0:00:03 > 0:00:07Just over a century ago, the motion camera was invented,
0:00:07 > 0:00:11and changed forever the way we recall our history.
0:00:11 > 0:00:14For the first time, we could see life
0:00:14 > 0:00:16through the eyes of ordinary people.
0:00:18 > 0:00:24Across the series, we'll bring these rare archive films back to life
0:00:24 > 0:00:26with the help of our vintage mobile cinema.
0:00:29 > 0:00:33We'll be inviting people with a story to tell to step on board
0:00:33 > 0:00:37and re-live moments they thought were gone forever.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43They'll see their relatives on screen for the first time,
0:00:43 > 0:00:46come face-to-face with their younger selves
0:00:46 > 0:00:49and celebrate our amazing 20th century past.
0:00:51 > 0:00:53This is the people's story.
0:00:53 > 0:00:54Our story.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23Our vintage mobile cinema was originally commissioned in 1967
0:01:23 > 0:01:26to show training films to workers.
0:01:26 > 0:01:28Today, it's been lovingly restored
0:01:28 > 0:01:32and loaded up with remarkable film footage preserved for us
0:01:32 > 0:01:33by the British Film Institute
0:01:33 > 0:01:36and other national and regional film archives.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40In this series, we'll be travelling to towns and cities
0:01:40 > 0:01:44across the country and showing films from the 20th century
0:01:44 > 0:01:46that give us the real history of Britain.
0:01:52 > 0:01:55Today, we're pulling up in the 1960s...
0:01:57 > 0:02:00..a time when Britain's clogged-up road network
0:02:00 > 0:02:04gave way to a new kid on the block, the motorway,
0:02:04 > 0:02:07and ushered in a new era of road travel.
0:02:07 > 0:02:09MUSIC: I Feel Free by Cream
0:02:22 > 0:02:25Today, we're at the Motor Museum in Sparkford in Somerset.
0:02:25 > 0:02:29Our mobile cinema has never felt as much at home.
0:02:29 > 0:02:31This has one of the biggest collections of motor cars
0:02:31 > 0:02:34and motor memorabilia in the United Kingdom.
0:02:38 > 0:02:39Coming up...
0:02:39 > 0:02:42The men who built the motorways...
0:02:42 > 0:02:45There was an abundance of work and especially as much of it
0:02:45 > 0:02:48had to be done by the pick and the shovel and the graft.
0:02:48 > 0:02:52..how car travel opened up new and exciting opportunities...
0:02:52 > 0:02:55Instead of marrying the guy next door
0:02:55 > 0:02:57or the chap in the village next door,
0:02:57 > 0:03:00people were starting to meet over much longer distances.
0:03:00 > 0:03:05..and a family that paid the price of progress.
0:03:05 > 0:03:09We heard a road was going through Willand and that was it.
0:03:09 > 0:03:13We never dreamt that it would interfere with us.
0:03:13 > 0:03:14Never ever.
0:03:23 > 0:03:27Reel History has come to The Haynes Motor Museum at Sparkford
0:03:27 > 0:03:30in Somerset because this place is a monument to an invention
0:03:30 > 0:03:34that revolutionised travel in this country, the motorcar.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37And the 1960s was a boom time for the industry.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40For the first time, ordinary people could afford a car
0:03:40 > 0:03:44and explore places beyond their front door like never before.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56After the Second World War, car ownership in Britain rocketed.
0:03:56 > 0:04:00By 1958, there were eight million cars on the roads -
0:04:00 > 0:04:04more than three times as many as in 1945.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07But mass car ownership meant hideous traffic jams
0:04:07 > 0:04:11and, by 1960, average speeds were lower than ever before.
0:04:11 > 0:04:15The only solution was a new type of road - the motorway.
0:04:17 > 0:04:21Without a doubt, Britain's motorways have taken a leading place
0:04:21 > 0:04:23amongst the fine highways of the modern world.
0:04:24 > 0:04:27But it was more than just a feat of engineering.
0:04:27 > 0:04:31It's hard to believe nowadays but when they first appeared,
0:04:31 > 0:04:33motorways brought almost unbridled joy.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36Suddenly, Britain became a smaller island
0:04:36 > 0:04:38and out-of-reach places were accessible.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56My guests today have memories of motoring in the '60s
0:04:56 > 0:04:57and have come from all over the country
0:04:57 > 0:05:00to share with us their personal stories.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03Many will be seeing the films we're about to screen for the first time.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07They'll be showing us photos of their younger selves
0:05:07 > 0:05:09and revealing how the birth of motorways
0:05:09 > 0:05:11changed their lives forever.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15Joan Wright has travelled here from Staffordshire.
