Great British Road Journeys - Essex - Harlow to Basildon Ep.5
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.พ. 2025
- #driving #infrastructure #cars #roadtrip #essex
Buy us a coffee - paypal.me/auto...
Find us on:
Twitter - @JonShenanigans
Facebook - Auto Shenanigans
This week we move on from Suffolk, there wasn't much going on anyway... and in this episode.. .well, where to start, it's got everything.... motorway stuff, road stuff, bunker stuff, car stuff, world record holding churches and plenty more, it's a busy episode so strap in! Or on. I'm not sure.
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.
"The Harlow we all know and tolerate..." It's quips like these that keeps me coming back here.
I remain unconvinced that any truly great journey could end in Basildon, but thank you very much for bringing the possibility to my attention. Have a great week, Jon!
You could always pop round to Beefy's house for a cuppa and a quick rave!
Many a good night has been had in Bas Vegas. 🤔
From one sh1thole to another...
I work in Basildon and that's a far as it goes lol. It pays my mortgage so my road journey there every day does make Basildon good for at least something. Trying to think what else... 🤣
If you pop just down the road you can visit fobbing where the peasants revolt started. Also, you've got watt Tyler country park in pitsea where the peasants gathered.
I use this channel to take in 'Vitamin UK' - an essential compound for British people who live 'abroad', composed of subtle grumbling, irony and sarcasm. Thank you for your service 🙏
I've been experiencing symptoms of a heavy Vitamin UK deficiency - chiefly homesickness and begrudged adjustment - so here I am. Nice term 💕 🇬🇧
@@Ashystar067 Have a look at the politics channels, you'll soon be cured of your deficiency.
@@Ashystar067 It also helps to have a reliable source of cider and cheese & onion pasties... ☺
I don't always go to John for my dose of 'Vitamin UK' (Jago Hazzard seems to hit the spot much better), but when I do it's very interesting.
Love the concept of a vitamin uk however living on the doorstep of nuneaton means unless its deep fried , placed into a paper bag and served to ford focus with a space saver fitted through a window its not going to be popular around here .
JOHN - THAT GREEN RS MEXICO USED TO BE MINE!! My eyes nearly popped out of my head when i spotted it. 😃
Prove it
@@samholdsworth420Do one.
@@stevekelly5166 nou
Was it stolen at some point…?
link some photos of it here
0:28
'Only Joking, he's not gonna turn up' ....
Now look what you've done, I've blurted coffee across my keyboard again ...!
As a resident of Harlow I feel the the derogatory way that you spoke of my birth place and the people of the greater area of Essex to be truly spot on , keep up the good work,
hehehe :D Stereotypes are fun, thanks for watching
Nice.
The first place a lot of Chinese visitors go to is Harlow. They leave the terminal building, find a taxi and say to the driver " Harlow there!"
"It's said Harlow has some of the most extensive cycleways in the country - but I don't care". That made me LOL
Brilliant Statement - indeed, who cares about cycling???
What like this one?? wcc.crankfoot.xyz/facility-of-the-month/September2007.htm
Yes, that was Harlow!!
@@RedKnight-fn6jrif you drive you should, it means they’re much less likely to be in front of you on the road
@@a1white I'm mostly driving on motorways, so no cyclists to worry about! The more motorways, the better!
That wooden church is the building equivalent of Trigger’s broom.
The only man who can make the arse end of the UK truly interesting , that is a special talent indeed 😁👍
😂 can't wait til he goes to Millom
Too right, it's strangle adicitive with Jon's sarcastic humour.
As a Southend resident, I’m very satisfied with the time of day you didn’t give it 😂
Ahhh, North Weald.
Back in the day when I was a teenager, on very rainy night, my girlfriend and I were...enjoying the night air...so to speak, in the front of my MK1 transit van, which, handily, had a full width bench front seat, it also had sliding doors which leaked horribly.
As we were engrossed in stuff, my girlfriend noticed a torch light reflecting in the wing mirror, we were parked off the road in a farm track.
