I was born and raised right opposite the central line entrance shown here in Richmond Gnds, demolished now though. Rachman owned our home and gave my parents £200 to move out in 1958. Good, as we were in process of moving to Hammersmith Grove at the time. He wanted my father to be a 'rent collector' for him and thank goodness he didn't. I remenber travelling on trolleybuses with Mum and siblings. Would love to see photos of the area.
Great memories preserved. I remmeebr these vehicles so well. Do you know if teher are any videos or stills of the Edgware / Willesden / Barnet routes? (As for BTF and their kind - they are totally selfish, ignorant and shortsighted idiots - like most copyright fanatics who think they own everyitng on earth outright!)
@wordsmith52 I might be able to help there but can't promise anything! Do you remember any of the route numbers? That would help me to track footage down.
Cont; Lammertons was a furniture store in ealing broadway by the way, when trolleys were tobe scrapped, the red rover was used to ride as many as possible at weekends, and when the saddle tanks were to be replaced by AEC engined DMU's I went to school and back on them for their last year, a longer walk than by bus. and at school a joke I didn't understand at the time about southall having its independance day! in ealing never saw any asians, a few african types, very few. but thanks 4 reminding.
wonderful, I grew up in ealing in the 50's&60's, nice to see shepherds bush and ealing common, we had a school visit to the AEC works, coal and timber barges still sailed the grand union canal well into the 60's, Lammertons still had a horse drawn furniture van with 4 horse team making deliveries, the milkman had a horse drawn milk float, replaced by three wheeler electric, gas lamps replaced with electric lights, rag&bone men bought the milk floats to go round shouting any old iron rags& bones
@Quarkman0 OOPS! not the Light Programme, it was Radio 2! The programme was called "Thanks For The Memory" and ran from 1972 until shortky before his death in 2004.
@20pipedreamer OK, cast your mind back to the fifties (oh to return!!), BBC Light Programme, Sunday afternoon (I think) - "Down Your Way" with Franklin Engleman> The piece of music is called "The Horseguards".
Lived in Enfield and the trollybus it may have been route 649 to Waltham Cross if speeding would become de-wired and a long Bamboo pole kept in a tube under the bus would with some swearing and pushing re-attatch the arms, notice with all these old films how few people walking around,this film was not shot on a Sunday as the shops are open and unless the owner is Jewish shops had to close by law.
Thanks for the memory,rode the 607 as a lad. Campaigned against 'Red Kens' Tram route, offered a Trolley system as an alternative, from manufacturer in Uruguay. Ken was against it, thankfully Ealing voted against it, so, no tram.
It's not racist to want your own culture and people. It's what every nation on earth does -except for westerners who go into a post-colonial guilt trip
Not too sure who ProperStuff is, but regarding Trident, if the caps fits, then surely it must be worn by someone? We had no need for Trident when the trolleys were about; it's undeniable that we do now. Like the loss of the trolleybus, it's a shame, but true nonetheless.
Thanks for the vids, Quarkman. It wasn't all sweetness and light all those years ago, but I still hanker after them in many ways - the 663 from Ilford comes to mind (I was born in Manor Park). Thanks again,firend.
Yep. Rap, pimping and drugs are just some of the things we should be grateful for. Makes me wonder how we did without them until America and eastern Europe obliged us by providing us with their surplus. Our race? Think Trident and look at yourselvess.
Used to travel on them occasionally as a small child in Edgware/Burnt oak area and can remember how the surge as they accelerated used to make me chunder. Ooouuffff.....
Great to see these shots, familiar territory for me. Slight errors in that Hanwell railway bridge is labelled Southall (which it nearly is) and the 607 did not run past Brentford Central (now Brentford) railway station, maybe confused with the 657. Good quality pictures too considering.
Wonderful footage of my old stomping ground. So sad to see how nice it was in those days. Not a speed camera in sight. And I agree. We DO live in a third world mess. Can't think why.
Wonderful footage of England, when people still had pride and decency, in the years before it started to collapse in to the Third World mess it has become. What a lovely time to be a Londoner this must have been ! Where did it all go wrong ?
Really wish I'd lived in these times; seems so sad they've all gone and left us. It's still surprising though how little some towns and cities have changed.
