TROLLEYBUS 698 Woolwich-Bexleyheath London 1959

[@Bruce-h8w]

Happy but dimming memories. Thank you. A brief glimpse of the entrance to Woolwich Arsenal where my grandfather worked at the start of WW1.

[@borderlands6606]

One of my earliest memories is my mother explaining that the bus had stopped, and why the conductor was pulling a long pole from the side to make it go again. I assumed, correctly as it turned out, that it was powered by a kind of magic.

[@seamanjive]

Used to travel on this to see my nan in Canning Town just over the river. I was born 1955. It has really changed that much, lots still recognisable

[@Paul_Lucas]

I live in this area now, and it is remarkable to see how much things have changed, yet still remain just about recognisable. I drive these roads almost every day.

[@AlanSnowdonArchive]

Thanks @Paul_Lucas recommending your Fort William Sleeper rail film here kzbin.info/www/bejne/fanHkouifa18osU ... great channel! Hope you enjoy my Highland archive kzbin.info/www/bejne/r2raYXt-g7qCms0 with full route kzbin.info/aero/PL8-7_QXSriLjKOv4Cg3kFSmktyOehzZxg

[@MagicaLucem]

Trolley Bus bliss. True electric vehicles before Elon Musk was even a twinkle. These vehicles and roads and towns look almost like Britain, but so much nicer and frogs can be found above your head. What a fine place that was. Thank you for your excellent dreams of a land far far away.

[@hughrainbird43]

Woolwich and Bexleyheath, two of my childhood stamping grounds, and both town centres have greatly changed since this film. We start outside the old Odeon (now Gateway House and the New Wine Church), and the roundabout has been greatly altered as it it is now the "New" Woolwich Ferry approach, brought into service with the demise of the old paddle ferry landing (where the Policeman is seen on point duty) and the introduction of diesel powered ships in 1963. All the buildings on the river-side of the High Street have gone to make way for the Ambulance Station and Waterside Leisure Centre. The Woolwich coal-fired power station whose chimneys loom above the other buildings was decommissioned in 1978, and demolished. The site is now part of the new Royal Arsenal development. The entrance to Woolwich Arsenal at the bottom of Beresford Square now stands isolated in the middle of a traffic scheme. Incidentally, had the film been made a few years later, the trolleybus might have been shown passing the site of the ill-fated Woolwich Autostacker car park in Beresford Street. Built in 1961 by Woolwich Borough Council at the cost of £100,000 to solve Woolwich town centre's parking problems, it was designed to accommodate about 250 cars on eight levels above a car showroom and petrol station, stacking and retrieving them automatically using key codes. It was opened on 11th May 1961 by Princess Margaret, but embarrassingly the demonstration vehicle, a Council "Meals on Wheels" van donated by Dagenham Motors became jammed, and had to be manually removed, On live TV during the "Tonight" programme that night, the same thing occurred. It was closed while the problems were analyzed, but was never successfully put into public use, and the structure was demolished, reputedly at the cost of a further £60,000, in 1965.

[@martinbarnes869]

All of Bexley's Trolleybuses stopped running on the 3rd of March 1959, so a similar film in 1961 would not have been possible.

[@hughrainbird43]

@@martinbarnes869 If you're going to be pedantic Martin, a similar film WOULD have been possible, but without trolleybuses. The fact remains that the "carstacker" was an expensive and embarrassing mistake by the then Woolwich Borough Council.

[@peterg957]

A Thoroughly Enjoyable Video Showing Days Gone By... Thank You my Friend...

[@andrewr2825]

What a great bit of social and transport history. Thanks for making it available Alan.

[@RobinTFH]

Wonderful to see. I just about remember travelling on a trolly bus to Woolwich once (I was born in 1957). It may have been the 696. I certainly remember the tram rails still being in the cobbled street of Woolwich Market into the late 60s. I often used the 96 bus route to Bexleyheath School, which I assume replaced the 696 trolly bus from Blackfen. Even when we left the area for Dorset in 1971, there were still trolly bus cable poles in the area. Thanks for the memories.

[@johnjephcote7636]

I still miss the trolleys in London because their routes were so long. I still wish for the 667 to take me to Hampton Court or one from Edgeware all the way down the Edgeware Road. they were just perfect for my schoolboy bus spotting outings on a Rover Ticket.

