Monday 29 December 2008

M32: the history

Out of the BBC archives comes a documentary showing how the hotwells bridges and M32 will improve the city. It's a lovely documentary, looking at the lovely scenery, and showing artists impressions of the beautiful flyover.

It was a different time in those days, a time of progress. A time when running a motorway was progress. Indeed, a time when the word "motorway" itself was new; the documentary uses "Autobahn" on the assumption that the audience will have heard of that word.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Autobahn" - how appropriate a word.

Henry Ford so well deserved his Iron Cross ... and the Fuhrer ... he'd be so proud to see the world as it is today!

gareth said...

thank you for putting that up, wish I could've seen Eastville back then, a world away...

tony said...

the soundtrack said "like a dagger into the heart of the city".

Thanks for a brilliant post. Got any more like it?

tony said...

er, I meant AS the soundtrack said. Can you edit your own posts on this blog?

SteveL said...

@tony, no, no way to edit posts, but I think I can delete any. its easiest just to correct them.

What's funny about the original soundtrack is that we were meant to be grateful. Nobody realised that daggers thrust into your heart are often fatal.

Also, no more like this. Joshua Hart and dunnojumbie found this on the BBC web site, posted it to the cycling campaign web site.

Chris Hutt said...

I remember that corner of Bristol from the 60s. I even watched the viaduct being used by the occasional goods train and then it's demolition. As far as I remember there was a hunger for a new future and a disdain for the grubby past, and they didn't come much grubbier than Victorian railway viaducts.

Of course the future was, as always, an unknown, but I think we just took it for granted that progress was good. This was also the epoch of such vain gestures as landing men on the moon and Concorde.

Rick said...

Listen to the commentary again carefully. I don't think this is a supportive film at all. There is a definite feel that the narrator is mourning the developments.

Unknown said...

Hello... Chris Chalkley from PRSC here. Interesting blog you have.
This is a great little bit of film.
I have a technical question... How does one embed this video into one's website. I went to the BBC site that I guess you got it from...
But it is not clear how to do it. Any help would be appreciated. Oh and thanks for linking to the PRSC site.It has been old and shonky for a while, but I have just given it a spruce up...
pls send any response to chris@prsc.org.uk
Best Regards,
C