0:05:15 > 0:05:19Her father, Samuel Cooper, was among the new mobile generation
0:05:19 > 0:05:23of the '60s, the decade in which he bought his first car.
0:05:25 > 0:05:29So in the '60s, the car your father had was a treasured object.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32It was a Morris Minor, a black Morris Minor, very shiny.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35And we'd go from Blackpool from Stoke-on-Trent or to Rhyl
0:05:35 > 0:05:38or the Wirral and we'd perhaps go on the beach,
0:05:38 > 0:05:40and they'd sit in deckchairs in three-piece suits
0:05:40 > 0:05:42and the hat and Sunday clothes on.
0:05:42 > 0:05:43It was all about getting dressed up
0:05:43 > 0:05:47and a big event, a big social event to be able to have the car.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52We're going to take Joan back more than 50 years,
0:05:52 > 0:05:54to her early childhood, to remember the days
0:05:54 > 0:05:58when a day out to the seaside, in the family car, was a big deal.
0:06:07 > 0:06:10We could never eat any food in the car lest the inside
0:06:10 > 0:06:14should be defiled by the remaining smell or any crumbs of anything.
0:06:14 > 0:06:17So if we went anywhere on a day trip, we took sandwiches
0:06:17 > 0:06:20in the sandwich box and coffee in a flask
0:06:20 > 0:06:23but we always had to get out of the car to eat them.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26It didn't matter what the weather was like.
0:06:28 > 0:06:31Like many first-time car owners, Joan's parents had to scrimp
0:06:31 > 0:06:35and save to keep their Morris Minor on the road.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39It was just good that we were able to just afford it. You know,
0:06:39 > 0:06:42it was only just by careful manoeuvring of the household money
0:06:42 > 0:06:45that we were able to sort of keep this car going.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48And if perchance it should break down or need new tyres,
0:06:48 > 0:06:51that was fairly catastrophic because it was very much,
0:06:51 > 0:06:53"How much will it be? Can we manage it?
0:06:53 > 0:06:56"Other things may have to give to do that."
0:06:59 > 0:07:03Today, we think of a car as a sort of a workhorse where you jump in,
0:07:03 > 0:07:06you put your garden rubble, you take your rubbish to the tip.
0:07:06 > 0:07:08We wouldn't have done anything like that
0:07:08 > 0:07:11because the car itself was cherished and looked after.
0:07:11 > 0:07:15Watching these films reminds Joan how the private car
0:07:15 > 0:07:18opened up new places for people to explore.
0:07:18 > 0:07:20Suddenly, they could go anywhere.
0:07:21 > 0:07:25My mum and dad had always gone to Blackpool for their holidays.
0:07:25 > 0:07:29Well, then when they got a car they went to Ilfracombe in Devon,
0:07:29 > 0:07:32which would have been a whole new vista of opportunity.
0:07:32 > 0:07:34To go to Ilfracombe in Devon,
0:07:34 > 0:07:36you might as well have been going to the Moon
0:07:36 > 0:07:39because it was such a long way, you know, on old roads.
0:07:42 > 0:07:44In the '60s, Joan's family car
0:07:44 > 0:07:48was just one in over 12 million other cars on the road.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51They were the first to experience the downside of the boom
0:07:51 > 0:07:54in car ownership, the traffic jam.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02Mr Mayor, here in Stamford you must have about the worst
0:08:02 > 0:08:05traffic bottleneck in the whole of Britain.
0:08:05 > 0:08:09I'll say we have a traffic jam here. In fact, it's a traffic problem.
0:08:09 > 0:08:12Considering we've 6,000 vehicles rather a day going through here,
0:08:12 > 0:08:14it's more than a problem - it's chaos.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18But Joan's parents were undaunted.
0:08:20 > 0:08:25It was a new thing. Cars were to the '60s what airline travel is today
0:08:25 > 0:08:28and just liberating people to go off
0:08:28 > 0:08:30and you could go where you wanted to go.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36It seems like yesterday, or at least last week or last month,
0:08:36 > 0:08:38not 40 or 50 years ago.
