BRITS in BMW MOA

[Roy.Jackson55@aol.com]

It's because we don't follow the French like poodles

Apparently it's to do with Napoleon Bonaparte's left handedness that you guys drive on the Frenchie side. back atcha!

OUI OUI Messieur..I mean keep a stiff upper lip. Sorry I'm English on my fathers side and French on my mothers. I feel very conflicted.

 

[Threeteas]

OUI OUI Messieur..I mean keep a stiff upper lip. Sorry I'm English on my fathers side and French on my mothers. I feel very conflicted.

Sort of middle of the road then????

Don't know if the Napoleon theory is an urban myth or not, but seems feasible n'est pas?

 

[paul_f]

Correct me if I am wrong Lamble, but wasn't our British habit of driving on the left, a leftover from medieval times allowing (mostly right handed) knights fighting from horseback to approach each other from the left? This left their right sword hand free to engage each other in combat.

 

[squiffynimrod]

Correct me if I am wrong Lamble, but wasn't our British habit of driving on the left, a leftover from medieval times allowing (mostly right handed) knights fighting from horseback to approach each other from the left? This left their right sword hand free to engage each other in combat.

That's how I heard it.

 

[Threeteas]

That's what I've heard too, but then along comes Napoleon who is a lefty and he insists that in France they should pass on the other side, so lefties get an advantage.

Now I don't know whether any of this is true or not.

 

[Threeteas]

seems definitive

About a quarter of the world drives on the left, and the countries that do are mostly old British colonies. This strange quirk perplexes the rest of the world; but there is a perfectly good reason.

In the past, almost everybody travelled on the left side of the road because that was the most sensible option for feudal, violent societies. Since most people are right-handed, swordsmen preferred to keep to the left in order to have their right arm nearer to an opponent and their scabbard further from him. Moreover, it reduced the chance of the scabbard (worn on the left) hitting other people.

Furthermore, a right-handed person finds it easier to mount a horse from the left side of the horse, and it would be very difficult to do otherwise if wearing a sword (which would be worn on the left). It is safer to mount and dismount towards the side of the road, rather than in the middle of traffic, so if one mounts on the left, then the horse should be ridden on the left side of the road.

In the late 1700s, however, teamsters in France and the United States began hauling farm products in big wagons pulled by several pairs of horses. These wagons had no driver's seat; instead the driver sat on the left rear horse, so he could keep his right arm free to lash the team. Since he was sitting on the left, he naturally wanted everybody to pass on the left so he could look down and make sure he kept clear of the oncoming wagonÔÇÖs wheels. Therefore he kept to the right side of the road.

In addition, the French Revolution of 1789 gave a huge impetus to right-hand travel in Europe. The fact is, before the Revolution, the aristocracy travelled on the left of the road, forcing the peasantry over to the right, but after the storming of the Bastille and the subsequent events, aristocrats preferred to keep a low profile and joined the peasants on the right. An official keep-right rule was introduced in Paris in 1794, more or less parallel to Denmark, where driving on the right had been made compulsory in 1793.

Later, Napoleon's conquests spread the new rightism to the Low Countries (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg), Switzerland, Germany, Poland, Russia and many parts of Spain and Italy. The states that had resisted Napoleon kept left ÔÇô Britain, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Portugal. This European division, between the left- and right-hand nations would remain fixed for more than 100 years, until after the First World War.

Although left-driving Sweden ceded Finland to right-driving Russia after the Russo-Swedish War (1808-1809), Swedish law ÔÇô including traffic regulations ÔÇô remained valid in Finland for another 50 years. It wasnÔÇÖt until 1858 that an Imperial Russian decree made Finland swap sides.

The trend among nations over the years has been toward driving on the right, but Britain has done its best to stave off global homogenisation. With the expansion of travel and road building in the 1800s, traffic regulations were made in every country. Left-hand driving was made mandatory in Britain in 1835. Countries which were part of the British Empire followed suit. This is why to this very day, India, Australasia and the former British colonies in Africa go left. An exception to the rule, however, is Egypt, which had been conquered by Napoleon before becoming a British dependency.