As the light got closer we gathered ourselves together, just in time for the lamp to shine in through the drivers door window.
It was a very wet, very pissed off police constable.
I slid my door open with a cheerful, "Evening constable", he shone his torch about the cab and at my girlfriend.
He asked, in a very bored voice, "What are you two doing here?", I started to mumble a reply when he then said, "I know what you're doing here, but whyy...are you doing it here ?", I again mumbled a poor excuse about nice countryside and views..
He simply said, "Not in my patrol area, zip up your pants, and you, (referring to my girlfriend who by now had gone very red), straighten you clothes and both of you F~~k off"
He splooshed his way back to his Panda car and drove off.
I doubt he used the word 'pants'.
and as the total gentleman that you are you have not mentioned her name, well done..
@@downundarob at a guess Sharon? Maybe Tracy?
So what was you doing ? 😂
@@Dan23_7 His partner was a seamstress & he was showing her some of the repair work that he needed doing on his trousers. The constable, no doubt wearing old and crusty police uniform, was likely rather peeved off he was getting free tailoring and clothing advice from someone specialised in the field.
Her clothing was about the place a bit as she was showing this fine gentleman the work she'd carried out on her clothes.
I have to admit, my first instinct was the Epping Ongar Railway sign.
The original Ford EV looked wicked, sweet, awesome.
Hilarious! John has the sarcasm dial turned up to nuke in this video! With comments like, "the Harlow we know today and tolerate....", and "after the small disagreement of 1939 to 1945...." Wicked good video, John!
A vintage episode! Brilliantly sardonic and sarcastic today.
Auto Shenanigans, rapidly becoming the 21st century's version of Pevsner! Awesome.
I visited one of the Nuclear bunkers before it was decommissioned.
100% agree about small family cars rather than SUV as EV.
So that means you were a secret agent perhaps 002 or something?🙂
..
Well If the bunker wasn't decommissioned when you visited it must have been active....?
There’s one near Preston, at a place called Goosnargh.
@@Dan23_7no way. I go past there quite often. Is it accessible to nosy little gits?😂 Looks like it's on the main road as well. Not quite as glamorous, but I live on an abandoned ww2 oil depot. It's a housing dev, not just me and my pikey mates
@@Dan23_7 There's another near me here in Cheshire called Hack Green Secret Nuclear Bunker (clearly signposted to maintain its secrecy). Not far from Nantwich. Twenty years it was £3.30 to visit. I went again about five years ago and it had increased to over £15. I laughed in their faces of course and walked away.
@@pigeonpoo1823 Yes you can see through the fence. It’s on Whittingham lane.
"the stunning Harlow" 😂😂😂
"My name is Garbo.The T is silent as is the T in Harlow." sigh...One of my favourite put down lines..Greta Garbo to Jean Harlow..
Tolerate lol
My husband tells me of a job interview that he had in Basildon about 30 years ago. Being a northerner and having all sort of negative ideas about Basildon and it's people, he wasn't too keen on going there. However, once there, he said he found the people some of the friendliest and nicest people he could want to meet. He still regrets not getting the job!
Another secret bunker?? Do you know about the one near St Andrews in Fife Jon? I was there last weekend.
A beautifal looking wooden church and the lunatic asylum just looks magnificant.
Another fantastic and informative video Jon.
The best thing out of Basildon is Depeche Mode.
Terry Marsh 👊
I was gonna say this!
Beat me to it...😭
Err second best. Yahoo were better!
I think you'll find the best thing in Basildon is the way out.
@@david_harveyWas that the band after Yazoo folded………..🤪
I didn’t expect to see my house on TH-cam today, but I did!
"He's not going to turn up." 🤣🤣
8:59 - I can tell you exactly why we miss Little Chef, John... it's because the Olympic Breakfasts were undeniably fucking awesome! I've lived in The Colonies for over 20 years, but I still lovingly recall hoeing into one of those proper full English extravaganzas... Man, I really miss Little Chef...❤...😂👍🇦🇺
That SECRET NUCLEAR BUNKER is one of my most favorite things ever.
