Great British Road Journeys - Oxfordshire - Thame to Wantage Ep. 31

[@himofthenorth-east]

"what the sh*t is this?"😂 I like the increasing levels of peril through the video, the cyclist behind you as you're a speaking to camera whilst walking on the path and also the Ford that's reversing out too.

[@danwiddon3854]

😂 Qashqai😮

[@himofthenorth-east]

​@@danwiddon3854Haha darn it! 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@1971bigdaddycain]

Nice 'brake squeak' warning from the cyclist also... Must be a subscriber.

[@bryan3550]

Got to be some great outtakes... 🤣

[@pennywood5653]

Snorted my tea out when he said that.

[@pettitma]

I have no idea why I watch this stuff. But I'll be watching the next one.

[@1946Ash]

1:23 From Middle English *pill, *pyll, from Old English pyll (“a pool, pill”), from Proto-Germanic *pullijaz (“small pool, ditch, creek”), diminutive of Proto-Germanic *pullaz (“pool, stream”), from Proto-Indo-European *bl̥nos (“bog, marsh”). Cognate with Old English pull (“pool, creek”), Scots poll (“slow moving stream, creek, inlet”), Icelandic pollur (“pond, pool, puddle”).

[@robinwells8879]

That seems to cover it!😂

[@willtricks9432]

Now that's all in my head and I was having a tidy out, so there is a bit of room for it. I will be using the information regularly. Cheers.

[@Galerak1]

And the award for 'Best Supporting Actor' goes to..... Dog, for his expert portrayal of Labradorus Inquisitorii.

[@raynarnslr1966]

31 episodes and still as interesting and informative as ever! Thanks Jon, safe travels.

[@JohnSmithShields]

The addition of outtakes is a great treat. Please keep it up.

[@tonypowell2165]

This trip almost reflects my life: went to school in Thame (no mention of Lord Williams's school; now a comprehensive but founded in 1559) and lived in the VILLAGE of Chinnor at the time. I now drive through Wantage to work at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, which is next to the Diamond synchrotron, we have a more whizzier synchrotron, Diamond is only throwing electrons around, ours bashes protons into tungsten to generate neutrons... still the same mad science stuff at the end of it that I don't pretend to understand much of.

[@JohnDavis-ed5sg]

A good idea to generate neutrons from a bit of crappy old tungsten.

[@Phuc_Yhou]

That's heavy

[@MW_Rail_Photography]

Yeah, Diamond is on the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) site. The other synchrotron is considerably older, some parts being about 40 years old. Cadbury have used the site before as well as Boeing or Airbus.

[@roderickmain9697]

Wantage: The probably even smaller town in the guidebook just a mile to the north is Grove is home to the Williams F1 team. A bit further out to the NorthWest is Stanford in the vale - Birthplace of Pam Ayres, comedic poet and sometime co-worker of my fathers.

[@chrismoule7242]

Blimey, how many fathers do you have?

[@roderickmain9697]

@@chrismoule7242 At this time - zero

[@kramer26]

​@@chrismoule7242dontcha just love the English language and it's many misinterpretations?! 😂

[@chrismoule7242]

@@kramer26 sorely temped to say "its" - but can I resist??? Yes, yes, yes...no...and yes I do. But in this case the sentence cannot be misinterpreted. It means precisely what it says, which is more than one father, which is exactly the same as if he had typed "fathers'". If, on the other hand, he had typed "father's", we would have been dealing with only one father. It's not a question of misinterpretation at all.

[@PeatCowman]

Grove is a village. #trivia

[@sh4dowchas3r]

Turbo-Encabulators are fundamental to how the Synchrotron works

[@tiepup]

It's always good to essentially prevent side-fumbling when dealing with particles travelling near the speed of light.

[@matthewbartlett1977]

So I wonder if the Diamond Light Source Synchrotron, is a smaller version of CERNS Large Hadron Collider?

[@jamesindustryst]

Nofur Trunions!

