1970s London | The Westway | Residents demand re-housing | Today | 1970

Local residents complain about the increase noise and pollution caused by London's latest motorway - The Westway a 2.5-mile (4 km) elevated dual carriageway. Locals and residents of Acklam Road demand to be re housed.
First shown: 28/09/1970
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Quote: A08418

[@davidfelix2594]

You can bet your life that the people who gave the go ahead to build those roads didn't live anywhere near them.

[@wombat1238marsupial]

The old man with the grocery shop was probably a veteran of WW2, what a reward for serving your country. Now people are killing themselves to buy property in Hendon for instance near that motorway.

[@dongargon3049]

westbourne park

[@arvinpareftsid2039]

More like ww1. He looks at least 75 there in 1970

[@RecoverywithMissWilliams]

He sounds like he has a Caribbean accent

[@sikhpilot.]

@@RecoverywithMissWilliams likely born abroad

[@user-uu2ex4pj9l]

@@RecoverywithMissWilliams Yes, Trinidad - the area was home to Trinidadians from the 1940s & 50s .... or possibly Guyana

[@harleyrobertson73]

This reporter is a legend...... He isn't just reporting the news, he's actually experiencing what the residents experience just to get the proper information

[@janeporter818]

Facts

[@stephenspence1192]

Peter Taylor is an excellent journalist.He is an expert on the Northern Ireland conflict.

[@stephenspence1192]

@Jack Warner Yes he is. He is 79 years old now.

[@keepingitwild5994]

That's the journalism of those days - highly professional! These days a journalist has to go with what is acceptable and what isn't and run it by their boss first before making it public!

[@johnnyb8825]

@@stephenspence1192 I was 4 years old and had just started school when this programme was first shown, and he was a young journalist aged 27. That thought blows my mind!

[@Mute040404]

There was a time when Journalists listened to the working class & gave them a voice - now they ignore them

[@andrewrobinson8305]

That’s completely untrue Marcus.

[@ctcurry1777]

The poor being abused has never changed.

[@bonniedrasco8166]

Those houses actually sell for over a million today

[@deletebilderberg]

Over 2.5 million for a terraced house in W11. It’s the same where I grew up in NW5. Many houses were council owned/derelict when I was a kid.

[@seanlawman1518]

Well I’ll be Buggered

[@strictlyyoutube6881]

Its not only that they are more than a million today, its a very cool area. Well to do people, educated and cultured.

[@admiralcraddock464]

That smug bastard at 3.00 i bet he lived in a detatched house in a leafy suburb

[@lewisgreen2957]

People like him seldom lose

[@paulbroderick8438]

Motorways through residential areas is outright criminal. You can be rest assured that none of the 'planners' will be effected by this nonsense. Greetings from a Brit residing in USA.

[@thomassegrue8783]

I lived in Acklham road, as this was being built , i went to Bevington School and then lived in Aldermarston St ,opposite travellers site , and then many other local places, with eviction a constant . No happy memories of living in SLUMS !

[@jasonayres]

People used to write songs about this sort of thing, many years ago. Well, it's not exactly 'paving paradise', but it did literally divide communities.

[@stevo728822]

Those in the countryside houses are now getting the same with HS2.

[@izitmoi3036]

I remember being driven over the Westway by my dad many a time in the 70s to visit family in London. Used to think how close the houses were to it.

[@rjjcms1]

Yes,whenever I was driven over there or occasionally drove on it myself I thought "these houses would have been a really nice place to live before they built this,but the traffic,the noise,the fumes now would drive me slightly nuts!"

[@izitmoi3036]

@@rjjcms1 yes I agree. I also used to drive to work via the north circular in the late 80s and there were a lot of houses there incredibly close to that road artery.

[@olgaolga207]

I live in one of the towers near it. Its actually a pleasant neighbourhood bad pollution

[@izitmoi3036]

@@olgaolga207 yes I believe the neighbourhoods are very pleasant and I love all London. I'm a Londoner by birth, inner city. Eventually lived under Heathrow flight path in West London. Now by the coast. Sorry to hear about pollution. My dear nan never left London in her life, never saw the countryside; that makes me sad too 🌱🌿 and my dear great aunt loved her flat in a tower block in Holloway. But sadly she got burgled a few times sadly in her 90s 💚

[@rjjcms1]

@@izitmoi3036 I see a few places in West London,such as parts in sight of Wembley Stadium,that also have big,busy roads running right past rows of residential houses. That,with its discolouring effect on the surfaces of structures caused by fumes and pollution can remove some incentive to keep all those properties in a smart,pristine state. I drove on the North Circular regularly for a while in 1998-2000 when I had to make regular journeys between Barnet and Romford,and also went with someone on visits to the cinema,etc. at the old Lee Valley leisure complex in the days before the area was regenerated for the 2012 Olympics.