Although Japan was never part of the British Empire, its traffic also goes to the left. Although the origin of this habit goes back to the Edo period (1603-1867) when Samurai ruled the country, it wasnÔÇÖt until 1872 that this unwritten rule became more or less official. That was the year when JapanÔÇÖs first railway was introduced, built with technical aid from the British. Gradually, a massive network of railways and tram tracks was built, and of course all trains and trams drove on the left-hand side. Still, it took another half century till in 1924 left-side driving was clearly written in a law.

When the Dutch arrived in Indonesia in 1596, they brought along their habit of driving on the left. It wasn't until Napoleon conquered the Netherlands that the Dutch started driving on the right. Most of their colonies, however, remained on the left as did Indonesia and Suriname.

In the early years of English colonisation of North America, English driving customs were followed and the colonies drove on the left. After gaining independence from England, however, they were anxious to cast off all remaining links with their British colonial past and gradually changed to right-hand driving. (Incidentally, the influence of other European countriesÔÇÖ nationals should not be underestimated.) The first law requiring drivers to keep right was passed in Pennsylvania in 1792, and similar laws were passed in New York in 1804 and New Jersey in 1813.

Despite the developments in the US, some parts of Canada continued to drive on the left until shortly after the Second World War. The territory controlled by the French (from Quebec to Louisiana) drove on the right, but the territory occupied by the English (British Columbia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland) kept left. British Columbia and the Atlantic provinces switched to the right in the 1920s in order to conform with the rest of Canada and the USA. Newfoundland drove on the left until 1947, and joined Canada in 1949.

In Europe, the remaining left-driving countries switched one by one to driving on the right. Portugal changed in 1920s. The change took place on the same day in the whole country, including the colonies. Territories, however, which bordered other left-driving countries were exempted. That is why Macau, Goa (now part of India) and Portuguese East Africa kept the old system. East Timor, which borders left-driving Indonesia, did change to the right though, but left-hand traffic was reintroduced by the Indonesians in 1975.

In Italy the practice of driving on the right first began in the late 1890s. The first Italian Highway Code, issued on the 30th of June 1912, stated that all vehicles had to drive on the right. Cities with a tram network, however, could retain left-hand driving if they placed warning signs at their city borders. The 1923 decree is a bit stricter, but Rome and the northern cities of Milan, Turin and Genoa could still keep left until further orders from the Ministry of Public Works. By the mid-1920s, right-hand driving became finally standard throughout the country. Rome made the change on the 1 of March 1925 and Milan on the 3rd of August 1926.

Up till the 1930s Spain lacked national traffic regulations. Some parts of the country drove on the right (e.g. Barcelona) and other parts drove on the left (e.g. Madrid). On the 1st of October 1924 Madrid switched to driving on the right.

The break-up of the Austro-Hungarian Empire caused no change: Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Hungary continued to drive on the left. Austria itself was something of a curiosity. Half the country drove on the left and half on the right. The dividing line was precisely the area affected by Napoleon's conquests in 1805.

When Germany annexed Austria in 1938, Hitler ordered that the traffic should change from the left to the right side of the road, overnight. The change threw the driving public into turmoil, because motorists were unable to see most road signs. In Vienna it proved impossible to change the trams overnight, so while all other traffic took to the right-hand side of the road, the trams continued to run on the left for several weeks. Czechoslovakia and Hungary, one of the last states on the mainland of Europe to keep left, changed to the right after being invaded by Germany in 1939.

Meanwhile, the power of the right kept growing steadily. American cars were designed to be driven on the right by locating the drivers' controls on the vehicle's left side. With the mass production of reliable and economical cars in the United States, initial exports used the same design, and out of necessity many countries changed their rule of the road.

Gibraltar changed to right-hand traffic in 1929 and China in 1946. Korea now drives right, but only because it passed directly from Japanese colonial rule to American and Russian influence at the end of the Second World War. Pakistan also considered changing to the right in the 1960s, but ultimately decided not to do it. The main argument against the shift was that camel trains often drove through the night while their drivers were dozing. The difficulty in teaching old camels new tricks was decisive in forcing Pakistan to reject the change. Nigeria, a former British colony, had traditionally been driving on the left with British imported right-hand-drive cars, but when it gained independence, it tried to throw off its colonial past as quick as possible and shifted to driving on the right.