Thanks for covering home in such a sensitive and engaging way John....
Motorists should be the biggest proponents for proper, viable, segregated foot paths and cycle ways (along with affordable and usable public transport) - many, many people would love a viable alternative to car use, and if they had it, there would be less traffic on the roads, so people that do need to use cars and vans etc. would have a better time doing so... it's not really that complicated.
I'm all for well-designed and (crucially) well-maintained segregated footpaths and cycleways. But how much of our infrastructure could actually be said to fulfil those criteria? A bit of green paint and some blocks for you to trip over ain't it. NCN Route 75 runs past my house but bits of it are in abysmal condition these days, especially the section south of Blackridge railway station which is effectively abandoned.
@@Gordanovich02 that's my point though, paint isn't infrastructure!
We need to do what people like the Dutch did, and completely redesign our roads! We can do it for round abouts and motorways, so we can do it for active travel and public transport.
All that's required is some political will, and the discipline to spend tax money appropriately, rather than funnelling it in to their mates pockets through dodgy contracts etc...
I think that if a cycleway has been provided, cyclists should be made to use them by law. Why should tax paying motorists have to share the road with doddering muppets on bikes if they have their own lanes?
@@johnbuyers8095 Absolutely not. The roads are for all users, plus the taxes associated with motoring don't even come close to covering the costs of road building and repairs - the majority of that is paid through council tax and general taxation that is born by everybody, whether they drive a car or not.
Description of Essex was spot on 😂
I commuted from Stansted to Brentwood. Once leaving Chipping Ongar the bottom water hose detached from my car and I had to pull into the bunker entrance. The AA call centre didn’t believe me when I said I was located at the entrance of the Kelvedon Hatch Secret Nuclear Bunker 😂. The on road mechanic did.
I'm enjoying the new series, Many thanks.😀
Thanks a lot mate, appreciate that!
Fun fact the vast majority of New Holland tractors are assembled in Basildon with New Holland veing a company that used to be run by Ford which is probably why the assembly plant is in a similar area to the Ford site.
I was left thinking "What?! No tractor plant? Also think he drove right past the old Ford offices in Warley too - if you know, you know!
10:15 Loving the reference to the ST220 for obvious reasons 😁
I fear I've missed something here...
Actually, Basildon was inhabited before the new town, though it may not have been called that. The whole area or Laindon/Basildon/Pitsea consisted of what we now call 'Plotlands' - farmland sold off in little plots after the 1st world war for people to build their own houses on. The plots were mostly bought by working class Londoners as there was a housing shortage in East London. The houses ranged from shacks and old railway carriages up to pretty standard bungalows. The roads weren't paved and there wasn't much in the way of drainage or sewarage.... The middle classes utterly hated the idea of working class people doing things for themselves! The plots were almost all bought up and redeveloped into Basildon New Town in the 60s. There are one or two odd houses from that area left on the fringes - you actually passed the Plotlands trail near Dunton, which is an area of plotlands that is preserved with one remaining bungalow as a museum. I find it the spookiest place I've ever visited!!!
7:37-8:12 The County Lunatic Asylum has always been housing. You just needed to be crazy to live there.
One of its famous residents is russell brands mum, and occasionally he himself. Always thought that was very apt for both of them!!
as a former essex resident, im surprised you found something fun to do there.
Great British Road Journeys would be a interesting TH-cam playlist to put on repeat
Hi Jon I love your Auto Shenanigans podcasts this latest series is fab. Thanks
Congrats on the MOT pass for the Saab
Love these, the highlight of my week
There is a discussion in my household asto which bridge underthe M11 you are starting this video...before Auto Shenanigans we would not have been sufficiently interested - what have you done to us Jon? Love the content, long may you continue with your awesome series'
Best intro yet, made me snort tea through my nose. Keep up the good work.
