Sixties Birmingham

Super-8 cine footage of a drive through Birmingham and nearby (?) countryside, date unknown but would be late 1960s. Includes a glimpse of the then-new original Bull Ring centre which was completed and opened in 1964. Original footage shot by Pat McKeever (d.1984)
Music: "Parallel" by Memory Wire
Live improvisation recorded January 2013
memorywire.band...

[@johnmscott4556]

I'd love to go back in a time capsule for a day or something.

[@topquark6919]

I'd go back and stay...

[@kenalford2538]

don't worry Brexit is transporting us back in time, jolly good thought that they 'got brexit done'

[@bensims7501]

​@@kenalford2538 💤

[@soothsayerbh1038]

And warn everyone.

[@quintinsumner6633]

the soundtrack captures of the whole feeling of driving in to birmingham in the 1960s

[@quintinsumner6633]

the soundtrack of this music is beautiful as you going through birmingham

[@john1703]

Thank you. That's the Birmingham I grew up in, when you could drive down New Street. Proper buses with open rear platforms. The Mk2 Cortina Estate was introduced in 1967.

[@jonblazeinc]

brilliant....to see how much Birmingham has changed in 50 years

[@ParArdua]

Run down and under-funded, but not the hectares of slums and homeless it is now.

[@biroldjoshan3745]

This is the Birmingham I know ...today I don't recognise Birmingham...thank you for showing

[@VictorGate]

Nearby countryside (?) is at 4.40 shot on the Coventry Ring Road and past the station going out past my house (not quite) towards Stonleigh. It doubles back onto the Coventry Bypass and back to Birmingham.

[@johnmscott4556]

The music is just about right, very dreamy sound.

[@topquark6919]

Wonderful, thank you for the brief look back in time.

[@rw6391]

Wish I could go back in time

[@lillianflorence6056]

Fu

[@elizahuston4610]

Birmingham was beautiful 40 yrs ago look at it now bloody building sitting on top of buildings no light everything is so horrible Ppl of born 1990 will be thinking its pretty bit if u was born in the 60s then ur missing out on beauty big time.

[@DPG214]

Incredible. Perfect music to accompany this film. I am guessing this was shot in either 1968 or 1969, these are typical of the road scenes I remember at that time as a small child when out and about driving with my father. Some of it seems to include Hay Mills and possibly the old traffic islands around Birmingham Airport. I have lived in North America for over 20 years and left Birmingham in the mid-1980s, so this film means a lot to me. Thanks for posting!

[@endtimes4439]

Wow this was the city I lived in 60 yrs ago

[@michaelstaley2241]

Fantastic footage lovely cars and Birmingham corporation buses and midland red. Happy memories.😎👍

[@BrianDamaged23]

Love this, it IS filmed a little later than you think though. The cars give it away, there's a Mk2 Austin 1100 (launched October 1967) which has a yellow number plate (introduced August 1967), a D-Series Ford truck on an 'F'-registration (launched 1/8/67) and a Vauxhall Victor FD (launched October 1967), so it's filmed at the very earliest Autumn 1967. Lovely film though!

[@synoneiro]

Aha! Thanks for that. The reels of cine film my grandfather owned which were filmed by his friend Pat McKeever included some footage of my parents' wedding which was January 1965 and also footage of them before they married. I had no date references to go by other than this so I took a pure guess that everything was from roughly the same period, but I totally trust your advice as an enthusiast. Many thanks!

[@synoneiro]

I've updated the info under the video!

[@mxbx307]

Nobody back then could drive worth a damn. It's a common theme on these old archive clips to see tailgating, iffy overtaking, no signalling, park where you like, bad lane discipline, almost traffic control at all. Just cars driving everywhere. Those cars will have stank of hot oil and had dreadful emissions on leaded petrol and very rough Diesel, not to mention zero safety features. You often see these clips filmed in areas that in modern times are now pedestrianised, or one way, or traffic-lit, yellow lines and so on. There are more cars on the roads now, but the cars are better and for the large part so are the drivers.

