Secrets of The Motorway - M4 Wales (Part 2)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 มิ.ย. 2024
- #infrastructure #motorways #wales
Part two of our M4 expedition sees us in that wonderful Wales. It'd be easy to make a cheap remark about sheep, valleys and hills... yet somehow we've avoided that...
Join us as we travel the length of the M4 motorway where we'll be looking at various points of interest that are sure to amaze. It's like a video version of "I spy on the motorway" so next time you're on the M4, keep an eye out for some of these unique features...
In this series we aim to explore what our motorway network is hiding. As we drive along at the 70mph..ish...we simply just wouldn't be aware of what we're missing. This series aims to uncover some of the hidden secrets our motorways have to offer.
Find us on:
Twitter - @JonShenanigans
Facebook - Auto Shenanigans
Many thanks to:
Roads.org.uk
Pathetic.org.uk
Sabre-roads.org.uk - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
Is it just me, or does anyone else watch these posts and have a warm feeling inside ? A feeling that 'this is what social media should be'.
Informative, engaging and as always there is a genuine comedy value that is so unique these days.
I can't wait until you cover the strange politics of the M60 around Manchester. When you do, all I can offer you and the production team is a pint (or 10) of Boddington's Beer and an Oasis CD (rather than Tom Jones)
As you know, my offer is genuine mate, but you'll have to tolerate the Mancunian phrases and slang, as you circle the woeful M60 feeling like you are in a car with Noel Gallagher 🤣🤣🤣
Thanks again mate, a brilliant post
D'you want a flake in that love?
7:20 I worked with the DVLA, been inside that building several times and can confirm everything you've heard is true.
Clearly a lie. No-one who ever claims to have worked there ever did, basically because no-one who ever worked there ever got out alive.
It's rather mind-bending to think that the Prince of Wales of the Prince of Wales Bridge is a different Prince of Wales to the current Prince of Wales 🤔
Bridge-ception...
Yeah I suppose the new one gets this bridge handed over.
It it a real conundrum. You'd have thought they'd at least rename it to prevent the lie. I'm all in favor of pulling it down until an acceptable solution can be found.
Hmm 🤔 Dr Who comes to mind
An usurped & imposed title. An gross insult to anyone in Wales who knows the history of their country & of the title granted by the king/queen of England to their eldest son & heir.
I'm English and live in Swansea, it took me a while to get my head around the way to pronounce place names, he had a good go bless him. Usually when I come across something in Welsh I just get my children to translate for me because they both speak fluent Welsh.
Hi mate , ive done some research on that old building you stood in front of in Neath Wales next to the M4 Briton Ferry Bridge : Briton Ferry Ironworks Engine House, Situated on the north west side of the Briton Ferry docks, the ironworks were established on the banks of the river Neath in the 1840s.The engine house is now in a "poor condition" and "at risk", according to Neath Port Talbot's register of buildings at risk .
It has been a grade II listed building since 2000, but it is currently vacant and the council has stated that rapid action is required on this private building as replacement of defective items is needed.
It was reconstructed in the 1890s, still as an iron smelter and closed in 1958. The site has been completely cleared with the exception of the blast engine house of around 1910.
Good work sir! It's quite old then.
2:00 J32 Coryton Roundabout is actually on a tilt which is why the roundabout passes under both A470 & M4 at one end and passes over the A470 and under the M4 the top end. Useful Fact: The roundabout houses the central hub for all the traffic cameras and control for all of the M4 in Wales including other A roads in the area. Also the roundabout was upgraded to feature a new internal slip road for traffic heading West on the M4 leaving J32 to head North on the A470. This was done to relieve congestion as traffic use to build up on the exit slip road all the way up the M4 causing havoc! The slip road on the other end was also widened to feature a dedicated slip road for traffic heading East on the M4 wanting to head North on the A470.. it truly is a busy junction!!
The worst ever congestion was when Asda at J32 invited the Coca Cola truck into its car park.. with everyone travelling to the area by car it soon became an issue during rush hour at 5pm.. traffic stood still for hours and hours.. the police had to close the junction and tell people to turn around and go home!
"Digging shit up here started way back in the 17th century" - I loled.