[@HALLish-jl5mo]

​@@matthewbartlett1977 CERN is a synchrotron, same as the smaller ring on Diamond (the bigger rind is the storage ring from which the light is emitted), but the application is very different. CERN smashes particles together, and observes the results. Diamond takes electrons traveling at relativistic speeds and makes them emit light as they change direction (I'm an engineer not a physicist), and uses that light to conduct experiments. Functionally, Diamond experiments on things exposed to its light, CERN experiments on the particles themselves.

[@antonycharnock2993]

Trouble at' Synchroton. The cross electron beam has become multi phased with the magnetic field "Pardon?"

[@philwildcroft1764]

There are quite a few Pills on the Severn estuary, they're creeks which are deep enough to use as a harbour away from the main river flow or in some cases big enough to get a boat further inland.

[@tassiehandyman3090]

My dad worked at AERE Harwell from 1960-someodd until March 1990. He finished as a Shift Supervisor on PLUTO. Before he left, I got to visit him at work (I would have been 12 at the time). I will never forget the colour of the Cherenkov radiation around the spent fuel rods in the cooling pond - eerie is an understatement...

[@DrivermanO]

My uncle did too. He left to go to Manchester University as professor of Nuclear Chemistry. I think he worked on ZETA.

[@rabidpb]

My dad was at Harwell too, until 1985, working on geothermal energy. Quite why that came under the remit of the AERE eludes me to this day.

[@andymorgan6644]

There is a rumour among the locals here that there is a Nuclear Bunker there? Any truth you have heard of?

[@adamjolley8552]

I liked this video so I pressed them button specifically for that 👉🏻

[@charlottelarimore9261]

Which One Adam the subscribe or the like or dislike button?

[@samholdsworth420]

​@@charlottelarimore9261this button 👎🏻

[@samholdsworth420]

This button for sure 👎🏻

[@mikeymike1792]

As a Wallingford resident, I'm gutted you passed straight through!

[@PeatCowman]

Not even a mention of Crowmarsh either. Tsk!

[@konkey-dong]

Right? No mention of the fact it's the first place William the Conqueror went after being crowned king, or the castle's role in the civil war?

[@konkey-dong]

⁠@@PeatCowmanCould have at least mentioned Jethro Tull

[@andymassey8105]

I liked the power stance of a leg up on the bench

[@JohnSmithShields]

Proper old-school Top Gear.

[@ianhart4990]

Love the jazz club reference! Grrreeaaatttt!

[@euanmcgill918]

Nice!

[@brianartillery]

The appearance of Louis Balfour, of off off've The Fast Show's 'Jazz Club', made me laugh. Clam on bass, and Hornfinger was to have appeared, but unfortunately he's caught syphilis again. Niiiiiiiiiiiiiice.

[@tesla.coil66]

As a Physics teacher, I've been to the Diamond Synchotron for a residential course. It looks fantastic, and most of its work is essentially doing the job of a really powerful microscope. Studying really small things to help develop better medicine etc.

[@benjaminmendenhall4497]

You did a great job and I keep on watching every new episode that you put up all the time

[@maurices5259]

Love the bits of industrial remains you put into these videos - keep going, great stuff.

[@tobyjackman3212]

This is the best video I've ever seen about anything

[@KurisuBonsai]

Many good chuckles in this episode. Excellent work.

[@Paul_Lucas]

The pills would have been small pools of water - likely fed from the river. Possibly for agricultural reasons.

[@Cameron_Bell]

Hey Auto, Didcot used be home to Williams F1 Team, Alan Jones nicknamed the place "Deadcat" because he thought it was boring & nothing interesting happened there!

[@ricequackers]

My brother used to live in Didcot when he worked at STFC at the Harwell Campus. I've got fond memories of driving over from Cambridge where I used to work, through all these little towns and admiring the beautiful countryside to get there. Didn't get around to visiting the railway museum for some bizarre reason.

[@Anonymoususer_8823]

I’m amazed that you have done every part of the UK’s roads and those you haven’t done. I now passed my driving test and can drive. I have been to different places and I have learnt a lot from just by watching your videos.

[@DigininjaRobin]

That last scene made me spit out my drink! Yet another cracking video.

[@SiRhodesDriverTraining]

Not been too bad this week Jon. Hope you had a good week also

[@lingerslongest]

Great vid, here's a thumbs up and comment for the algorithm.

