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British Transport Film 1955


Morat

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The canal bit is brief, but shows the Foxton locks, disused at the time.

 

I watched the whole thing and found it quite interesting because I did some similar day tours in about 1981 with the London Cycling Campaign, which was a sort of breakaway group formed in 1978 and as its name implies, limited to London and more concerned with campaigning for cyclists' interests than with touring. LCC outings were rather more informal than the CTC, and some people who'd been on CTC outings said they'd found those a bit too regimented. Both organisations still exist and run outings, some by train, the CTC are at http://www.centrallondonctc.org.uk/ and LCC at http://lcc.org.uk/events?utf8=%E2%9C%93&borough_id=&date_range=22%2F07%2F2015+-+21%2F08%2F2015&category_ids%5B%5D=15&category_ids%5B%5D=7&category_ids%5B%5D=13&category_ids%5B%5D=16&category_ids%5B%5D=5&category_ids%5B%5D=4&category_ids%5B%5D=6&category_ids%5B%5D=11&category_ids%5B%5D=10&category_ids%5B%5D=9&category_ids%5B%5D=17&category_ids%5B%5D=18&category_ids%5B%5D=19&category_ids%5B%5D=20&category_ids%5B%5D=1&category_ids%5B%5D=14&category_ids%5B%5D=0&skill_levels%5B%5D=family&skill_levels%5B%5D=easy&skill_levels%5B%5D=medium&skill_levels%5B%5D=challenging&free=no&terrain=all&official=no&keyword=&per_page=8&page=1

(that's an awesomely long URL!)

 

I'd never heard of these purpose-built cycle vans on the trains, whatever happened to them in the end? We just placed the bikes side by side in the guard's van, another thing which you don't see much now on the railways. From 1977 onwards bicycles were carried free on most trains, but not allowed on rush hour commuter trains, and even the short suburban lines in London had a guard's van. It was a general purpose place for anything that didn't belong in a passenger carriage, in particular parcels which the railways carried much more then than now. On a rush hour train it would often be full of commuters, all standing crowded together but leaving the guard enough space to do his work, and sometimes talking to strangers. I always felt the guard's van was kind of cool, an impression helped along by the Beatles, with the scene in A Hard Day's Night.

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Yes, Foxton locks - very eery to see them in that state. Last time I was there it was a hot sunny day and there were hundreds (if not thousands) of gongoozlers pushing gates and scoffing ice cream. It's like a glimpse into another world where there was no canal restoration.

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