[@peterjhillier7659]

Lovely to see the Vehicles I knew as a Lad when I lived in South London. Nice also it see old Adverts like the Pearl Insurance Co on the side of the Trolley Bus. What a terrible waste, when like the old Trams, they were scrapped, we never learn do we. Thank you both for your lovely Films, trust you‘re keeping well and CV-19 free.

[@dannyrobins6555]

Hi, Great video. Hopefully one day we'll all have easy access to enough computer power to really clean these old images up and bring them to life. It's always great getting a glimpse of the olden days. Re: the Trolleybus emblem on the platform window. My father was a trolleybus conductor at Poplar Depot and he told me this was to warn following trolleybuses that they were behind another trolleybus. The platform and rear of the vehicle looked very much like any other LT motorbus and at night or in a 'peasouper' a driver might think he was behind a bus. The problem being, of course, he could overtake a bus on a stop or anywhere but couldn't pass another trolleybus because the poles would collide, so would have to pull in behind. The sign on the glass would have been illuminated from the interior so would have been very obvious to following traffic. Hope this is of interest. Thanks for taking the time to post these very interesting videos.

[@richardmessenger9474]

Can remember the trolly busses that ran from Hampton Court...amazing vehicles...👍👍

[@trainsandtrams2020]

What a nice ride back in time. Too bad the trolleys aren't likely to make a return in London, but these images capture the memories nicely.

[@AlanSnowdonArchive]

Thanks, you have a great rail channel my viewers will enjoy kzbin.info/door/PDq6doV66x5luXKMGmwvmwvideos and website too www.classicandcurrent.net/ ... You'll enjoy my vintage Swiss rail in the 1960s series coming soon... let's cross promote.

[@1917AD]

Amazingly, that is the exact trolley 'bus I used to take to school in Erith from 1958 to whenever it was decommissioned! OMG!

[@hamlet7959]

What memories, particularly as I'm writing this from a locked-down Perpignan in the far South West of France! Born in Bursted Woods Nursing Home Barnehurst in 1950 and living in Erith until the 1970s the 698 was our route to the shops in Bexleyheath until the trolley buses went in about 1960. The high spot of any of these journeys was experiencing a de-wiring on the sharp turn at Bexleyheath Clock Tower. Traffic chaos until the conductor had extracted the bamboo pole from its tube and re-wired us. I must have been easily pleased in those days!!

[@TriflingCircle]

That is where I was born in 1939!

[@camotech1314]

Everything went downhill after they removed trolleybuses from London. Imagine how economical and green London could be in current times...

[@hopebgood]

A really interesting vid. Lovely to see a local vid from a time before I was even born.

[@johnjephcote7636]

I worked with a chap who had been a conductor. At the big terminus at Shepherds Bush he pulled out the bamboo pole from under the rear platform (in order to put up the poles) and wondered why he couldn't raise the pole. Only when he turned around did he realise that the rear end of the bamboo had gone underneath the motor cars parked behind and he was trying to lift them as well!

[@webrarian]

One of my earliest memories is catching, with my mother, of course, the 667 from Hampton Hill to Twickenham. It was the quietness that I remember so well. Not silence (until it stopped) but just a gentle gliding. That would have been about 1962. Quite different from the modern grinding and clattering of trams.

[@shanghai264359]

What great memories! Thank you for posting.

[@michaelkenny8540]

The poster on the wall at 0:23 is for The Ideal Home Exhibition of March 3-30th 1959.

[@Kirkee7]

Great footage. Not that many people had , I assume 9mm camera. Not many knew how to use them wisely either.

[@ianburnett7333]

People that went out with cameras certainly had the right idea.

[@bobnweaver]

Superb footage.

[@pleudumes]

Bring them back, imagine how less pollution would be in the air?

[@mrr2880]

In 1980 had a minor accident with an old boy in a car along Bexleyheath Broadway, no damage or anything just a bump but me and my mate couldn't work out what he was going on about, he kept saying we swerved to avoid the trolley bus.. didn't you see the trolley bus etc... I guess that's how he remembered them but we had never ever seen one...

[@Ben-xe8ps]

Interesting. My grandmother always referred to bus route 96, the red bus route which replaced the 696 trolleybus, as 'the trolleybus'.

