Great British Road Journeys - Cambridgeshire

Great British Road Journeys - Cambridgeshire - Huntingdon to Duxford Ep.7

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Күн бұрын

#driving #infrastructure #cambridge #cars #roadtrip
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This week we're off to Cambridgeshire, a smaller county than I thought but still full of interesting things to see and do. We start in Huntingdon and head off in the direction of Cambridge and then on to the small village of Duxford. We'll be taking in such sights as abandoned sliproad bridges, old Little Chef restaurants and a prank involving an Austin Seven motor car.
Using a copy of the 1923 Michelin Guide, I'll be travelling the country to see what remains and what's changed since it's publication. The guide offers suggestions on thing to see and where to stay all with the goal of getting you out there and exploring in your motor vehicle.

Пікірлер: 575

@chrisblay 2 ай бұрын

Full of punts 🤣🤣🤣

@davrosg565 2 ай бұрын

He’s not wrong 😂

@charliemanson4808 2 ай бұрын

I replayed that bit to check what he said!

@dave_h_8742 2 ай бұрын

But do you agree ?@@charliemanson4808

@jovetj 2 ай бұрын

Ain't that the couth.

@TNT-projects 2 ай бұрын

How many punts 😂

@clickrick 2 ай бұрын

"Herbies ... A family-run business and it's bloody brilliant." Props to you for promoting a local independent eatery!

@catlee8064 2 ай бұрын

If you ever drive by it and have time....food its very good

@ajw9533 2 ай бұрын

Legendary milkshakes

@ALMELMUSIC 2 ай бұрын

Loved the improv'd outro 🤣. That's not Concorde at Duxford though... that's Concordski. Save that story for Flying Shenanigans

@user-he4kh3zc4w 2 ай бұрын

@@ALMELMUSIC It's Concorde 01 later 101, the third Concorde built and the British pre-production Concorde it was used mainly for testing the variable engine intakes and also had a new design nose section and was larger than the two prototypes. Assembled at Filton, Bristol. So not the Tupolev Tu-144 Concordski

@AndriyValdensius-wi8gw 2 ай бұрын

Didn't Concordski crash ?

@jarrodwilliams3451 2 ай бұрын

Today’s video reached new heights, unlike the drone….

@gl1tcheddatabase270 2 ай бұрын

That was an amazing outro on this video today. Loved it haha!

@dave_h_8742 2 ай бұрын

That mincing into the distance looked exhausting and I'm sitting down 😂

@Eledore 2 ай бұрын

I say he does not fix the drone, it would improve his cardio..

@andrx074 2 ай бұрын

Was it deliberately a Morecambe and Wise outro to camera, or happenchance?

@pureblood1980x 2 ай бұрын

The "small disagreement" gag will never die. Keep up the good work. Brilliant.

@MRSportsCarcam 2 ай бұрын

Had the pleasure of watching Jon from my office whilst he recorded the bridge at Huntingdon. Was going to pop out and shake your hand and thank you for the motoring entertainment - then I thought about being in the outtakes as the awkward fan and thought better 😂

@chrisblay 2 ай бұрын

Hello, Duxford has lots of historic aircraft. Great place to visit.

@DigitalDiabloUK 2 ай бұрын

The American display at Duxford is awesome, particularly the aircraft of the cold disagreement.

@WhiteDieselShed 2 ай бұрын

I cannot keep track of all these little disagreements. Was the cold one where Mr V Iking decided he wanted a holiday cave on some isolated and rainy little island? :)

@darren25061965 2 ай бұрын

@@WhiteDieselShed I think the "Cold disagreement" referes to 2 Big Men Boasting about who had the most and biggest fireworks. In fact there is still "A little Fat Man" in N Korea who is still playing with fireworks, but his are sparklers compared to the other two fellas.😂🚀☢

@MervynPartin 2 ай бұрын

"They are not particularly fond of the motor car here in Cambridge"- Surely the understatement of the decade. 🛑🚗

@sarkybugger5009 2 ай бұрын

They're not too keen in Oxford, either.

@TheDeadfast 2 ай бұрын

They clearly never got over that car on the roof gag.

@ehsnils 2 ай бұрын

@@TheDeadfast Classic student prank, you can't deny that it was creative.

