Twickenham to Teddington by trolleybus.

[triplesharp]

This is fantastic- it goes past our house and is still the bus route I use to get to work.

[nightfury1996]

@JollyRodders oohhh I see :) thanks for the history lesson! :)

[nightfury1996]

i lived in Twickenham until a year ago and i remember walking down that highstreet many many times....

Looks like Barclay's was still a bank, even in the old days. :)

[JollyRodders]

@nightfury1996 I think it was originally built as a Barclays bank. Also the Halifax across the road has HB, [B for building society], built into the brick work. HSBC on the other corner was a Midland Bank.

[jayfookinkay]

wow. my best friend from germany mark schmitt alerted me to this wonderful film. thanks for posting it. reminds me of the times i used to get the tram from nuneaton to goodison park every saturday when i were a lad

[ianthevet]

That is really amazing. I've lived in Teddington all my life and know all these roads like the back of my hand. :) Going back to 1931 in this video is amazing, it really opens your eyes!

[blakmagikctr]

quality. lived in twickers virtually all my life, wouldnt wanna live anywhere else!!

[drigin1234]

Absolutely stupendous!

[TheNutmeg01]

Amazing , live in OZ but came from Twickenham , left in the 70's am 61 now .. Great teenage years there..

[Butchuk2007]

Take a look at this video taken in 1990 of No.1 in action at a museum>> watch?v=3nqHefTeK_0

[botogol]

great video.

interested to spot Allsford's timber's old site on the other side of heath road from where they are now.

[FunnyMelonGirl]

The Three Kings pub at 1:22 is still there but has been closed for some time and is out of use. The Red Lion pub at 1:57 is now a Tesco Metro :( At 2:54 traffic cannot turn into or out of Stanley Road at this point. At 4:55 the hoardings to the right of the tram used to be, until quite recently, a petrol station. Now it is a block of flats. At 5:08 this is the Stanley Road {rear} entrance to Fulwell tram depot. The entrance is still in use today providing access to a bus garage.

[itsthatsebguy93]

30 years later and they get scarped...

[kevinpkavanagh]

This is an amazing video...I was almost in tears...I'm mid 40s and live in Thailand now but grew up in Twickenham in the 70's- lived on the Green (the off licence at 24)- walked to St James School, my best friend lived in the Red Lion, know this rtoute SO well! Thank you for uploading!

[rocky5554]

@kevinpkavanagh

The Red Lion has been taken over by Tescos now its a shame although the building is still the same

[JimTLonW6]

Interesting to see this old video; that cyclist in the early scenes seemed to be taking a risk getting as close as that; I thought he was hitching a lift at one stage. Also, I was interested in the closing shot by the apparent contretemps between the car and the traction engine!

[unclewanky]

The video is great and the soundtrack is absolutely immense!

[ut91]

i love southwest london! its just so clean, trendy and beautiful, especially teddington, twickenham, richmond and kingston, but strawberry hill is the best part! im currently in the not-as-well-reputed northeast london and would love to live here someday!

[CSimpsonDrAmaqueen]

my gradad Joe Brandford drove the last trolley on this route ,there's a plaque in the the bus depot...gawd bless..xx

[yasminyanescu]

I love it !!! Thanks for putting this on line.

[joanofarcwasatart]

Fantastic , thank you. !!!

[LOCOMOTIONNUMBER1]

It was nice to see Twickenham as it was; a busy shopping high street. If you go there now it is just full junk shops or empty shops.

The trolly bus went past my old school on The Green.

[msbumblebot]

thank you for putting this on you tube. The conductor is my great grandfather Charles Hadland and I found this while researching my family tree, fantastic

[20pipedreamer]

Great video. It reminds me of the old Laurel & Hardy films.

[londonlad80s]

This is gold... thanks.

[Backin1985]

Twickz rocks!

[elsmeghead]

fantastic trip down memory lane. thanks

[maynardcat]

What a fun trip back in time this was, and great music to go with it.

[antsthlondon]

I love where I live . nothing needs to change except for some of the people.

[theledhead]

If you look carefully, you can see the guy outside of Superdrug playing the violin. I think he's a Highlander.

[tinmansr22]

amazing to watch I was a driver at Fulwell and drove the 267 and 281 buses you can oviously see the changes but the layout and some of the buildings havnt though facinating to watch

[althejazz]

Brilliant piece of film - I remember the area well even though I lived in North West London until 1967. We were always out and about on Red Rover tickets and got to the most far flung outposts of the LT Central area like Dartford and Waltham Cross and Leatherhead. Twickers has changed a bit down the years. It was about this time that we used to go to Eel Pie Island. Anyone who is interested in 1950s radio & TV nostalgia should try the Whirligig website and keep up to date with Mr Turnip.

[babypagey]

wow thats sooo weird... still looks really similar today!!

[FoofFairy]

I adore this video!! I was talking to some of my dad's friends about it the other day as they remembered them. I grew up in the Red Lion on Stanley Road and sadly it's missing from the video but still amazing to see the rest of Twickenham and Teddington. Thank you :)

[struthiomimus2468]

Brilliant footage,but ,God,Teddington looks even more depressing then than it does now-and that's saying something

[ColCalverley]

Fantastic piece of film!! I live in Whitton and am always around the Twickenham/Teddington area. Things have certainly changed but there are a few landmarks still there. Thanks for sharing - Robbie

[Tuthy]

I love this video.

Oh Twickenham and Teddington how I will miss you when I move away.