0:08:45 > 0:08:49The motorways would never have been built without the help
0:08:49 > 0:08:52of men like Joe Moran from Manchester.
0:08:52 > 0:08:56Joe was one of 500,000 Irishmen who came to Britain in the early '60s
0:08:56 > 0:08:58to work in the construction industry.
0:08:59 > 0:09:03Now, you were one of the people who actually built the motorways.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06I was one of many thousands that worked on the motorway.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09Yeah, but you built it and you were one of those that built it.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11How old were you when you came across from Ireland?
0:09:11 > 0:09:14I was just 19 years when I came from Ireland.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17- Were there quite a lot of you that came across?- Thousands.
0:09:17 > 0:09:19Most of my generation came here.
0:09:19 > 0:09:22Either to Manchester, Birmingham, London.
0:09:22 > 0:09:24What made you want to come across?
0:09:24 > 0:09:26Well, I was brought up on a small farm in Ireland,
0:09:26 > 0:09:31as many of thousands of lads of my age in the west of Ireland.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34There wasn't work for us all or a place on the farm for us all,
0:09:34 > 0:09:36and I was the eldest of four
0:09:36 > 0:09:38so I wanted to branch out
0:09:38 > 0:09:42and see what the world was like and, of course, Britain was very popular.
0:09:42 > 0:09:46That's where most of my generation were coming to, like, you know.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49Coming to Manchester was like coming home again
0:09:49 > 0:09:52because there were that many Irish around, you know.
0:09:54 > 0:09:56We're going to transport Joe back to a time
0:09:56 > 0:09:59when he earned £11 a week building motorways.
0:10:09 > 0:10:13The colour film Joe is about to watch is called Motorway.
0:10:13 > 0:10:17It was made in 1959 to highlight the monumental effort it took
0:10:17 > 0:10:21to construct the M1, Britain's first long-distance motorway.
0:10:21 > 0:10:24The film was shot by the lead contractors on the job,
0:10:24 > 0:10:26John Laing and Son.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29Surprisingly, Laing had its own company film unit
0:10:29 > 0:10:33and produced numerous movies about the construction industry.
0:10:35 > 0:10:39With all this mechanisation, a labour force of 4,000 men
0:10:39 > 0:10:41was all that was necessary.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44Mostly skilled men to operate the machines.
0:10:44 > 0:10:46An average of just over 70 men per mile.
0:10:47 > 0:10:52What memories will this film bring back for 70-year-old Joe?
0:10:52 > 0:10:56There was an abundance of work, and especially for so much of it
0:10:56 > 0:10:59had to be done by the pick and the shovel and the graft.
0:10:59 > 0:11:0355 miles of pipe sewers ranging from 6 to 48-inch diameter
0:11:03 > 0:11:07and 50 miles of porous pipes and French drains were used
0:11:07 > 0:11:10in the verges, central reserves and embankments.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13My major work on the motorways was pipe laying.
0:11:13 > 0:11:18I went in for pipe laying. You know, at least you got a bit more money.
0:11:18 > 0:11:23And it was better, like. It was classified as a semi-skilled job.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28With deadlines to meet, life for the workers was hard...
0:11:28 > 0:11:32and there was no room for slackers.
0:11:32 > 0:11:37In the morning, there, the foreman would step out so many yards,
0:11:37 > 0:11:39and you had to start digging,
0:11:39 > 0:11:41and if you weren't able to keep up with the rest,
0:11:41 > 0:11:44the weakling would go, like.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47I've seen them sack lads at ten o'clock in the morning, you know.
0:11:47 > 0:11:51It was harsh. You had no employment rights, really, then.
0:11:51 > 0:11:52That was the way it was.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56Building the motorways was also fraught with danger.
0:11:56 > 0:11:58Some men even lost their lives.
0:12:00 > 0:12:05A lad who got trapped, he was down about 12-foot or 14-foot trench
0:12:05 > 0:12:07and there was a big collapse,
0:12:07 > 0:12:10earth collapse, and of course, he got trapped, poor fella.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13He lived a day in hospital, like.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16He didn't make it. I knew two that that happened to, like.
0:12:18 > 0:12:22By 1972, over 1,000 miles of motorways had been built
0:12:22 > 0:12:26by men like Joe and watching this film takes him back to those days.
