John Betjeman on the BBC

[TheEdge]

Just thought I would bring this one to the attention of people who may be interested in it.

In View: Men of Steam

Men of Steam

First transmitted in 1962, John Betjeman presents a documentary exploring the impact of the removal of steam locomotives from British railway services on the railway men who have maintained the system since the days of the Great Western Railway.
The introduction of diesel engines meant a real departure from usual operational practices for the railway men who had dedicated their entire working lives to operating the iconic steam locomotive

A brilliant little half hour "documentary" presented/narrated by John Betjeman first shown in 1962. Mostly footage of the Western region with a decent mix of steam and early diesel.

Also some of it made my knowledge of modern PTS wince!

 

[PaxVobiscum]

iPlayer reporting "Not currently available". Thanks anyway - will keep an eye open for another transmission.

 

[TheEdge]

Odd, its working for me and is available unit 1/1/2038! hock:

 

[wheel]

That link seems to be working now and if you follow it, theres also a link to a whole page of BBC 4 steam program archives. Here

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/collections/p01277qd/steam-railways

 

[the sniper]

Only just found this thread. Nice collection they've put up. I'll be watching 'Engines Must Not Enter the Potato Siding' as I've heard much about it but never seen it!

Full collection here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/collections/p01277qd/steam-railways

Some of the other collections they've put up are interesting too, particularly the 'All America' one. The other collections can be found here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/collections

 

[Metrailway]

In addition to the BBC 4 collection, there are more historical BBC clips including quite a few railway related clips/programmes on the BBC archive:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/

I think the most notable programme in the archive is full 4 hour plus live broadcast of Sir Winston Churchill's state funeral.