[Misteraqa]

Absolutely brilliant. The only thing that is slightly frustrating is it missed out the bit between Twickenham Green and turning into Stanley Road because that is where I live. I'd love to see what it looked like 21 years before this place was built. Many thanks once again.

[rokizxbiker]

The Hogarth Pub (Teddington)...used to work there ;)

Nothing has changed.

Grat job!

[pkemp123]

Fantastic, thank you very much for making this available.

[amar3xyz]

Amazing Stuff Mate!

I actually saw my house (when the bus turns towards Twickenham Green) things look fairly unchanged.

Thanks for this.

[MrBeamish]

Interesting! I've only ever seen aerial photos of the Stanley Road end of the high street - a lot changed when it was bombed during WW11. There used to be a large church there and more similar styled buildings that are now the small council estate.

[crossleydd42]

It's nice to see this fleet of 60 t/buses as originally built, since they lasted only a few weeks/months like this. The bodies were strengthened by replacing the two rounded windows either side at the top front by two flat windows panes. Unbelievably, they had no headlamps, so one large one was fitted in the centre of the 'radiator' grill, making them look more like trams than buses! And the offside windscreen pillar went right through the driver's field of vision! It was altered.

[AndMyBow]

Wooooww

Barclays bank on the corner, Twickenham Green, The bridge in Broad Street ... they're the only bits that were recognisable to mee, It's so surreal for me to see that ...

Lovely thoughhh

[fidelity60]

just seen this brilliant video, brings back so many memorys .Having lived in the area from 1946 till 1998.Once again brilliant.

[CaseyJonesNumber1]

I've already got the DVDs, but the music is so much more appropriate than the commentary on the DVDs!

Notice the AEC K that hoves into view at 1:30. The last ten of these 1919-built buses were kept especially to run on route 90, due to a weight limit on Chertsey Bridge, from early 1931 until June 1932. (One is in the London Transport Museum.)

Also, one of the type of tram seen is being rebuilt (from not a lot!) at the National Tramway Museum in Crich, Derbyshire.

[volvot5se]

This is Great in the 1950's My Mum and Dad Had a cafe dead opposite J Alsford's brings back a lot of memories Thanks for that

[Mustashfa]

That was fascinating. I live in this area.

Why did it seem so populated in those days? There were so many people on the streets. Was it because there were less cars, so everyone had to walk?

[alidevrim1983]

fantastic....

[PatrioticandProud73]

This video is fantastic, the music that goes with it is superb!

[killteddy]

thanks for this - just as good as the old photographs, if not better

[SnootyBagel]

This got me so excited, thank you so much. Lived in the area for 33 years and have every published copy of photographs. This brought things to life and I was lucky enough to see a house my brother lived in for a few years down Stanley Road. Fantastic!!

[Tinpot1]

That was awesome, bet you didn't get the scum bags on the top deck in those days!!

[gittarr]

How relaxing was that..... :) I live in Twickenham and have walked/driven that route thousands of times. So nice to see all those people going about their business 77 years ago. Makes you think. Great choice of music too. Thanks.

[Saprophitic]

What a wonderfull use of YouTube. Thanks so much for posting this and for the comprehensive description of the buses.

I have a still image of a trolley bus coming over the railway bridge, with young children standing around waiting to cross the road. It came from a postcard of that era. I imagine the turning circle was where Waldegrave Road, Station Road and the High Street meet.

[metadyneman]

I forgot to mention, what a superb film and thank you for putting it on here.

[metadyneman]

The Trolleybuses in this vid were known as "Diddlers". They gained that name because of the diddle,diddle, diddle noise the traction motors made when accelerating. It's very interesting to note that the cyclists could and did keep up with the speed of these buses.. something that suggests a whole different pace of life to the manic mayhem we have pushed ourselves into within such a short space of time.

[crossleydd42]

The 'diddle' was actually after these t/buses had stopped and the pump made the noise while restoring the vacuum for the brakes. (No compressed air brakes, then!).

[metadyneman]

well there you go! someone old enough to remember exactly why they "diddled" ... I was not a twinkle in my fathers eye when these traversed the streets of London but my version of why they "diddled" was from a person who used to drive one who sadly is no longer with us.

[crossleydd42]

I can remember that, but where did I put me teeth??? For vehicles with such under-engineered bodywork, they had long lives, the last few (on learner duties) lasting until about 1951, although they were a nightmare to keep in one piece at the end and looked very sad with their faded paintwork. I often travelled on them on the 604 from Raynes Park to Kingston. Fortunately, one is preserved.

Metadyne - there's a name from the past, rendered almost unknown by solid state electronics!

[dipstickplucker]

I really enjoy watching this video. Thanks for posting. Cheers.

[massxvol]

fantastic stuff and thanks... i used to cycle up broad st and stanly rd to school in 5th cross rd, from broom rd.... i did so for 5 years from 1970 but it's great to see the place 40years before that... you must do a then and now !!!!!!

[Quarkman0]

Fantastic and a perfect choice of music! You might like my video response which features some of the same route thirty years later!

[Butchuk2007]

Thanks very much...

We must have the same DVD...LoL

[liannekaren2001]

its so amazing to watch, i live in stanley road and know the route well, it is all built up and congested now, it is wonderful to see an area i know so well before i was around, a long time before lol

[Butchuk2007]

Thanks for the comment...

I was hoping to do a "Then & Now" video. I might get around to it sometime.