Cycling in London, c1980s
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- čas přidán 25. 02. 2014
- Description: This film explores the work carried out by the Greater London Council, during the mid-1980s, to improve cycling in London. In particular, by providing dedicated lanes for the capital's many cyclists. Entitled 'Cycling for London', this 20 minute film was written, produced and directed by J.R. Davies, and includes interviews with both cyclists, campaigners and GLC planners.
Date: c1980s
Reference No: GLC/DG/PRB/11/01/020
Collection: GLC
This film is part of the collections at London Metropolitan Archives, a public research centre which specialises in the history of London. If you haven't visited an archive before, it's a little bit like a library but with one key difference; the majority of items in an archive are unique, handwritten documents which cannot be seen anywhere else.
We care for and provide access to the historical archives of businesses, schools, hospitals, charities and all manner of other organisations from the London area. With 100 km of books, maps, photographs, films and documents dating back to 1067 in our strong rooms, we're proud to provide access to one of the finest city archives in the world - you could call it the memory of London.
This channel provides highlights from our film and video collections and films which we have created. Find out more at www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/lma and explore our film clips, photographs, maps and prints of London at www.londonpicturearchive.org.uk
![A Day in London 1930s in color [60fps,Remastered] w/sound design added](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/A-jb8ydfsqw/mqdefault.jpg)
I'm 56 years old now and if I wasn't going places on a routemaster i was biking it. When I got my first bike in 77 I went allover my borough and as a teen-ager into adulthood 80s and 90s I explored London with the bike. This video actually is quite an emotional watch for me and brings me almost to tears to see a London that exists no more and at the same time a great happiness that I'm out there somewhere.
If I had a time machine l would love to go back to the 1980s. I was only 16 yaars old and still miss 80s now.
i love cycling, i love london, i love cycling in london, i loved the 80’s... i love this video 👌🏿
Hi, where you a member of the London dish cycle group? It was formed in the 80s by Dr. Dish. Dish really believed that the bike was London's future and being healthy through cycling was key to reaching a healthy ripe old age in a busy & stressful city. Sadly Dish was killed a few weeks later riding his bike through clapham. He was hit by a lorry. The legacy lived on until the 90s but died off due to a failing economy.
Life is very strange and serendipitous indeed. I viewed this months ago. Now its director has come into my life, through another door, and under a slightly different name. Doing the getting-to-know-you chat, we fell to talking about cycling and town planning, and I mentioned something I'd seen about a possible tipping point in London a generation ago. He said he'd made a short film about it. This is it. Weird and wonderful life.
lmao
Curiously, the uploader of this here linked viddy, goes by the name of *Contraflow* ~ Fantastic Life ! ;-j
czcams.com/video/_k6Sx_J6NxQ/video.html
Wow, thats amazing!! 😀 Check this CZcams vid also.. Older but had an immense effect on me.. czcams.com/video/LFZlBYJ0_uY/video.html
I love these old films arrrhhhh happy days
I miss you, London!
It looks beautiful
Everyone needs to watch this !! I frickin love the 80’s. I was only few years old probably when this was made but I remember how lovely and chilled and care free everyone was. Xx
The reason why London looked "more colourful and vibrant back then": 1) the existence of colourful cars around (red, green, yellow, orange.. nowadays it's all funeral black crappy massive coackroachy "suvs" and shades of boring colours) - 2) the use of real film for shooting videos, today it's all hyper sharp digital and that takes the magic and warmth away...
+Emiliano Verrocchio ...nothing taken the pollution away though!
Emiliano Verrocchio , finally someone who underatanda the beauty of film, digital just cant keep up, even the movies now days who are shot on film are still edited digitally and look colorless and dull
Very true
@@vincentdeguard4726 The air is much better - dont listen to Sadiq -- we have about the best air in Europe.
Anyway, petrol in those days contained lead!!
I wish I could go back to the 8o's it's was so very nice then and I was young then
I can remember the 80s but only from the point of view of someone aged 3 to 10. Earliest memories in 1982/83.
The 80's were pretty cool despite all the turmoil that went on. Things were pretty simple back then.
We had snow to play I'm during winter, your 'job' included copious amounts of 'playtime'...
I do wish they'd retrofit the Routemasters with modern engines. Those are far more convenient and good for tourism.
Do i know you? LOL
@@Michelle_Schu-blacka
hear hear
@@Michelle_Schu-blacka What are you on about? Snow?!
My older sister used to cycle from Marylebone to Camberwell. Still can’t believe she was brave enough to do that.