Thank you John. I enjoyed the program. And learned a lot. Please do more like this. -a loyal viewer in America
'Get rid of those SUV's.' Wise words. Wise words indeed!
Kelvedon Hatch is my favourite place in the world! Fascinating place!
He is a fact I was told years ago, no idea if it’s true. The bridge at the bottom of Ongar high street was built slightly wider to accommodate the crossing of communication cables for the secret nuclear bunker over the river.
Soz Jon but Canvey never had an oil refinery it got stopped from being built on safety grounds. It did however havd somethjnv famous about the part built refinery, Fred Dibnar was hired by Safeway Supermarkets to blow up the chimney, which on his first attempt failed!
Aso did you not notice the mire interesting road sign error in Ongar? Above secret nuclear bunker it says Industrail Estate instead of Industrial Estate!
A bit like the Nicholas Valeting Centre between the A128 and Dunton junctions on the A127, where it reads Nicholas Valentine Centre!😂
Condolences for beginning in Harlow and ending in Basildon
Brilliant as usual. Looking forward to you coming to Yorkshire.
I do love the humor in these videos, really makes me chuckle 😄
Totally agree with your view on the likes of big SUV type cars doing 0-60 in 2 seconds as being totally and completely pointless. Funny how nearly any car and road enthusiast feels the same way lol
That little Citroen plastic machine would be ideal if only it wasn't a Citroen..
hay let's not knock Citroen.
They introduced front wheel drive a loooong way back.
And also they built the DS very stylish. let's also not forget the superb hydraulic suspension..
Obviously couldn't care less about the modern stuff...pos...
I like the Dacia Spring. 900kg EV. I'd tax cars based on weight. Then we could have small fun EVs that could genuinely claim to be helping with sustainability!
You have just literally done my work commute! From Basildon to Harlow and vice versa! Thank you sir for making it infinitely less dull.
Most good road journeys begin by exiting Basildon.
Although if the other end is going to be Harlow, I don't envy the choices you had to make!
Brilliant. Full marks for avoiding a ‘don’t look back in Ongar’ pun.
A fair few "Secret Nuclear Bunkers" across the country, when I first saw your thumbnail I initially thought you were in the Cheshire/Nantwich area.
The real trick is to make some of them actually contain a really secret area because who would believe that it would be right under the nose of a tourist attraction?
The secret is to get the real bunker, you really turn right.
Went to one at Withernsea near hull, the entrance looks exactly the same.
I’m only five minutes into this exciting episode, and I get the distinct impression John might have been having a bit of a crappy day making this video.
Like Iggy Pop sang in The Passenger:
I see the stars come out tonight
Yeah they're bright in the Harlow sky
The best TV programme not on TV. In Jon’s immortal words “wicked, sweet, awesome”. 👏👏👍😀
Now I have the urge to visit the Secret Nuclear Bunker 🤫
Basildon is/was the home of Gilbarco - maker of petrol pumps. (interesting company to work for).
Talking of interesting, the Secret Nuclear Bunker looks virtually identical (above ground anyway) to the one in Fife (which is miles from anywhere of note).
Was. They just repair them now. The old factory was flattened and is now a retail park
The farm bungalows that guard the bunkers were built to a standard design.
Thanks
Thanks very much indeed :)
Stunningly high level of content as always
You never disappoint this old guy in Virginia in the States. Good job!
Another reminder that Little Chef is long gone, replaced by disappointing and overpriced coffees and burgers. You dont know what you have until its gone. Okay it was also disappointing but also far better and actually loved. Ah nostalgia.
John,your sarcasm is top tier!
4:45 Fun fact I like to call the Epping and Ongar railway the Brazzers railway instead because some sort of pornographical film was filmed in Ongar station a few years ago. No idea what the plot or premise is but it's a funny little factoid.
