London Traffic - Early 1950s?
Over the last week or so there’s been a few videos of historical traffic situations posted - from Portland, Copenhagen and Amsterdam .
So I thought it would be interesting to see what the UK looked like in a similar period. What I found on YouTube was this fantastic video, which I think is from the early 1950s (or possibly late 1940s?), showing the sort of traffic mayhem you could expect to experience in riding a bike across Westminster Bridge:
Yikes! That looks like a scary place to ride, despite the apparently light traffic. The contra-flowing trams would have taken me out at the first opportunity, and if they didn’t get me, then the crazy under / over-taking moves by cars and lorries would have mopped me up nicely. Not to mention the presence of horses to be scared and run amok.
Great clip of every day London life. Only familiar thing I saw there is Big Ben. Love the traditional english look of everyone
Quite Enjoyed That. Having Lived There For 25yrs & A Bridge That Was Very Close To Me Having Lived In Kennington Before We Left.
All The Best
Ken
Hard to work out if its the 1950s or 1930s. You’d expect something in colour from the 1960s…
Definitely not 1960s - the trams were phased out in 1952. Looking at the cars, and vaguely modern-looking lorries, I’d say probably post-war rather than 1930s. But I’m no expert - if only we knew someone who works for TFL, and maybe had access to some sort of archive…
terrifying … London pedestrians don’t change much, do they? Apart from Big Ben, the one familiar thing was all the people stepping out through gaps in the traffic, calculating their crossing to a ‘t’ …
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