All those Bristol factories have long since disappeared, Wood head route closed, automated marshalling yards superceded by freightliners. Brave new world of the BTC gave us some fascinating films, all praise to Edgar Ansty. Thanks for uploading.
Amazing how the film makers managed to get ordinary folk to act normally without looking into the camera or smiling inappropriately - looking for five minutes of fame.
Those poor blokes. Just returned from war, then work underground, doing dangerous, life shortening back breaking work for a pittance. No respirators, no ear defenders, no safety glasses...Now to be told that they were 'privileged' and immigrants built Britain. How ungrateful we are to these brave heroic men to allow their memory and sacrifice to be denigrated.
These films were just propaganda soft power the reality were people living in slums with no working rights and very little money working in terrible conditions
If this film doesn't prove how wrong the Politicians have been creating a service industry economy with little manufacturing I don't know what will. The trouble is it will be the working people who trusted Politicians who will suffer the most.
I'm sure you wouldn't mind paying double or triple prices for everyday commodities, but I would. We buy from overseas to take advantage of their cheap labour, we don't have cheap labour. So how do you want it?
@@davidgreenwood5241 we can't have it both ways, I know it's far from ideal but if we bring back manufacturing, expect huge price increases. I certainly don't have the answers other than to say, be careful what you wish for.
@@johnathandaviddunster38 I'm guessing you're finding diversity such a rewarding success.... Luton, Wolverhampton, Southall and Slough, to name but a few, are such shining examples of cultural integration, whereby the incoming peoples have improved their local environment, beautifully renovated their houses, barely need to thrust themselves on the NHS or benefit office and of course, have lowered the crime rate appreciably. Diversity - bring it on!
@@VickersDoorterThe NHS would barely exist were it not for the West Indian immigrants who staffed it... so all you racists would have been Rickety and dying of TB.
Great footage! Seeing The cross channel ferry Maid of Orleans brought back a fond memory of my dad taking me to France for the first time and we went on that ferry in early 70s. My dad was working on the SS Lord Warden in 1956 sailing across to Dover in heavy fog and they hit another ship pushing the Lord Warden bow in badly but she stayed afloat . Thanks for sharing this !.
Dad did that back in the day. He hauled a lot of fresh fish into the markets like Hull, and Grimsby from various ports in Scotland depending on where the trawlers where landing. It was an interesting life for a young school boy. I’d help him fold the tarps while he shouted about how useless I was. I loved every minute of it. The fish would be packed in big reusable wooden boxes with crushed ice, covered with tarps, and an all night drive from places like Ardrossan. I’d watch him work his magic with the ropes, everything would be nice and tidy. With fresh fish, the ropes would get wet, and the hemp would get into your skin. Buy the end of the summer I’d have working man’s hands, and a cornucopia of swear words that would make me popular among the lads in the playground. Hey ! How are you going to learn good behaviour if you can’t measure it up against some bad behaviour. Comes down to how far the needle swings. I’m 71 now, we left Scotland in 65, just before the fishing industry collapsed, I’ve been a truck driver the majority of my working life, still doing it part time, but closer to home. Most drivers these days don’t know what a hard days work is. Or know how to drive a truck for that matter.
On lorries that were so gutless they would pass out at the site of a hill & praised by so many “dim witted drivers” who would always sprout that they never go wrong. Indeed they did as there was nothing much to go wrong as they were so basic.
@@gegwen7440 how much power did they need to roll along at the speed limit of 30 mph over roads and bridges built by the Romans. Vacuum brakes, and mechanical levers. There was the fleet owners who counted every penny they consumed, who where still lamented giving up on horses. Dad started out working for a man who had 150 draft horses, wouldn’t pay to use antifreeze, they had to drain the radiator and engine block every night.
Good old days the 1950s. I was between 12 & 22 during that era. It was all labour intensive. The transport age most exciting for me, in that time I progressed from rabid train, bus & British Road Service number collecting to working on the railway & National Service. The next decade was even better because I encountered the most wonderful thing that ever happened to me as shorty after demob I met my future wife {Marilyn) of over 55 years before she reverted back to our true home out there in the universe. The old lads back when I was an apprentice always fondly remembered the 20s & 30s despite the hard times & I am left to reflect on those years following the second war. I wouldn't swap that for all the riches of the world.