Just wanna say that my temper has been an issue for me recently, and your reaction at the end, though not overt, helped remind me that there's also nothing wrong with being frustrated by things, so thank you
Kelvedon Hatch is fascinating and disturbing in one go. Apparently, the central line underground to Ongar station closed when the bunker closed as it was the emergency route that civil servants and ministers would have taken so to lead the nation during any nuclear attack. I stand to be corrected if anyone knows better.
There might have been post-nuclear social breakdown as a result of engineering work, industrial action or leaves on the line.
Probably coincidence as the central line is still a fair distance from the bunker - far enough you'd have to drive and then seeing as you're in the car anyway may as well carry on to a better station as that section of track is only single track which means long waits between trains.
It's so good to see Highways England are looking after our road signs and keeping them clean even the ones big enough to go to school😊
As a south Essex man originally, this is all great stuff. Cheers John, looking forward to the rest of the series. Oh yeah and at school we used to use the word "Warley" (mental hospital) as an insult - as in "Don't be an idiot, you effin Warley!"
Riding that route on a 1949 RT is one of my life pleasures.
BTW that's an old bus, not some kind of classic motorbike, if people didn't know.
North Weald was a legendary Battle of Britain fighter station , just thought you ought to know. One Ford you didn’t mention was the Capri : surely the car of choice for archetypal Essex Man . Loved the jazz piano music.
Majority of Capris were built in Germany I believe…?
I enjoy touring the UK on my motorbike. Like others I have spotted Secret Nuclear Bunker signs in several different locations and always wondered; Had Russia rained nuclear weapons down on the UK and all the senior military personnel , politicians and civil servants survived the onslaught safe in their secret nuclear bunkers. Just who exactly were they expecting to govern once they emerged? Loving the series... even Harlow and Basildon.
There were 4 or 5 ‘Garys & Daves’ in our boozer, I recall … Gary the scar, Gazza, Gary the Gas & Black Gary … Dave chef, Dave the gardener, (Dave) Rosie & a golden retriever, called Dave.
"It is said that Harlowe ghas one of the most extensive cycle networks in the country, but I don't care".
I spat my coffee out on my monitor.
Thanks, John.🤣
Worlds first Mini Roundabout is located between three pubs near Benfleet station
I remember the huge array of aerials near North Weald. It's also home to the rather obvious airfield, still in use, and the Epping Ongar Railway, a heritage railway between, you'll never guess where.
Warley hospital was known as the nut house when I was a kid and at school any stupid kids were said to have escaped from there.
There was a similar mental hospital in Sheffield called Middlewood which has also been converted to housing. When I was driving my mum nuts as a kid she would say you'll send me to Middlewood.
Yeah I was surprised the airfield wasn't mentioned. The little memorial museum is a good visit and it played a big part in WWII. Saw the final flight of the Vulcan bomber there when it did it's country wide final trip.
@@noggintubeI was there for the Vulcan as well. I remember the airshows back in the day. Flew out of there a few times as well.
liking this new series, as as for little chef it was the breakfasts or the tea cakes when on a journey or hung over. that's what i miss anyway. it was friendly signage and colour scheme. it was like losing a friend with them all closed, also far superior to the unhappy vomiter chain.
Harlow was built back-to-front. The plans for all new towns was; main road/motorway, industry, retail area, residential area. This works well in Stevenage, however when Harlow was built the M11 was planned to follow the Rive Lea to the west. But the wealth and influential residents of Nazing didn't want their peace disrupted by a noisy motorway, so the plans were revised and it was moved further east. This is why the houses are near the motorway and big lorries have to drive through residential streets to get to the factories.
Another interesting thing I was told about Harlow, and I haven't been able to verify if this is true, but apparently that's not the only way the town was built the wrong way round.
When Frederick Gibberd was researching town planning, some places around the world were avoiding dangerous crossroads by staggering the junction. If you wanted to cross the priority road, you would first give way to traffic in one direction, then turn again giving way a second time. The idea being it's safer to give way to one direction at a time rather than both at the same time. A great idea, except Gibberd didn't account for the places he studied were right-hand traffic, thus all the junctions in Harlow were built the wrong way around.
