Victoria Line Story

[@e020443]

God, this is a wonderful piece of work and good documentation in the bargain. I'm 70, having just retired from a career of engineering, and the people who made this happen make me very proud to share my "title" with them. I've ridden many miles on the tube and often wondered how it was achieved. Now I know, at least in part. Very well done!

[@satyris410]

If you enjoyed this, sir, then I strongly suggest you watch this video below. It follows the same story, just a bit more lively and with some interesting 60s banter from the presenter. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fai1g4aAlNynf8k

[@dhcrouchmarineltd3049]

I love your generations eyebrows and stiff than stiff attitude. A British way indeed. Real engineers I hope the Victorians would be happy with.

[@obviouslytwo4u]

Sorry you wasted your life being a paid slave.

[@obviouslytwo4u]

@Ian Concannon I get a seed, then plant it and bare fruit at little to no cost. But you must understand that some people are poor, all they have is money

[@MrSvenovitch]

When the world of humansends soon, it will be the result of very ambitious people, especially those who made a living in the applied sciences. I applaud this: it means human life will soon be quite impossible and no more generations will have to suffer the drudgery and horrors of everyday living. Spending a few dozen years on a cursed rock floating somewhere in space. Sleep is good, death is better, but best would be to never have been born at all. So keep on 'engineering' please. Burn it all, use it all. Full entropy is what we deserve.

[@tomservo5007]

9:42 "The next stage is to fill the hole..having first remove the inspector" , comedy gold

[@29brendus]

When I was 18/19 I worked shovelling London Clay with these tunnel miners and the video brought it all back to me. I was a student engineer then doing tough 12 hour shifts in Bond St. on the Jubilee Line. I never thought about the safety aspect then, never considered it for 1 second, never saw anybody getting hurt, no yellow jackets, but we had hard hats. I also had to deliver the tunnel rings and take the spoil away. The video really brought home to me how really dangerous the work was, and bloody hard going 6 days a week, for £48 in the hand [Balfour Beatty]. You daren't get in a miner's way. Tough hard labour. The miner's were on £200 a week and came from Donegal and Galway in Ireland, each shift trying to outdo the other. I was just the smart-ass student from Dublin and a great source of merriment for the miners who were really decent blokes. Later on I became the planner, the designer, the project engineer, clean suit and computer, but there is a lot to be said for plain honest to god hard work.

[@RevJock]

Beautifully paced and narrated. Nowadays, you'd have Paul Morley and another handful of celebrities, intersected at 10 second intervals: due to low attention span, telling you what the Victoria Line means to them. Like anyone cares!

[@randomtux1234]

A solid testament to top notch British engineering, planning and teamwork.

[@scopex2749]

I too have been an engineer all my working life. I admire the accuracy of things like bolt holes with only the primitive tools they had, tape and theodolite! These days its all Lasers and computers! England used to lead the world in many fields, sadly now where are we? Most of our heavy industry is gone, no aircraft building, few car plants, mines all gone. Such a shame, the workers all took pride in what they made or built. What a top job they made of the Victoria line! Many years later i was an engineer on the District line! 👍🏻🇬🇧

[@VivekPatel-ze6jy]

We still have Rolls Royce aircraft engines produced in Derby and airbus wing sections made in Wales. We certainly aren't an industrial country anymore, but what we have is still pretty good

[@SportyMabamba]

Thatcher did for the mines, and successive governments either side of her did for the heavy industry and engineering.

[@RADS190]

Even down to the humble lamp post. Look at the designs that the likes of Stanton & Stavely and Concrete Utilities made over the years and look at the boring shite we have now 😡

[@MikeWillSee]

In the future we will be watching similarly 'nostalgic' documentaries about the construction of Crossrail lol

[@z00h]

We will be watching a comedy series called "Crossrail - 10 years late".

[@1963TOMB]

@@z00h How about 'Creative accounting on large projects'

[@z00h]

@@1963TOMB that will be a cinematic spin off.

[@andrewcbo]

Crossrail ready for 2050!

