I hear you I'm 43 myself. I use to travel from old kent road to trocadero with friends. I remember hearing trocadero's craziness from within the train station down below. It was amazing and so full of life.
Meetoo, I was 18 back then. I’d drive in from Grays most weekends during 6th Form, just to buy cd singles in the multitude of record shops, have a slap up meal, and maybe pay £9 to see a film at the Empire or Odeon. Such optimistic times! Piccadilly is now a shit show of tack and souvenir shops. Remember how popular Trocadero was with Sega World and the shops. The building’s been empty for God-knows-how-long now, and a colleague said the council have approved plans to turn it into a mosque!?
@@qewfsdsd65445 all the buildings? There are plenty of buildings in view that are definitely 20th century, including one that I worked in, so not sure what relevance that might have in terms of a city changing beyond architecturally, which isn’t what most people refer to when they say how much things have changed.
@@shaunsteele8244 apex of civilisation was years ago. we now have front row seats at the collapse of the west and being at the mercy of the east. does not bode well (read up on chinas century of shame at the hand of the british. They'll be loving whats coming).
London is way better now. You have diverse community which means that the sesh is propa auetntic. Me and the fellas can have sesh in Hckney then go to queer chem sex party down the mosque. Fookin tae wee patter
I was working in Piccadilly back in 1998, so this is so familiar. The scary thing is I still recognise some of the window displays. Anyone remember Foyles bookshop in the 90s when it was still a dingy (but always fascinating) secondhand bookshop?
Yes! The old Foyles was like a never ending hive of books piled all over the place. I remember the character it had through its untidiness. I found a few gems just lying in piles which I don't think I'd have found if looking for them on ordered shelves.
I worked in Foyles 96 to 97. Good times. I was interviewed for the job by Christina Foyle in her apartment above the shop. Danny LaRue used to park his Roller in the loading bay at times.
@@davidmccann9811 I did it back to front: Virgin Megastore, HMV, then Tower. 🙂 Edit - late 80s, I have to include Stateside comic book shop after Virgin Megastore (I think it was part of the store then?)
I did the same thing. Whenever I had a week off work in which I didn't go abroad I would usually take a day-trip to London and spend a lot of time in the Trocadero playing the arcade games. I was very sad when that arcade was no more.
I was 14yrs old that year and I can remember the group stages of the world Cup. My little brother was born that year and he's about to turn 26. It feels like yesterday to me.
No multi cultural in other words not from England, unenriching mobile black letter boxes for one thing etc etc etc!!! Frigging tragedy what's been done to London and the rest of England!!! Cheers anyway!!!
Tony Blair opened the doors to mass-migration, just because people aren't carrying guns it doesn't mean they aren't equivalent to an army. Open borders and lax laws around immigrants will inevitably lead to the destruction of what was your country.
People with cameras are always criticised, always the subject of scorn, always unwelcome, then one day those same scorning unwelcoming critics turn around and praise those with the foresight to record history, a naked unfiltered history free of bias, free of agenda, free of politics. So which one is it? Are cameras bad or good? The critics have no answer
This was the London of my youth. I lived in the suburbs and around this time used to commute daily to the city for work. I rarely visit now when I do it's surprising how much it has changed (not for the better) in the intervening years. It isn't a huge amount of time in the scheme of things but enough for extremely noticeable differences. The world then seemed full of hope and possibility maybe it was the flush of youth but I think there was more to it than that. The place had feeling of the past but also an amazing future. Now it feels lost almost a pre apocalyptic. Thank you for posting and allowing me to remember happier and better times.
Maybe you briefly time-slipped back into 1998, before looking again 10 seconds later and realising there was no leaking water.....and the container was nowhere to be seen!!!
I was 22 in 1998... I remember all of that from studying around there... Things were much more quaint back then, and it's not even that long ago... A time when London was owned by Londoners... Not foreign countries... Thanks very much for the footage! X
Watching this 25yrs on is pretty nuts, was walking through Covent Garden 2 days ago, absolutely packed compared to 1998, the building upgrades in this footage were worth it!
Seeing the neon signs in Piccadilly Circus seems very strange now. The Sanyo one was so iconic and was at one point the only remaining neon sign left until its removal in 2011.
I was 21 in 1998. I honestly think the late 90s were the peak. We had enough technological advances but not so many that we didn’t still require a human touch. It was pre social media, pre smartphones. People had time for each other. Pubs and clubs were packed, the economy was getting better. Holidays were cheap, as were houses. I am so happy I lived through this time.
A lot of what you're describing there is just being young. I too was 21 in 1998. It was a period of prosperity and optimism, no doubt. But it was all built on a huge credit bubble that was waiting to burst. It was artificial. Of course, we didn't know that at the time and it seemed like we were moving into a much happier universe. It was very much the definition of a "fool's paradise," looking back.
I left the north east to go and work in London in 1998, I worked as a plumbers mate in the Royal Opera House pictured around the 3 minute mark. It doesn't seem that long ago to me but it was a quarter of a century ago now, how time flies. Thanks for sharing the video!
