Vin's Screen Grabs (Update 30/12/16) - Akenfield (Suffolk, 1974)

[Shep Shepherd]

The Bristols were operated by Silver City and flew from Lydd Aerodrome, now London Lydd Airport

 

If only there was a car-plane service running out of Southend Airport today; it would save me a lot of time and aggro getting to the continent with the Volvos

[TagoraGL]

This must be the Runcorn Transporter Bridge. I'd love to have seen it.

 

 

[andrew e]

Bloody rose tinted deltic specs, have you seen how much Crap those relics spew in the air! Don't forget 'shitters can live the dream on the Woolwich ferry still for free!

[michiel]

Great stuff once again!

 

This sidecar confused me for a second or two... I thought 'that's a narrow car!'

 

 

The 1927 Bugatti 44 on Dutch plates (registered 1957) is still around, no MOT since 2006 though.

[DSdriver]

Bloody rose tinted deltic specs, have you seen how much Crap those relics spew in the air! Don't forget 'shitters can live the dream on the Woolwich ferry still for free!

Ah but don't forget that one Deltic takes a trillion trucks off the road.

I love the Woolwich Ferry, a great cheap day out if you take sandwiches. I used it sometimes instead of the Blackwall Tunnel when driving out of London after doing a night shift. The fresh air and relaxation set me up for the rest of the journey.

[Albert Ross]

Bloody rose tinted deltic specs, have you seen how much Crap those relics spew in the air! Don't forget 'shitters can live the dream on the Woolwich ferry still for free!

I was hauled by D9000 from Doncaster to Devon (albeit a small fire in Somerset) and back in July this year. I can still hear her scream!

[garethj]

Gets my vote for best Autoshite thread in recent months, thank you!

[M'coli]

Bloody rose tinted deltic specs, have you seen how much Crap those relics spew in the air! Don't forget 'shitters can live the dream on the Woolwich ferry still for free!

Earlier this year, Rio Tinto hired 55022 to haul stuff for them up in Lynemouth (which is soon to be defunct) because it was cheaper than hiring a mainline engine - this is a vid-eh-yo of it in action entitled "Clagging on the Alcan".

[gricer]

First the trains - there's clearly some confusion due to the film editing!

 

This is DP2.

 

 

This is not DP2 - it's a Class 40. Three windows on the cab is the giveaway. Deltics have two wnindows. Class 40s and 37s have three. It looks like D350, which makes it 40150. Not one of the seven survivors, sadly.

 

 

Now the planes:

 

These are Aviation Traders ATL-98 Carvairs.

 

 

They were converted from Douglas DC-4s at Southend by Freddie Laker - who owned British United before Laker Airways. They were specifically designed to give more capacity for the car ferry services (5 cars) and ran from Southend and Lydd to a variety of destinations: Le Touquet, beauvais, Ostend mainly, plus further into Europe (as on this film)

 

The hovercraft killed the air ferries - but at one point Freddie was planning an even bigger version of the Carvair called the Carvair 7 - based on a DC-7, with a 7-car capacity. Incidentally, the regular Carvair has a DC-7 fin for added stability. Of the 20-odd Carvairs built only two survive - one in the US (airworthy) and one in South Africa (potentially airworthy). I would love to see one brought back to the UK as a monument to this forgotten chapter of air travel, and to the ingenuity of Freddie Laker, a truly great innovator.

 

These are Bristol 170 Mk32 Superfreighters

 

 

This was a stretched version of the standard Bristol Freighter with a longer nose and bigger tail, designed to carry three cars. They were used on shorter routes - firstly from the grass airfield at Lympne, later from the specially built Lydd (aka "Ferryfield") airport on a high-frequency service to mainly Le Touquet and Ostend. At the peak, they were taking off every 15 minutes! They were operated by Silver City and Channel Air Bridge, which both became part of British United. Sabena of Belgium and a french airline called Compagnie Air Transport also used them.

 

Later, after BUA merged with Caledonian to form BCal, the ferry airline was sold off, morphing into British Air Ferries, then British World.

Sadly none of the Superfreighers survive - the last ones were scrapped at Coventry in the early 1970s. Several shorter Bristol Freighters still exist though.There is a splendid Airfix kit of the Superfreighter though!

 

The Argosy was something else altogether - a freighter that could be used to carry cars but wasn't in the UK. Excellent thing though, and you can see survivors at Coventry and East Midlands airports.

 

[Felly Magic]

First the trains - there's clearly some confusion due to the film editing!

 

This is DP2.

 

 

 

 

 

I thought it was. It was written off at speed when it hit the de-railed freight train at Northallerton. I believe there were several fatalities. Yes I like rail chod too, but they must be diesel powered

[morris_ital_lover]

Ah the Bristol Superfreighter. A couple of years ago I bought the airfix one, its still unbuilt and will probably form the bases of a modelling CPCT Challlenge under all of the dust over it within a couple of years!

 

Aren't the Bristol Freighters like the Carvairss in that few survive and those that do are abroad... a shame really but then Airliner preservation in this country isn't anywhere near the levels of warbird preservation.

 

Back towards topic transporter bridges are full of win.

[gricer]

Aren't the Bristol Freighters like the Carvairss in that few survive and those that do are abroad... a shame really but then Airliner preservation in this country isn't anywhere near the levels of warbird preservation.