[@johnkane9535]

I got a tour of the Diamond Light Source when I worked for the Research Councils. Very cool place - they even have a small Mars Rover there

[@abarratt8869]

Ah, the Diamond light source Synchrotron! The history is basically: 1) Airfield was built as part of the 2nd small disagreement, 2) the site was selected to be one of the homes of the UK Atomic Energy Authority, partly because the "guaranteed electricity grid" (part of the grid that'd be kept running no matter what) was comparatively close by in Bristol (they ran pylons from Bristol towards Harwell), 3) It then in the 1960s made sense to place the Rutherford Appleton labs (RAL) next door, as they wanted particle accelerators and would benefit from sharing some of the UKAEA's facilities (nuclear health monitoring, waste disposal, etc). 4) RALs old proton synchrotron is re-purposed in the 1980 to build Isis, still one of the world's foremost neutron sources (which are very useful in neutron imaging - a bit like X-Raying something but with real punch). This was a real scrap-to-riches story, built out of the scrap parts from the old machine dating from the 1960s. It became both an academically and commercially valuable tool, as it turned out lots of specialist manufacturers (e.g. Rolls Royce) needed neutron imaging, and the engineering team running it became very good at running it reliably. This gave Rutherford Appleton / Isis a high profile in the particle physics arena (CERN, etc). 5) In the 1990s, the Europeans decided to build a newer, better neutron source, with RAL as the front runner because of the high density of expertise on the site. 6) At about the same time, the Wellcome Trust wanted to (joint?) fund a large X-ray source - Diamond - with the Daresbury Laboratory in Cheshire being the government's front runner due to the high density in expertise in that kind of machine on that site. However, Wellcome didn't want it to go to Daresbury due to the travel time from London, etc; they wanted it at RAL. 7) There then came that rarest of moments; the successful, insightful and wise intervention of a Minister of the British Government. The Minister whose department all these sites came under (I forget his/her name), said "Give Wellcome what they want, put Diamond at RAL". The reasoning given was that a) Wellcome's money was sure fire, guaranteed, there for the taking but Wellcome would take it abroad if we insisted on spending it in Daresbury. Meanwhile, the European money for the new neutron source at RAL was still very much uncertain. "Grab the money whilst it's there, or we might lose it all" was the mantra. And, so it proved to be. Diamond got funded and built at RAL, the Daresbury lab is still very active anyway, and the European project for a superior neutron source never materialised. Part of the reason why the European money never materialised was because - so it turned out - RAL's Isis was pretty much the most powerful neutron source that one could make anyway. A new one was not going to be much better. This was born out when the USA decided to build its own similar machine at Oakridge National Laboratory, only bigger and better. This didn't work out either. Instead of a uranium or tungsten target (which is what Isis used), they decided to use pressurised mercury. It made some kind of sense - the big problem was extracting heat from the target. Isis used water cooling, where as mercury could be pumped and cooled more easily in heat exchangers. However, they missed a trick. [Don't worry, none of this can explode in any kind of nuclear way, and it's not very much material either] The next bit is a bit complex, but it helps to know that this kind of machine delivers a large bunch of protons to the target 50 times per second, and this knocks out a load of neutrons which you can then use 50 times per second. The power in the proton beam is quite high - hundreds of kilowatts - so the target gets sudden bursts of heat delivered at 50 times per second. In a solid uranium or tungsten target, no problem (so long as coolant flows). However, in liquid mercury, the pulse of heat would evaporate the mercury, and create a bubble. Thanks to the pressurisation, the bubble just as rapidly collapses. This is cavitation, just like the effect that destroys ships propellers. This was setting up shock waves in the mercury strong enough to chip away at the inside of the stainless steel pressure vessel. They didn't know this of course, not until it failed and poured out a high pressure jet of red hot radioactive mercury into its containment chamber. Thank goodness for the containment, but quite a mess to clean up! By the time they'd worked this all out and how much they'd have to derate the machine they'd built, it ended up not much more intense a source than Isis. 8) So, the minister was proved correct, Diamond is a big success, and Isis is still a big success also. A lot of excellent stuff has come out of RAL and Daresbury, on the quiet. If you ever get a chance to go there for an open day, it's well worth the visit.