[@truth.speaker]

Imagine your child saying "wow dad! Did they used to only have computers OUTSIDE their heads?"

[@darcywiley5096]

At 13:13 "essential services endangered" - shows a beer delivery to a local bar.

[@mo3bius58]

Typical British humor :)

[@cjmillsnun]

Humour? They were deadly serious!

[@Flightstar]

You could not use tongue in cheek humour like that today, someone would deem it as the promotion of drinking and some would be offended. I think society is loosing their sense of humour.

[@TheJiveDancer1975]

Delivering it to the Phoenix which looks a lot more upmarket than it does nowadays.

[@jetzers]

Hey it's England! ;-)

[@stevedoubleu99B]

The Oxford Circus 'bridge' alone was a wonderful achievement even without the rest of the project, which of course was also pretty impressive!

[@mattw8374]

Intriguing documentary and executed with such class. Engaging , full of dry humour and factual..love the guy drinking out of the fire bucket. Thanks

[@peterg463]

Now we manufacture so very little. Look at how much we did in terms of manufacturing these trains to say nothing of the construction of the Victoria line. Magnificent!

[@Sameoldfitup]

“Has it ever struck you that life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quick you hardly catch it going?”― Tennessee Williams

[@vicpatton5286]

impressive documentary! I appreciate the desire by the producers to create an accurate picture of the tremendous effort involved.

[@billyunterbuchner9197]

youre seeing exactly what they want u to see mate, and nothing more.

[@freespeechisneverwrong9351]

@@billyunterbuchner9197 No you are seeing hard work, excellent engineering, unique innovation, great craftsmanship, superior planning all used to create a system that is still running today as one of the main arteries of London.

[@keithwebb658]

Didn't show any of the cock-ups though. Would've liked to see how they dug the escalator tunnels. I remember in the 1960s there was a temporary umbrella type structure at the main entrance to Charing Cross overground Station. It was there for several years. I think it was for the excavation of a ticket hall. Not sure what the main project was.

[@davidyoung5114]

Did anyone else notice between 41:30 and 44:30 how diverse the employees were at the concrete-lining production facility? Persons of colour, Sikhs, female operators, etc. For the 1960's, I didn't think you would see a labour force like that at such a work place. A revelation! Thanks for posting this documentary.

[@pinetree1616]

Back then the non-indigenous population was small. It should have stayed that way.

[@1963TOMB]

@@pinetree1616 And they all worked very hard because the indigenous people didn't want to!

[@Spookieham]

​@@pinetree1616 Racist bullshit. They worked hard for their money and to build a better life for their families

[@Eddiecurrent2000]

@@pinetree1616 And leave the likes of you to keep the country going? Fuck that.

[@TheMusicalElitist]

@@pinetree1616 Really? Why's that?

[@oludotunjohnshowemimo434]

The Victoria line was later extended to Brixton in the early 1970s

[@Calum_S]

They don't make them like this anymore. The engineering hasn't changed all that much though. Bring back old style documentaries!

[@tnzl3058]

Yep, with all those health and safety regulations, it's very different

[@MikeWillSee]

Whilst not the same there is a documentary about Crossrail: the fifteen billion pound railway Not sure if you've heard of it 😉👍

[@allangibson8494]

Tunnel boring machines make the job MUCH faster.

[@user-ky6vw5up9m]

TNZL they had Construction Act 1961

[@limeyosu2000]

Great documentary I could watch these all night long! Anyone else notice a :) on the film ?

[@ramblingrob4693]

yes id did

[@goodmoaningvietnam1439]

I drove both the Kinnear & Moodie and the McAlpine TBMs the later was the better machine. I also worked on station ground shields, on the Chas Brand section Sven Sisters to Hoe St station. one of the station ground shield was water hydraulic, so if you had ram leak you would just stick the hose pipe in the water tank and keep going.

[@billyunterbuchner9197]

could u repeat all that in English?

[@peterjhillier7659]

As an ex Railway PWay Engr I found this fascinating, and awe inspiring. Thank you.