Ahh... the magical 80’s of VHS 📼 tapes cassettes and 80’s pop music
Most likely this film was made in 1984 as noticed a B registration Ford Escort. 16:52 there appears to be a cyclist wearing a helmet which was rare then. There were only a few helmet manufacturers mainly Bell and they were heavy and poorly ventilated. Not a mountain bike in sight but they were appearing in the UK at this time from Ridgeback although expensive. Interesting to see quite a lot of cyclists using Karrimor panniers but I didn't see any electronic speed computers on the handlebars although they were available to buy from the manufacturers Cateye, Peugeot and Avocet. I purchased a Cateye Solar in 1986 for £48.00 which I still have !
The KEEP GLC WORKING FOR LONDON poster suggests this is before 29th June 1984 when London Transport started running the buses, however a B reg vehicle messes that theory up...
advert on bus at paddinton station for west side story, which ran May 16, 1984
till September 28, 1985
Back in the 80’s when I saw people cycling in London, I thought they were the coolest people around..
Bow I think they are a bloody nuisance :)
;) because we were. Thanks for noticing
Cyclists today are a menace all over the UK bigoted lot .
@Daniel Lawson Agreed. My driving record is poor.
Over 42 years driving, mostly, in and around London with over 470.000 miles driven, mostly in short London journeys so endless thousands of journeys and 3 incidents since 1980 and the last one was 2005.
In the next life, I will endeavour to improve and be like you..
Watching this 35-40 years later (sept 2020), cycling infrastructure for cyclists is much improved
My borough, london borough of Waltham forest, is very pro cycling and has provided numerous cycling routes, and closed numerous roads off, making it awkward for motorists, but convenient for cyclists
Makes the "school run" a lot more awkward for starters
Yes, its a pain in the bloody arse. Theyre sending children to school miles away meaning people have to drive but blocking off all the roads!! It punishes the most needy in society - new parents, the elderly and infirm and the disabled -- we cant all get onto bikes FFS!!
@@annother3350 its unfortunate that there may be certain losers in these situations
@@Keithbarber No, It's not good enough. We're supposed to be a compassionate society -- There is no need to block off the roads to please a few cyclists and punish the masses -- but unfortunately it's a united nations agenda and therefore they wont ask public opinion
@@annother3350
Road closures are not just for the benefit of cyclists
It's done for the benefit of the wider community as well, and the major ones are
Local people can still access their homes, but less through traffic means less congestion (stops through traffic "rat running"), and pollution from car exhausts fumes
Less unnecessary short trips by made by car, Primarily the "school run", which can be W.A.L.K.E.D. (walked), as well as cycled
@@Keithbarber You seem to be forgetting about the most vulnerable in society - the disabled who cannot walk - the infirm who cannot walk far and those with very young children who dont want to carry them or put them on a bike when its freezing outside -- Babies are vulnerable and cars are a godsend when it's cold outside.
besides that I've been speaking to the lovely asian guy that owns our local corner shop and he's suffering after lockdown with the fact that there is no longer any passing traffic to stop at his shop -- it's killing these backstreet businsses -- and we had zero public consultation
I started cycling in London in the late 90s and it was pretty wild back then, the law of the jungle compared to cycling today.
When did cyclists in London start going through red lights? It doesn't happen anywhere else, even now.
@@ajs41 I think cyclists started going through red lights more less at the same time that drivers started drinking and driving...
@@ajs41 Cyclists started to go Nazi in the mid-90s -- somehow tied to the increase in the popularity of Lycra
Yep, me too. Still got my London cycling map. Hardly saw another cyclist back then. I even went on Critical Mass rides, great fun.
@@ajs41 Cyclists going through red lights became the norm when non-cyclists started riding bikes. You had to be committed to ride a bicycle in London in the 70s and 80s. Subsequently it became a way of ignoring traffic regulations with a minimal chance of being caught. Cycling is currently mass transport and highly transgressive behaviour, because the powers won't spend the money to offer proper provision or catch law-breakers.
Amazing - no helmets, hi-viz or lycra, and an authority that had a vision for the future. No wonder it had to go
They still don't wear helmets in the Netherlands.
I wonder when did Londoners start wearing all that? They look like track cyclists rather than ordinary people cycling from home to work.
@@snowbird5381 Around the mid-90s cyclists started to get militant -- and Lycra was the uniform
It reminds me of when I belonged to the LCC group. So many meetings and wonderful rides with groups of like minded cyclists.
not a single fucking mountain bike. great stuff.
I like the footage of the young Alberto Contador in that film, Cool.
Did not realize that he used to do his training rides in central London.