0:12:28 > 0:12:30Brought back many memories.
0:12:30 > 0:12:33Brought back many memories and I'm proud of what I done,
0:12:33 > 0:12:37what I contributed and I'm proud of all the people that worked
0:12:37 > 0:12:38and sad when I look back
0:12:38 > 0:12:40and think so many are dead and no longer with us.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54It was a privilege to have met Joe.
0:12:54 > 0:12:55He and his fellow Irishmen
0:12:55 > 0:12:58were among men from across the UK and Ireland
0:12:58 > 0:13:00who built our motorways.
0:13:00 > 0:13:01We owe them a lot.
0:13:06 > 0:13:10And my next guest is the former Top Gear presenter Sue Baker.
0:13:10 > 0:13:14She's come along to The Haynes Motor Museum here at Sparkford in Somerset
0:13:14 > 0:13:18to tell me about the impact motorways have had on all our lives.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21So what did you think when the motorways came in?
0:13:21 > 0:13:22What was your view of that?
0:13:22 > 0:13:25I think we were all just blown away by the idea that suddenly,
0:13:25 > 0:13:29instead of having to plan a tortuous route through little villages
0:13:29 > 0:13:33and country lanes, you had these extraordinarily efficient roads.
0:13:33 > 0:13:36I think we were all quite amazed by that.
0:13:36 > 0:13:40They were quite sort of windswept, extraordinary places to be
0:13:40 > 0:13:44and they just had this futuristic feel about them.
0:13:48 > 0:13:51It's a brilliant bit of engineering, this intersection,
0:13:51 > 0:13:53but it can be a daunting prospect
0:13:53 > 0:13:55for the motorist approaching it for the first time.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58If you make a mistake, you may drive some miles out of your way
0:13:58 > 0:14:02before you can rectify it. Going north...
0:14:02 > 0:14:05Do you think the motorways encouraged people to buy cars
0:14:05 > 0:14:07because they could go to Scotland, to see their relatives, from London
0:14:07 > 0:14:10and it wouldn't take two days and a hamper?
0:14:10 > 0:14:13It really opened up motoring to the masses because suddenly,
0:14:13 > 0:14:16people found that they could travel longer distances,
0:14:16 > 0:14:18and just opened people's horizons.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21I think it also had a huge social effect in that
0:14:21 > 0:14:24instead of marrying the guy next door
0:14:24 > 0:14:29or the chap in the village next door, people were starting to meet
0:14:29 > 0:14:33over much longer distances and it opened society, really.
0:14:33 > 0:14:38So going back to summarise the '60s, the motorways, the expansion
0:14:38 > 0:14:42of the ownership of cars, what would your reflections be on that?
0:14:42 > 0:14:44I think when we were living through it, we were aware
0:14:44 > 0:14:46that Carnaby Street and all these things were happening,
0:14:46 > 0:14:48and the supermodels and the pop-stars,
0:14:48 > 0:14:51and there was just a whole buoyant feeling.
0:14:51 > 0:14:53The country had come out of the end of the war
0:14:53 > 0:14:56and suddenly we felt as if the world was lifting
0:14:56 > 0:14:59and it was our oyster again and I think the cars of the time,
0:14:59 > 0:15:03like the Mini and the arrival of motorways, were all part of that.
0:15:11 > 0:15:12On Reel History today,
0:15:12 > 0:15:15we're at the Motor Museum at Sparkford in Somerset,
0:15:15 > 0:15:18hearing some remarkable stories of how motoring in the '60s
0:15:18 > 0:15:20changed all our lives forever.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24Liz Perks from Northampton has come along
0:15:24 > 0:15:27to tell us about her glory days as a teenage motorbiker.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31- You were a rocker in the '60s with your motorbike.- Yes.
0:15:31 > 0:15:36- So it was Freedom Hall when you saw a motorway.- Yeah, it was.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39That was the freedom. We loved it to bits. Especially being a girl.
0:15:39 > 0:15:41Did you take risks
0:15:41 > 0:15:44just because you had so much open space and big roads?
0:15:44 > 0:15:48Um, I suppose you're a bit cautious.
0:15:48 > 0:15:50You know your limits. I don't think you...