[@mfbfreak]

9:45 yes, the removal of the inspector is of critical importance as not to cause voids when his corpse rots away within the concrete, weakening the pilings yes.

[@Tube-Shots]

Amazing 100 minutes of video on the Victoria Line, it makes you appreciate the Tube Even more to see how it was planned and built

[@cyclic2696]

This shows what we were made of in the days when work was a thing to be proud of, not to shirk or moan about H&S and rights etc. The guys signed up to graft and complete a project, the surveyors and operatives wore ties to work and their skill resulted in a tunnel only 1" off after a mile of digging without laser sighting. The work ethic here has fallen by the wayside and the consequence is that the skills are lost and the produce (steel etc.) all comes from abroad at our cost because we can't (or won't) rise to the challenge of being competitive in a world market. I'm sure that's Michael Palin at 16:41... Excellent video - great to see the 1960s cars and lorries in London, policemen's uniforms and street furniture of the time. Good music too - subtle and non-intrusive (unlike so much overlaid on today's videos) composed by Edward Williams.👍

[@richardwoodward3949]

Absolutely fantastic, thanks for uploading.

[@timberry7238]

13:34 "He was too weak to be moved" .. (from the same joker who came up with "having first removed the inspector" at 9:46) .. presumably "he" was Lord George Bentinck, who died in 1848 (tho apparently the square was in fact named after his wife who, herself also deceased some time back, was presumably also too weak to be moved) ..

[@stuartthegrant]

I am delighted to have found this documentary.

[@theunknown2470]

Is it me or these older railway documentaries are just simply better

[@ajs41]

They are better.

[@jamesshanks2614]

Steel workers no matter what country there are in tend to " throw the steel around like child's toys". To all the steel workers I salute you guys as that is a job I tried but quickly discovered I had a fear of heights and while I was able to slowly do the work I was assigned I was too slow to keep the job. The foreman let me down easy and I told him it's just as well he was letting me go as I was going to let him know this job wasn't for me. He smiled and offered me a job on the ground but I told him I had a job offer with the railroad as a locomotive fireman. I was invited to a bar the steel workers used as their own near the job and I was bought many rounds for my new job and still to this day don't know how I got home but there were no new dents on my car so I must have managed. I will admit it's fascinating seeing how the job goes together. Cheers gents and please be safe out there.

[@brushfuse]

"Having first removed the inspector" :)

[@ScouserMandy]

ha ha No leave him in

[@IansWorldTravels]

Best line in the film!

[@KathrynKarnage]

Made me wonder how many times that went wrong before it was added to the documentation ;)

[@swededude1992]

Annother good line: Today we are using diffrent suits than back then. The talker showed half naked males working in the Vic.line tunnels digging it and then naked males drawn digging mines in the old times and then back to the half naked males again xD

[@amberfilms112]

Bags of Irish. No gloves! Superb. Thanks for uploading. It is utterly superb.

[@user-ky6vw5up9m]

In particular, County Donegal in Ireland had a tradition of producing tunnel miners, fathers, brothers , cousins etc.

[@andrewcbro]

My grandad worked on this project. Never mentioned any Irish. Just hard working English. Knew over 50 lads most from Acton.

[@analogueman123456787]

@@andrewcbro - Nice to see Acton being name-checked. Still live there! 👍

[@g2macs]

A great historical document...fascinating!

[@neilfurby555]

FANTASTIC ! Wonderful documentary, fascinating engineering. Terrifying lack of safety gear, be interested to see the accident and injury logs!

[@1963TOMB]

It is all rather jolly! I've heard that an average of one worker died a week during construction, although I cannot find any evidence of this anywhere. In those days navvies (mainly the Irish) were still expendable as no real health and safety laws had yet been brought it so keeping such records was probably not a priority. No mention of the 1.5 hours sat in the decompression chamber after a shift and the possibility of being rushed to hospital if you did get the benz. All glossed over in preference to what a marvel of engineering - which it certainly is! Let's just not forget the sacrifice in terms of human life.