I highly doubt this is true, but if you look at the junctions in Harlow they all do seem to be this way round. All of the main junctions used to be like this as well until they were replaced with roundabouts, and mini-roundabouts have sorted the rest out.
Brilliant. Just brilliant.
2:29 “and i don’t care” this is one of the quips that made me a subscriber as soon as i saw a short randomly some time ago 😂😂😂
Nice one, thanks for watching!
You have the best intros and best outros ever
Thanks!
Thanks a lot mate, appreciate that
Ah Harlow New Town, of which Genesis reference in the song "Get Em Out By Friday". Also the road in the middle of the roundabout at Junction 7 of the M11, was for many years a Police / Council Weighbridge. For many years upon entering Harlow, you would be met with a green sign stating how Harlow was a Nuclear Free Zone... which was amusing when the Army's Nuclear convoy would park on that weighbridge over night ha ha ha ha.
As always, great examples in this video of your wicked sense of humour 😂👍🏻 Thanks. Always makes my Sunday 😃
I remember when I was a kid (probably about 1985) that that Little Chef at the A127/A128 junction was the site of one of the first Travelodges. At that time they were all located next to Little Chefs and, if I remember rightly, they opened just five in the first batch including that one at the Halfway House junction.
For anyone interested in architecture story behind the "new towns" like Harlow, Welyn, Letchworth etc I highly recommend the book "Concretopia"!
9:56 Based John, too bloody right, we don't need big SUVs we need smaller and more practical cars.
Thanks mate, really enjoying reliving the journeys of my youth, from the comfort of my settee. Best wishes, Rob
Thank you Jon very enjoyable brilliant episode
Good stuff - great research and scripting thanks Jon 👍
The bunker is a great visit with a darkly humoured audio guide. On our bucket list for a revisit.
Similar story I read about old roundabouts on the A12 through London. These were build slightly oval to force traffic to slow down as they entered and a straighter exit to enable a faster exit. Again the design was taken directly from the continent which resulted in faster entry and slower exit. They realised this error when there were more accidents than on circular roundabouts. 🤔
As a resident of Harlow, I am a little disappointed that you gave it so much air time in what was an Excellent video. "This is Harlow...yeah" would have been more than enough :)
Great video John, very interesting and hilarious as always, love it 😂👍👌
I still think old churches are fascinating. I'm not religious at all but I love the history and the architecture.
Nice one mate, keep up the good work. 👍🐺👍
Oh, Harlow, I'm so glad I left you almost ten years ago for the sunny climes of Southampton
Great to see you put South Essex on the map!!
Fun fact: The M11 was initially supposed to be built to the West of Harlow, and that's why the industrial estates are in that part of the town, but the DOT changed their minds and built it to the East. So all the HGV traffic has to drive all the way through the town.
Yes! I've a video in the works about it :D If you can find me a map of the M11 proposed route, you win a gold star.
I think I've seen one somewhere... I'll have a look.
Found a great quote about moving the M11 route:
'In Harlow, there was discontent: much of the New Town had already been laid out and a great deal of it built, complete with all its industrial areas on the north and west sides where they would be near the future M11. Moving the motorway to the opposite side of the town made a nonsense of the whole design. One of the town's planners described it as being "like building a seaside town and then moving the sea".
I once did a 4 day Lan party at the secret Nuclear bunker, went with a friend and our PC's, this would be early/mid 2000, my friend cracked after 2 days of sleep deprevation and being sustained only by energy drinks and went home, while I made it the whole distance I have no real memory of anything that occurred after late day 2, I know we crashed a Counter Strike server and there was a pretty large nerf gun fight, I think I may of got lost and have a vague memory of only finding the bunks on day 3, beyond that it's a blur of caffeine and simulated violence... awesome weekend 😂
Brilliant start with about half a dozen put downs of Essex stereotypes ending in Harlow ‘stupid choice because it’s Harlow’. Excellent