A very enjoyable film - as one who was born in 1951, there are a lot of happy memories here! Note, though, how the then up-to-date technology of Whitemoor Yard contrasts with the antiquated four-wheeled goods wagons still in use at that time...
Imagine how much these infrastructure projects cost back then. Now the politicians are too busy stealing the nations wealth whilst we are a much wealthier country than post war Britain was then. MPs think we are all dumb and haven't noticed. 😂
The building part was unimportant; the great achievement has been to transfer lots of taxpayers money into the pockets of the already wealthy; bit like the covid PPE.
Watching this optimistic piece of social history, it's easy to forget that, post WW2, the country was almost bankrupt and desperate to get back on its feet. I was a kid in the 1950s and remember the grey austerity that was the reality of growing up during this period. I did, however, enjoy the film. it was fascinating.
Yes me too. I remember the optimism of those days despite hard and dangerous work, in many areas, pride was taken. Far fewer couch potatoes, no lounging about.
In the days when there was a working transport infrastructure, where everyone benifited. Shame successive Governments have sold everything off to Hedge Funds, who only care about money and not providing a service.
@@henrygingold6549 Mostly yes Conservatives, mainly because they always want something for nothing. Unfortunately Tony Blair's government was as bad, especially when it came to awarding PFI contracts.
@@vikingsmbyeah both parties are virtually the same. it seems to be more of a class thing. these politicians think that they are better than us. they are malignant narcissists . no morals, ethics or standards. unscrupulous. career politicians never worked a real day's work in their life.
Hello from Finland. This was really nice to see how well everything went those days. That one man who run between the cars braking them was an awfully dangerous job to do. What I love, is the odor of London Underground.
ALL i remember as a kid growing up in the 1950s was how dirty the trains were and going to London people always refereed as going up to the smoke and a day in london you needed a bath on return home
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Because they avoided filming the things that didn't.
That was the point of the film - to hide the grime, inefficiency and slums and to present a false image of efficiency and success at every turn. I know better; I was there!
Wonder how many men you would get to work like that to day yes I know modern technology taken over no need for lots of men woman to do some of the job's done then hard work but happier times ..........
Those old time shunting yards have now all gone and those men had to be fit to chase after those wagons.Its was a time if you ordered something to be delivered via mail order it could easily take a month for it to arrive. Times and transport have changed so much that we tend to moan if we haven't received the item the day after ordering. But that's all about progress. Thanks for uploading the quality of the footage is excellent
Machines are all very well, but you can't beat the working man or woman on the ground. A great era of camaraderie back then, with most in employment. I knew it well.🎉
The streets looked so clean. People getting on with their work. We've lost so much. When compared to today's society of benefits scrounging, working from home and the place overrun with illegals costing us all a fortune. I really do despair. Come another 70 years I forecast society will have collapsed.
I have been hearing that for over 70 years. Get the same story from every generation. The quicker they get the asylum people processed and into work the better. The country will benefit from them paying tax.
Really good quality film - i don't know if it has been enhanced digitally, but it looks so sharp and bright. Anyway, the content is so optimistic and confident. A great sort of recruitment film. Especially like the topographical map.
For my family and many more , we were very poor and life was grim with very little money . I remember when we had a chicken to eat for the first time . We all of use to work hard including my self at the age of 6 . Today life is much much better !
I like seeing tram and train lines reopening in systems that were torn up because of ‘progress’. Replaced exactly the same at the cost of billions and were only ripped up in the late 60s and early 70s. I suppose ‘Great ideas’ are meant to flow both ways.
It was before de-industrialisation 70s-80s, 90s and then the 21st century. Happier days eh? And not forgetting Richard Beaching with the railways, in the 60s.
this story was told to me many yrs ago by a BRS DRIVER he said it was a cold foggy night he was loaded with vegetables as he arrived in Covent Garden market a chap jump of the top of his load who`s name was known locally as burglar Bill Dennis thanking him for the lift walked of saying he need to get of our town without being seen this would have been mid 1950`s
Three generations of my family worked at Hanson Haulage before and after it became British Road Services but that was when we had textile and engineering manufacturing in Huddersfield - God bless Margret Thatcher......