How about that for a wallow in Nostalgia? Brilliant!!
I can still remember riding on the trolleybuses in Croydon over fifty years ago...so this lovely little film and the evocative music bring back so many memories. Thanks for posting this!
Anything that starts off with a Zodiac convertable with the top down is going to be fabulous! I really enjoyed this footage, and your previous one, have you got any more? Thanks again for posting this.
Fantastic footage. Brentford looked so different! And everything looked so much NICER and so clean. People looked decent and respectable. And so many more trees (particularly noticable on the Hounslow video). Oh dear, I must be getting old and fuddy-duddy!
Fabulous footage, and very well presented with entirely appropriate music.
I see you have Q1 footage in your other film - there's not too much of that, as most people filmed the SW London routes after the Qs had gone to Spain, and we usually see down-at-heel L3s...
Trolleys had fierce acceleration. I remember aged 8 being left on the platform as mum got off a 669 in Stratford. Much ringing of the bell by passengers to stop the bus as I clung onto the ticket box. The drivers would take bends so fast they were forever coming off the overhead wires. The conductor had to carry out Olympics style exercises with a giant pole to get them hooked up again. All part of street entertainment - 1940s style.
As a former Eastender I rememberd trolleybus routes 557, 685, 687, 699 and 699 which went mostly between Chingford/Walthamstow and the Royal doack or Liverpool St.
I wonder if anyone has any footage of these routes.
Slim trolleybuses- 7 foot 6 wide- ours in Reading were 8 foot!One of my friends went to San Sebastian, Spain in'65 to see London trolleybuses in action- his dad must have beeen a fan. See the AEC WORKS sign on the Southall bridge? A lost world..
In case you're wondering, the original soundtrack to these sightings would have included the eerily quiet whine of the motors, the occasional click of the (throttle) relays, a clatter from the overhead cables and the thrum of those huge tyres on the cobblestone road surface. And I remember that from when I was twelve... thanks for the post.
Is there no more footage of the 607 route between Shepherd's Bush and Acton? All that area would be the most interesting to me and it's missing! AARGH! Thanks anyway.
In case any youngster gets the wrong impression, I suspect the clips were all taken on Sundays. Even in 1960 we had a lot more traffic on weekdays than that!
I was born and raised right opposite the central line entrance shown here in Richmond Gnds, demolished now though. Rachman owned our home and gave my parents £200 to move out in 1958. Good, as we were in process of moving to Hammersmith Grove at the time. He wanted my father to be a 'rent collector' for him and thank goodness he didn't. I remenber travelling on trolleybuses with Mum and siblings. Would love to see photos of the area.
Killyfern
bationhearts 1 month ago
I used to drive the Trolley Buses in Nottingham, till they changed Nottingham and scrapped all the Trolleys for motor Buses.
silverstartrucker 3 months ago
Great memories preserved. I remmeebr these vehicles so well. Do you know if teher are any videos or stills of the Edgware / Willesden / Barnet routes? (As for BTF and their kind - they are totally selfish, ignorant and shortsighted idiots - like most copyright fanatics who think they own everyitng on earth outright!)
wordsmith52 3 months ago
@wordsmith52 I might be able to help there but can't promise anything! Do you remember any of the route numbers? That would help me to track footage down.
Quarkman0 3 months ago
@Quarkman0 Thanks. The routes (connecting old Middlesex towns and suburbs) were:
645 Barnet to Canons Park via North Finchley, Golders Green, Cricklewood, West Hendon, Colindale, Edgware.
662 Sudbury to Paddington via Wembley, Stonebridge Park, Harlesden, Harrow Road.
664 Edgware to Paddington via Harlesden, Harrow Road.
666 Edgware to Hammersmith via Colindale, Cricklewood, Willesden, Harlesden, Acton.
The last of these routes were closed in early 1962. All the best.
wordsmith52 3 months ago
Cont; Lammertons was a furniture store in ealing broadway by the way, when trolleys were tobe scrapped, the red rover was used to ride as many as possible at weekends, and when the saddle tanks were to be replaced by AEC engined DMU's I went to school and back on them for their last year, a longer walk than by bus. and at school a joke I didn't understand at the time about southall having its independance day! in ealing never saw any asians, a few african types, very few. but thanks 4 reminding.