@philard 2 ай бұрын

It's like driving in London. Watching out for cyclists that may be undertaking an undertake is a challenge.

@JT-nr2ss 2 ай бұрын

@@philard just "watching" at all is a challenge for drivers it seems

@Dan23_7 2 ай бұрын

I enjoy the newly jigged A14. My sat nav thinks I’m in a field and then a lake. It makes me chuckle. Cheers Jon 👍🏼

@David_Crayford 2 ай бұрын

Update your software!

@johnd6487 2 ай бұрын

Takes me back to the days of TomTom.. I couldn't hit a stretch of A1(M) without it insisting I was in the middle of a lake and telling me to turn right - and that included after I'd updated the map

@handlesarefeckinstupid 2 ай бұрын

Had exactly the same 1 week ago. Very nice road though.

@jonathananderson32 2 ай бұрын

How old is your sat nav??

@WhiteDieselShed 2 ай бұрын

When you sober up you will realise your socks are wet and your car smells fishy... :)

@stuartcotton8416 2 ай бұрын

Not only was Duxford flown out of during the "second disagreement", it was also used as a filming location for the Battle Of Britain film, having 1 hanger destroyed in the process.

@Jablicek 2 ай бұрын

The bset part of watching you skipping off into the distance was knowing you'd have to walk back for the camera. Thanks for not disappointing us at the end.

@ritchiehenshaw9075 2 ай бұрын

If you're where I think you are at the end, that observatory runs on the route of the old abandoned varsity railway line

@stevekelly5166 2 ай бұрын

He wasn't where you think he was. You're close. He was 720m south, and it was neither an old railway or the Varsity line. It is on railway though. Well the one Jon was at is not part of that telescope railway, but you can see it in the background two dishes in the background that are.

@Pratalax 2 ай бұрын

Always liked saying "Godmanchester". Fun sounding word. Almost as fun as "Lolworth", but that was only after the year 2000

@andyalder7910 2 ай бұрын

Used to be pronounced "Gumster".

@Rebecka_J 2 ай бұрын

@@andyalder7910 I am not that old, nor from the area, but I still call it that!

@thebiglimpet 2 ай бұрын

I have a friend who likes to point out that he's from "Godless"-manchester.

@steviepriest3601 2 ай бұрын

@@andyalder7910 no it wasnt. It was a mistake in a guidebook

@Zedd7 2 ай бұрын

Isn't it more Godmn-chester, rather than God-Manchester?

@duncan649 2 ай бұрын

These road trip videos are most enjoyable. Well presented and interesting with John's usual quirky flair. He goes to the abandoned slip roads so you don't have to. Keep up the good work and thank you.

@wilkybarkid 2 ай бұрын

It kinda feels like it should be a fast show sketch

@nitehawk86 2 ай бұрын

Aa an American, I just don't think this series could work here. Even on our east coast there is just so much... nothing... in between towns. And for the country that invented the "roadside attraction", we have really let that go to waste.

@duncan649 2 ай бұрын

The UK is geographically small yet has so much interesting history packed into it. Always more interesting to take the road less travelled.@@nitehawk86

@paulsengupta971 2 ай бұрын

You can't leave it there, you have to tell us about those dishes. There used to be a services on the A604 (?) near Huntingdon called the Megatron. It was spaceship shaped, and the interior was all done up like a spaceship. You ordered on a touch screen system run by Acorn Archimedes computers. This was back in the late 1980s, well before the McDonalds touch screens became a thing. It was a brilliant place. There were speakers providing a droning sounds as you walked down the corridor into the main building.

@paulcooper3410 2 ай бұрын

If Top Gear existed in 1958, the car on the roof prank is exactly what they would have done

@perkin2000 2 ай бұрын

The lap times would have been a highlight. "The latest Austin made it round in under fifteen minutes with the absolute bare minimum of stops for essential repairs."

@WhiteDieselShed 2 ай бұрын

And typically the council took a week to do the easier job of getting the car off the roof where it only took a few drunken lads a couple of hours to lift it up there in the first place. Not a lot of change there then?

@ChrisBrown-px1oy 2 ай бұрын

Top Gear might have used an Austin Cambridge.