[@29brendus]

@@1963TOMB When I was 18/19 I worked shovelling London Clay with these tunnel miners and the video brought it all back to me. I was a student engineer then doing tough 12 hour shifts in Bond St. on the Jubilee Line. I never thought about the safety aspect then, never considered it for 1 second, never saw anybody getting hurt, no yellow jackets, but we had hard hats. I also had to deliver the tunnel rings and take the spoil away. The video really brought home to me how really dangerous the work was, and bloody hard going 6 days a week, for £48 in the hand [Balfour Beatty]. You daren't get in a miner's way. Tough hard labour. The miner's were on £200 a week and came from Donegal and Galway in Ireland, each shift trying to outdo the other. I was just the smart-ass student from Dublin and a great source of merriment for the miners who were really decent blokes. Later on I became the planner, the designer, the project engineer, clean suit and computer, but there is a lot to be said for plain honest to god hard work.

[@120ingram]

I like the observation that they removed the inspector before filling the shaft. I guess today they would send down a camera: brave people those inspectors.

[@TheStarBlack]

Got to wonder how many people got crushed limbs doing this kind of tunnel construction. They only seem to get a fraction of a second to get their hands out of the way as the tunnel sections are mechanically put in place. Hope they were paid well for working in such dangerous conditions.

[@whoyoucallinpinhead3523]

Imagine how hard it was digging them tunnels back in the late 1880's and early 1900's

[@jenniferpower981]

What a feat of workmanship,top notch.

[@TDIMAXDIESEL]

Wow ! What an impressive complicated work !

[@burdizdawurd1516Official]

Wow, old school surveying. I appreciate having lasers now, which is much easier to use because the computer does all the work.

[@TheSpikehere]

Fantastic eyebrows. The rest of it was bloody good too.

[@65gtotrips]

My thoughts exactly

[@dawoodfaiz-mahdavi7297]

Charley FARLEY, I am very grateful, for what you have done, for the country, by building up the underground, tunnel, and I am thanking you for your hard-working, and make effort, to make life easy, for people to travel from A to B, without any difficulties, once again, for all, the worker, who did put, their experience, and hard-working, well done,

[@AnthonyMonaghan]

Worth watching for the theme music alone! This looks fantastic...my Saturday night sorted. Thank you. Amazing what man can turn his hand to.

[@JazzFunkNobby1964]

The music reminded me of the seedy soho cinemas I used to frequent. Wonderful.

[@Plutootjes]

Fascinating! Thank you very much.

[@Psychlist1972]

Of *course* the artist has a goatee and a beret :D

[@user-ky6vw5up9m]

My uncle dug tunnels in those days. He used to demonstrate how they achieved directional control by hanging bits of string in the living room fireplace.

[@AndySmallbone]

Brilliant upload really interesting. Thanks

[@antonefimenko5027]

Дуже якісне документальне відео. Дяка справжнім професіоналам котрі знають свою справу.

[@eddiewillers1]

Absolutely fascinating! Great upload - thanks!

[@VickersDoorter]

I recall as a child in the 1960s, our family lived at 525 Seven Sisters Road, Tottenham. I recall well the rumble and vibrations of the tunnelling, then the subsequent trains themselves. Tottenham then was a world away from what it is now. Thankfully, we left for leafy Hertfordshire in 1969.

[@johnpettigrew83]

It does seem to get dark early nowadays.

[@paulward2783]

great documentary - great skill of the people in those days - just couldn't get an idea in my head of how long things were when they used feet, inches and miles. Excellent !!

[@oludotunjohnshowemimo434]

The Victoria line has changed a lot since it's 1960s construction. Up to date automatic operational system and the original 1967 stock trains replaced by the 2009 stock. The Victoria line was extended to Brixton later in the early 1970s. Only it's 1972 stock identical looking relatives are in operation on the Bakerloo line.

[@simonnelson7770]

Absolutely fascinating and so nice to see even builders/ labourers dressed in trousers and suit jackets. I would give anything to have been living back then.