[@mybookfacetube]

Sorry, can you repeat that. !

[@abarratt8869]

@@mybookfacetube 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@SkunkPresant]

Thanks for the wealth of information

[@multiSamP23]

In a nutshell that's roughly about right.

[@vumba1331]

A government minister with intelligence , sacre bleu, what eeze zee world coming to?

[@WeeJockMcPlop]

Jon is the type of bloke I’d rather have doing main stream documentaries than toff uni whammers.

[@johnkeepin7527]

Interesting to see the old map of Didcot. Around the Easton’s Plantation was the site of the Didcot A coal fired power station, along with the newer Didcot B gas fired one. Didcot A was visible from a long way. In the early 2000s I remember going to a public open day in the old one.

[@EdwardKane-pb5rj]

Jons to camera pieces with their increasing cuts to different backgrounds are pure Fast Show and Whitehouse's 'Brilliant Kid' character

[@johnrubber1144]

That was great....REALLY GREAT!

[@Vtarngpb]

"Hi dog. Hello." Something tells me that was the best interruption you've had so far Jon. Thanks for including that, for those of us that watch all the way through, and click on a certain button 🦮😉

[@scottishcarenthusiastsandtrain]

Another fantastic and informative video as always Jon.

[@ianreynolds9733]

I press the “like” button before I even watch these! 😂

[@christineburns5246]

Nice to see a mention of Lewknor. My maternal ancestors lived in the village for at least 300 years between the mid 1500s and and 1870s and my great great great grandmother was the licensee of the village pub in the early 1800s. Seeing the line of the old road makes a lot more sense of what I saw when visiting the place.

[@oliverstemp9132]

Wollarding a bench

[@nirgunapa56]

There's a certain amount of jeopardy in your videos so they are interesting, funny and exciting. Thank you...

[@ilovex1981]

Excellent video and the closest you have made it to my home town of Faringdon by just shy of ten miles. Alfred was Great, so we named our son after my grandfather who was also coincidentally, called Alfred.

[@rileyuktv6426]

Thame - my home town - woooohooo❤

[@David_Crayford]

Thame! Who wants to live forever?

[@DTWTheWanderingMuzungu]

Its a shame you didn't get to Harwell a bit sooner as there was an old steam catapult there used for R&D that was eventually developed into the steam catapults used in aircraft carriers today. Whilst it was buried and not directly viewable its presence affected the growth of the grass above so the outline of it was still easily visible. Unfortunately new construction has been started and I've no idea if its been preserved, uncovered or demolished.

[@rapidpig]

Best one yet - bravo, fella. X

[@eddiemaylor2716]

The outtakes at the end are brilliant.

[@ronduke]

Comedy and information all in one... What a gem

[@geopolska]

I like your work, please keep it it up as it's educational, informative and interesting. I've been to many places you did as my yearly driven distance is close to 100.000 miles and it's a 4th year I am working as a driver. Looking forward to seeing next one!

[@colinrobinson7869]

Top flight video John and that outtake at the end spells out to us mere mortals the life on the road that you lead to bring us each and every Sunday tea time a snippet of English Heritage and culture. We thank you most humbly.

[@caravaningincarathevan467]

I've lived in Thame or around it for over 30 yrs, the bridge is also the site of an accident where an arms truck crashed into the river. There are still bullets and grenades found by magnet fisher's to this day. Lovely too watch. Xx

[@ravenwing8842]

Another interesting post John. Nice one!

[@DIY-DaddyO]

Another brilliant episode 👍That's a gurt big spaceship for all the rich people to leave on when the earth is finally bollocksed...

[@kramer26]

I can honestly say that this episode was 'nice' 👌🏼

[@BRADERZ1986]

Bloopers episode is needed 😂😂

[@johnlewan1114]

I was the 172nd person to specifically push that button. Another fantastic journey, thanks Jon! Truly "inspiring"!

[@ptonpc]

The Diamond Light Source synchrotron is an amazing piece of tech. It's used by industry and science. Anything from looking at molecules in medicines, materials, to DNA. Looking inside fossils to see nerves. Looking at how pathogens that attack food crops work in a molecular level.