0:15:50 > 0:15:52I mean, you wanted to survive.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55Well, there wasn't crash helmets to be worn
0:15:55 > 0:15:57when we first had motorbikes
0:15:57 > 0:16:00and there wasn't much rules at all.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08Now Liz is about to travel back down the motorways of her youth.
0:16:22 > 0:16:28I suppose 1964, I was 16, so I was allowed to ride a motorbike
0:16:28 > 0:16:34and often we would go from Rugby, up the car park,
0:16:34 > 0:16:37have a chat with the lads and different people.
0:16:37 > 0:16:39We'd say, "Right, we're going to go off somewhere."
0:16:39 > 0:16:43Pop down to the Blue Boar cafe on the motorway.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51The birth of motorways and a boom in car ownership
0:16:51 > 0:16:53brought another exciting development -
0:16:53 > 0:16:55the motorway service station.
0:16:57 > 0:17:01At these service areas, you'll find petrols of various brands.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04There are usually snack bars, restaurants,
0:17:04 > 0:17:07with speedy service and a first-class meal.
0:17:09 > 0:17:12And all modern conveniences. Even a shop.
0:17:12 > 0:17:15Service stations may have had unglamorous names
0:17:15 > 0:17:19like Newport Pagnell and Watford Gap's Blue Boar,
0:17:19 > 0:17:21which was Liz's choice,
0:17:21 > 0:17:23but they were popular hang-outs for celebrities.
0:17:23 > 0:17:28It was a motorway service, you know, cafe, but in those days
0:17:28 > 0:17:30there were no restrictions of staying
0:17:30 > 0:17:34so you could actually stay there and park up
0:17:34 > 0:17:36and stay there all night.
0:17:36 > 0:17:38If you stayed in the cafe,
0:17:38 > 0:17:40they'd probably want you to buy a few mugs of tea
0:17:40 > 0:17:44but you can wander outside, look at all the bikes.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47For drivers and for bikers like Liz,
0:17:47 > 0:17:50the motorway was a chance to show off.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53It was all so very free.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56There was no speed limit so you could get down on your bike
0:17:56 > 0:17:59and see if you could get some speed out of it!
0:18:02 > 0:18:05It was pretty wild if you wanted to be that way.
0:18:05 > 0:18:09Obviously, some of our bikes were not very good or fast
0:18:09 > 0:18:12but you'd get the other people that's got a better bike
0:18:12 > 0:18:18and they'd be faster and have races and things.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21Yeah, and it was just a lovely time to...
0:18:21 > 0:18:24Well, just lucky really to be involved in it.
0:18:35 > 0:18:39My next guest knows all about danger on the roads.
0:18:39 > 0:18:4163-year-old Rex Patterson from Hampshire
0:18:41 > 0:18:43was a traffic cop in the '60s
0:18:43 > 0:18:46and his car of choice back then was the Mini.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53We're about to wind the clock back 50 years for Rex.
0:18:58 > 0:19:02He's set to watch a rarely seen government information film
0:19:02 > 0:19:03designed to educate the public
0:19:03 > 0:19:06about the do's and don'ts of motorway driving.
0:19:07 > 0:19:12As well as approaching the service areas, notice the 300-yard,
0:19:12 > 0:19:15200-yard and 100-yard warnings.
0:19:16 > 0:19:18So there's never any need to brake hard
0:19:18 > 0:19:21even if you've been travelling at 100mph.
0:19:22 > 0:19:24And remember, if you miss your exit,
0:19:24 > 0:19:27you must carry on until you reach the next exit.
0:19:27 > 0:19:32You just had someone thinking, "Oh, I've missed my turn," you know,
0:19:32 > 0:19:35"Oh," you know, "there's a thing coming up here, I'll turn there."
0:19:35 > 0:19:38And they'd actually go to the outside lane,
0:19:38 > 0:19:41slow in the fast lane, to turn.
0:19:41 > 0:19:45They'd drive through the collapsible bollards, of course, to turn round.
0:19:45 > 0:19:49Absolutely appalling, appalling driving.
0:19:52 > 0:19:54As a traffic cop, Rex was delighted
0:19:54 > 0:19:57when drink-driving laws came into force in the late '60s.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02As he's about to see in this Westward TV report,
0:20:02 > 0:20:06some people found curious ways of complying with the new law.
0:20:09 > 0:20:15Ah, nice and cool. Just the job. Thank you very much, cheers.