@David_Crayford 2 ай бұрын

My brother went to Brunel and told me of some engineering students that disassembled a students Mini while he was away, and reassembled the Mini inside his room. It's certainly one way of making sure it doesn't get stolen while you are on holiday.

@robturner3065 2 ай бұрын

A small tractor suffered a similar fate at my college, it was dismantled, the parts being rowed across a lake in a dinghy to be rebuilt on an island in the middle

@twocvbloke 2 ай бұрын

Yeah, a lot of punts in Cambridge, oddly enough though, that's where the good ol' ARM processor was invented, cos of Acorn, which came about from a falling out with Clive, who went on to make Sinclair computers, which is now all owned by Sky, cos Amstrad bought out Sinclair, and Sky bought out Amstrad, and, where was I going with this? Oh, yeah, daft punts... :P

@robinwells8879 2 ай бұрын

Don’t forget Bluetooth and Nokia phone software. Cambridge used to be something to write home about. Now they just have Cambridge Analytics 😂

@m1geo 2 ай бұрын

The Arm site can be seen on the right of the picutre at 6:27 - I work there 😁

@frogandspanner 2 ай бұрын

Apparently Piers Morgan and Katy Hopkins are filming a programme about the maintenance of these traditional Cambridge water craft: _The care of punts_ .

@shahedmc9656 2 ай бұрын

A great BBC docu-drama on Sinclair and Acorn called "Micro Men" can be found on KZfaq.

@darren25061965 2 ай бұрын

Amstrad - Alan Michael Sugar Trading

@ianseddon9347 2 ай бұрын

Great fun! Cambridge is definitely full of punts!

@gazapc 2 ай бұрын

1:17 think you mean the second Anglo-Dutch war. Saxon was a bit older..

@jeremywilliams5107 2 ай бұрын

Well done, I was wondering what he meant there!

@johnmiller4973 2 ай бұрын

Sundays just wouldn't be Sundays without Jon and Auto Shenanigans

@ptonpc 2 ай бұрын

2:57 Look at the length of those back gardens. Modern builders would have a housing estate on each one.

@whyyoulidl 2 ай бұрын

Guaranteed they've been eyed-up for future development 🤫

@dave_h_8742 2 ай бұрын

Our estate has gardens that long but mine was commandeered for a sub station years ago 😢

@mikejennings7779 2 ай бұрын

As usual, the sarcasm is worth it alone

@lastofthebrownies 2 ай бұрын

That outro was well suited to a Skegness video… much jolly fisherman vibes…!

@opathe2nd973 2 ай бұрын

I'm a Yank and I enjoy the comments as much as I do Jon. Who ever said Brits don't have a sense of humor. Love it!

@simonbrown-id6ud 2 ай бұрын

I thought that’s one thing brits are known for

@juliaw151 2 ай бұрын

@@simonbrown-id6ud it is.

@SimonHalsey 2 ай бұрын

Until early 2000's, I think, Lolworth services was the first services you came to after leaving London. Swavesey was the last. They both used to be very busy because of that. If Lolworth Services did burn down, it wouldn't be the first time. The slip roads were terrifyingly short & in the think fog one night in 1990 a lorry ploughed through the forecourt, before crashing into the shop, killing a customer & burning the place down.

@Pugjamin 2 ай бұрын

7:15 fun fact, I’ve spent the last 5 weeks working at a Cambridge water pumping station situated within Sawston Mill grounds. The whole place looks like the set of 28 days later. The water comes from a borehole in the grounds of duxford airfield.

@goawakeneveryone4365 2 ай бұрын

The placing of a vehicle on to the roof was an auto shenanigan ...

@Smithy67 2 ай бұрын

Towards a new drone!

@AutoShenanigans Ай бұрын

Thanks mate, a replacement has been delivered!

@johnlewan1114 2 ай бұрын

Never change Jon, your videos give me a reason to keep living. As usual your outros are absolutely the best!

@DanielleWhite 2 ай бұрын

The remark about Cambridge not being fond of cars brought back a memory from around a decade ago, when I was acquainted with a city councilor and a lot of the remarks were rather anti-car.