After the Second World War, left-driving Sweden, the odd one out in mainland Europe, felt increasing pressure to change sides in order to conform with the rest of the continent. The problem was that all their neighbours already drove on the right side and since there are a lot of small roads without border guards leading into Norway and Finland, one had to remember in which country one was.

 

[Threeteas]

Spotted this in Capel Curig N.Wales, on the way to the Dragon Rally in Angelsey.

We'd got chains on the car wheels. Found the owners in the hotel bar, "warming up".

 

[Threeteas]

Cross Pond Propaganda

Just watched a programme about the British Coastline. They reached Whitehaven on the NW coast, just up from where I am.

I didn't know that the American Navy had invaded under the command of John Paul Jones. Indeed they even landed at Whitehaven.

This is where the propaganda kicks in. Take your pick.

Each year the US Navy send a delegation. They recall how JP landed and if it hadn't been for the vile and inclement weather, he would have torched the town and the Brit Naval ship building facilities of the town.

The local newspaper from the day however tell a different tale.

After a particularly arduous crossing, JP and his crew felt that they should avail themselves of a local hostelry's offerings. Too drunk to do anything, they sailed away.

In either case, this traitorous Scot, went on to be a US hero and a total none entity in the UK.

I'll take a trip up as soon as the bike is ready to ride in the UK (lights, MOT and registration need sorting , plus the bike is in the UK but still not at my home) and get some pics for you folks over there.

 

[Threeteas]

re acquainting with history

Lancaster castle. See the bottom window on the left, it looks different. It's a door to a short drop. The short drop was the last step you took before the rope bit in. Not a long drop where it bit in and broke your neck, that was far too quick and didn't get the message across to the thousands who turned up to watch. The paved area between where I'm standing and the wall has a few hundred bodies beneath it. Those not fortunate to be hung were deported, either Australia or the US...obviously a fate worse than death. Who knows, you may have ancestors who stood at this door. The castle is still a working court and prison.

Conwy castle...one of Edward I's string of castles to keep the Welsh under control, built around 1280.

Manc power! The Victorian, City Hall, built when Manchester was in it's pomp. All the money came from cotton, linking Manchester to the USA and via Liverpool which was the port for slaves out and cotton in, although this building was built after slavery was abolished in the UK and the USA.

And before the trains and roads, the way produce was shipped back and forth between Manchester and Liverpool was, this way...by canal and narrow boats. This isn't actually the Liverpool to Manchester Canal, which still exists by the way. This is in Llangollen at the Thomas Telford build aquaduct. Thomas Telford was one of the great men of the industrial revolution.

It's all ironwork on top of large stone pillars, the thickness of the steel plate on the r/h side is all that stops you falling to your death.

You'll notice the guy at the helm looking over the edge. He'd just had a screaming session at his young son to get over to the path side.

Of course along came the railway, far faster and more cost effective than canals, even these small narrow guage trains, like this one, now employed to take tourists around Lake Bala.

 

[Threeteas]

All this officer gave me was a Think Bike DVD.

 

[Threeteas]

Its obvious he was not Nicaraguan.

With those leather pants he looks like an Eton Fag Master.

I'd have had to give him money to get him to smile though.
I think the leather pants (and full face helmet) are something to do with having a bike he might just be able to catch someone on, rather than a Hardly, where they are little more than road blocks and you can get away with a short sleeve shirt and flip flops.
Plus at Eton they strictly adhere to a dress code that doesn't include the wearing of leather. I believe their uniform is an outfit worn to commemorate the mourning of one of our Kings, who was a patron of the school, and it has stuck, although I looked this up and...

The school is famous for the traditions it maintains, including a uniform of black tailcoat (or morning coat) and waistcoat, false-collar and pinstriped trousers. All students wear a white tie that is effectively a strip of cloth folded over into the collar. There are some variations in the school dress worn by boys in authority, see School Prefects and King's scholars sections.
The long-standing tradition that the present uniform was first worn as mourning for the death of George III is unfounded, as "Eton dress" has undergone significant changes since its standardisation in the 19th century. Originally (along with a top-hat and walking-cane) merely Etonian dress for formal occasions, it is still worn today for classes, which are referred to as "schools". Members of the teaching staff (known as Beaks) are also required to wear a form of school dress when teaching.
From the 19th century until 1967, boys under the height of 5'4" were required to wear the Eton suit, which replaced the tailcoat with the cropped Eton jacket (known colloquially as a "bum-freezer") and included an Eton collar, a large, stiff-starched, white collar. The Eton suit was copied by other schools and has remained in use in some, particularly choir schools.