 

Yes, there are a good few Mk31 Freighters around (the short-nosed version, not the extinct Superfreighter). They are mainly in New Zealand and Canada. A group of BA pilots brought one back from Canada about a decade ago, but managed to write it off at Enstone Airfield. Its mortal remains are still there, stashed behind a hangar. There have been various attempts to bring one back from NZ (a non-flyer) but no joy. A real shame - it was a pretty successful British post-war aircraft. The Carvair situation is more critical as we're down to two. Three have been written off in the past decade, including two on dangerous dirt-strip mining support operations in Alaska

[keef]

Oooh, I've also found a car that still survives too!!!

 

4116 RO Ford Consul Mk2

 

Date of Liability 01 07 2012

 

Nice bit of history for someone!

 

Wonder if the current owner knows?

[Vin]

Great stuff on the in depth plane and train identification and history. TBH I wouldn't expect anything less from fellow Autoshiters

 

A two-wheel update this time.

 

'Scrambling for it' is dated May 1967 and looks at the rise in popularity of motorbike scrambling.

 

 

The commentary describes this motorbike builder as being based in Essex, turning out a number of scrambling machines in various sizes. Most of the output goes for export. They don't name the company. Anybody know??

 

 

This is the company testing department

 

 

This disabled chap is the sales rep travelling around Europe. Certainly not a dignified way to board a plane. That's what happened then...

 

 

Somewhere in Birmingham a bloke in a shed builds his own bike out of a kit. Interesting wallpaper

 

 

Kid razzin about on a 50cc machine

 

 

Hoonin around a quarry

 

 

End of Part 1

[Shep Shepherd]

Those scramblers are by Greeves, a company which went out of business in the 1970s. Here's a website about them:

 

http://www.greevesguru.com

 

Pawnote: Southend Airport isn't anything like that nowadays

[Vin]

Scrambling for it part 2

 

 

 

 

 

Love this mini based trailer - was it a van or pick up What's the car towing it

 

 

 

 

[Vin]

Thanks for that Shep.

 

Looking at other sites it seems that Derry Preston-Cobb was the company sales manager. The commentary does say the disabled chap is called Preston-Cobb (I couldn't remember his name when I uploaded the screen grabs). He was Bert Greeves cousin and it was building the first Invacar for Preston-Cobb that launched Greeves.

[gricer]

Today's aeroshite is a Channel Airways Vickers Viscount 812. Channel bought a job lot of these on the cheap from Continental Airlines of the US - to save money, Channel adopted the Continental gold and black livery as its own, and just overpainted the Continental titles.

 

 

Here's one before Channel got hold of it...

 

 

Channel was a sort of precursor to today's budget airlines. It bought cheap aircraft and charged low fares, and rammed the pasengers in with very tight seat pitch. The downside was a poor maintenance record (the Viscounts were only a few years old but most were scrapped when Channel went bust) and a safety record that made Dan-Air look like the Queen's flight. Channel once managed to crash two aircraft at the same airfield, on the same day, botth tyrying to land on a grass strip airfield at Portsmouth (no longer an airfield). No injuries though, and the planes were soon back in service!

 

This one wasn't, however...

 

 

Truly a shite airline, from the days when the airline industry was a lot less heavily regulated...

[kinkersaab]

I love these "look at life" pics. Top work and thanks.

this Aberdeen mini is a longway from home.

[eddyramrod]

I think the mystery towcar might be a Peugeot 404 estate...

 

I remember watching Scrambling on the smellyvision in the 60s. Everyone seemed to be on a Greeves Challenger, or an AJS, or a Matchless.

[AeroNautiCal]

Love this mini based trailer - was it a van or pick up What's the car towing it

 

 

I think the tow car is a *Peugeot (though I'm not sure of the model).

 

 

 

*But I'm probably wrong!

 

EDIT! I gotta type faster...

[Shep Shepherd]

It's a 404 estate:

 

 

[TagoraGL]

love Viscounts, got ride in one from Maastricht. Huge windows in them, it was like sitting by the big tumble dryers in a laundrette.

[andrew e]

I thought I was the daddy, till I saw 3 of your got it twas a 404. Hundreds of you probally never bothered posting!

[Vin]

Great work on the 404 recognition and Viscount info

 

I was going to go to the pub, but I haven't So here is another update for y'all...

 

The City's for living in is dated September 1968. It's all about the impact of traffic on Bath and Norwich.

 

 

Bath to start with.

 

(The women in the pink dress is the commentator - she is a town planner apparently)

 

 

Now this red van has me stumped. This is the best screen grab I can get. It's looking over the flatbed of the LAD cabbed Dodge of the previous shot. I was trying to rack my brain as to what it can be. It doesn't look British - the centre line and single rear door make me think it's a Ford Taunus Transit. Any ideas Note the maroon Renault 4 too.

 

 

I love the Ergomatic cabs on these wagons.

 

 

Norwich now.

 

 

 

 

 

A big part of the film is the closure of the centre of Norwich to traffic as an experiment in pedestrianisation. The screen grabs of people are those that are interviewed for their thoughts on the subject.

 

 

It's back to Bath now and the last shots are Norwich.

 

 

What's the white car below

 

 

[DSdriver]

White car - Renault R8?

I hope that's a soft drink like coke they are drinking in front of the Temperance Building Society.

I wonder how those shite sixties porches have lasted on the front of those nice Victorian terraced houses?

[155V6]

Renault 10

[TagoraGL]

Isn't the red van a BMC J2?

[Vin]

J2 is one I didn't think off. I reckon you are correct

 

I suggested Taunus Transit but they have vents on the rear. And obviously weren't sold in the UK

 

Not being able to see the bottom of the van didn't help...

 

[eddyramrod]

I think the red van might be a Morris J2; they had a single rear door. The white car is a Renault 10.