[@synoneiro]

Yes, it's good to hear things like this which challenge the rose-tinted "those were the good old days" tropes. A friend of mine a generation older than me said he learnt to drive in Birmingham in the sixties and that it was a trial by fire that meant that no driving situation he was in after that scared him in the slightest! Just noticed that one of the early passages of the video (20-30 seconds in) shows a winding patch of road with several lanes but no apparent lane markings!

[@fearfactorymark]

Born in Birmingham 1979. Queen Elizabeth hospital. I’m proud of where I’m from. Birmingham will always be my home but today, I don’t recognise it. It’s not what I remember or love. My heart will always be with pre 2000 Birmingham

[@sabrinarogers8045]

Same March 79

[@pauldavis5093]

Catching a bus from Harborne into the city centre to go loco spotting, or a visit to the Science Museum. My mates and and I were all 11 or 12, and what good times we had. Happy Days!!!

[@patriciabracken7546]

Loved old brum. Used to live in Perry Barr. Great city to live and work in. Now looks more like Pakistan.

[@5hx505]

Patricia Bracken why is that a problem? Are they not human?

[@chrisevans5351]

@@5hx505 borderline

[@nevets7152]

20 year in Stechford Lyttelton rd now full of immigrants.

[@bernocreely4601]

Brilliantly mesmerising! 👍🏻

[@ahsanmughalpussycat8871]

Thank you so so much i just about remember sitting in the back of Ford ANGLIA and travelling through these streets...wonderful memories..what happened to our great city?? thank you...

[@francisgeere1849]

Riding into Birmingham centre,it's a mass of irregular skyscrapers being build.Hundreds of tall,new and empty apartments,,Buses stopping far away from Marks and other shops.Not.easy for older people to walk too No thoughts at all.

[@derelictmanchester8745]

Ace stuff mate...I am from Northfield...I was a about 7...when I used to go to the City centre from Northfield....possibility about 1966...to 69 b4 I moved to Rochdale...

[@lillianflorence6056]

I go back for ever

[@Terry-xf5pt]

I remember watching the Retunda in the bullring being built,thats before B.ham turned into Bombay

[@quintinsumner6633]

the music sounds like tangerine dreams force majeure

[@quintinsumner6633]

even sounds a bit like mike oldfields tubular bells too

[@synoneiro]

I'll take that as a compliment as I've loved Force Majeure since I was 12 or 13. You mean the section about 12 minutes in, right? Chris Conway and I (Memory Wire) share a love of minimalist patterns, particularly Terry Riley and Steve Reich, and Tangerine Dream (up to about 1987) has been a big part of my life for 33 years or so now. This was a live performance we did, you can see the footage at kzbin.info/www/bejne/rX-co6J3jpiiqKM

[@nevillethomas1525]

Absolutely amazing

[@zx_7925]

It was much more beautiful than

[@chriso8485]

Bull Ring already looks tired and dirty. Our beautiful city centre was destroyed in the 60s.

[@stephenborsbey4350]

1967/68 looking at the reg numbers.

[@synoneiro]

Brilliant, thanks!

[@dandare2586]

Everybody is driving fast and close, mainly on none servo assisted drum brakes........exciting...... :0

[@MultiPISSFLAPS]

the early part of the film is showing the newly built perrybarr underpass the traffic comes to a stop because the road goes to single road as they haven't yet built the adjoining birch field flyover they then go underneath the newly built underpass at five ways aston the latter part of video is coventry ring road the rural stretch sorry no idea

[@synoneiro]

Brilliant, thanks so much for the insights!

[@nevets7152]

Rural stretch is most likely A45 Coventry road past stonebridge island.