16:20 - watch the Jag jump the red light and narrowly miss the cyclist!
Entitled wankers existed 35 years ago too..
lol at the woman nonchalantly eating crisps(?) whilst cycling at 7:15...
Essentially, bike routes in London remained fairly unchanged until around 2009/10 onwards when major changes were made to aid cyclists avoid main roads with the cycle super highways that started around then. They eventually got changed to the CS routes which are found now.
Made my life a lot easier as a courier in 2009 (pre GPS on your phone). I'm now 20+ years of cycling in London and its never been better for cyclists in London (especially in Hackney/surrounding areas)
This is when we had respect for the traffic & knew what damage could be done to a cyclist if hit & were more advanced in cycle tactics on our roads, now humans can't walk in safety, let alone cycle
Indeed, walk in safety - was nearly biked a couple of times while walking - ban the bikes so that people can walk the streets!
Very dangerous operation. Many drivers do not care.
Great film by the way London Met Archives
GLC being proactive, well done to them
nobody wore helmets back then. Don't see many milk floats these days.
Oh gosh, 1982. I remember sitting on a porch, early morning in Bayswater. In my hand two still hot, very large, chocolate chip cookies, and patiently awaiting the milk float and a least one bottle with the cream rising to the top. HEAVEN!
This is great.
This (great) footage is around 40 years old, but is it any less dangerous cycling in the UK today? The people featured here at least tried to get cycling to become more integrated and safe, but the reality is that there are still nowhere near enough (designated) cycle paths in Britain, and there are 'charities' like Sustrans who are campaigning and asking the public for money to construct cycle paths, which are infrastructure, and should be covered by people's tax contributions anyway. If made safe for cyclists though, Britain would be an amazing country to explore by bike!
First cycled to London when I was 8 back in the 80’s from eltham
AT 16:25 the cyclist was very casual about nearly being killed by a car running a red light... great footage, love the Sam Brown belts, battery lights, nasty steel racks and Karrimor panniers, all essentials of London commuting.
Pls could someone invent the Time machine.?
Heisham Kenan ......I kid you not, it’s been piloted. However, it broke down once it arrived and nobody had the knowledge or the equipment to get it running again. Don’t ask how I know! I’ve taken the vow on the Official Secrets Act.
Think you need to talk to a certain Doc Brown. lol
Nice days .not like now .very sad.
I loved getting around on my racer back then. Had only one accident, and that was the fault of a murderous driver who knocked me down and drove off at speed at Lancaster Gate. Luckily, I was only mildly grazed and was never put off cycling. Now, it's a different story. The traffic congestion is out of control.
I witnessed that accident and it was definitely ur fault miss tea
@@michaelwalton9528 shut it and learn to spell 🙄
@@sal.salvador202 Dont you remember text speak?!
16:25 -- I think he had a red light?? That seemed awfully close.
I didn't know anyone cared about cycling infrastructure in the 1980's. some of this is stuff i use today, like the one taking us along south carriage and knightsbridge. i moved to london in 2012 and was told that you shouldn't cycle here as you'll get run over to bits. when i realised that wasn't the case i was told that it was the case until a few years before. obviously everyone's ideas of what cycling in london is like and also how things were in the past are jaded but it is weird seeing segregated cycle lanes in london in the 1980's, and that cycle lane on waterloo bridge.
It dependes which area you live in -- every time I drive through new cross in a car it seems dangerous - -wouldnt want to cycle it
I did nearly get killed in a roundabout in Knightsbridge, but the London Cycling Campaign was doing brilliant work, and they used to put out a booklet with all the routes. One had a bit by Alexei Sayle on the back.
Used to cycle from Bermondsey over Tower Bridge to City of London Poly. Worst bit was trying to avoid becoming a taxi sandwich up the Minories.
The fashions are amusing. The two guys around 3:40 could be from today.
No. That was typical 1980s fashion. Sporty or electronic like.
Before beards, architects, and software developers entered the cycling scene with their millions.
I rode London streets in the sixties and seventies.
3.15,cycling down the middle of the road with lorries either side,scary stuff!
I remember a rumor that the buses had buttons that could shut them down on the outside, and I believe there really were buttons that said "shut off", but am pretty sure that stopping the buses cold wasn't actually what they were for
@@litsci1877 buses still have emergency engine kill switches outside.
the layout at the bottom of Waterloo Bridge there is better in the video than it is now!
Miss the 80s was me and my family
Anyone know what the music is?
it's probably made for the show
Imagine how easy it would be to cycle in London today if the Tories had not abolished the GLC just a few years later. It's still a nightmare to cycle east from Paddington to Camden because of Westminster council.
