Pelican Crossings with Dads Army

[Big Nick]

Filmed in Woodley, Berkshire. It's now all pedestrianised

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_AaiNL8H54

[RichardA626]

Filmed in Woodley, Berkshire. It's now all pedestrianised

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_AaiNL8H54

This is one the Charley Says compilations of information films. The beeps on the crossing are faster than the standard these days.

[DavidB]

And I was there when the commercials were being filmed! I've lived in Woodley all my life and one day when I came home from school my Mum said that a Pelican crossing had been installed in a service road at the shops but she couldn't understand why as it was such a quiet road. Anyway the next day I was at the shops myself (presumably it was a Saturday or a school holiday) and my jaw dropped when I saw the entire cast of Dad's Army standing there with a film crew! The commercial I saw being made was the other one with Hodges' van. I recall that there were many retakes and then all of a sudden the cast all ran behind the shops, presumably to where support vehices were parked, and to avoid autograph hunters like myself! I left then and as I don't appear in the background of the commercial then maybe none of the takes I saw were used.

The area has changed greatly in the last 45 years, where those houses are is now a Waitrose supermarket and the shops by the crossing were replaced by a new development some years ago. The service road is no more as the area is indeed now pedestrianised. This is the nearest view I can get in GSV, the crossing in the commercial was roughly at the far end of the white-edged roof on the right (which is the aforementioned branch of Waitrose):

https://goo.gl/maps/jyf9PQ8zjE7fYYq18

One other piece of local Dad's Army trivia is that comedy actor Felix Bowness who played various bit-part roles in the series (although he's probably best known for the role of Fred Quilley in Hi-de-Hi!) was a long-time resident of Woodley.

[traffic-light-man]

For an early crossing, I think the placement of the lanterns in relation to the pole is quite unusual, and the use of primary visors for the secondary lanterns is also quite unusual this early on. Of course, this is something that was later recommended in guidance, but my experience of earlier installations (particularly locally to me) is that they tend to have secondary visors on the secondary head.

[TRC666]

I believe the crossing was only installed for the purpose of the adverts seeing as the road is a dead end?

Also on this video watch carefully at 3 seconds in - the signal changes from red to flashing amber but the red man immediately comes on which is a bit odd.

[DavidB]

I believe the crossing was only installed for the purpose of the adverts seeing as the road is a dead end?

Yes, the road used to be a through road, it was the former section of Crockhamwell Road between Woodlsnds Avenue and Beechwood Avenue. Sometime in the early 70s it was closed off at about the point where the red (Royal Mail?) van is seen reversing in the first commercial and through traffic was diverted via the newly-built Lytham Road to the west.