[@Halim.82]

Few years before Black Sabbath band born 😍

[@jerseyboy4751]

I love Tubular Bells especially the poor man’s rendition

[@synoneiro]

Haha, well we weren't thinking of that particularly, we're more Terry Riley fans

[@robtyman4281]

Looked better than it did in the 80's! but still too much concrete. concrete everywhere! arrrrrgh

[@koont666]

If not for the footage, Nobody would believe you 🇬🇧

[@zakariyyayusuf6208]

Nice dash cam back in the 60's

[@shaheenakhtar8930]

Very nice

[@johnmscott4556]

Does anyone know the music, just so relaxing, love it.

[@synoneiro]

Thanks John! The music is the title track from an album by my friend Chris Conway and I: memorywire.bandcamp.com/album/parallel

[@synoneiro]

It's a live piece, you can see us performing it here (I'm the guy on the left!) kzbin.info/www/bejne/rX-co6J3jpiiqKM

[@winstonharris3724]

Yes I remember

[@mcc9887]

a 1960s dash cam ..

[@peterk9046]

Hello, we would like to use some of the footage from this documentary. How can we get in touch with you?

[@synoneiro]

On my channel page follow the link to my personal website, choose one of the portals there and click on Contact to bring up an email form.

[@mrgoodintent]

I think this is more likely to be early 1970's in my opinion.

[@johnmscott4556]

Probably right, 70,71 maybe.

[@bluethunder6801]

0:25 the mulberry bush

[@brienodeargain]

This is unusual footage of Birmingham in the 60s. I think its great. A Song on you tube called The Second city would go well as the background music to it.On the BRI - DAR Channel. Check it out. BRI - DAR

[@blick182]

Hi, does anyone know where the footage from 3:50 to 4:10 is and 4:12 to 4:30 is? They seem to be on the same route but can't figure where in the city.

[@synoneiro]

I have no idea I'm afraid as I'm a Leicester guy and have only visited Birmingham on occasion. As this footage is from half a century ago I'm sure it's changed a LOT since then :)

[@BrianDamaged23]

Looks like Coventry to me.

[@eltonlovell9898]

Looks like Coventry Ringroad where the Foleshill road meets the A4053... you can see the footbridge on the map and to the left would be those 2 spires..

[@GrahamWatts-jf1ry]

Brill days

[@madcarew5168]

When the Uk was a 1st world country.

[@amjidqu8536]

I can see what looks like an austin allegro, anybody confirm

[@yell50]

Great footage but crazy music should have used music more fitting for that time

[@synoneiro]

Thanks. As for the music I just didn't want to run into any copyright-related hassles. The music (a live improvisation by a friend and I) for me reflects the bustling movement of the traffic. In a loose sense it's reminiscent of minimalist Terry Riley who began his career in the 60s... it's just not 60s pop :)

[@yell50]

I maybe wrong but i thought copyright problems only happen when you are making money out of using someone else's music. if that's the case any body who decides to hold a party for what ever reason would also be also breaking copyright rules. Nobody would care or would take the time and trouble to bring you to court unless unless your making money out of it. I hope you don't mind but as an experiment i took the liberty to put music to this clip of what the average person was most likely listening during this time and for me it just gave your clip real nostalgic atmosphere.Thanks for your input

[@synoneiro]

mark caine Fair enough, it's just that there are instances all the time of KZbin videos having their audio removed or being removed altogether because it's been detected that the audio has been copyrighted. I wasn't worried about legal proceedings as (like you say) I'm not making any money out of this. If anyone wants to download this and repost with music of their choice as a video response I can't see any problem with that.

[@yell50]

OK thanks for giving me your permission so if i do become an internet world wide sensation because of your video i promise to keep all the adulation and money i my generate all for myself ..LOL thanks for your input

[@synoneiro]

mark caine :)

[@BCFC1875Cruzeiro]

This is how our great Country once was. What a shame that it is now a Third world country and the Islamic state of Britain. Governments over the decades should be ashamed.