The 2 part M4 videos did miss out very large chunks of the motorway....Bath, Bristol, connections to the M32, M5, M48, Llanwern Steelworks, A449 junction, Brynglas Tunnels, Newport....Cardiff...Bridgend. Great to see South Cornelly get a mention. First 20 years of my life were spent in North & South Cornelly..... The Margam sidings were cut off in the 1990's as they deemed as not needed any more. When the M4 was being built in the mid 1970's, the Kenfig dunes were in danger of being severely affected by the M4's construction. The A48 section between Margam and Swanea became extremely choked with traffic when the newest section of the M4 was being built in the 1990s. Anyone who was a learner driver who lives in Port Talbot or east of Margam had to drive through Port Talbot, reach the A48M section at Baglan, drive over the Britton Ferry Bridge (that 1950's bridge you mention), then take a left to Swansea or end up being stuck on the M4 restarting again. So much more info I could give...but I don't want to seem boring....
How about a mention that an episode of Tales of the unexpected was filmed on the M4 between Pencoed and South Cornelly, a few days before it was officially opened to the public..
@@andrewmorgan6775 I wasn't born when the M4 opened... I did see photos of the fields before the M4 cut right through our back garden.
That building next to the bridge is the old ironworks engine house built in 1910 and is a grade 2 listed building since 2000. The works closed in 1958.
Nice.
There's a lot of history in that area. No mention of the Brunel-designed Briton Ferry dock and the (allegedly) largest dock gate in the world that was filled in to build the M4 bridge.
I never thought motorways could be so interesting, love this channel.
Neither did I.. thanks for watching!
Don't ever change the humor.
Digging shit up
Small disagreement between 1939-1945
Blackhole for documents
Your easily my favorite youtuber now
hehe, cheers mate
Normal people only call it the second Severn Bridge. Nobody uses the silly name.
so true
Part 1 of this video should have also made reference to “Severn Bridge”, but didn’t 😊
almost nobody
6:46 Impressed with how quickly the ambulance was dispatched after the bee attack. It’s stuff like this that make your videos masterful :)
As someone who has spent far too much time inside the DVLA building maintaining telecoms systems and servers. I can confirm there's about 5 people in the building for most of the time all of them just shredding documents and banishing them to the shadow realm
Yet another exciting episode. I loved the pronunciation of the Welsh place names, you absolutely murdered them! 🤣
I think all of our Welsh viewers are enjoying it.. you're welcome, enjoy the lolz :D
@@AutoShenanigans Keep up the good work, am really enjoying the channel and hope you make 100k soon. When you do I hope you do something special to celebrate. How about 100k circuits of the M25?
I really like the secrets of the motorway series
It really makes my week
Great to hear, thanks for watching!
Fantastic video, you've done us proud by playing the Welsh national anthem (Hen Wlad Fy'n Hadau - Land of my Fathers) at the end. It was very much appreciated!
“Digging shit up here” 😂
Why did you miss out the Brynglass tunnels? It’s the most exciting part of the M4! According to Wikipedia, several houses on top of the hill had to be demolished due to damage caused whilst the tunnels were being bored.
Also, there is no J31. I looked into this, and apparently a junction was planned where the M4 meets the A469 south of Caerphilly. But, like many other motorway projects, it never happened…
Just roared with laughter at Lougher and Pontarddulais lol belter fair play though luffor and pontardulay brilliant lol
Potato/carrot. Same thing innit .
My husband looked at me during luffor/pontardoolay and said 'I'm so so sorry'. 🤣
Surely the UKs biggest roundabout; is the M25?😆
I thought that was the biggest car park 😅
Love the Top Gear nod with the "producers gave me this CD" gag.
You got it man! :D
Well that outro was certainly epic! Definetly worth going back to do that
Amazing work 👏 you were standing on a bridge with little train track left between 44 nd 45 of m4 the railway line which is disused goes to the nickel factory 🏭 Clydach swansea line closed early 90s
Shame I didnt pick up on the Nickel factory.. would have been an interesting segment! Thanks for watching
Epic EPIC outro.....I have tears of patriotism welling up...and I'm not even Welsh!! Nice vid. John
Love the bit about the DVLA losing documents, my son applied for a provisional this year, and they returned the documents too another address by sending it to 36 rather than 136, good thing the residents of the other address had a brain and delivered it to the correct address.
