The Great North Road - Then and Now. Its OUT!!!

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punyXpress
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Re: The Great North Road - Then and Now. Its OUT!!!

Post by punyXpress »

Hi Lonewolf
Just got my copy - please could you sign it?
Could bring it to PEEMS meeting Wednesday
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Lonewolf
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Re: The Great North Road - Then and Now. Its OUT!!!

Post by Lonewolf »

I'm not getting to Peems at the moment cos I work away Mon-Fri every week. Do you have a copy of the members list with my address etc on it? You're welcome to bring it round at the weekend.
Wolfie

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Re: The Great North Road - Then and Now. Its OUT!!!

Post by Mattsignmaker »

Lonewolf wrote:I'm not getting to Peems at the moment cos I work away Mon-Fri every week. Do you have a copy of the members list with my address etc on it? You're welcome to bring it round at the weekend.
Got my copy, fantastic read! I find myself reading through and having google earth open at the same time.
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c2R
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Re: The Great North Road - Then and Now. Its OUT!!!

Post by c2R »

Mattsignmaker wrote:
Lonewolf wrote:I'm not getting to Peems at the moment cos I work away Mon-Fri every week. Do you have a copy of the members list with my address etc on it? You're welcome to bring it round at the weekend.
Got my copy, fantastic read! I find myself reading through and having google earth open at the same time.
agreed (o:
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Lonewolf
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Re: The Great North Road - Then and Now. Its OUT!!!

Post by Lonewolf »

It just gets better, I've had an email from the BBC. They want to do a series on the Great North Road :shock:
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Re: The Great North Road - Then and Now. Its OUT!!!

Post by Mattsignmaker »

Lonewolf wrote:It just gets better, I've had an email from the BBC. They want to do a series on the Great North Road :shock:
Fantastic news!
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Ian198
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Re: The Great North Road - Then and Now. Its OUT!!!

Post by Ian198 »

Lonewolf wrote:It just gets better, I've had an email from the BBC. They want to do a series on the Great North Road :shock:
I hope they give you some control as to the presenter. I recall two idiocies from people who should have known better:

(a) Melvyn Bragg (professional ex-North of Englander), in the series about the mobile cinema, referring to Hexham, County Durham.

(b) Nick Crane (professional geographer, aka Mr Umbrella Man), at the top of the FRB, referring to something downriver as being to the west.
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nowster
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Re: The Great North Road - Then and Now. Its OUT!!!

Post by nowster »

Mistakes like that are not the presenter's, but more likely the producer/director who has written their script.
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Re: The Great North Road - Then and Now. Its OUT!!!

Post by Tinpusher »

Scriptwriters can get things wrong, but I always feel the presenter's authority has been undermined if they do not spot mistakes.

Chris Morris used to play on this, I remember when he single-handedly destoryed the credibility of Philippa Forrester during the infamous Peadogeddon episode of Brasseye.

He wrote the script for comedy value, got her to present it. She then read out the most blatant, unrealisitc, scientifically inaccurate rubbish that anybody with a modicum of common sense would see through. up to that point she had been the Tomorrow's World go to girl for soft science presenting duty.
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Ian198
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Re: The Great North Road - Then and Now. Its OUT!!!

Post by Ian198 »

Tinpusher wrote:Scriptwriters can get things wrong, but I always feel the presenter's authority has been undermined if they do not spot mistakes.
Yes. Bragg may well have been reading a script, but it wouldn't have been the first time that he saw it and he must have known better. Crane was at the top of the Forth Bridge (as I now remember it), likelier to have been talking to a theme rather than following a script - given that the finished programme would have been made from lots more material, something basic like the difference between east and west should have been spotted at the reduction stage.

There was another case of locational ignorance today, in a Scotland-only BBC TV programme about the islands of the Forth. A local diver described the wartime sinking there of a ship, whose crew came from "a small town in Cornwall, Brixham". I thought it a shame that nobody else in the process of making the finished article seemed to know any better.

There's a balance between excessive pedantry and slipshod journalism/filmmaking, but I think that supposedly factual items should at least be correct.
Repmobile
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Re: The Great North Road - Then and Now. Its OUT!!!

Post by Repmobile »

Finally spent some of the money I got for my birthday (in February!) and ordered a copy.

I will be expectantly waiting for the postman to deliver it as it sounds like an excellent read.

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Re: The Great North Road - Then and Now. Its OUT!!!

Post by Riley Blue »

It seems appropriate somehow that my first post should be to thank Wolfie for such a great book; I received it for my birthday last weekend.
I first travelled the Great North Road in the mid-50s, in the front seat of my father's Austin A40 with a toy steering wheel stuck to the dashboard.
Now, many years later, every five years I organise a London to Edinburgh Run to commemorate the Riley Motor Club's foundation in 1925 and we follow the 1925 route as far as possible. The book has given me a lot of very useful information about realignments, bypasses etc, in the intervening years and that's apart from it also being a thoroughly fascinating read with some equally excellent photographs.
David
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Re: The Great North Road - Then and Now. Its OUT!!!

Post by jcb336 »

I can only echo the last comment. It really is a good read for anyone interested in the Great North Road.
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Re: The Great North Road - Then and Now. Its OUT!!!

Post by Claude Ball »

I have just finished reading this excellent book, really interesting with all the little 'asides'. Of course more enjoyment is to be gained by reading about those stretches of the road you actually know – in my case London out through the Home Counties. However having said that for me the most interesting section is about the abandoned pieces caused by the building of Retford Airport (pages 97/8). Is this truly an unpaved section from coaching days and if so has it been fully researched and documented before the area is suddenly developed?
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Re: The Great North Road - Then and Now. Its OUT!!!

Post by Brenley Corner »

I'm waiting my copy to arrive from Amazon; really looking forward to it!
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punyXpress
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Re: The Great North Road - Then and Now. Its OUT!!!

Post by punyXpress »

Sent to Yorkshire Post, Motoring writer:
Subject: Mapping the Roads

An interesting book, but one that is better is: The Great North Road then and now by Chris Cooper.
This gives the history of the major highway through England ( and part of Scotland ) a great part of which traverses our parish.

His reply:
I agree. Thanks for the comment. Best wishes
Frederic
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Bryn666
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Re: The Great North Road - Then and Now. Its OUT!!!

Post by Bryn666 »

My copy is under the tree... not allowed to open it yet.
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Re: The Great North Road - Then and Now. Its OUT!!!

Post by coasterjunkie »

I ordered my copy in about the first fortnight. A fantastic read from start to finish. It was especially interesting as I have done all sections of the A1, including both end points, in the 12 years I've been a professional driver, and so could relate to pretty much all the content. Congratulations all round to an excellent tome!
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bob@romiley1
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Re: The Great North Road - Then and Now. Its OUT!!!

Post by bob@romiley1 »

Santa brought me my copy guided of course by Wolfie.
Bob
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Re: The Great North Road - Then and Now. Its OUT!!!

Post by DEANO3528 »

coasterjunkie wrote:I ordered my copy in about the first fortnight. A fantastic read from start to finish. It was especially interesting as I have done all sections of the A1, including both end points, in the 12 years I've been a professional driver, and so could relate to pretty much all the content. Congratulations all round to an excellent tome!
Similarly like you I have done the entire A1 including some of the older bits and am going to order the book on the strength of what's been stated in this thread.
Cheers now
DEANO
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