[@johnmcminn1440]

Nothing but admiration.

[@Carlos-im3hn]

Amazing to watch this now at Oxford Circus, the year I was born across the pond. The "manual" train line tunnelling and digging reminds me of the recent automated systems. The automated "rotary digger" systems they had were precursors to todays automation. Amazing. The tunnel workers handling the cement and metal segments had no gloves !

[@neilmartin1531]

Thank you for posting.

[@ssss-df5qz]

@1:26:54 - that is the pinnacle of British engineering. Using the pendant handles to also hold the window open for cleaning.

[@paulabraham2550]

Thanks, I enjoyed that. It might have been better to keep the four films separate, though: It was a bit of a marathon.

[@billyunterbuchner9197]

always got to be one fucking whinger eh? use the pause button u twat

[@stannats2637]

Thank you so much for this upload

[@videomentaryproductionschannel]

Fantastic, the engineers then were different breed, also all the tunnel builders, everything done on time and to highest standards that's when Britain was great great video.

[@andynixon2820]

Every single operation involved intense manual labour . Usually by a fella with a shovel and a cigarette. They were tough guys.

[@James-iw4fz]

you could do it. you will get used to it.

[@andynixon2820]

@@James-iw4fz I think you're right , if you've been doing this since you were a lad it'd be second nature . But you're body would be worn out by 50 .

[@cerneuffington2656]

Untipped as well, i bet.

[@peterg463]

Not much health and safety. Very impressive.

[@TheMusicalElitist]

Probably died early due to being incredibly unhealthy.

[@abdullahseba4375]

Excellent documentary! Was excited to see car 3016 which is at the Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum! 1:30:31

[@2H80vids]

Fascinating stuff indeed. Thanks for sharing these excellent films. They may be a wee bit dated but they tell the story perfectly. It seems rather unfair that, out of 214k views, only 449 have subscribed to the channel. The least I can do is become number 450.👍👌😁 Merry Christmas.🎄

[@suffolkpompey]

And not a single hard hat or hi-viz vest in sight.

[@treyquattro]

those flat caps were made out of kevlar

[@bettyboop9897]

And so many people got injured.

[@tomkent4656]

Elf & Safety hadn't been invented yet!

[@Jimbo-gi7xn]

Good old days.. I appreciate there has to be safety but today it's so unnecessarily strict its ridiculous..nobody ever died be cause they weren't wearing hi viz..and smoking?? Well I cant see what the problem is smoking on a site

[@NB-lv8oq]

@@Jimbo-gi7xn There was the kings cross fire.

[@tomatobrush3283]

Fantastic documentary. thank you.

[@Dave_Sisson]

Nothing evokes the time from the late 1950s to mid 60s more than a soundtrack with Xylophones. #morevibes

[@MCBhangramuffin]

the intro was a bit like the incidental music in the Ipcress File

[@alangiles2763]

The vibraphone on this soundtrack was played by the late Bill LeSage

[@stanmarsh14]

Pleasing to see quite a lot of the metal tunnel and other castings, came from the Stanton works in Derbyshire, and rail switches from Sandiacre, Derbyshire..... just down the road from me.

[@Odin029]

"Having removed the inspector"... yeah let's do that before the concrete pour

[@hisdivinegraceimperialmaje4178]

without computers bloody amazing !! enough said .

[@keepgoing1973]

Ahh, the days before health and safety. "A man with a wooden leg was told to ride up and down to show how safe it was"

[@Flightstar]

Imagine if a documentary like this was made today. It would be full of bs drama and sensationalism. Minds have gotten simpler in the last couple of decades, and are not entertained by straight forward content, It must contain flashing lights, bells and whistles.

[@Mrbfgray]

Not sure about simpler but definitely tending toward infuriating 'high stimulus' bs drama, required due to TV and game over exposure.

[@TheMusicalElitist]

OK boomer.

[@royjeffs6538]

How do they decide; What the route is? Which stations to incorporate? How many people to employ? Where to start? Answers on a postcard please! 😁

[@oludotunjohnshowemimo434]

Northumbland Park depot, the only part of the Victoria line above ground. It's in tunnel throughout.