No mention of the missing junction 31!!!!
I know, right? I did a bit of research on that and there were apparently plans for J31 where the M4 meets the A469 to take traffic into Caerphilly. But, like many motorway projects, it never happened…
Love this series. As an englishmen living in wales I avoided pronouncing those place names until I'd been there a while.🤣
Yeah I took a punt.. got them all wrong I think :D
Interesting to see the DVLA building. I expected it to be in a big city. The architecture is really rather fitting for such a fantastic government department... it explains a lot!
it is on the outskirts of Swansea - quite large with around 250000 inhabitants
@@duringthemeanwhilst ahh must of been the angle of the drone shots then. Looked like it was just in the middle of a housing estate!
@@rzlosty yep I agree, I knew the DVLA was in Swansea and expected it to be in the middle of the city - this certainly looks like it's the middle of nowhere!
It's actually Morriston not Swansea....
@@duringthemeanwhilst it is in the middle of a housing estate. 😂
Great video, love seeing stuff like this! Just a heads up though, you missed loads of great stuff just off Junction 34. There's an entire roundabout and road that was abandoned after plans fell through for a new supermarket. all the signs for a supermarket are up, but point down a road that leads nowhere! Thought you might be interested because you seem to love abandoned stuff lol.
One for another day I reckon...sounds great
Thanks for your videos very fascinating, I used to live in a village near Wootton Bassett in Wiltshire in the 70s the M4 was my playground whilst it was being built, our section was finished early and me and my mates would ride our pushbikes up and down the closed M4.
Thats cool!
They used to dismantle submarines on the River Loughor! A friend who lives nearby has a submarine door on the shed his father built!!!!
I thought that was the river Neath
@@barneypaws4883 Oops - yes you're right....... That's what I meant really 🙂 My mate lives in Neath.
Glad you’ve reviewed the Welsh end of the M4. It’s a rich vein of road trivia, partly because of the bizarre order in which the sections were built. Travelling on it in the late 70s and early 80s involved doing a bit of M4 then a bit of A48 or A48(M) then a bit more M4! Lots of queueing at roundabouts. Interestingly, the “Cardiff Bypass” (J29-J32) was only completed in the early 1980’s. I often wonder if the belief was that people travelling from the East (England) probably didn’t want to travel further into Wales than Cardiff, and likewise people travelling from the West (Wales) were unlikely to wish to go beyond Cardiff. When this section was originally built, it only had two lanes in each direction, whist the M4 each side of this part had 3 lanes, again supporting the theory that there was little demand to by-pass Cardiff.
A legacy of this is going East along the A48(M) coming out of Cardiff, there is a “Ghost” Eastbound carriageway just before J29 takes you on to the M4. It used to be very visible on Google Maps, but not so much these days. This has always baffled me. It implies that this was continuous on to the M4 before the J29 - J32 section was built, but my memory is that the flyover was always there before that part of the M4 opened? Has anyone got any explanation?
The Heads of the valleys road runs between Abergavenny and Neath is not really a motorway but has a very interesting history being one of the most expensive roads in Europe which took around 12 years to build , it's almost a motorway.
I presume you're referring to the upgraded road as it existed as a three lane single carriageway before. if so its still under construction, it started in 2002 and sections 1 to 4 are now complete, 5 and 6 from dowlais top to hirwaun are still under construction due to be finished sometime next year. These sections are near my home and I have to drive through the road works regularly. Once finished it will be a uninterrupted road from Abergavenny all the way to Glynneath, around 30 miles. For whatever reason, they didnt build bridges over the Glynneath or Resolven exits otherwise it would have been uninterrupted all the way to Neath and the M4. There is also a 50mph limit on a good chunk from Brynmawr to Gilwern due to how curvy the road is as it snakes up a narrow valley.
"It's Wales. I'm never going to get it right." 😅👍
Hooray part 2 of the M4 Motorway but in Wales. The M4 Motorway is a vital motorway that South Wales benefits from. Including smaller motorways like A48(M) and M48. And of the the bridge that carries the M4 motorway over the River Severn and Bristol Channel.
