex-ward sister on an oncology ward who still does lots of charity work. She is every bit as good a citizen as any of those people in that [IMHO] over-sentimentalised film. They sure were the 'good old days' alright - but if only if you had money or wore a straightjacket!

And was it really so colourful? Looks pretty dour to me. Of course that changed in the late sixties thankfully!

Finally, let us not forget that all the environmental problems we face today, such as climate change, loss of biodiversity etc. were all being stored up even then, just that we didn't realise it. Now we are going to pass them on to our granchildren - and they and their kids might not get the chance or the luxury to look back.

It is only my perspective of course. Others are freely available!

Posted in both good humour and in a spirit of friendliness, I hasten to add.

David Parkins
 

simond

Western Thunderer
Possibly why I never really fitted in.

Then again, the city company for whom I worked seemed to think Engineers were for fixing things...

Never mind, water under the bridge :)
Simon
 

Yorkshire Dave

Western Thunderer
I too have this on DVD and it's an excellent film. The 'shopping trip' footage is around Stevenage New Town.

I tend to watch these (as anyone modelling this era should) as they show the street furniture, street markings, fashions and general atmosphere before the 1970's and later building developments - albeit some for the better.
 

Tim Watson

Western Thunderer
An interesting little film:
Men wore ties to work
London was much darker in colour: sooty
Large newspapers were read on trains
Very few cars on the road
St Evenage looked new
Few people were overweight - many smoked
Hard hats weren’t necessary when making the Victoria Line

Tim
 

Grahame Hedges

Western Thunderer
A nice little film. Red tube trains and bus crews dressed like ice cream sellers. Women shopping in high heels. And a lack of road traffic.

But the smoking. One chap lit up a senior service still in his jimjams having not even risen from bed and started coughing. And puffing on the tubes and in offices. It's taken a while to thankfully sort that out.

G.
 
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