Voices from the Road

Two rather unusual tales in this edition of Voices for the Road, as Keith Smith-Dutton talks about his visit to Nigeria resulted in a rather odd fanbelt replacement in 1982. Meanwhile, in 19667 Gerry Johns had a surprising encounter while picking up embargoed information from Downing Street. Alan Wakely takes the wheel for 1956 as he talks us through the rise of smaller, cheaper cars. Inclduing a...

This month we take a look at 3 years: 1960 - The evolution of the UK road network; Rat Runs and White Elephants 1997 - Finland in February with Valerie and James 2002 - Shiny Side Up; motorcycle safety Valerie Singleton presents Voices from the Road, an exciting project in which we will seek to create and build a fascinating audio archive capturing the widest possible range of motoring memories –...

Valerie Singleton presents Voices from the Road, an exciting project in which we will seek to create and build a fascinating audio archive capturing the widest possible range of motoring memories – starting way back in 1932. These stories could be individual accounts of road journeys… exciting adventures… and achievements from specific years…  as well as more noteworthy developments in road s...

Valerie Singleton presents Voices from the Road, an exciting project in which we will seek to create and build a fascinating audio archive capturing the widest possible range of motoring memories – starting way back in 1932. These stories could be individual accounts of road journeys… exciting adventures… and achievements from specific years…  as well as more noteworthy developments in road s...

On the 31st January 1983, the UK Parliament passed legislation to make seatbelt wearing compulsory where fitted in the front of cars. It was the result of years of campaigning by medical and safety organisations, but the law was opposed by the Conservative Government and the Labour Official Opposition. The campaign led to the formation in 1982 of the Parliament Advisory Council for Transport Safet...

1933 - It’s a cold Saturday evening in late January. The Periam family are on the road between Boston and Spalding in Lincolnshire. Young Jack is driving, Gerard is the front passenger. Ruby and George are in the back with a family friend, Mrs Taylor. All is going well – until the car loses grip and starts to skid. Before they know it, the Periams are involved in a very nasty crash. 1955 - Chris d...

We offer an extended discussion featuring three people who were involved in the pioneering days of the National Driver Offender Retraining Scheme that began – under various names in different locations - in 1991. But before that, we head back to 1966 and take a look at the Heinkel bubble car.  Valerie Singleton presents Voices from the Road, an exciting project in which we will seek to create...

First up. we travel back to 1978 as motorcycling fans across the nation are making the journey to the TT Races on the Isle of Man, where they will cheer for their heroes including Mike Hailwood, John Williams and Ian Richards. One such fan is John Henderson, who recounts his own two-wheeled adventure that took him through the night from Reading to catch the ferry from Liverpool the following morni...

Welcome to the Voices from the Road podcast. This time round we offer an extended discussion focussing on just one year – 2014.  In the UK, Brenda Holmes is working with Norfolk Police to publish video footage of a road collision from the previous year in which her son David died. The footage was recorded using a camera attached to David’s own helmet and it shows – in disturbing detail – what...

In this episode we head to 1960 and meet Sylvia Watts, who is turning her attention to the process of learning to drive. Sylvia talks to us about: Getting stuck in a snow drift Being submerged underwater An unfortunate blackout Continuing with the underwater theme we take an unauthorised trip in an amphibious car on the Shropshire Union Canal as a young Colin Parker back from college for the weeke...

A warm welcome to the very first edition of the Voices from the Road podcast. It’s an exciting new project in which we will seek to create and build a fascinating audio archive capturing the widest possible range of motoring memories – starting with the years 1935, 1970 and 1982. 1935 - James Luckhurst went recently to meet Eddie – who’s now in his late 90s. Eddie recalls those learner journeys of...

Valerie Singleton presents Voices from the Road, an exciting project in which we will seek to create and build a fascinating audio archive capturing the widest possible range of motoring memories – starting way back in 1932. These stories could be individual accounts of road journeys… exciting adventures… and achievements from specific years…  as well as more noteworthy developments in road s...