Monbiot on speed cameras and the real war
in [UK Drivers]
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From: Adrian on 2 Aug 2010 05:57 JNugent <jenningsltd(a)fastmail.fm> gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying: >> I asked the in laws. At the time one or two women they knew of had >> cars, the headmistress of the locals girls school had one and it was >> parked in the playground, (there was no staff carpark yet). The owner >> of a small chain of hairdressers also had one. Both were regarded as >> exceptional. > The district nurse who lived at the bottom of our street had an Austin > A35 - one of only about five vehicles (including a coalman's horse-drawn > lorry) among all 130+ houses. > > I recall seeing a woman driving and parking a car in Myrtle Steet, > Liverpool, when I was about 5. It was the first time I had ever seen a > woman drive. Until that moment, I would probably have assumed that women > were not allowed to drive. My paternal grandmother drove pre-war - and had a Humber Super Snipe in the '40s. My mother had her first car in the late '50s - a Fiat 600 - and bought herself a brand new Triumph Spitfire in the early '60s. There was certainly nothing unusual about women driving by the late '60s/ early '70s - most houses in the suburban Sheffield street I grew up in had two cars.
From: Brimstone on 2 Aug 2010 06:22 "Chelsea Tractor Man" <mr.c.tractor(a)hotmail.co.uk> wrote in message news:bojny423r1ce$.1m6z6m6rudcpr$.dlg(a)40tude.net... > On Mon, 2 Aug 2010 09:52:39 +0100, Brimstone wrote: > >>> except metrosexual twits. Although Castle wasn't like that. I wonder how >>> many women then did not drive? >>> >> AIUI, the majority. It was seen as being the man's job. > > I asked the in laws. At the time one or two women they knew of had cars, > the headmistress of the locals girls school had one and it was parked in > the playground, (there was no staff carpark yet). The owner of a small > chain of hairdressers also had one. Both were regarded as exceptional. > I do not think "anti car" existed. > It didn't, car ownership was something that most people aspired to and there being fewer cars on the road meant that there wasn't the congestion and pollution that is cause of so many complaints now.
From: Brimstone on 2 Aug 2010 06:29 "JNugent" <jenningsltd(a)fastmail.fm> wrote in message news:8bnj0pFinqU1(a)mid.individual.net... > Matt B wrote: >> On 02/08/2010 10:07, Chelsea Tractor Man wrote: >>> On Mon, 2 Aug 2010 09:52:39 +0100, Brimstone wrote: >>> >>>>> except metrosexual twits. Although Castle wasn't like that. I wonder >>>>> how >>>>> many women then did not drive? >>>>> >>>> AIUI, the majority. It was seen as being the man's job. >>> >>> [...] >>> >>> I do not think "anti car" existed. >> >> "An anti-capitalist environmental movement had begun to stir >> in the 1960s, depicting the car as the sociopathic enemy of >> the Earth. That vision was tacitly endorsed by the Wilson >> government and Barbara Castle � the first transport minister >> who couldn't drive � who halted major road-building projects." >> >> DT: <http://is.gd/dXZXI-> > > Damned good article. Every word well-measured. Really? The writer hasn't got the faintest idea what he's talking about, " ... they all went out for "a run" in the afternoon, saluted the smart AA or RAC patrolman on his motorbike and sidecar" is just the most banal example.
From: Brimstone on 2 Aug 2010 06:31 "JNugent" <jenningsltd(a)fastmail.fm> wrote in message news:8bnioqFfelU2(a)mid.individual.net... > Chelsea Tractor Man wrote: >> On Mon, 2 Aug 2010 09:52:39 +0100, Brimstone wrote: >> >>>> except metrosexual twits. Although Castle wasn't like that. I wonder >>>> how >>>> many women then did not drive? >>>> >>> AIUI, the majority. It was seen as being the man's job. >> >> I asked the in laws. At the time one or two women they knew of had cars, >> the headmistress of the locals girls school had one and it was parked in >> the playground, (there was no staff carpark yet). The owner of a small >> chain of hairdressers also had one. Both were regarded as exceptional. > > The district nurse who lived at the bottom of our street had an Austin > A35 - one of only about five vehicles (including a coalman's horse-drawn > lorry) among all 130+ houses. > > I recall seeing a woman driving and parking a car in Myrtle Steet, > Liverpool, when I was about 5. It was the first time I had ever seen a > woman drive. Until that moment, I would probably have assumed that women > were not allowed to drive. > >> I do not think "anti car" existed. > > Oh, it did. Primarily amongst those who couldn't be bothered to get off their arses, learn to drive and buy themselves a car.
From: JNugent on 2 Aug 2010 07:05
Chelsea Tractor Man wrote: > Brimstone wrote: >>> Damned good article. Every word well-measured. >> Really? >> The writer hasn't got the faintest idea what he's talking about, " ... they >> all went out for "a run" in the afternoon, saluted the smart AA or RAC >> patrolman on his motorbike and sidecar" is just the most banal example. That happened. I guess you are taking issue with "all". > its just a melange of car related anecdote blurred into one, its not > related to the mid 60s and the obvious error above shows how carefully > written. It gives a potted background to the situation as it had developed by the mid-60s. It isn't a snapshot of 1965 (and neither, AFAICS, does it purport to be one). In fact, it couldn't be 1965-specific, any more than anecdotes about petrol at 8 gallons for �1 (a definite 1950s phenomenon at the latest) could be. FWIW, I recall petrol priced at around 4 gallons for �1 in the mid-60s, rising to circa 3 gallons for �1 by the time I started driving in the 70s. |