England, The Great North Road in 1939

[Morris Minor]

Jalopies galore here. Apart from the streetscape, the general lack of cars, & the looming war that the country would nearly lose, what struck me here was the few shots of cars moving at speed on the main road, and how you unstable they were, wallowing on primitive suspensions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPhkZSWxt_I

[Payman]

That was really cool to watch. I'd love to tour the back roads of Britain in a Morgan Trike.

[Payman]

Just configured my Trike for the trip. 

[Madman]

The Brampton Hut Hotel in Huntingdon is still in business, now part of the Brewer's Fayre chain.

So is the Crown Inn in Eaton Socon......

http://www.chefandbrewer.com/pub/crown-inn-eaton-socon-st-neots/s3363/


A still shot of The Crown from the 1939 film on the left and a 2012 photo on the right.




And the Tea House in Eaton Socon is now the Akbar Tandoori Indian Restaurant.

1939 on the left, 2012 on the right




The perspective from a local resident....

http://jhm.scilla.org.uk/search/label/Great%20North%20Road

[Morris Minor]

 I saw a comment on YouTube that the cameraman's car that's given prominence is a Buick. Not sure if true.

[FoMoJo]

It fairly resembles a '37 Buick model, at least from the rear.

[Madman]

Canadian built McLaughlin-Buicks were sold in Britain during the 1930s and several were supplied to the Royal Family, including one belonging to Edward VIII.  This was the car which he and Wallis Simpson drove to their new home in Cannes following the King's abdication in 1938.

Edward VIII/Duke of Windsor's actual McLaughlin-Buick seen here.......

[Morris Minor]

My mother's family was from evacuated from London to a farm in the Peterborough area in WWII, she went to Grantham High School. My grandmother had a tough war: her husband, a senior army officer, had a affair with his driver & she divorced him for adultery. Then she lost a 12-year-old child, my mother's sister, to meningitis.  That was when my grandmother became a chain smoker.