[@davidrogers891]

Great video, any chance of some East London trolleys ? even better my local route 661 north of Stratford, I do hope so. BTW your wife has a good voice for commentary

[@AlanSnowdonArchive]

sorry David, this is all I have on trolleybuses.

[@AlanSnowdonArchive]

Great model rail on your channel that my viewers may enjoy, see kzbin.info/door/g8IcolkmV3rv65A0uf2lPA

[@peterrobinson8805]

Most places looked a lot better then - a simpler and in many ways a better time.

[@chris200179]

I have lived my life in and round Erith my while life. Interesting to see how it has changed, from the old Prince of Wales pub to a McDonald's. Plumstead high street looked a lot nicer then!

[@samsum3738]

Many was the time , when the trolley buses i took , the arm would drop and the conductor would have to use a pole to get it back in position . I think they were all taken off the road in 1962 , when i was 10 years old .

[@AlanSnowdonArchive]

But Trolleybuses are very much still in use in MANY Cities and Towns in other countries outside the UK.

[@ianburnett7333]

I've produced a DVD of Montreux Trolleybus system.

[@lostinmusik]

So interesting - and all that investment & infrastructure removed in such a short timeframe after they decided to scrap these

[@andrewsewell9179]

Lovely 😊

[@johnkeepin7527]

More good old film footage - coal fired buses this time! That’s how it was then, in effect, with much of the electricity supply being from coal fired power stations. It’s a shame they were all scrapped though. I wondered whether that bus system used the same supply as London Underground (which for a while was independent, with their own Lots Road power station), or not.

[@barleyarrish]

Funny enough electric cars now are mostly coal and gas fired

[@ericwalker2434]

@@barleyarrish a majority of our electricity comes from nuclear, natural gas, and renewables. Where I live, coal / oil don't even make up 20% Plus, even if 100% of our energy was coal and oil, electric motors are so much simpler and more efficient than gas/diesel engines that they end up using much less fuel anyways. There's a reason most rail lines today are electrified, and it's not for environmental reasons, it's the fuel savings

[@barleyarrish]

@@ericwalker2434 Nuclear struggles to top 20% and renewables are unreliable when energy supplies are most needed. Gas is at about 40%. Germany in the recent cold snap had to fall back on coal and gas as windmills froze and did not turn in anti-cyclonic conditions whilst snow covered solar panels were of no use at all. The Disaster that struck Texas showed renewables to be worse than useless leading to many deaths..

[@ianburnett7333]

To Alan. You certainly had the right idea taking cine film of transport subjects, could you foresee how valuable your filming would be in years to come?

[@sambee8982]

I bet that the government would be interested in having trolleybuses again, since they're electric powered, and produce no emissions whatsoever..... Diesel buses just seem to ruin it for the environment these days.....

[@amiga512k]

Diesel buses these days are hybrid and produce fewer harmful fumes .

[@AlanSnowdonArchive]

Agree Sam and thanks for the memories on your fun but fair channel my viewers will also enjoy kzbin.info/door/pjzhMYrN1i35qWgG6rEXOg ... nice to cross promote

[@stuarthall6631]

That is a fascinating video! Thank you so much for uploading. We used to live upon the 696 route between Crayford and Dartford. Do you have any further footage of this route, please?

[@AlanSnowdonArchive]

Sorry, No

[@neilbain8736]

Could buses move on battery when disconnected from the overhead, even for a few yards only?

[@johnjephcote7636]

Yes, they could. I was in Kingston and our trolley was held up by roadworks. We took the poles down and moved through where there were no wires.

[@snigwithasword1284]

So sad we can't hear the spaceship noises :(

[@christopherbentley5216]

I do love these video's. Have you got any film of the exe valley,Waverley great Central or west country railways.Please.? I love this and the somerset and dorset film A fan

[@jeecoinc]

Trolleybus.

[@2H80vids]

Uh-huh ...... and?

[@michaelXXLF]

Trolleybuses served the London Passenger Transport Area from 1931 until 1962. For much of its existence, the London system was the largest in the world. It peaked at 68 routes, with a maximum fleet of 1,811 trolleybuses. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolleybuses_in_London

[@laughingoreilly1334]

Did These old electric buses ever burst into flames?

[@AlanSnowdonArchive]

Not that I know of but overhead power was certainly limited & short lived in London. Did remind me of once riding a tram in Rio that became electrified, though didn't catch that on film!

