A journey in a jaguar car with Mr G. Eyles of Institute of Advanced Motoring. London to Bath. Driving through various towns such as Reading, Theale, Newbury, Hungerford Marlborough, Calne and Chippenham
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.
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 🇬🇧👎🏻
@@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.
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.
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.
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.
@@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.
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” !
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.
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 RU-vid account for it to upload this video from
One has to love these random RU-vid 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?
@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.
"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.
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.
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!.
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’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
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!
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. 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 .
@@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;-)
@ 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
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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!
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.
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.
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
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.
I remember driving back in 1963 and had forgotten how quiet it was on the roads. Not sure blowing the horn to move a vehicle out of the lane would go down well these days.
I wouldn't use the horn that way except as a last resort. Start politely with the right signal. Then flash to pass. Then maybe horn if they're persistent road hogs.
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.
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.
"Pull over to let this police car pass. They seem to be in a hurry." All points bulletin: we've run out of doughnuts. That was just a great trip. Superb driving intelligence and courtesy, lovely scenery, spotted a boozer in Marlborough (miniature Parthenon pillars - description, not nomenclature) where me and a few work mates broke up the return leg of a day at Ascot races circa early '90s.
We're In 2020 now, and I still recognized Pell street in reading, wow....even though it's in black and white...and in 1963... I really am surprised, good old days...