noelist 5 months ago
wonderful, I grew up in ealing in the 50's&60's, nice to see shepherds bush and ealing common, we had a school visit to the AEC works, coal and timber barges still sailed the grand union canal well into the 60's, Lammertons still had a horse drawn furniture van with 4 horse team making deliveries, the milkman had a horse drawn milk float, replaced by three wheeler electric, gas lamps replaced with electric lights, rag&bone men bought the milk floats to go round shouting any old iron rags& bones
noelist 5 months ago
Nice video but isn't the section 1:46 to 2:00 a view of St. John's Hill, Clapham Junction on the 626, 628 and 655 routes?
denisxx61 8 months ago
brilliant video is there anymore footage of this anywhere maybe dvd etc
id love to see more of hayes and uxbridge
its great to see i wasnt born in 1960 it looks alot better than it does know
hate to say it but third world country is correct when you look back and see how it used to look nice and clean
shame these trolley buses didnt survive but then they belong to a time thats been forgoten along with our heritage
lordbarkis 9 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@MrLesbailey Time Was by Nelson Riddle & His Orchestra
NickRatnieks 10 months ago
What with the music- and the footage this is about as close to time travel as you can get!
NickRatnieks 10 months ago
By 1948 there were 60 trolleybuses per hour running on route 607, so there was always another one beind. It was the busiest route on the system.
A60stock 1 year ago
loved the cameo appearance of the tank engine reversing over the bridge at about 2:20
leach1527 1 year ago
beautiful film.
but could we have a little less originality in the comments and a bit more complaining about indians please?
norristerse 1 year ago
This is fantastic to see Lyons corner house,shepherds bush station,bush green........i lived just round the corner from here in norland market.
andyguainiere 1 year ago
@andyguainiere so did I. I am Ron Woodbyrne's daughter Beverley. We lived above your brother Ricky.
36marilyn 5 months ago
Once again a great piece of film, thanks for posting.
tileajb1 1 year ago
@MrLesbailey OK Les, I'll put you out of your misery!
The piece of music is called "Time Was" and was the theme music for Hubert Gregg's show on the Light Programme.
Quarkman0 1 year ago
@Quarkman0 OOPS! not the Light Programme, it was Radio 2! The programme was called "Thanks For The Memory" and ran from 1972 until shortky before his death in 2004.
Quarkman0 1 year ago
What's the name of the opening music, and which radio programme is it from?
20pipedreamer 1 year ago
@20pipedreamer OK, cast your mind back to the fifties (oh to return!!), BBC Light Programme, Sunday afternoon (I think) - "Down Your Way" with Franklin Engleman> The piece of music is called "The Horseguards".
Quarkman0 1 year ago
@Quarkman0 Thanks for that. Oh if only we could go back. Sunday afternoon with mum & dad and the Sunday roast. Such happy times.
20pipedreamer 1 year ago
@20pipedreamer If it's nostalgia you're after, my other Trolleybus videos all have a similar soundtrack - enjoy!
Quarkman0 1 year ago
Where about in Uxbridge was that? The Bus station there is pretty massive.
ScrewAttackEurope 1 year ago
Lived in Enfield and the trollybus it may have been route 649 to Waltham Cross if speeding would become de-wired and a long Bamboo pole kept in a tube under the bus would with some swearing and pushing re-attatch the arms, notice with all these old films how few people walking around,this film was not shot on a Sunday as the shops are open and unless the owner is Jewish shops had to close by law.
formichinoo 2 years ago
good shots passing Aec who built so many classic buses!
regentv980 2 years ago
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boxer727277 2 years ago
Comment removed
boxer727277 2 years ago
Trolleybus goes under the railway bridge and, wait a moment, a pannier tank trundles across i..........Dreadful!
Wasn't life sweet!
threedaysman 2 years ago 2
Great memories,bring back these quality machines,they were awesome!! Thanks for posting vid 5+5
soundnicetome 2 years ago
Thanks for the memory,rode the 607 as a lad. Campaigned against 'Red Kens' Tram route, offered a Trolley system as an alternative, from manufacturer in Uruguay. Ken was against it, thankfully Ealing voted against it, so, no tram.