@edbrown84 2 ай бұрын

I was born and raised in Huntingdon, thank you for covering my home town. 🙂

@nigelcourtney2313 2 ай бұрын

For anyone interested in the last bit (I think) it's here : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mullard_Radio_Astronomy_Observatory

@CharityAngelSpectrum 2 ай бұрын

Thanks. I've been staring at that trying to work out wtf is going on with the pylon someone strapped a radio telescope dish to

@roderickmain9697 2 ай бұрын

Just wait till you get to your 60s when knees, ankles, hips, back all start protesting at long walks....come to that, short walks. Interesting stuff Jon. Hope your drone is fixable.

@johnmehaffey9953 2 ай бұрын

Made me smile again Jon even though I didn’t get to wave back this time 👋👋

@martinoutdoors6941 2 ай бұрын

The double bridge at Girton Interchange was part of Coton footpath and farm access track, which has now been trounced by the A14 upgrades.

@Sarge084 2 ай бұрын

Mad as a box of frogs!

@philreed1605 2 ай бұрын

I’m still expecting Jon to say “secrets of the motorway”😂

@Vtarngpb 2 ай бұрын

Oh Little Chef… Still a good outro though! 😂

@CodingAbroad 2 ай бұрын

A moment for your drone 🕯️

@Original50 2 ай бұрын

Punts, you say?! Yes, the good weather tends to bring the punts out like freckles. 😏

@philwalton2009 2 ай бұрын

Hi Jon I love it how you pronounced Godmanchester the way we common people would say it and not like the locals who say Gomster! Gomster for crying out loud!

@sarkybugger5009 2 ай бұрын

I've been looking for this comment, as eny fuel nose that the _obvious_ way is *never* the _correct_ way to pronounce old English town names.

@SampleTracks2224 2 ай бұрын

Daft. Why Br'pl als ignalf thlers iw'd? Stpd.

@fredyellowsnow7492 2 ай бұрын

Some of the biggest punts I've ever encountered were in Cambridge.

@paulwebb233 2 ай бұрын

Thanks!

@AutoShenanigans Ай бұрын

Thanks a lot mate, really appreciate that

@UK.RoadsCyclingandTransport 2 ай бұрын

What another exiting new episode of great British road journeys

@saintuk70 2 ай бұрын

liked even just for the Morecombe and Wise outro lol

@nickhill2223 Ай бұрын

The A14/A1307 around Huntingdon may be of interest. The Concrete viaduct taking the former A14 over a section of Huntingdon was found to have a few problems not so long ago, and short term strengthening was installed, but long term measures were going to be very expensive, so the building of the new A14 route to the South was somewhat hurried up. The viaduct was then removed, section by section, but not without problems as some sections turned out to be far heavier than anyone paid lots of money to work these things out, actually realised. The 2 ends of the former A14 now A1307, then had to be reconnected to the surrounding road network within Huntingdon by building two new pieces of road.

@Rega128 2 ай бұрын

XD The Outro was still Epic even without the drone LOL Nice work John!

@thegeneral9483 2 ай бұрын

My neck of the woods, having previously lived in Cambridge, Cherry Hinton, Whittlesford and Duxford and now nearby. Spent many a time as a teenager hanging around Sawston and trespassing round the woods in Spicers Paper factory. There used to be a great rope swing there over the river. In the last 25 years, there's been plenty of plane crashes at Duxford, including quite a large plane that didn't stop on the runway and ended up crashing onto the M11 itself. It was also a site for F1 cars to be tested and several years ago, a F1 test driver died in a crash there on the runway.

@bikecommuter24 Ай бұрын

I have fond memories of Cambridge, In the late 80s's I was stationed at RAF Woodbridge, I visited Cambridge a few times lovely place that was also the only place I ever got a ticket in England, purely my own fault, I over stayed my time parking, also lovely at the time they left a payment envelope with my ticket and the nice gentleman at the post office got me a money order and I was able to pay my fine through the post. Cheers

@jackanory-balamory 2 ай бұрын

I live in Huntingdon and I never knew it had anything interesting at all.

@0causton0 2 ай бұрын

Here's some money towards drone repairs!

@chestnut01111 2 ай бұрын

A130 used to start at Canvey an go all the way to Cambridge. It was shortened back to Dunmow in 1980, then shortened again in 2008 and now finishes at Chelmsford.

