driving in 1963

My dad got his first car in about 1965, a Standard Eight. It was a tiny thing but we once got about 6 kids in it to go to Saturday morning pictures!

This video is great, compressing a drive from London to Bath in 1963. The thing that strikes me most is how empty the roads are, the saddest thing is that even in 1963 there were idiots who didn't use their indicators!

All this will be gone completely soon, as the oil dries up and the roads vanish or are converted into railways. Car design is already gone to pieces, driving today is a nightmare and I  doubt many of us will really miss the car.

This is probably the closest I'll ever come to  nostalgia on this site!

dublo!

Model railways, the world's finest hobby. Even in the 60s Hornby-Dublo were producing excellent models and back in those sexist days almost all boys were lucky enough to have a set or a loco or two. Hornby still exists of course and if anything model railways are more popular than ever. They captured all the promise and excitement of a technological and mobile society. And now of course, as the roads die through lack of fuel, railways are the future.

And of course railway modelling needs so many skills, from electrics, carpentry, electronics, scenery etc etc