[@the_9ent]

Those poor people. Abandoned and forgotten in the name of progress.

[@zivkovicable]

Encouraging car use has turned out to be anti progress. Now cities around the world are trying to undo the damage.

[@David-uf8ex]

Nothing has changed governments and councils couldn’t give a toss

[@helenhughes9420]

A house swap between researchers and residents would have resulted in compensation and re-housing. To avoid this they have the residents believe for a number of years, "research" is being done.

[@rez4405]

Now it's all private foreign investmenta all around and Noone left complaints

[@MajorMinor1970]

50 years later and all those houses are worth a fortune no matter if they back onto the Westway. It was lovely to hear some of those voices, took me back to how people I grew up with used to speak.

[@simonmaskell365]

Most was demolished. Hardly any Houses close to it now. Area was rebuilt in 70s. Huge parts of Walmer Road dont exist. Read up on it. An interesting Read.

[@jon9218]

It was planned to have these motorways all over London. I lived near Orpington and my parents house lost value as a motorway was planned there too. Probably the reduction in house prices is what stopped all the motorways being built throughout London.

[@regplasma7906]

6.57 Mr McSherry went to the hairdressers and said can I have a 'Michael Foot' please.They amazingly obliged.

[@innocenti67]

You could argue the Westway has become iconic and part of the cultural fabric of the area.

[@paperpeople8408]

wow...not much health and safety then with those little kids just feet away watching the digger - sad but sweet

[@rjhtrucking5429]

It helped toughen them up.

[@ivanahavitoff7308]

Adelaide Terrace houses sell for about half a million now.

[@leenunn6446]

More like 5 mill

[@EgoAlters]

1 bed flats go for a half a mil.

[@oldgit4260]

They thought times were bad then, if only they could see Britain now they wouldn't believe it

[@marklimbrick]

House in Adelaide Terrace on right move £590,000. Or 100 times what Mr&Mrs McSherry paid for it. Could buy a whole Scottish island with no means of transport at all. Bliss.

[@buddha1736]

Imagine buying a flat and they build a motorway 11 feet from your flat window lol. 😬😂

[@buddha1736]

@@arvinpareftsid2039 What are you going on about Numbnuts.

[@sthelenshistorychannel]

The parasites of politics and greed feeding from Joe Public will never change xD

[@gigteevee6118]

Thankfully they didn't turn London into LA back then!

[@patricketienne2579]

This London was great. London, now, is hell on earth.

[@greni7472]

Wrong - people were fleeing London and it was depopulating. It was decaying.

[@joefraser9636]

@@greni7472that’s how gentrification works in London, the councils deprive the area until it’s unlivable, then they sell it at the value of the land the developers

[@markrskinner]

"car is king" Proof that this phrase is nothing new.

[@clairepeace5783]

I remember in Bristol my fathers family being paid off so the M32 could go through their business of 3 generations x

[@James_BAlert]

Why didn't they attempt to put sound absorbing walls at the side of the motorway,🛣️ OK the cars & lorries🚚 would have no view of London Town but it might of helped the residents especially if triple glazing was offered in all their windows for free!? 🤔

[@1042firegirl]

No such thimg at the time.

[@eldee1628]

That's about as dumb as saying why didn't they give them an iPhone. It's because none of that existed back then 50+ years ago, you doughnut.

[@shelleyphilcox4743]

DOuble glazing was invented in the UK, in Scotland in the 1800s, but wasnt common. Someone called Haven, in the USA 1930s adapted it using modern glazing methods. In the UK in 1965, the government updated building regs to encourage good insulation for all new builds...there had been a lot of cheap building after WWII which was single glazed, poorly ventilated and poorly insulted, which in the UK climate is a disaster for condensation and mould problems. In the 1970s, double glazing became cheaper and widely available, and with the energy crisis it really took off. In the 80s, improved sealed units meant even more people took up double glazing their homes. Double glazing went from about 16% in 1970s to 60% by the 90s. The majority of houses have double glazing now, but for very old and especially listed buildings, it isn't always possible.

[@YayaFerni63]

09:20 no health and safety back then, but too much today. Madness. .