Those toll booths always felt like the entrance to Cardiff to 7-year old me.
Thus one is one of my favourites ! The fact you couldn't pronounce any of the Welsh words made me laugh ! Very informative as always John. Keep up the good work! Looking forward to the m25 , m5 and m6. Couldn't care about the M1 but I'm sure though you'll make it rather entertaining with your dry whit
so as a native of briton ferry that building was the engine bulding plant, for the wern works (ww2 plane factory just up the road from it)
Such an epic outro for a video about Motorways is entirely neseccary, thank you for returning 3 days later to record it
Love the content man
Thanks mate.
Worth watching just for the Outro.
Awesome, thanks, I really did go back 3 days later to film it :D
Maybe secrets of the old trunk roads!: I'd do the old a38 which was replaced by the m5! Many great bits of the road are now B roads and haven't changed since the 70s/80s I did some of the roads whilst visiting Exeter recently and it was very interesting!
Great video as always!
What happened to the Little Chef buildings and former petrol stations. I remember using the A34 between Oxford and Stratford just before the M40 was built. It was interesting to see the demise of businesses.
DVLA dig was the Best!!!! Giggled for half an hour!!! 🤦🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
M4 finishes at Cross Hands round about 🙂I was a recovery driver in Swansea .... ""Manton Motors" that turned into "Civic Rescue" I think I can remember every blade of grass you pointed out along the M4 lol...
Oh no 😮 fog on the Brecon Beacons, that’s new😂 spent tons of time there during my service time. Keep exploring the motorways, really enjoy it. Greetings from Germany 🇩🇪
Thanks, I'm really enjoying the channel content on what just off our Motorways etc and hardly ever seen. I just love that comment slipped in about 'the 'small disagreement from 1939 to 1945', classic understatement that's for sure! Ask Jago Hazzard/Geoff Marshall about the GWR branch line and sidings? Also the DVLA/DVLC comments were not that far from the truth!
You always get an upvote for not starting your videos with the TH-camrs ‘yo!’ I never thought videos about motorways and surrounding structures would be interesting, but you achieve this with ease.
Yo yo yo...whats happenin TH-cam, its ya boy Jon. Yeah sounds rubbish. Thanks for watching mate :D
Nobody 'works' in the DVLA building. It's empty. They're all (supposedly) 'working' from home.
So true....
I'm from Cardiff, I hate the Coryton roundabout. When entering from Cardiff it splits off in 3 directions and I always get confused but perhaps I'm just thick idk.
Top marks for the Ivor the Engine music at the start, strangely the second video I’ve watched today that references the programme.
Jagos mail rail vid?
@@AutoShenanigans Yes he mentions Evans Evans. Funny old world. Cheers
@@grahammcdonald3650 Yep I watched :D
I chased down the anthrax reference in the Hansard and it is true. Anthony Banks, Baron Stratford then Labour MP for West Ham submitted a question to Archie Hamilton, Baron Hamilton of Epsom then Conservative MP for Epsom and Ewell in Parliament when Hamilton was Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Defence in January 1987. Hamilton replied "Apart from work carried out within the then chemical defence experimental station, Porton Down, a device containing anthrax was tested on the beach at Penclawdd, South Wales, in 1942. Investigations subsequent to this trial revealed no evidence of any residual contamination." Penclawdd is indeed in the Loughor estuary.
They will only admit to one anthrax bomb being tested of the Marshes of Penclawdd when the people living there and doing the testing say there were multiple tests.
Still bombs of various types uncovered to these days with the Bomb Disposal making trips down the detonate them on the sands.
Wait, you drove to Wales _twice_ just for this video? What a legend! Cracking content as always John. See you next week!
Yes. I'd also just returned from a weekend away in Wales. so 3 times in a week... I'm really stupid I think.
@@AutoShenanigans at least it wasn't Slough
7:00 - D'Oh! I always thought that the DVLA and DVLC were different things and wondered why there was no DVLB.
Another example of how disorganised they are... can't even get the alphabet right.
On the M4 motorway part 2 episode 2 TV themes tunes I recognise are from Ivor the Engine and Fireman Sam.
There's a a satisfactory amount of footage of abandoned shit in this episode Jon. Lovely stuff.