[@1963TOMB]

The flat roof section at the portal into the tunnel from the depot is known as 'The Ski Slope'

[@lkrnpk]

9:43 ''The next stage is to fill the hole with reinforced concrete. Having first removed the inspector.'' Nice bit here. But why not sacrifice the inspector to engineering gods?

[@truth.speaker]

2:34 Is no one else going to mention the push broom eyebrows?

[@MrDastardly]

Is the driver shown in the last film Leslie Newson, the driver involved in the 1975 Moorgate Underground Accident?

[@user-ky6vw5up9m]

At Kings Cross , Victoria Line had to avoid a clash with five levels of various railways plus River Fleet tunnel.

[@gerardcollins1767]

eerie at kings cross watching escalators, if only they knew what was to happen in a few years.

[@pinetree1616]

I just watched a Spark documentary on the Chunnell and I was wishing it had been made as this documentary was made.

[@jamesbrown-gg7dd]

no hard hats no hi viz no heavy lifting gear no overalls sometimes we complain about modern health and safety but this shows why we need it

[@Matty_98]

Modern H&S is why we get sod all done and what is done ends up being a half arsed job that needs re-doing after about a week.

[@SynchroScore]

Modern H&S is why the old budgeting rule of "a man a million" i.e. every large construction project would cost a life for every million dollars/pounds spent, is no longer used.

[@emjayay]

NYC subway builders today (new 2nd Av line) all wear hard hats and orange safety vests. And they don't smoke while working! It is amazing what they accomplished back then with slide rules and no lasers etc. But the basic construction work is I'm sure pretty similar. And back when the first Tube was built they had far less mechanization than in the '60's and managed to build it.

[@cjmillsnun]

+MattyT98 since when does some hard hats, Hi viz and overalls stop getting things done? It doesn't. Shoddy practises and laziness stop things being done and means they don't last. Not H&S, which in terms of construction genuinely saves lives.

[@imconfused1237]

No. What this actually shows is now namby-pamby we have all become. Engineering like this proves the value intelligence aligned with some common sense gets challenging work done in double quick time. These days, the focus isn’t about doing it efficiently but about ‘doing it safe’, which takes longer and costs a fortune. A whole cottage industry has developed around H&S, which in practice are barriers to progress. Back in the era of building the Victoria Line, you didn’t have the litigious society we do today where it’s about finding anything which a claim for compensation can be slung around. It’s a pathetic practice by those who are just lazy and workshy. I have the utmost respect for these men as they are REAL workers. They knew the job, rolled up their sleeves and got it done.

[@clivetucker176]

Absolutely brilliant.

[@OlafProt]

No ageism here. That guy looks like he's almost in his 80s. 2:10 3:10 holy flip we don't know how lucky we are. I want that model!! 4:10 WOW. Or is it a drawing. either way its amazing! That swinging pipe at 8:50 - none of your auld H&S concerns there lmao. This is a fabulous film. All the 'good old days, workers in trousers and shirts' comment. lmao yup a tie really adds value. Some people think the 60s were some sort of utopia. ahhh hindsight and lily-gilded spectacles.

[@ferguson20diesel49]

I’d love to know how they powered the mining machine. What hydraulic pump they used and what not. Nice Poclain Poclain ty 45 seen working also

[@duncangrant4580]

They explained in the documentary that the machinery was powered by electricity, used to run electric pumps on the machine to create hydraulic pressure to the operate the rams etc.

[@ferguson20diesel49]

@@duncangrant4580 you mean electric motor powered by electricity there for turning a hydraulic pump. But I wanted to know what hydraulic pump was used. I'm guessing it could have been a poclain system.

[@johngreen2316]

The best of British engineering, I rode on the Victoria line whe it first opened not realising what a magnificent piece of engineering it was.

[@jamesclarke5592]

Incredibly grateful to see this, thank you so much.