[@michaelcoffey7362]

Preople should been helped more

[@robtyman4281]

Nothing has changed.....fifty years on. Still the same problems faced by many people, and battles being fought by them now on THREE fronts: Local Authorities, Central government, and Developers.

[@marksinthehouse1968]

They should of put the west way underground now it’s a eyesore covered in graffiti even the lights have been removed from the road way,part of it is a roof for Westbourne Park bus garage , horrible garage , if you look at the piece showing the large roundabout you see two sections sticking out towards some houses that was going to be a connection to the M1 so mire demolition thank goodness it wasn’t built also that motorway was going the other way to Clapham junction with a major intersection on Clapham Common ,it was all part of the London box motorway scheme abandoned in 1973 ,the area under the west way is scruffy and unpleasant and as I’ve been reading nothing to do with colour or race it was a poor area until it was yuppyfied needs putting in a tunnel

[@Keithbarber]

London motorway box was called the London ringways, which would have seen an inner motorway a motorway standard north and south circular and the M25, the inner and outer ringways never materialised

[@marksinthehouse1968]

@@Keithbarber imagine if it did ,thank you for your comment all the best ,I’m from west London too

[@Keithbarber]

@@marksinthehouse1968 I'm east London, I live in leytonstone which was cut in half by the A12 (M11 link road) and whilst that is in as cutting, not elevated, it links the Blackwall tunnel to the A406 that leads onto the M11 It has made the former A11 leytonstone high road much quieter, and was "detrunked" several years ago, and traffic levels are now much reduced as well, but local "traffic management schemes" undid a lot of the benefits by creating 3 "pinch points" leading to traffic tailback

[@marksinthehouse1968]

@@Keithbarber I’ve been stuck there in traffic when I worked for London Underground taking broken ticket machines from Bromley by bow to Red hill .via the Blackwell tunnel,

[@robtyman4281]

Totally agree with you. They should also bury the Hammersmith flyover - that's an eyesore too, the way it slices Hammersmith in two.

[@YayaFerni63]

Politicians back then talking rubbish with the right accent. Any resemblance to any MP or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. .

[@marklimbrick]

Lived between Liverpool St main line and East London line 30 years. Ladykillers effects when old diesels climbed up to Bethnal Green. Had to keep pausing conversation all crockery rattled. Played lots of loud reggae.

[@MrDastardly]

Peter Taylor, a magnificent journalist.

[@elizauksamad304]

Sleep deprivation, and constant noise no sunlight..

[@olgaolga207]

Walmer road is now tiny

[@HarveyPaul007]

Interesting.

[@PaulWalshp-wx4in]

Proper reporting Unlike the Spineless Tosspots of today

[@SteabhanMac3]

0:06 Trellick Tower being built 😋

[@digitd4663]

Housing near the Westway are now choc a bloc with residents in high rise blocks

[@Bloxdio_God]

Yep and most of them low quality people who bleed the taxpayer dry.

[@Andrew_Tate_Personal]

Imagine the traffic in rush hour if there was no A40 or M4 to use

[@zivkovicable]

Well it's much worse now than it ever was. So I imagine it would be better if they weren't built, & we hadn't closed railway lines & stations, decimated bus services & discouraged cycling.. The New Elizabeth line will get you into central London from Maidenhead in 35 minutes. Driving up the M4 will take you a couple of hours during rush hour on a good day.

[@patriciaallen4430]

Poor people!

[@missyglittervlogs3543]

Sad

[@caesar7734]

£1,000 in 1970 = £11,000 today

[@danw1374]

You could buy a 3 bedroom house in 1970 for £10,000

[@misst.e.a.187]

They should never have built this monstrosity

[@porkscratchings5428]

The old Paddington Green Police Station was under the part of the west way then got knocked down and a roundabout now lol

[@philblack374]

Is that Eric Idle doing the voiceover? Puts a completely different edge on the program, 😂

[@michael_mouse]

0:14 ... Goldie Lookin Chain!

[@figure-of-speech]

This gentleman [ beginning story ] must be have he's grandchildren have compensations !

[@figure-of-speech]

Non permission's building houses for people around motorway , speed road !

[@Nebulous0_o]

Adapt and progress, adapt and progress people of 1970, that’s whatcha gotta do

[@steamteamkids3961]

Why does the old man at the start have a Jamaican accent?

[@misst.e.a.187]

Sounds more Trinidadian, not Jamaican

[@skyworm8006]

It's not. It's a normal English accent though rare now.