Love to asee trolleys again so clean and quite
DSVOP 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
i'd love to leave a comment but i can't think of anything racist to say
j43ms 2 years ago
It's not racist to want your own culture and people. It's what every nation on earth does -except for westerners who go into a post-colonial guilt trip
aufstand1848 2 years ago
we've got our own culture.
if it's under threat, it's from global corporations turning our cities into shopping malls.
not a few curry houses here and there.
j43ms 2 years ago
beautiful before west London became new delhi
staypress 2 years ago 2
totally agree with ya! some bloke should go in with a water cannon or somthing!
bronzeonion 2 years ago
Takes me back a while I still remember Hanwell trolley bus station then it became Route Master bus station Now it's a site of a supermarket
pete49100 2 years ago
travelled many times on route 607 as a kid nice to see the old turn round by the old odeon cinema at uxbridge brentford not on 607 route
blugsy10 2 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Not too sure who ProperStuff is, but regarding Trident, if the caps fits, then surely it must be worn by someone? We had no need for Trident when the trolleys were about; it's undeniable that we do now. Like the loss of the trolleybus, it's a shame, but true nonetheless.
RR1804 2 years ago
Are typos a sign of Alzheimers? I hope not.....
RR1804 2 years ago
Thanks for the vids, Quarkman. It wasn't all sweetness and light all those years ago, but I still hanker after them in many ways - the 663 from Ilford comes to mind (I was born in Manor Park). Thanks again,firend.
Chhers, Les.
RR1804 2 years ago 2
Yep. Rap, pimping and drugs are just some of the things we should be grateful for. Makes me wonder how we did without them until America and eastern Europe obliged us by providing us with their surplus. Our race? Think Trident and look at yourselvess.
RR1804 2 years ago
Trolleybuses are the best transport for towns and cities since they combine the best features of trams and buses.
The last one in the UK ran in 1972 in Bradford.
Why can't we have them now?
JohnTheRails 3 years ago
Oh how I wish I had a time machine. Would love to go back and take a ride on that bus and see the sights as was back then.
Bevoin1970 3 years ago 2
Used to travel on them occasionally as a small child in Edgware/Burnt oak area and can remember how the surge as they accelerated used to make me chunder. Ooouuffff.....
dramoundana 3 years ago
Comment removed
buffboydan 3 years ago
Great to see these shots, familiar territory for me. Slight errors in that Hanwell railway bridge is labelled Southall (which it nearly is) and the 607 did not run past Brentford Central (now Brentford) railway station, maybe confused with the 657. Good quality pictures too considering.
mikeuknz 3 years ago
Brings back my childhood in Ilford in the early 50s. Including a trollybus trip the day of the eclipse, to Seven Kings I think...
muscleco 3 years ago
Wonderful footage of my old stomping ground. So sad to see how nice it was in those days. Not a speed camera in sight. And I agree. We DO live in a third world mess. Can't think why.
davefking 3 years ago 3
'A third world mess' you mean with immigration...but I think you are too polite to say so, but I agree.
antonjon1 3 years ago 2
Wonderful footage of England, when people still had pride and decency, in the years before it started to collapse in to the Third World mess it has become. What a lovely time to be a Londoner this must have been ! Where did it all go wrong ?
redfred70 3 years ago 5
@redfred70
Well said!
MrCrusader40 4 months ago
@redfred70 I also agree fred where indeed has it all gone, what have they done to our wonderful Island
TheJohniewalker1 1 month ago
I'm guessing about 1963.
twoslices 3 years ago
Really wish I'd lived in these times; seems so sad they've all gone and left us. It's still surprising though how little some towns and cities have changed.
DavidTL 3 years ago 3
How about that for a wallow in Nostalgia? Brilliant!!
I can still remember riding on the trolleybuses in Croydon over fifty years ago...so this lovely little film and the evocative music bring back so many memories. Thanks for posting this!
GrannySea 3 years ago
Anything that starts off with a Zodiac convertable with the top down is going to be fabulous! I really enjoyed this footage, and your previous one, have you got any more? Thanks again for posting this.