[@Dushmany316]

I love these videos for their amusement value. This one’s especially amusing for me because of the sound clip from the Rockwell Turbo Encabulator video.

[@alanplom8909]

“Visit Wantage while I can…. (before it gets vaporised)!“ 😂 Hmmm Nice…. Really Great ! Another masterpiece of ‘off the beaten track’ reportage and repartee, exploring the unknown, and making even the seemingly banal extremely interesting, Jon. Even the out-takes at the end….. To coin a well known phrase or saying: “Wicked, Sweet, Awesome”!

[@portlandfester7510]

Excellent video as usual very informative

[@Robertarcher2035]

Great . As ever 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@elelegidosf9707]

One day in 1987 I didn't feel like going to school, so I bunked off and rode to Wantage on my bicycle from my parent's home in Newbury. Once I got to Wantage, which is indeed a charming town, I realised I was very hungry and, with no money in my pocket, I shoplifted an Aero bar from the Co-op. I then rode back to Newbury. I missed a day at school but was richer for the experience. Co-op was poorer for the experience, by one Aero bar. But it has been 37 years; maybe I will be forgiven.

[@ianthompson1675]

There is still a wanted poster of you outside Wantage Nick (which is now in Grove)

[@elelegidosf9707]

@@ianthompson1675 Yikes! They'd better alert Interpol, though; I live abroad now.

[@PaulClough-ql5ye]

Love this

[@the_cheese]

Bravo for including the voice-over from the Turbo-Encabulator. Another cracking good video, Jon!

[@daveyb38]

Keep up the good work sir. I don't know why I find these videos so enjoyable but they are hugely interesting to me. I know so little about the history of these places. You make this look effortless but there is a lot goes into these videos. Thanks

[@davidartina5022]

Love the William Woodard moment at Didcot!

[@whyyoulidl]

Hey MNIJ, great video as always; most informative with a good helping of wit. Thx for the leg work u put in for our edutainment 👌🏿

[@WagnerGimenes]

Onwards to 150K subscribers, Jon. Good to see it.

[@jamesabbott5242]

Awesome Video

[@gareth204]

Your use of ‘Really Great’ from Jazz Club… Nice 😉👍

[@andrewhotston983]

Pure KZbin gold.

[@petelongrs]

Thanks again John 👋

[@chriswalford4161]

Great fun ~ thanks yet again. I love your drollery, your side swipes, you askance view of things.

[@Stephen_Lafferty]

11:43 - great bloopers, Jon! 8:34 - great to see the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and the Diamond Light Source featured this week! It was almost built at Daresbury Laboratory in Cheshire, but I think that the government wanted it closer to London. If you are talking about sources of energy production then the Joint European Torus (JET) Project is just a short distance away at Culham. It closed down in December 2023 after forty years of high energy research.

[@nathanielratcliff7456]

"scraping the barrel" is hilarious but also very accurate here

[@dlevi67]

I'm surprised you didn't mention the Cholsey and Wallingford Railway - it was supposed to connect with the Chinnor/Aylesbury branch, but it never did. There is still a steam engine running over it during the summer weekends. You cropped the video about 2 seconds before passing in front of my house in Wallingford. If I had known, you could have stopped for a cuppa.

[@grahamholliday9962]

Wallingford's bunk line was supposed to run to Watlington via Benson but the £sd ran out so only the 2 ends got built.

[@MorrisTart]

@@grahamholliday9962 You're right. The line from Watlington to Princes Risborough was only built because the one from Cholsey that was supposed to run to it only got as far as Wallingford.

[@MorrisTart]

It's mostly heritage diesels, like it was for the Bunkfest last weekend.

[@angel-heaven]

Nice drone footage of our Chinnor yard

[@shaunwest3612]

Great video John, incredible as always,love the outakes 👍👌😀

[@sirloinestakegames7866]

Yaay finally at my hometown of Wantage! And having lived in Harwell and Drayton over the years too, this ep was very exciting

[@01mememememe]

And here you are - thank you

[@doughnutdoney997]

Interesting video as you certainly went past the village were I live Benson which has a great history :) Wallingford also where William 1st went over that bridge on his way to London to be crowned in 1066 :)

[@danielwillits2173]

“Wantage will be vaporised” 😂😂😂

[@Zeebad_1st]

Didcot is closer but nobody would notice, it would probably improve the place.