Wow, I worked at Cafe Pasta in Covent Garden in the 90s, it is like going back in time when London had character, now it is just like any other city. I miss that time greatly 😔
I only remember it from the 80s. It looked very empty to me in 1998...in 1980 l was 13 and worked on Berwick st market. I often had to do small deliveries ti restaurants on a barrow to Covent garden, Piccadili circus etc.. Neal st was where most of londons Old market barrows were leased from and repaired.
Felt so safe walking the streets then. When I come back London seems so much more aggressive. The class and style has gone. Also where have all the white people gone?
Britain had a spring in its step, the pound was rising in value,wages rising, economy growing and rents/ house prices were affordable. Avg house prices in London was only 3-4 times the average income. Now it's 12x the average income!
I worked just off Regents Street for 9 years in the 90s. I loved it around there. I remember a Dunkin Donuts next to Burger King, that must have been after this film. I'm sure there was a pizza land or something like that along there somewhere. It had a great all you can eat salad buffet.
I worked in Trafalgar Sq at that time so walked all these streets most days. On my lunch break, out for drinks after work, weekend shopping jaunts (especially Tower Records!) Happy memories of an easier time. Thanks.
@@ok2760 Before mobile phone screen zombies, pre digital, pre widespread use of internet, before social media, pre mass immigration. This has all changed the culture and people indigenous to these isles.
Actually Indian immigrants began arriving to the U.K. in large numbers from the 1950's-1970's, towards the end of the last century there were 1,500,000 British-Indians in London; I am one such British-Indian who was born in London 50 years ago.
@@airkuna It is, evidently, a time encapsulated to some extent, and it is an important historical record, because ALL historical records are important, so what exactly is your problem?
@@airkuna So much of London has changed architecturally. Not to mention how much busier it is and how people are on phones all the time. Plus the fashion and the shops and the cars etc in this era This shows how it was, therefore it is an important historical record. That is a factual statement.
I enjoyed the film. Though I did go a bit giddy with the camera shaking and quick pans around. I did love to see mostly my people and no third world inhabitants on the streets. I was there last October and couldn't believe the amount of people now in these areas. It almost made me feel claustrophobic. I think that London 1998 was still a great place to live and visit. In the early 2000's it changed rapidly. And not for the better. Thank you for the film and taking me down memory lane ❤
Loved working in soho in the late 90s, I worked on Great Chapel Street which was later demolished for the crossrail project, used to drink at The Bath House pub which sadly also no longer exists. Funnily the company I worked for (Metro Soho) has a van that appears in this video but I can't make out the driver which would have been one of my colleagues.
Great video, i drank in The Crown for many many years, the Rough Trade record store was in a basement just down the street as well. The Coach and Horses pub and The French House in Soho are still great pubs to this day.
The artistic or creative small things like the water tubes, the metal gate that has writing on it that consists of its bar. The ambience I remember from my childhood, though I was only 4 in 1998, makes me feel like the internet is such an effective numbing agent that maybe it takes away from some visual creativity we might have use to crave in our surroundings.
@@georgemulford2910 While my support for Blair ended in 2002; the bottom line is that Blair raised funds for vital public services which he fully funded; he also modernised the way those public services were accessed. He also raised funds and paid for major public infrastructure projects which also benefited various industries. During Blair and Brown's reign London was booming and London looked great, people were optimistic. Lastly Blair raised U.K.'s standing on the global stage. Whereas the Tories have done the diametric-opposite.
I work in Seven Dials now and can honestly say from this video to now, not much has changed. Nostalgia merchants on full show in the comments. I guess me being born in 1998 has a completely different outlook, and thank god for that!
It's true. People (lefties and libs) don't wanna hear it, call us far right blah blah blah, but it's true. This is who we once were and it's sad and disgusting that london and our identities have been destroyed. Glad these days were mine.
Labour had only been in office for a year and hadn't put their, open door policy in action yet. Britain hadnt illegally invaded other countries, causing catastrophic unrest in the middle east. Blair had not tied us, hand and foot to Europe, with his eyes on being its president.
Hey, I want to do a comparison video showing how things looked before and how they are now. Could I use some of your footage in it? I'd really appreciate your permission and would give you proper credits.
14:36 sounds like a disembodied voice saying 'Hey Jim!'. It didn't have the louder fuller tones of a human voice. Some of the older analog equipment like old camcorder are better at capturing spirit voices. I love old VHS recordings.
The days before everyone was glued to their mobile phones or iPads and before idiots were whizzing round on their scooters. No Just Eat drivers either. No ULEZ or Low Traffic Neighbourhoods. The London population was just over 7 million in ‘98 compared to 9 million today. It looks cleaner and more open. And a distinct lack of diversity…..🤔
I was born in London back in July 1974; I am in the opinion that London was at it's best during the 90's and 10 years into the 21st century; since 2010 successive Tory governments have contributed to London's decline. As I am a London Underground enthusiast my all-time favourite Underground trains were in service before the turn of the century, some old ones existed after that albeit in refurbished condition which didn't appeal to me.
Lived in London 1996-1999 and worked all over for High Street stalwart- the best time of my life, it’s become such a hassled dump since 2000 - so much so that I haven’t been back since the pandemic, and my remaining friends there insist on coming down to the South West to escape it.
It's interesting what I did not notice. No Starbucks on every corner. And no exotic cars. Did not see any Ferraris, Lambourginnis etc. Just regular small cars. I wonder why ?