[@Paul-bx3ey]

1h 21m - 54s. Job finished, well ahead of schedule!! Sadly not a term you tend to hear very often in the Uk these days. Love all the health & safety too! 😂😂

[@uhegbu]

Victoria line then extended from Victoria to Brixton via Vauxhall. A National Rail route between London Victoria and Brixton is the faster of the two routes heading I think towards Orpington via Bromley South. This was similar to the new Crossrail route (The idea of the Crossrail was to relieve the existing Central line through the centre of the capital) I guess in this case with the Victoria line to relieve the existing Piccadilly line that joins three times at Finsbury Park, Kings Cross St Pancras and Green Park and you may well caught a glimpse of Oxford Circus and how busy it is even to this day. A new line was needed in honour of the famous queen, area and its well known station, one of Britain's busiest rail terminals.

[@AdminFrank]

9:42 First remove the Inspector, then pour in the concrete! 16:03 Not using bolts requiers less... bolts to be used? 28:23 And we aren't using stone-age costumes!

[@65gtotrips]

❓So how did they get the 300’ lengths of continuous track into the tunnels❓

[@liamtimms777]

I would think the same way they got the trains in…..or aliens

[@suburbia2050]

I like the way he says Termini

[@JA-lx5jo]

Can someone help me with something. Why did they not build this line to a bigger loading gauge? Why did they still build everything so small? Just typical lack of foresight/too much money? In all honesty we seem to be making many mistakes with crossrail, so I wouldn't doubt it...

[@onlinefriend3889]

Actually the first proposals for the Victoria line dates back to the 1940s when the line was supposed to be full-scale (like the Met, H&C, Circle and District) but in order to make it cost-effective, they made it a tube line. From the example, every tube line at some point had a hiccup during construction, whether it's rebuilding a station or constructing an extension.

[@highpath4776]

Clay Tunnelling - Didn't Hall and Co have gravel works in Surrey , so the unwanted clay probably went to infill of gravel workings - part forming the Thorpe Park of today ?

[@chrisjones3901]

Think they built milton Keynes roundabout with what they dug out lol.

[@jacksugden8190]

At 1:00 why was this man wearing two wristwatches please?.

[@duncangrant4580]

Did anyone else see that worker have a drink out of the fire bucket?

[@jwatters9868]

the first time i ever enjoyed a ( boring ) documentary

[@mikewatt8706]

that was below the commuter belt

[@pinetree1616]

Better than any documentary that wins Academy Awards. Documentaries before the 1990s were of much higher-quality, not just BTF, but BBC, Nova, Arena and Nasa documentaries about the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs.

[@johnbuoy1401]

Higher quality and dealing in facts, not ‘beliefs’ and agendas

[@TheMusicalElitist]

Do be quiet

[@althejazzman]

19:17 The one that doesn't fit has to be one of these!

[@Bigbro28]

An excellent doco but my immediate thought at the beginning ... those eyebrows have a life of their own. Sorry about that. 🐨🇦🇺

[@VancouverVortex]

I love the guys working shirtless. No hard hats. No safety vests etc. Lol.

[@Jenalgo]

This was/is so amazing. To think these chaps had just recently fought a world war. And the planning for this must have been insane. I'm so proud of us. But for this film I wouldn't have known all this was going on while I was in my Pram.

[@susiebrown6358]

Good, old days. Never to return :(

[@plummetplum]

I'm half expecting the narrator to start mentioning Bagpuss

[@grahamfisher5436]

😂 And Mr Ben

[@brianandrewstuart]

I love the old style of documentary making. Today's documentaries and hyperactive and are overladen with graphics, simulations, music, talking heads and various superfluous material. This old style documentary takes a calm studious approach. How I wish modern documentaries would return to the less is more approach

[@TheMusicalElitist]

OK boomer.

[@DAVID-bv2gv]

Yes the good old days no hard hat or hi vis and Men using a shovel

[@mikeoas]

Does anyone know what the music is called that’s used when showing the lining rings being made

[@samuelfellows6923]

🇬🇧 - Jazz