0:20:15 > 0:20:18I had you picked for a brown-ale merchant.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21Well, no, I've gone on milk these days, you know,
0:20:21 > 0:20:24with this drink and driving business. I like a milk
0:20:24 > 0:20:28and it's very nourishing, you know, so I just stick to milk now.
0:20:30 > 0:20:33But road safety was no laughing matter.
0:20:33 > 0:20:39Before seatbelts and the 70mph speed limit became law in 1967,
0:20:39 > 0:20:42almost 1,000 people in the '60s were injured on the roads,
0:20:42 > 0:20:45many of them killed every day, as Rex knows well.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49I got called to an accident in Pompey
0:20:49 > 0:20:50and it was on the dual carriageway
0:20:50 > 0:20:52before they started making it really safe,
0:20:52 > 0:20:55and it was a 70mph dual carriageway,
0:20:55 > 0:20:56nothing up the middle,
0:20:56 > 0:20:59and a driving instructor car
0:20:59 > 0:21:05was coming into Portsmouth and a Mini was going out of Portsmouth
0:21:05 > 0:21:08and somehow they wandered across the road and they collided head-on,
0:21:08 > 0:21:10and I never want to see an accident like that again.
0:21:10 > 0:21:14We were having to decide, with the ambulance crew,
0:21:14 > 0:21:19which ones have got a chance of surviving.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22And I never want to see an accident like that again.
0:21:34 > 0:21:37Some lives were shattered in different ways
0:21:37 > 0:21:39by the march of the motor car.
0:21:39 > 0:21:43Homes had to be sacrificed to make way for progress.
0:21:43 > 0:21:45Here in the West Country, houses were swept aside
0:21:45 > 0:21:48when the M5 between Birmingham and Exeter was built.
0:21:48 > 0:21:50It was a controversial route.
0:21:50 > 0:21:53Anna Purkiss and her family used to live near Lloyd Maunders Road
0:21:53 > 0:21:58at Willand in Devon, slap bang in the middle of it.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01She's come along today to see her parents describing,
0:22:01 > 0:22:04in a 1971 news film, how their family home
0:22:04 > 0:22:08was to be sacrificed for the motorway.
0:22:08 > 0:22:12Mum always said, "It's just as if they put a pen through Devon
0:22:12 > 0:22:14"and said, 'That's where the motorway's going to go.
0:22:14 > 0:22:16" 'To hell with everybody.' "
0:22:16 > 0:22:22And if only Lloyd Maunders Road had gone the other side
0:22:22 > 0:22:26of the railway lines, we could have all still been there.
0:22:28 > 0:22:32Anna is about to see her mother Bet and her father Bert,
0:22:32 > 0:22:34now both sadly passed away.
0:22:47 > 0:22:51This row of houses is where Anna once lived.
0:22:51 > 0:22:55We heard a road was going through Willand and that was it.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58We didn't know where it was going, what was happening.
0:22:58 > 0:23:04We never dreamt that it would interfere with us. Never ever.
0:23:07 > 0:23:09When the plans were announced,
0:23:09 > 0:23:12Westward TV visited the proposed route of the new M5
0:23:12 > 0:23:15to talk to people who were going to be affected.
0:23:15 > 0:23:17Anna's parents were among those interviewed.
0:23:18 > 0:23:23Couple of months after we moved in, I went up the shop
0:23:23 > 0:23:26and on the way up there, somebody told me that there was going
0:23:26 > 0:23:31to be a road, only a road, go through where the market is.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34But we never dreamed it'd be a motorway.
0:23:38 > 0:23:42Mum said, "It's got to be said because if we don't say our piece
0:23:42 > 0:23:45"other people are going to be affected." And they were.
0:23:47 > 0:23:49The Purkisses run their own business,
0:23:49 > 0:23:51a mobile fish and chip shop.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54The business, they say, will be threatened when they're moved out.
0:23:54 > 0:23:58Why will it not be possible for you to carry on your present business?
0:23:58 > 0:24:01The prices that's being asked,
0:24:01 > 0:24:04of course, is sky-high.
0:24:04 > 0:24:07In some cases, much more than the value of this property.
0:24:08 > 0:24:12Their plans had been shattered.
0:24:12 > 0:24:17Um...they didn't believe it was going to happen.
0:24:17 > 0:24:22My mum and dad had put all that hard work into everything
0:24:22 > 0:24:25and that day became...