Have you heard of the tube - try using it! Why people need bikes in London is above and beyond me - with all the different types of railway, there's no excuse for cycling - London Underground, Overground, Thameslink, Elizabeth Line, DLR etc - Paddington to Camden - Now that it's 2022, you can take the Elizabeth Line from Paddington to TCR and change for the Northern Line - that will get you to Camden - It can't be that difficult!
@Daniel Lawson Have you heard of Park'n'Ride??? Get to the city by car, park at a train/tube station and ride (the train that is) the rest of the way. For example, if I'm in Newbury upon visiting, I could get to Reading via the M4 and ride the new Elizabeth Line into London. If I want to get to Oxford Street, I can just change at Paddington for the Bakerloo, get to Oxford Circus and walk the remainder of my journey - I really can't see the difficulty in that - no excuses IMO! Right tool for the right job!!! Bicycles try to be the jack of all trades, but are the master of none!
@Daniel Lawson Cycling is only a passing fad which will probably be gone with the next generation. Also, it's quite likely that bicycles will be taxed in the future - London is looking for more money to run the railways and I'm sure ideas are floating about behind the scenes as more and more motorists and rail passengers feel it's very unfair that they pay more while cyclists get more space in return for absolutely nothing. As grownups, we understand that in the end, there's no free lunch!
@Daniel Lawson I dealt with you under another comment and now remember that you believe in all this climate hysteria - why then cause pollution by clogging the roads with slow bicycles when you could be using far more space efficient modes like rail??? You know, the traffic is going nowhere whether you like it or not - how do you think your food (which cycling demands a lot of BTW) arrives in the shops? Roads all over the Netherlands are being blocked by farmer protests (against climate action) and AFAIK, the shelves are becoming very empty across that nation - perhaps a few cyclophiles there are learning a good economic lesson - of course we need roads - even in cities. You need to grow up!
@Daniel Lawson There's no point in arguing with you until you take a few lessons in logistics and economics!
4:03 tobacco advertising on shop fronts. different times!!!!
Adoro vídeo assim sou brasileiro
Nice Datsun Cedric at 1:29
15:09 Outside Paddington bearly got away with being taken out by zippy on the m/c. Wasn't the best of places for the fluffy head to be stationary, he could've got shredded. Did the producer have a deathwish on him or wot!? Haha me an' me Parrallax view. Good posting, thanks ;-j
ELGROOVER Paddington Bearly?
Nice
18:31 to 19:02 that taxi driver would have dangerously overtaken, brake checked, got out and threatened to knock that cyclists teeth out if this was nowadays...
I used to go on a lot on the buses back then nowadays Im too nervous to go on them I can only go locally if Im lucky
nervous about what?
Ken livinsgtone, best pm we never had
im guessing 83/84 as they give stat figures up till 1982.
Miss 80s
3:09.....just goes to show how homogenised things can be. Thought it was a strange place to set up an eatery, but it was in fact literally, ‘the Subway’.
God I miss this London , so corporate , money grabbing , over taxing , soul stealing , and mind numbingly embarrassing now .
23:03 Is that Boris?
Look at those roads, the traffic is actually moving. This is a fabrication !!
Because there were fewer cars, this is early 80's the greed culture was only just starting.
@@CyclingSteve no, the problem came because the government blocked loads of roads, made the ring of steel, loads more traffic lights - -they're been making it harder for drivers ever since these days
Safer then not now!
@8:44 That does not lead directly to the Fulham palace road!
The reason why people weren't so fat then because these days every high street has takeaways with donner kebabs so cheap. At least 3 shops on a high street. 😡now Britain has a fatty problem with obese kids as wears adults who are also too lazy to cook!
Fatty foods and sweets are much cheaper today.
@@YPO6 indeed, there has been cheaper alternative ingredients to increase confectioneries' profits; such as palm oil (chocolate) and vegetable oil (deep fried); which these cause damage to the environment (chopping down Amazonian rainforests).
There's also:
> the rise of ready-made meals - fattier, saltier, unhealthier compared to homemade food.
> more people own more cars to drive to their out-of-town supermarket
> people prefer "delivery" rather than walking/cycling down to their takeaway
> surplus advertising for food everywhere, some of which say a price reduction on delivery
All these factors led to this obesity crisis we have now
People didnt used to snack much in those days -- now people are grazing all day.