Ronniethefish 3 years ago
Thanks Ronnie! The only other one on my channel is called "East End Trolleys". More of the same nostalgic indulgence! Hope you like it!
Quarkman0 3 years ago
truely amazing,thanks for a slice of history
bongobuster 3 years ago
Fantastic footage. Brentford looked so different! And everything looked so much NICER and so clean. People looked decent and respectable. And so many more trees (particularly noticable on the Hounslow video). Oh dear, I must be getting old and fuddy-duddy!
bagendbabe 4 years ago 3
Fabulous footage, and very well presented with entirely appropriate music.
I see you have Q1 footage in your other film - there's not too much of that, as most people filmed the SW London routes after the Qs had gone to Spain, and we usually see down-at-heel L3s...
Many thanks!
legrande111 4 years ago
Brilliant footage - Come Back Trolley buses - (a drain on the National Grid - but it would stop all the pollution freaks!!)
waldenhouse 4 years ago
Trolleys had fierce acceleration. I remember aged 8 being left on the platform as mum got off a 669 in Stratford. Much ringing of the bell by passengers to stop the bus as I clung onto the ticket box. The drivers would take bends so fast they were forever coming off the overhead wires. The conductor had to carry out Olympics style exercises with a giant pole to get them hooked up again. All part of street entertainment - 1940s style.
Fnarge 4 years ago
Really enjoyed the video. Pure nostalgia.
As a former Eastender I rememberd trolleybus routes 557, 685, 687, 699 and 699 which went mostly between Chingford/Walthamstow and the Royal doack or Liverpool St.
I wonder if anyone has any footage of these routes.
yarmouthboy 4 years ago
Thanks for posting these video's, very happy memories.
TonyTeesside 4 years ago
route 607 - virtually unaltered today - exceptb for route number, still following original tram route.
or2w3
routemaster305 4 years ago
That's right. If I remember correctly it became route 207 and route 667 which I used as a child became 267.
Quarkman0 4 years ago
GREAT STUFF
Owentheguitarist666 4 years ago
I used to get the 'Red Rover' all day ticket and ride the buses every saturday around 1960-61 at the age of 9 or 10!! brought back memories.
twoslices 4 years ago 2
I just remembered, London's first (and last) trolleybus, "The Diddler" was built by AEC.
NickRatnieks 4 years ago
Slim trolleybuses- 7 foot 6 wide- ours in Reading were 8 foot!One of my friends went to San Sebastian, Spain in'65 to see London trolleybuses in action- his dad must have beeen a fan. See the AEC WORKS sign on the Southall bridge? A lost world..
NickRatnieks 4 years ago
In case you're wondering, the original soundtrack to these sightings would have included the eerily quiet whine of the motors, the occasional click of the (throttle) relays, a clatter from the overhead cables and the thrum of those huge tyres on the cobblestone road surface. And I remember that from when I was twelve... thanks for the post.
RJ4960 4 years ago
I rode that route a couple of times as a kid. Happy memories - and thanks !
eflatsharpness 4 years ago
and not a yellow line in sight.This is when Britain was great instead of the third world country it is now,
twoslices 4 years ago 2
look how clean and respectable our country looked back then, wish it was like that now! Great video!
mrabarth 5 years ago
Is there no more footage of the 607 route between Shepherd's Bush and Acton? All that area would be the most interesting to me and it's missing! AARGH! Thanks anyway.
retread01 5 years ago
In case any youngster gets the wrong impression, I suspect the clips were all taken on Sundays. Even in 1960 we had a lot more traffic on weekdays than that!
middxguy58 5 years ago
i remember sheperds bush like that and anyone notice the steam engine reversing over the iron bridge in
southhall great stuff
rocky5554 5 years ago
It also includes a section of the 655 Hanwell -Brentford-Hammersmith-Clapham Junction
middxguy58 5 years ago
Well spotted! Yes, sorry, I forgot to mention that!
Quarkman0 5 years ago
wow thats brilliant never seen bush and acton in that way
inruler11 5 years ago
Excellent!!
jemdude22 5 years ago