I'd have liked more time to wander around.. the train yard was very interesting..
@@AutoShenanigans Perhaps the next series after Secrets of the Motorway? There's plenty of abandonment to be found, and you shoot it beautifully.
"It's Wales; I'm never going to get it right." ROFLMAO... and that drone shot at the end; pretty damn sweet!
Great video as always John :-) can't wait for the next one !
Yay - the nearest one to my home - I could just about see my house in the drone footage looking over 11 Arches (which I can see from the top of my garden). In a glorious pixel or two!
Mountain View car park is known locally as Top Gear car park because Top Gear filmed for a lot of episodes along the A4069 just below the car park using helicopter footage to follow the cars along the winding road and the locally famous "Tro'r Gwcw" (Cuckoo Turn) hairpin corner. .
And yes, I've investigated that abandoned railway bridge - I always thought it was created to serve the Mond nickel works just north of the M4 in Clydach- something that you can actually see on even modern OS maps. But you're right - having looked at the old maps, it did also serve other industry in the past - though by the time the M4 opened, I think it served only the Mond.
The abandoned A48(M) you spoke about between J43 and J44 - about half a kilometre of this still existed, fully tarmacked and even had the remnants of two old petrol stations (one for each direction) until about 10 years ago when it was redeveloped into the new housing estate that's now there. It survived roughly 40 years after closing having been sold back to the local farm owner (who gave a hard time to anyone who attempted to go to see it, even though OS maps ostensibly showed a public footpath crossing over it, now completely deleted on modern maps).
Nice part of the world to live in! Someone else pointed out the A48M abandoned stretch that you mention..its on google earth still if you use the historical images.. looks like the exact sort of thing I'd enjoy but as you say.. now a housing estate!
Hywel, Bont girl here too! 👍
The disused railway bridge between Junctions 44 & 45 carried a spur of the Swansea District Line (a dual line that bypasses Swansea to the north) to the International Nickel Company's Works (INCO) (previously known as the Mond Nickel Co. works) at Clydach in the Swansea Valley/Cwmtawe. INCO is still in operation today & uses a nickel refining process devised by Sir Ludwig Mond (1839-1909), a German-born, British chemist. Nickel matte was imported from Sudbury, Ontario, Canada to be refined at Clydach.
Good info, thanks for sharing !
Well that episode was crackin’, tidy, sound, orrite that and myriad other stereotypical Welsh acknowledgments all rolled into one. Some lovely liquid sunshine in evidence too 😜
I must admit, you certainly made the M4 seem far more interesting than I remember it. Admittedly I’ve not had reason to use it more than once in the last 30 years so perhaps I caught it on a bad day? 🤔
Of course it isn’t a motorway, but I use the A55 at least annually when I visit the family in Holyhead, and that definitely IS an interesting drive (apologies for being lazy and not checking if you’ve already covered it) whatever the weather and the scenery is spectacular. If you prefer a longer and more scenic route, there’s always the A5 too…though obviously the weather can be somewhat inclement 🙄 ⛈ ☔️
Diolch yn fawr, buttie 👍🍀🍻
"liquid sunshine" -- I'll have to remember that.
Can't believe you stopped at Pont Abraham services, everyone in Wales knows to ignore and carry on to Carmarthen to get away from their mad prices 🤣
And getting your car broken into.
@@paulthomas6118 suppose you have to nick a car stereo to make back the money you overpaid on fuel 🤣
"Black hole technology that vaporises documents to another dimension ... It's funny cos it's true.
Great video. The tarmac you're standing on at 5:10 is a modern cycle path built in the early 90s. The abandoned A48 carriageway was the opposite side of the M4. It was still there (along with the remnants of 2 petrol stations), until about 10 years ago when the houses were built. Also, as someone else mentioned above, junction 44 'roundabout' is worth a mention due to its right hand turn 👍
and the monstrosity that is J46...
The tolls were only on the westward side of the motorway. You had to pay to come into Wales, but it was free to leave!
Indeed I always thought this was outrageous! Surely English people traveling into Wales should have been paid to enter. Raising the average I.Q and teaching the Welsh how to speak proper English 🤣🤣🤣
@Nik Evans troll-lol-lol-lol
Didn’t mention the dodgy slip road at Junction 44, I’m pretty sure it’s the only one in the country that turns off into the centre of the roundabout!!!