So it appears the uniform has just evolved since the school was founded in 1440, but it has yet to evolve into leather trousers Statdawg.
I'm just wondering if this image is some corridor into a dim and dark corner of your imagination, where clenched buttocks of the new boys are used to hold crumpets near the fire for browning to a perfect colour, while leather bedecked fags (doesn't mean the same here as there) apply lashings of butter.

 

[Threeteas]

Fresh from India but looking ever part a piece of the scenery.

 

[Threeteas]

Can anyone name the film that used this station?
It sort of has a tenuous link with the Eton post, as a clue.

 

[scoobs]

Was the film "The Great St. Trinian's train Robbery', starring Frankie Howerd?
Cheers,
Ian

 

[Threeteas]

Was the film "The Great St. Trinian's train Robbery', starring Frankie Howerd?
Cheers,
Ian

Not this station, but the exclusive school idea is the right train of thought (pun intended).
There's a new St Trinians film that I saw. It's lost the innocence of the originals and without Mr Simm it was a bit of a mess. Like that god awful last Carry on...Carry on Columbus. Some things are of an era and don't stand the modernisation treatment.

 

[Chris_d]

OK, I'll bite.....Hogwarts?

 

[tonkandy]

Can anyone name the film that used this station?
It sort of has a tenuous link with the Eton post, as a clue.

The Railway Children

 

[Threeteas]

OK, I'll bite.....Hogwarts?

Is....drum roll, tension building silence.....the.......




Correct Answer!!! Ta daaaa!
Hogsmeade, the town where Hogwarts is located. In the story this is set further north in Scotland, where as Settle is in Yorkshire.

I was there last week (the Station not Hogwarts) and then lo-and -behold, up it pops on Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, that the family were watching on TV. Obviously there are some cgi effects added too, but yep, Settle Station.

 

[Threeteas]

Lamble, what is the take on Susan Boyle the Brit talent sensation ? I mean she is from Scotland for Christ's sake far from the Welsh hills of beautiful voices.

Does Piers have any credibility being an ex-tabloid chief ?

If you pass through the Yorkshire Dales there is a small town where my ancestors came from called Burton Fleming. It can best be viewed at about 10 KPH since it is so vast. There is a small stream that runs through it where one of my cousins drown in about 3 cm's of water during high tide. He had to be face down to pull it off because the tidal charts don't work that well so far inland. Be careful of the local mead.

I'll be sure to add Burton Fleming to my must do list, but we still run mph in the UK, so I may need to get off and walk, strangely though, the 3cms of water may be measured metrically, although inches are still used too (we are sort of European, but only when it suits).

Susan Boyle...yes, bit of a phenomenon, but don't mistake this for appreciation of her vocal talents, what's happened here is mass guilt complex syndrome. Everyone saw her and thought, predicted, assumed, added bias and prejudices to their preconceived ideas, that she would be awful. That she was quite good, but by no means exceptional, was a slap in the face to all the cynics, including the judges and the audience and a wake up call that we are all capable of making rash judgements. It is hysteria out of guilt, hysteria which will elevate her above and beyond any level of singing competence she has, in a hope that we can all feel better for it.

Piers Morgan didn't have any credibility as a tabloid journo, very humiliatingly and publicly sacked, what he does have is opinions that he will state with utter conviction in their infallibility. He'd suit the Tavern.

 

[Threeteas]

The Railway Children

Jenny Agutter...although I once sat opposite her on a train, that's as far as I can go with the train and this station connection. Railway Children, wasn't that set in the rolling countryside of Epsom or the like, down south?

Homework!




So although the trains were marked as Southern and Northern, the shots were all taken on the Keighley and Worth Valley which is in West Yorkshire.