@david_harvey 2 ай бұрын

Actually it use to start in Eastwood, but that stretch is now the A129/1015. It went to Canvey after they built the Carpenters Arms to Sadlers into Canvey Way stretch in the 1970s.

@Mozzleon 2 ай бұрын

Cheers

@AutoShenanigans Ай бұрын

Thanks a lot mate, appreciate that

@marjon1703 2 ай бұрын

These videos are getting even better! (Punts! 🤣🤣)

@eliotdanjerrus 2 ай бұрын

Thanks

@AutoShenanigans Ай бұрын

Awesome mate, thanks a lot :)

@samsizer9093 2 ай бұрын

I can confirm that Herbies Diner is indeed bloody brilliant. Well worth the drive from where I live in Baldock, Hertfordshire.

@JohnDavis-ed5sg 2 ай бұрын

Highly enjoyable as usual, especially this series which are all places I have been driving around for the last fifty years, so much has changed.

@steamsearcher 2 ай бұрын

Another FRIGGIN SWEET AWSOM video. Thankyou Jon.

@sweepy8467 2 ай бұрын

Level of humor 10/10 😂

@mbak7801 2 ай бұрын

Old maps are interesting as many sizable towns now were super small about 80 years ago. It make you wonder how accurate population estimates are these days. Maybe 20 million under, or more! Who knows but the differences really are shocking.

@handheldgaming4life 2 ай бұрын

Punts! Aye they're everywhere! 🤣

@andrewdolinskiatcarpathian 2 ай бұрын

Stellar 👏👏👍😀 ……. and that’s just the ending!

@jasonclayton7217 2 ай бұрын

The "car on the roof" story is one of the best pranks I've heard of, bloody brilliant- would be awesome if any of the guys involved could do an interview with John to tell how it came about, would make a great vid I think. 👍👍👍

@UPnDOWN 2 ай бұрын

5:44 and there it is!

@RampageObidos 2 ай бұрын

I came, I watched, I commented, I liked. More please :D

@Dunbardoddy 2 ай бұрын

How to move a Concorde when the runway is not long enough. In 2004, G-BOAA said farewell to Heathrow and took to the water on the first step of a seaborne journey to Scotland. After being moved from Heathrow on a transporter, Concorde was loaded onto a specialist barge, the Terra Marique, at the tiny Thames port of Isleworth. From here she sailed down the Thames and along the east coast of Britain, arriving on Scottish soil a day early the following Saturday, where she was rolled ashore at the British Energy jetty (now EDF) at Torness, East Lothian. Concorde's week-long journey from London ended in an hour-long trundle across muddy fields to East Fortune, guided by members of 39 Engineer Regiment's 53 Field Squadron (Air Support), with a helicopter hovering overhead, to a greeting by two pipers. At the time, Concorde's journey north was thought to have been one of the most complex of any transport venture undertaken.

@leegriffin1584 2 ай бұрын

Can we all take a moment's silence in honour of the drone.

@juliaw151 2 ай бұрын

That outro solidified my decision to like and subscribe😂

@implodabubble 2 ай бұрын

I’m a day late but still here. As soon as I saw the drone had died I knew you’d be in for some hard work for the outro. So glad you didn’t just recycle on old shot. Such a good content creator 👌👌👌

@Stephen_Lafferty 2 ай бұрын

Great outro, Jon! I loved seeing the University radio telescopes, as well as the Cherry Hinton Chalk Pits! They are all really nice to walk around on a sunny day :D

@lewis6565 2 ай бұрын

I love these road trip episodes, the chalk pits are a nice place to go to chill out or do mountain biking aswell. There's also used to be an abandoned mansion on the road at 7:02 just before entering Great Shelford

@SkyKnightDude 2 ай бұрын

I work in Godmanchester and have been to Cambridge many times. I'm glad to see you cover them and Huntingdon 😁

@benclothier 2 ай бұрын

Herbies is indeed awesome

@WheelchairWonders 2 ай бұрын

Brilliant as usual John.. and thank you for the 2 lanyards you gave us yesterday (Phil and Tracy)

@davidostrowski679 2 ай бұрын

as someone who left the UK 8 years ago, your videos are my weekly guilty pleasure. Thanks mate!