Apparently it's not technically a roundabout due to having a right hand turning lol
I spent three years working for Swansea University and this has made me nostalgic and emotional. I do think the Welsh part of the M4 is the more interesting bit -- wait, no Brynglas Tunnel?
Anyway, thank-you for not mentioning Bridgend.
As always time is against us and we cant include everything. Thanks for watching!
@@AutoShenanigans
Perhaps you could consider spending a bit more time on the day to produce longer, less frantic videos?
Seriously -- a train once got me marooned in Bridgend past midnight. Without the M4 (and a taxi), I probably wouldn't still be here to recount the tale. Never again will I leave myself at the mercy of rail.
Perfect bit of sunday morning viewing!
You’ll have to make another video in future! Plenty more secrets including the plaque on the second bridge for the man who died, the Brynglas Tunnels, J27 slip road design, the missing J31, and the infamous dogging sites at J18, 24, and 32. 🐶
Im aware of the dogging sites, not familiar with the rest :D
You forgot to mention about the missing motorway junction 31 it didn’t go ahead due to public opposition and funding. Also there’s a rumour that a new motorway junction is to be added between pencoed and llantrisant in a few years time from the location of the dragon studios. The first part of the junction has been built but they’re currently waiting for the ground to settle over a previous quarry site before building the remainder of the project.
How do you get 2 whales in a car?
On the M4.
How do you get 4 Wales in a mini? 2 in the front and 2 in the back duhhhh.
As a blue light driver I can tell you from experience I have not been able to turn at the toll booth site, in stead I’ve had to cross to England adding significant distance and time to my response.
Great video of a motorway that I grew to love and hate in equal measure in the 1990s when I lived in Swansea.
Brave efforts at pronunciation: Pontarddulais is usually said Pont-ar-dillyce. Loughor is Luch-or (the ch as in Loch), and is the anglicised version of its Welsh name, Llwchwr which sounds similar but with more saliva. Locally Pont Abraham is pronounced the Welsh way with the 'Ab' rhyming with 'cab'.
Keep up the good work.
I made no effort on pronunciations :D Thanks for watching mate
8:20 that view killed me 😂😂 Hiked up Snowdon a couple of weeks ago and we could barely see 10 metres in front of us when we were at the top 😭😭
It happens every time!!
Don't take it personally. Same happened to me decades ago and I suspect many others ;0(
That building between the two bridges is the former Briton Ferry Ironworks, established in 1846 and closed in 1958.
Can't believe you didn't mention the slip road at junction 41 (eastbound) which has a minor road crossing it! Every time I drive on either road I am shocked there are no major accidents and that the slip road is still open!
Also the slip road to join the motorway at junction 43 (also eastbound) goes into the middle of a roundabout! This means if you join the roundabout before the slip road and you want to turn right past it you need be on the inside lane!
While I am by no means a motorway expert, I have done my fair share of motorway driving around England and Wales and I've never come across these features elsewhere!
Driving through Wales listening to Tom Jones? It's not unusual.. 😉
very good.
I'm not welsh, but I had the pleasure of living in the Neath area when the M4 bridge at Briton Ferry was first being built in 1990. Your pronunciation of a couple of places really did make me chuckle, I had the piss taken out of me & soon learned the correct pronunciation... great videos... keep 'em coming.
I was never going to get it right in Wales!
Why is there a large gap you have not covered between the Severn bridge, magor/newport/Cardiff ??
You went from the toll roads and jumped to Coryton, missed out so much stuff through MOD Caerwent, Family of pandas on Malpas roundabout, A449 junction to the M50
Then onto Swansea where you missed
King Arthur’s cave in Pencoed
Abandoned Quarry in Bridgend by MacArthur glen
RAF llandow
The port Talbot flyover.
to name a few :(
also, the tunnels!
He missed loads!
Also in the Newport area, there's a missing junction (junction numbers skip one - a junction was planned in between, but presumably was dropped before construction started) and a giant hotel where a G7 (or G8) summit was once held.