And some experts are starting to believe that all the artificial sweeteners these days are worse than sugar
jag xjs estate at 16:13 how rares that
I think it's a Lynx Eventer, they converted about 70 XJ-S coupes into estates. (I had missed it and only saw it from your comment, thanks)
@@grumpyoldman3458 now I wouldn't have know that
Wait, where's lycra?
czcams.com/video/HXORho_jxAs/video.html 3:37
Hadn't been invented for the masses yet
Its hardly dated at all. People still drive around in cars today and listen to electronic music!
In 1974 the pendulum swung the other way when flared trousers began to go out of fashion.
Scrapping the GLC wasted a decade for London. Thatcher's ego has a lot to answer for.
Wow! No helmets!
hadn't occurred to us really.
20:06 An early Brompton? (Lady in jeans and striped sweater.)
Every cyclist you see here, died, while doing simple domestic chores at home. So remember folks, do your housework outside the home or even better, ask your neighbour to clean your toilet or brush the dust.
Australian cities were much more atmospheric in the early 80s too.
Back when people didn't cycle on the pavement.
3:15 looks a bit dicey
8:01 Grifter & BMX - how cool is that?
Proper londoners in this video most probably all left London or old and miserable now lol.
No lycra nazis back then!
Lol
Just entitled car drivers
Nowdays it's the motorists who get the finger in traffic: single lanes instead of double since one is for cyclists, speed bumps every 100 m, one way, no parking etc etc.
This video explains & introduces traffic management lol, have you even watched it???
@Daniel Lawson You think People drive around just for fun? It's not like they have to get to work? Everyone can't afford to live in the city where the Jobs are.
@@succulent951 What?
It's nice to see London looking quite English!
Still is.
No helmets lol
Bicycles are clumsy and old fashioned - we need to move on.
To what?
Red Knight 2014 this attitude is destroying the world.Bicycles are cool and very healthy for the body,just cuz ur dumb fat ass can’t sit on it doesn’t mean it is old fashioned
@@dasat3am283 If you were to see how I actually look, you'd be eating your words - I'm 47 and very thin actually. Also, verbal abuse towards others does nothing for the cause of cycling - in fact, it will reinforce the bad name cycling has made for itself and thus, make things easier for the likes of me to have cyclists paying towards the upkeep of the roads. Keep it going mate!!!
@@asdfg169 Towards realism in the context of the 21st Century - bikes will not work and the asset stripping of motoring infrastructure amid censorship and narratives along with diversion of funding away from proven modes (tramways and walking) will do nothing to promote the merits of cycling - in fact once publicly recognized, it will do the exact opposite.
@@RedKnight-fn6jr This isn't making much sense. Why aren't bikes proven? They work in a lot of places.
No Lycra Louts, Clowns
Back then
Still isn't good for bikes,
Saves only a tenner a week! Wtf tfl is such a thief nowadays.
£10 in 1984 money is like £30 today
@@dj_ees Yep that's about right - £120/month for tube.
I see a number of cyclists cycling on the pavement at a fast speed risking seriously hurting or even killing pedestrians!
I see a number of motorists driving on the roads at a fast speed risking seriously hurting or even killing pedestrians and cyclists.
@@DavideMazzetti Cycle NaZI
@Sub Optimal Tell that to the militant cyclists
@Sub Optimal Then you either dont know any london cyclists or you are indeed a militant cyclist. They plague our streets like rats
@Sub Optimal I see a number of cyclists cycling on the road at a fast speed, I meant to say pavement not road.
Bus lanes are lethal and cause traffic jams.
You are getting bus lanes and cars confused.
@Daniel Lawson Reducing road space causes congestion. That's a fact.
@Daniel Lawson Holland is not London. The population of London is almost as large as the whole of Holland.
@Daniel Lawson 9 million residents, add commuters. London is smaller than Holland. I drove around a well known gridlocked London roundabout today, the lights were broken. Surprise surprise, no traffic.
@Daniel Lawson I actually live in central London. Where do you live? I presume you're riding a bicycle.
These people are all grey haired or dead.
It was 40 yrs ago not 400
And 40 years later these cycle maniac are riding on payment and on people despite billions being spent on cycle lanes. Oh and no they don't pay road tax thanks to motorists
London 2020 is not a safe city for bikes
it wasn't then, either, but we weren't expecting safety.
Safer in terms of pollution. Imagine how many people suffered ill health back then due to fumes from leaded fuel
Imagine people have lung disease with all that muck being pumped out of their exhaust s from the 1980s, I’m having an asthma attack just looking at it on utube
Most of them stopped at red lights too. Not like today, they’re a menace on the roads.
Cycling in london, is still extremely dangerous.