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Welcome!

A warm welcome to the Voices from the Road podcast.

 

It’s an exciting new project in which we create and build a fascinating audio archive capturing the widest possible range of motoring memories – starting way back in 1932.

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Members of the production team have been out and about in recent months, collecting motoring stories from years gone by. These stories could be individual accounts of road journeys, exciting adventures and achievements from specific years… as well as more noteworthy developments in road safety, vehicle technology and motoring law. The key thing is the people telling the stories... it’s all about real life on the road. Don’t forget, you can enjoy listening to any of our podcast recordings as individual items in their own right. Just browse through the growing library of content, choose the year and have a listen! We think just about everyone will have a tale worth telling from their experiences on the road. Passing a driving test, trying out a brand-new car, trying to cope on a troublesome journey… anything’s possible as we seek to assemble a worthwhile and extensive archive of motoring history for Voices from the Road. We also acknowledge the very sad memories that many families may carry of a loved one lost in a road collision. Part of our commitment is to help ensure their memory lives on.

Voices from the Road is a 90th anniversary project launched for GEM Motoring Assist

Latest episodes

1960, 1997 & 2002

In this episode out consultant historian Alan Wakeley examines how our road network has developed since 1960. our reporter James Luckhurst tells of an unforgetable trip to Finland in 1997 with Kent Police Sargeant Trevor Southgate. Heidi Duffy from Shiny Side Up lets us know of the story behind the creation of this safety initiative. Find out more about Shiny Side Up at shinysideup.co.uk.

00:00 / 22:52

1937, 1963 & 2005

We take a drive in a vintage Morris Series II from 1936. Has the difficulty of driving tests changed over the decades? We take trips down memory lane to 1963 and 2005 to find out...

1983

In 1983 UK parliament passed legislation to make seatbelt wearing compulsory for drivers and front seat passengers. We learn about the path to passing this bill from Barry Shearman MP, the broadcaster Nick Ross, safety advocate Jean Gaffin, and barrister Glyn Maddocks.

1935, 1955 and 1958

David Periam and Doctor Alan Wakely talks about a crash on a road in Lincolshire in January 1933. Chris de Blocq van Kuffeler remembering the pain of his 1955 road trip across the south of England in the new family car…. In this edition we crawl across East Anglia on a very foggy Christmas Eve night in 1958, and we hear about one family’s excitement on taking delivery of their very first car – to a naval base in the Netherlands.

EPISODE 5

1966 & 1991

Allan Lewis remembering his Heinkel Bubble car. Neil Cunliffe and Karen Stringer discussing the earliest days of road traffic education schemes for drivers in 1991