@@CallMeKam. I know,
Gutted! waited all week for this and I couldn’t even finish it.
As you'll have seen in part 1, we ran out of daylight and we had to avoid that this time around... It's sadly just not possible to fit everything in.
I'm surprised you didn't mention the tunnel by Newport, that after drilling through the mountain, the house's on top start to subside and had to be demolished to allow the sub soil to resettle.
They have now been rebuilt
So that's what "Swansea" looks like! I must admit, a brutalist concrete cube seems entirely appropriate
It was when I went there. some nice little places as short bus ride out and away though
To be fair, the DVLA is right on the outskirts of Swansea. The centre is ok.
@@huwlewis9059 Is The Quadrant Bus Station still in the city ?
@@highpath4776 Yep, though it’s been three years since I was last there. The waterfront is really nice, too.
I lost it at Pont-ar-doo-lay😂
hehehe... correct pronunciation just isnt going to happen in this video. I can't even get English place names correct.
Thought it was a suburb of Paris.
😂 Pontardoolay and Lowfor! 😂
Back in the early 80s when I learnt to drive, the DVLC picked up the moniker of "The Swansea Joke Factory". Fortunately for me, I had already got a provisional licence but, due to strike action, lots of people had an inordinately long wait to receive theirs and be able to start lessons. "It should be with you next week..." 14 days later "We are working through the backlog...." Friends waited a long time.
Look forward to the M6 with an abandoned theme park turned zombie survival experience.
Clydach sidings for gravel pits! FFS they were for coal mining, the nickel refinery and tin plate works.
I couldnt find any references to that, thanks for confirming.
Nobody in Wales calls it the 'Prince of Wales' bridge.
I thought it was just called the Second Severn Crossing
they usually call it the seven bridge or the new seven bridge.
@@mrrandomperson3106 and that’s how it should be. We were not given a consultation on “Prince of Wales bridge”
@@donottouchmyfood watch out, someone who forgot who pays his bennies is about.
Another great video, thanks
Awesome, thanks for watching
I'd say that old building was an electricity substation. Power station architecture of the early 20th century was fond of imposing windows like that. There was probably a coal fired power station at or near that site
Not there, this was a pump or winch house.
I'm trying to decide if it's a good or bad thing you didn't mention the worst part of the M4: the Brynglas tunnels, the section famed for its near constant traffic jams, so much so that its a big surprise if you drive through the tunnels having not slowed down at all (from the 50 limit)...
I must admit we managed to get through without an issue!
@@AutoShenanigans Lucky you!
Also if your outro music is Morriston Orpheus Choir with BTM Band then I have a feeling I'm playing on it. It sounds very much like the arrangement we recorded with them in the Brangwyn Hall, Swansea in the late 1980s...
I really hope it is that version but sadly I've no information to confirm. What a fabulous piece of music that I had no idea about until now. Kinda kicks the crap outta the English anthem.
Great video John, many thanks.
Another fact about the 11 arch railway bridge near Hendy is, the now closed Brynlliw Colliery developed a coal face called the T9 to the right of the bridge, looking up the estuary, that dug coal right under the M4.
Another interesting point on J32 is that there is a shortcut from the M4 westbound slip roads to A470 north. This sort of tomfoolery is usually found in Cities Skylines, where it never works. Oh and there's a operations centre in the middle as well.
That (new) shortcut has been a great addition!
What goes on in the DVLA building? As little as possible.
Most excellent, thanks. Epic outro!! Must investigate that random building, think I saw leadlight windows on that.. 🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌
Another excellent episode John. Thank you.
I am imagining the production team, probably big enough to fill a floor or two of the DVLC building😉
We've definitely enough to fill the caretakers storage cupboard.
I'm glad TH-cam allows me to play back a double speed, it's ideal for content covering Wales. Good video, thanks.
shots fired...
Nobody is making you watch it.
@@PaGaNism You must be Welsh as you clearly don't understand English.
@@mariemccann5895 You appear to be the only one struggling with reading comprehension.
@@mariemccann5895 I'm generally a helpful guy so here. This is more on your reading level... th-cam.com/video/G5eHH5FaIiY/w-d-xo.html
Always a good watch!
Great delivery and informative, nice one fella 👍