Off topic - my car is no more!!

[wamram]

Under new European Ledgistation once a car reachs the end of its "life" it will be the responseablity of the maker to dispose of it correctly, Don't know how it will work like if you drive a old Escort do you take it back to a Ford dealer when it's finally knackered?.

wamram

[andy250]

Dm is completely right, what annoyed was the bodywork looks fine, tyres ok etc, the sills look they have been attacked by a10 thunderbolt with the gun. I think i will sorn it next week then take to the scrappers!!! I also have been thinking about getting a new push iron!!!

regards

Andy

[BillShipton]

Incidentally, I can heartily recommend a side order of "Geoffrey Jones: The Rhythm of Film". It features award-winning shorts: Snow (Oscar nominated), Rail and Locomotion for BTF, along with superb shorts for BP and Shell.
C_W.

Thanks for the tip-off.

For me, it's not just the trains, it is the whole nostalgic nature of the films with their staid commentaries and innocence that I like.

Bring back the days of trade test transmissions on BBC2 when a lot of those Shell and BP films were shown, I say! Also has anyone released a compilation of the Post Office films from the 50s and 60s?

PS Yes, I know I'm getting sad, but it's winter at the seaside. Last night the sea was coming over the prom as I walked back from the pub, and Hayley refuses to come down till the wind drops!

[Lizzie_Claymore]

Thanks for the comments Claymore its the chassis thats going not the bodywork, once you start welding chassis it never ends i did last year, all the rust does is move somewhere else ie the other side of the weld.

Ah right. I assumed you meant outer sills rather than inner. Point taken. Nonetheless, I remember having the underside of old cars plated over about 10-15 years ago and they tended to last for several years then. Whatever you get next, I can heartily recommend Dinitrol 3125 rustproofing. It always used to come out top in all the 'Practical Classics' long term tests and I've found it far nicer to apply than Waxoyl. It's not cheap (about £12.50 a litre) but you only need 2-3 cans to do a car and that's a lot cheaper than replacing a vehicle 5-10 years earlier than you'd otherwise have to!

For me, it's not just the trains, it is the whole nostalgic nature of the films with their staid commentaries and innocence that I like.

Bring back the days of trade test transmissions on BBC2 when a lot of those Shell and BP films were shown, I say! Also has anyone released a compilation of the Post Office films from the 50s and 60s?

Bill - Are you me or am I you??!! I totally agree. In fact a chap who ran a studio a few years ago got me in to do some 1950s-style voiceover work when he saw one of the spoof 1950s style videos I'd made for work. I love that era of newsreels. Likewise, I've been amazed that BBC2 hasn't done a special 'Trade Test Transmissions' evening. I always used to try to catch those when I was a kid. Unfortunately, we only got our first colour TV about 6 months after they stopped showing them so my memories are mainly of them in monochrome. I loved all the BP ones - the oilrig, the speedboats, the Italian garage, laying the pipeline etc., the old car, the Hoffnung cartoon, the ICI one with them setting fire to saucers of chemicals and carrying a huge long plastic pipe out of the factory ... all wonderful stuff - a genre that has, sadly, disappeared, since the demise of the B movie in cinemas. "This is Shell" (1970) is on the Geoffrey Jones DVD, as is the stunningly edited (once it gets going) "Trinidad & Tobago" (BP, 1964) I also have an extensive collection of genuine 'Test Card Music' in my CD collection. (Oh dear - the cat's out of the bag now!) Mind you, I even used to love finding out about all the transmitter information (BBC2 at 10.45 Thursdays?) Remember the Mikado heralding a series of slides of Crawley Court, Winchester on Tuesdays at 09:30 - the ITA equivalent? (Crawley Court was the ITA's Tx operations centre until all the BBC/IBA transmitters were sold off to Crown Castle/NTL Broadcast in the early 90s (ish).) Bizarre now to think that daytime TV consisted of still slides with voiceover about transmitter info, or Test Card F. (Considerably better quality programming than today's daytime TV, I hasten to add!)

Regarding the Post Office Films - yes there is at least one compilation, which I have on DVD. They've added some 1980s ones to 'Night Mail - The Classic Documentary' (2003). It doesn't seem to be listed on Amazon but it's published by Royal Mail Film Library, Education House, Castle Road, SITTINGBOURNE, Kent, ME10 3RL. I dare say a quick call would clarify. As well as the 1936 classic, it also contains "The Midnight Hours" (1987), "Post Haste" (1988) and "Mail Rail" (1987). Unfortunately, the latter has a dubbing error for the first few minutes as the M&E track swamps the commentary but does get corrected eventually.

Incidentally, it will be long out of print by now but if you ever come across a copy of "Don't Look at the Camera" by Harry Watt, it's well worth a read. He was the director of Night Mail and was a very witty writer too. It chronicles much of the 'behind the scenes' story of the making of the film, amongst many other things.

I can't believe you haven't already been to these but, just in case, have a look at Whirligig, the vast Transdiffusion site, The Test Card Circle, HTW, TV Cream, the wonderful 625 site, the MHP site, Independent Teleweb, the Ultimate LWT site etc.

Regards,
C_W

[BillShipton]

Well, many thanks for that. You know a lot more about this than I do. Perhaps if I concentrated on one area of knowledge rather than the scattergun approach, I would be better.

Thanks for the memories of the Trade Test Transmissions - as you say, it is surprising that they haven't been made into a show fronted by some smartarse like Jimmy Carr or Angus Deayton along with the transmitter information and testcards. Oh no, now they will!

Particular thanks for the LWT site. I have examples of most of the station idents on video and did have a short version of The Entertainers animated promo - now I have the full thing (which is fantastic)! Is there an ATV appreciation site with their on-air promos? For cheesy TV fans, seeing promotions for 'proper' Sat night entertainment like Game for a Laugh, Punchlines, Russ Abott's Madhouse is excellent. Thanks.

I am getting obsessed by my past....oh dear, must mean death is on the way!

[Lizzie_Claymore]

I don't know of an exclusive ATV one, though there is some splendid stuff on these pages at TV Ark and on the old pages of The TV Room(which will be migrating to the new pages there in due course, I gather).

There are even RealMedia clips of continuity & presentation, including the morning startup of Croyden on Channel 9 with the unmistakable tinkling of an Eric Coates march - 'Sound and Vision'. Great stuff!

Enjoy (as the Americans say)!
C_W.

[BillShipton]

Oh dear. I can remember "This is Rediffusion from Croydon" with the wonderfully named Redvers Kyle doing continuity.