The guys running alongside the wagons to put the brakes on was a very dangerous job and there were deaths and injuries involved in this job, it was known for being very dangerous
No Hi viz clothing ! but makes no difference with the waggons rolling down the hump ! , still risky job now as corners sometimes get cut to get job done faster
Not everybody has gone, my father drove for BRS in the Late 50's / 60's after years in the Army as a Regular, We are lucky enough to still have him with us at 92 years old. Thanks to the chap who uploaded this, he will love it.👍🏻
Cities grow (18:09)..... street shots of a "busy city" with half-empty roads, mostly bikes, walkers, and busses moving freely. The mass adoption of the car was some time away.
I'm doing fine. nice house, car, well educated hard working kids. Certainly far better off than my parents were at the time of this film. And I'm not exceptional by any means, just an ordinary bloke living my life, most of you seem to be bots attempting to disillusion people and cause trouble where there isnt any.
@@davedixon2068It's easy to look back with rose tinted glasses. As a youngster back in the '50s & '60s I wouldn't have appreciated the hardship my parents faced. Like you I've done okay. I'm not rich, but not destitute either. But I do think we are heading for times where younger people will be less well off than their parents.
@@astrecks no rose tinted glasses here, I was brought up by parents with not very much who worked very hard to give us a good start. I worked hard to help my kids, and they are doing the same for theirs. Is it going to be easy no, but then it never has been nor will be.
It’s amazing how everything looks and so organised and clean, now with mass immigration and crime and the streets being turned into refugee camps, the good old days of the 1950s looks like heaven compared to today
@@daydays12 because they can’t get along with the new countries that they now reside in, London, Paris and other European cities are now crime infested hot spots and they refuse to follow the rules and customs of the host countries and this has nothing to do with racism but with mass immigration that is changing the face of Europe.
Ahh! An insight into the days before global warming. You can tell there is very little sunshine. because everyone in the film is pasty white, not a sun tan to be seen!
Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London claims "Britain was built by immigrants and has always been multi-cultural". In this film we can clearly see that Britain was built by native Britons with very little, if any, help from immigrants. Films like this should be shown in every school to counter the nonsense being indoctrinated into children today.
The canals and railways were built by Irish navvies and the NHS and the transport systems were manned by West Indian immigrants. Just because they took care to avoid filming us didn't mean we weren't there. And films like this were shown in schools back then, but unlike the contemporary racists, we were smart enough to understand that these were promotional films that hid the grimier truth.
@@noneofyourbeeswax01 Canals and railways were built by more English than anyone else. West Indian migrants accounted for less than 1% of the workforce.
With today ‘s “ rewriting “ of history according to the most radical Marxist canons , documentaries like this are considered racist and discriminatory when in fact the complete opposite is true !! By then immigrants were nothing more than the 0. Something of the British population, AS EVERYONE KNOWS BUT REFRAINS TO OPENLY SAY !!!!
That was an unexpected scene at Garelochead with- I'm assuming - the Aquitania. The scene immediately before is just as striking of Ben Lomond in the middle from the approx South looking like an Olympic podium with three flat tops.
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Thanks. I wondered which ship that was. An impressive sight with four funnels.
Yes certainly looks like the RMS Aquitania. Scrapped at Faslane 1950-51 after 35 years of service, including in both World Wars and sailing 3 million miles. Pity it couldn't have been preserved.
Infrastructure should be nationalised. Today's water supply and treatment, rail, road and electric systems are in a state of collapse and cost a fortune as the shareholders and directors pocket billions every year.
The tide of work injuries was never mentioned. No dust masks, hard hats, ear protection. No gloves, safety boots, or protective clothes is just a sign that working people were expendable back then. My father was riddled by work injuries and died in pain ten years early.
Never could understand why governments seem to promote deindustrialisation. Farming and industry are the lifeblood of any economy, there really is nothing else even close for sustainable growth and job security along with food security.
My grandfather and great grandfather both worked on these tunnels as drivers including coach and horses and pulled out many dead and casualties on these tunnels . Lived in Dukenfield and Godley junction before moving to Glossop where they were eventually laid to rest . ..many stories .. RIP .