[@Ray-xh6gb]

What routes inthemdays

[@2H80vids]

Wonderful footage once again. These little films are absolute gold !! 👍 Forgive my ignorance but how did that overtaking manoeuvre work? Once it was de-wired, the bus had no power, or was there a short-distance battery on them? Just curious and I can only *just* remember these buses in service in Glasgow in the 60s. I've never seen a preserved one in action. Cheers for now, Dougie.

[@AlanSnowdonArchive]

As shown, the bus being overtaken was ststionary. Although I do recall learning somehow that London's trolleybuses did have short-range batteries, to allow them to negotiate short diversions, say for roadworks.

[@2H80vids]

@@AlanSnowdonArchive Aha, I see what's happening. They're de-wiring the *front* bus. There's a quick change of shot that I didn't spot. I *thought* they were using the bamboo on the rear bus, which didn't make a lot of sense.😬 That's what happens when you write comments in the wee, early hours. It all makes perfect sense now. Thanks for getting back to me and for uploading these superb films. Cheers for now, Dougie.

[@martinbarnes869]

I can confirm that yes they did have batteries as well to allow them to carry out overtaking and parking manoeuvres at the depot. Also the building referred to as Bexleyheath bus garage was actually Bexley Trolleybus depot, the first purpose built Trolleybus depot in London (although it is now of course the bus garage). Previously they used the existing tram depots. But that wasn't possible in Bexleyheath.

[@AlanSnowdonArchive]

Sometimes it's not easy fitting the spoken words to the pictures.

[@2H80vids]

@@AlanSnowdonArchive Yep.😁 2am probably isn't the best time to try to figure out how trolleybuses work. I'm always glad to see an upload from you. I love old archive footage but, more often than not, they are silent, without even a few words of caption. The commentary on *your films* makes them better to watch and, more importantly, easier to understand( usually, at least😁). I'm still trying to watch all of your previous videos and just enjoyed the West London line episode. The commentary, along with RailMapOnline, helps put everything in context. I pride myself on my railway geography but Greater London can get just a wee bit tricky sometimes, especially the older stuff. Cheers for now, Dougie.

[@Ray-xh6gb]

Bexleyheath proper Kent then

[@topcat4643]

We had electric road transport vehicles back in the 50’s….now in the 2020’s we are reverting back to electric road transport 😂😂😂……should have kept trolley buses and just upgraded the systems over the years….easy?? Didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to work that one out!!!😢

[@topcat4643]

1959……clean energy, keep all the 2021 wokes happy

[@scopex2749]

This is what London needs BAN all the diesel traffic and WHY has London no put TRAMS back in the streets??? We are so far behind the rest of Europe who have had electric trams for decades? Trolley busses were brilliant! There should be no private petrol or diesel vehicles AT ALL allowed inside London!

[@AlanSnowdonArchive]

I'm inclined to agree with you, but what about petrol or diesel vehicles of disabled visitors ? Also ditto of special construction projects? There do have to be (rare) exceptions also for special vehicles for such as Construction Projects ? Careful control would be needed by the authorities, AND no exceptions for "friends" & "supporters."

[@warmike]

I don't think it should be banned, instead the city should slowly and carefully reinstall overhead wires, tram tracks and replace bus routes with trolleybuses and trams.

[@Ray-xh6gb]

Realkent

[@michaelkenny8540]

It is really really low resolution and it is difficult to read even posters on the busses. It taked a lot of effort to deliberately make something this fuzzy.

[@hopebgood]

There really is no age limit for trolls is there michael? You're a bit sad.

[@michaelkenny8540]

@@hopebgood I just like to be able to see what the 'blob of red' actually is. There is a 10ft high poster at 0:23 that is impossible to read! The quality here is right at the low end and having uploaded film I know what you have to do to get the quality this low. It an 'impressionist' type picture of the time. Fuzzy mood-music to reinforce the myth of 'it was so much better in the old days'. Halcyon days that, if you saw the detail, were not so halcyon after all.

[@Bruce-h8w]

@@michaelkenny8540 A quite ludicrous argument. Very ungracious and showing no understanding of the passage of time. Colour film was still a great rarity. What does "it taked" mean?

[@professormcclaine5738]

Nearly as good a time machine.