@dereham1 2 ай бұрын

I just had to click the Like button after seeing that outro!

@ianhart4990 2 ай бұрын

I see the hogwarts sorting hat has fallen on hard times when you entered swanston. 😂

@boyfromblackstuff7859 Ай бұрын

Interesting appraisal on the inhabitants of Cambridge.

@ChrisGuarraia 2 ай бұрын

Still an amazeballs outro!

@RylanceStreet 2 ай бұрын

Even at its full 6000m length the runway at Duxford was too short for a normal Concorde landing. In order to make the flight they had to reduce the weight of the aircraft by removing all the test equipment, and they had to use drag parachutes to bring it to rest. Concord 101's final flight was piloted by former Chief Test Pilot, Brian Trubshaw, who had piloted the first flight of a British Concorde in 1969 (the first French built Concorde flew a little earlier). Two days after it landed the motorway contractors started tearing up 1200m of the runway.

@tomchitling 2 ай бұрын

Bearing in mind the humongous concrete A1307 bridge behind it at 1:57 was similarly built in the 1970's, I dont think many people worried about how the pedestrian bridge looked.

@matthewpumfrey2178 2 ай бұрын

Herbies diner is bloody brilliant 😋

@dave_h_8742 2 ай бұрын

Was going to ask if people go there especially as the end point of the trip out and not just passing it.

@RGChandler 2 ай бұрын

@@dave_h_8742 Its usually busy. very much worth a visit. the burgers are great.

@stewb9733 2 ай бұрын

agreed it's awesome, well worth a visit

@SampleTracks2224 2 ай бұрын

That was a brilliant "fwhicked sweet awesome" this week!

@charliemanson4808 2 ай бұрын

Ive just moved from Huntingdon after living there for 14 years and can back up the claim of Herbies American Diner being a great place to eat. Not a bad little town but getting worse each year with its closeness to london (its in the magical sub 1hour train journey)

@sandwichbar8226 2 ай бұрын

Is it becoming more 'vibrant' thanks to the 'youths'? 🤔

@brianartillery 2 ай бұрын

Nice video, Jon. Pleased to see you end up at the Mullard Radio Observatory. That was built on the site of a WW2 'Filling Station'. Not the usual kind, though. It was where munitions were filled with Mustard Gas, which thankfully, was never used for a second time. "Buy us a drone" 😆😆😆

@williamc6774 2 ай бұрын

Duxford also has a B52 that landed there and can never leave despite only being on loan! That'd have been a good factoid to use and very much on message for this glorious channel.

@DavidRGray 2 ай бұрын

Cambridge, you nailed the place.

@jimcrichton8028 2 ай бұрын

Once you work your way further north you will come across many more routes that you can still drive the largly unchanged route. Much as I enjoy all your videos, being able to see more before and after photos that are recognisable as the same place may enhance the tale even more.

@user-th9fm2es5f 2 ай бұрын

Oi! I’m from Cambridge. It’s not that we don’t like cars, it’s just that there’s just not enough space for them. 😊

@philipellis7039 2 ай бұрын

I’ve only been to Cambridge once (as a tourist it’s very disappointing compared to Oxford) but I stayed on Cherry Hinton caravan park and yes that is quite an interesting area.

@StephenBoyd21 2 ай бұрын

I always like to listen to you drone on John. I guess I won't have that pleasure any longer.

@ajw9533 2 ай бұрын

You got the tail of the VC10 in there, a perfect end to a great vid.

@MrPistola187 2 ай бұрын

You can find out more about Oliver Cromwell in Ely at the museum in his old house.

@TimothyWorel-xj9he 2 ай бұрын

Oliver Cromwell was the Headmaster of Fenn Street Comprehensive School. Ably assisted by Bernard Hedges.

@paulharrison6385 2 ай бұрын

Cherry Hinton reserve is a top place to see Peregrines.

@TheNegged 2 ай бұрын

i just love all your stuff please keep it up !!!! some how !!!

@LordCaes 2 ай бұрын

I grew up in godmanchester, and now live in Duxford, so this felt like it was made for me! Great stuff, excellent presentation and lots of facts and information with no waffle. I also fly a drone, not sure the radio station allows, but would have been a great shot!