[@Zlervo]

Thats a normal English accent. There's nothing Jamaican about it.

[@miriammorgan1140]

Sounds originally from Ireland

[@divinesarah]

The elderly man definitely sounds Caribbean . I'm guessing he could have been Trinidadian, Guyanese or Bajan. Yes, "white" Caribbeans do exist.

[@marklola12]

So one of those houses should cost £5k to buy, yet that guy said part of his house where ever that was...was damaged by the workers making the flyover yet it cost him about £2.5k to fix the damage...that is half the price of the house yet it seemed to just be a outside wall that was damaged lol

[@asdfg169]

Motorways in cities were/are awful ideas

[@tomservo5007]

ear plugs help me sleep

[@TelexToTexel]

Another example of the brutalist architecture forced upon the people of those times 😖

[@philipareed]

10 or 20 years - that's 3 generations. Utter bollocks.

[@charlieminaj2]

Local Government Act 1888 section 79 Incorporation of county council. 2. All duties and liabilities of the inhabitants of a county shall become and be duties and liabilities of the council of such county. Local Government Act 1894 section 67 Transfer of property and debts and liabilities. Where any powers and duties are transferred by this Act from one authority to another authority- (1) All property held by the first authority for the purpose or by virtue of such powers and duties shall pass to and vest in the other authority, subject to all debts and liabilities affecting the same; and (2) The latter authority shall hold the same for the estate, interest, and purposes, and subject to the covenants, conditions, and restrictions for and subject to which the property would have been held if this Act had not passed, so far as the same are not modified by or in pursuance of this Act; and (3) All debts and liabilities of the first authority incurred by virtue of such powers and duties shall become debts and liabilities of the latter authority, and be defrayed out of the like property and funds out of which they would have been defrayed if this Act had not passed. And because local councils and police are companies🙃 Bill of Rights Act 1689: - "All promises of fines and forfeitures without due process are illegal and void" Bills of Exchange Act 1882: - "There is no recognisable legal means to respond to a demand for payment without a true bill which is based on a pre-existing commercial agreement" Fraud Act 2006: - Insisting or demanding payment without a pre-existing commercial arrangement which is based on presentable fact in the form of a commercial agreement is an act of deception. Payment is a commercial activity. Profiteering through deception is an act of fraud.

[@Hackney_Boy-DoesntReadReplies]

The damage done by a Tory led GLC. Tories ruin everything, thankfully Londoners kicked them out and the rest of the project was scrapped.

[@madandy3176]

Yes, but they did rehouse them then they knocked the blighted homes down and built new homes just as close and people are happily living there.

[@mjh5437]

Not happily,and only in grotty little council flats no-one else would live in.....and five times as noisy now cos there`s five times as many cars.

[@zivkovicable]

Victorian terraces that used to house the working classes in that part of West London are now unaffordable to anyone but billionaires.

[@fredperry9235]

When London was English

[@Evemeister12]

London has always been a world city

[@harleyrobertson73]

Yes you are very much correct, London was and still is English......what with all the different cultures and races London is very much English and always will be 🖕

[@fredperry9235]

@@harleyrobertson73 Paradoxical and plainly untrue. Multiculturalism rather than assimilation has seen to that.

[@harleyrobertson73]

@@fredperry9235 being English isn't just about where you are from

[@fredperry9235]

@@harleyrobertson73 I know that very well (I'm part Jewish, black and East Asian). But without assimilation and with policies of multiculturalism and cultural relativism people aren't becoming English.

[@mdluk199]

Amazing to see so many actual English people in London. Seems a different place to the hellhole it is today.

[@rogerdoger3347]

Loads of English in London and loads of foreigners in London it's the rest of the UK cities that were racist snd segregated even today .

[@footballsoccerx2021]

Hoe do you know they're English just by looking? I heard some foreign accents there.

[@footballsoccerx2021]

@bates417ify but he said "English"

[@hiramabiff2017]

If only those resident had learned to go to France and get in rubber boats to row over to Britain, they would have gotten all the free housing & hotel living they want for free.

[@21stcenturymuse27]

When the west was White.

[@Edgel-in6bs]

Always some racist turd all over these pages isn't there?

[@appleslover]

Still is

[@fredperry9235]

@@Edgel-in6bs If you oppose the ethnic cleaning of your country you're a racist now

[@appleslover]

Ah the good old days when the Americas and Australia were native .. Oh, you won't talk about that, hypocrite

[@fredperry9235]

@@appleslover They were never native. Both countries were formed by Europeans.