[@pennywood5653]

@@Zeebad_1st The last explosion there was a bit too weak sauce.

[@antonycharnock2993]

@@Zeebad_1st Best thing about Didcot is the nearby Truck Festival. I was talking to a local who described it as "Shitcot"

[@Zeebad_1st]

@@antonycharnock2993 the best thing about it is the station, you can get away from the place

[@robertwilloughby8050]

Dalek Green - "If you do this, Doctor, Wantage will be vaporised" The Doctor - "Well, that's a chance we've all got to take...."

[@doctordeej]

Another great video - in fact, really great. Nice!

[@shaun30-3-mg9zs]

Great video Jon, nice to see one of your fans, at the end. have a good one Take care

[@David_Crayford]

Love the out-takes. Rev. Jon taking us on a tour of churches this Sunday. It's just like a day trip out with my mother. I would guess property developers have something to do with people moving to Didcot.

[@philthyphil6662]

Bee Gee Robin Gibb lived at The Prebendal next door to St Mary’s church in Thame for many years. There’s a road named after him in the town.

[@andykilvington1651]

And is buried there (seen his grave). Also used to go out with a girl who worked on Harwell's version of the Hadron Collider.

[@Sarge084]

Just what I always... Wantage! Apologies to Mari Wilson

[@darkstatehk]

Nice nod to the Turbo Encabulator.

[@matthewpumfrey2178]

Love the fast show clip👌

[@TheManFrayBentos]

Turbo Encabulator, really kicking the llama's arse.

[@pfield39]

I've been flying over the area for over 50 years and have never noticed the triangle on the hill, thanks for featuring it. I'll definitely have a shufti next time I'm aloft.

[@dougmorris2134]

Hi John, the great omission! The Wantage Tramway, one of the engines of which is No. 5 “Shannon”/“Jane” is in preservation at the Didcot Railway Centre. Built in 1857, it was bought by the WTC for £365 8s 1d (£sd) or £365. 40.5p and known as “Jane” until closure of the WTC, in 1945, sold to the GWR and its original name and name plates reapplied. The WTC linked the GWR Wantage Rd station to Wantage town on a two mile line alongside the present day A338. Best wishes from Oxfordshire

[@grahamross6397]

Stop it! Already enough train stuff on here. Autos! Autos! And shenanigans! In that order!

[@kevinrayner5812]

This engine used to be on display at Wantage Road station when it was still open. I can just about remember seeing it from a passing train.

[@charlotteistance4386]

Yay!! The Syncrotron!! I go and work there a couple of times a year, I use it to analyse my uranium samples, it really is a scientists playground!

[@Jamesthesnail]

Loving the jazz club reference

[@NSBarnett]

Your church spire man clearly lived in the sewage works -- they line up perfectly.

[@rover-t]

Love the outtakes!

[@mybookfacetube]

Excellent video. Love the ending especially. You obviously put a lot of work into these. All the best.

[@MarkFamous]

Great video. So playful and awesome. Thanks.

[@SpikeMatthews]

Highly entertaining episode; an inquisitive doggy, a trip to what was once my hometown (Thame), a perfect use of a Fast Show punchline, and... some stone testicles, apparently...

[@brokengirl248]

Absolutely enjoying this new series 😊 keep up the hard work

[@tedioustotoro4885]

I’ll admit that, until today, all I knew about Chinnor was its vintage railway because of announcements that played at Princes Risbourough train station (the other end of the vintage railway) whenever I waited there for a rail transfer from the Aylesbury line to the main line.

[@FinnDeacon]

Thank you again Jon. Another great video that I can relate to 😇

[@stevegeorge6479]

Your guide book is great,you make the filming fun my kids love following you for the old days 👍👍

[@PandaJ]

Jon, far be it for me to criticise or amend your marvelous videos! I believe Watlington is and has been for sometime the smallest town in England and Chinnor is a village. I realise chinnor is quite a bit bigger these days.