0:24:26 > 0:24:29It was terrible, absolutely terrible.
0:24:36 > 0:24:38Of course, you will be getting compensation.
0:24:38 > 0:24:43Compensation for a house
0:24:43 > 0:24:44but not for a home.
0:24:52 > 0:24:55They were walking away from something that they knew
0:24:55 > 0:24:59they were never ever going to see again.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02And those memories... We had an awful lot of memories
0:25:02 > 0:25:05but it was that final goodbye...
0:25:07 > 0:25:11..that was... It was horrible for all of us.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13It was tearful, very tearful.
0:25:15 > 0:25:18Watching this film and seeing her late parents
0:25:18 > 0:25:20brings back strong emotions for Anna.
0:25:22 > 0:25:26The day I saw it, years ago, I felt angry.
0:25:26 > 0:25:29Proud of my parents.
0:25:29 > 0:25:34Today I saw it... Yeah, still angry, still proud of my parents...
0:25:37 > 0:25:43..and it's nice to think I can pass that on to mine, really,
0:25:43 > 0:25:45and highlight that progress...
0:25:45 > 0:25:49motorways, um, are needed
0:25:49 > 0:25:52but should be given a lot more thought.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08Today on Reel History, we've been hearing stories
0:26:08 > 0:26:11about motoring in the '60s and we couldn't go without mentioning
0:26:11 > 0:26:14the star of our show, the vintage mobile cinema.
0:26:15 > 0:26:19Originally, there were seven of these cinemas built in 1967
0:26:19 > 0:26:22but now only this one remains.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25Thanks to the hard work and dedication of its owners,
0:26:25 > 0:26:26Olly Halls and Emma Gifford,
0:26:26 > 0:26:31we now have this stunning example of our British transport heritage.
0:26:33 > 0:26:37Emma, Olly, to you we owe the mobile cinema.
0:26:37 > 0:26:39What was it like when you found it?
0:26:39 > 0:26:42Rough. It was painted green still,
0:26:42 > 0:26:45fairly flaky and it didn't work at all.
0:26:45 > 0:26:49There was no engine that worked, no brakes. It was a derelict vehicle.
0:26:49 > 0:26:51What was it originally used for?
0:26:51 > 0:26:54It was the whole white heat of technology era
0:26:54 > 0:26:56and they were commissioned by the Ministry of Technology,
0:26:56 > 0:26:58which was headed up by Tony Benn at the time,
0:26:58 > 0:27:01and they used to go round factories and they would show
0:27:01 > 0:27:04films about engineering, about modernising production techniques.
0:27:04 > 0:27:07And it was all about trying to bring British production
0:27:07 > 0:27:08to the forefront of the world.
0:27:09 > 0:27:12The Ministry of Technology has spent £1 million
0:27:12 > 0:27:15on seven mobile lecture theatres.
0:27:15 > 0:27:18These caravans visit works and factories and, among other things,
0:27:18 > 0:27:21give basic instruction in value analysis principles
0:27:21 > 0:27:23to groups of engineers.
0:27:23 > 0:27:24This kind of thing can provide
0:27:24 > 0:27:27a very effective introduction to the technique.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32And, thanks to Emma and Olly, this old girl can once again perform
0:27:32 > 0:27:36her original duty to show films all round Britain.
0:27:50 > 0:27:51It's been a funny day.
0:27:51 > 0:27:54People so passionate about their cars, especially the Mini,
0:27:54 > 0:27:57and passionate about motorways, even building motorways.
0:27:57 > 0:28:01Behind me, the number of different cars, British cars,
0:28:01 > 0:28:05in the '60s, touched by genius, and that variety.
0:28:05 > 0:28:10What I should do is put my foot down and zoom off into the sunset...
0:28:10 > 0:28:12but I don't drive.
0:28:13 > 0:28:18Maybe if I'm lucky, I can hitch a lift in this historic mobile cinema.
0:28:20 > 0:28:23Next time on Reel History, we're in Great Yarmouth,
0:28:23 > 0:28:27remembering the brave herring fishermen of the 1930s...
0:28:29 > 0:28:33God, they were wooden ships and iron men. That was colossal.
0:28:33 > 0:28:36..and I'll be learning about the heyday of herring,
0:28:36 > 0:28:38before the fish finger got us hooked.