1970: The life of the DUSTMEN | Nationwide | Classic BBC Clips | BBC Archive
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- Опубликовано: 7 май 2022
- Bob Wellings spends the day with a group of London dustmen. What are the daily challenges they face? How do the public treat their rubbish? Is the profession changing? Can you make good money from totting? And finally, can you enjoy being a dustman?
This clip is from Nationwide, originally broadcast 10 February, 1970.
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That guy at the end is spot on. "Someone's got to do it." I hate it when you get snobby people like the interviewer who ask patronising questions like "shouldn't you have been more ambitious", but he'd be the first one to complain if everyone had gone off to university and there was no one around to empty his bin each week.
Good point
There is still the dreadful attitude in this country that with anyone in the service industry is looked down on with the comment 'Cant you get a better job - ?'
If it wasn't for all the hard working folk in the service industries, where would those snobby attituded people be then - ?
Nothing worse than snobs that downgrade and look down on you on the occupation you do.
Just a single driver picks these up in our country now. But I always leave 1 dozen of beer on the letter box at Xmas day if it is our rubbish day or the closest day to Xmas that is our rubbish day. Small thankyou to them.
And let's not forget that bin men are paid good money. Why go to University and get yourself in crippling debt when you could just empty bins and be paid decent money for it.
My dad was a dustman in the 70's. Well to start with he was in the Royal Marines (SBS) and then worked at Fords in Dagenham.
But he was at his happiest as a dustman.
He told me years ago that he loved working with his crew , but also in those days he helped elderly residents if they needed a bulb changing or plug fitting etc or any minor job but not forgetting the odd cup of tea 😁
I remember him coming home in his blue overalls just after I got home from school hoping he had bought me a bar of chocolate lol.
The lesson I learnt was all jobs are important from cleaning upwards .
I also learnt not to have any interest in people who thought picking a brush up or cleaning a toilet was beneath them.
Now I'm 60 and I still miss him so much
Wherever you are I love you dad ♥️x
Reading this made me tear up a bit. Your father was blessed to be so loved and remembered so fondly.
@@DD-wd2ep thankyou I appreciate your comment 😉
Good words , I was a dustman when I came off the railway , good job , all weathers and on the gallop but the blokes you worked with made the job . And people who got sniffy with us usually found that most of us at some time had worked for ourselves and they couldn't live with the intelligent back chat . Or a thick ear .
@@stephenrice4554I hate it when cleaners and refuse collectors are looked down upon by snobby idiots.
I have strong views on this because refuse collectors do a fantastic job and work hard as do cleaners .
I can't be arsed with people that go into anaphylactic shock because they have chipped a fingernail.
M
"It is now time for the first dump of the day". Always the best one in my opinion.
😂😂😂😂
The first dump of the day……..Yup get it over and done with, then the day is yours !
I thought that was hilarious when he said that 😆
@@Ivorbiggin Hopefully!
930am is a little late in the day for the 1st of the day however. good to hear they keep things regular after breakfast though...
Look who has all that lovely time to spend with his family, that' time is worth more than gold. These men are truly valuable to us all.
God one can only hope he had a bath sitting there with his wife and kid? ( I bet he didn't )
A modern day garbage employee is worked to death with long hours. Guess times have really changed.
These men are the backbone of our country.
Not any more though
Were
Office workers think they are 😂
Where, it's pretty easy now.
Lazy gits nowadays
When I lived in England in the late 70s, we always tipped our dustman at Christmas time and gave him special treats as well. He used to come in the back gate to collect the rubbish, so no need for a wheelie bin back then. The days of service - like milkmen, bread truck, dry cleaners, etc. - I miss some of those things.
Did you also tip the regular paperboy?
@@maratonlegendelenemirei3352 I usually picked up a paper on the way home from work from the boy on the street, and yes, I would tip him because my brothers were both paperboys and I knew how hard the work was.
@Michael lees When I have known mine, I have done the same. It's easier when you live in a house than in a building full of flats where you never see the postie.
We did the same in the 70’s. My dad is 84 and still tips everyone now, he had a new sofa delivered a month or so ago and tipped the 2 delivery guys £5 each even though he’s already paid for delivery. Old habits never die😆
I saw someone e delivering milk this morning on a float and milk in a glass bottle I was quite shocked
There was a kid I went to school with who's Dad was a dustbin man and he used to get bullied relentlessly for the fact. I felt so bad for him. These men are doing a tremendous noble job and should be honoured.
That's sad. I've told my kids the bin men do a hard and really important job - perhaps more important for public health than GPs.
And his Dad was probably in better condition than those bully’s dads
More than a noble job it is an essential job, otherwise we would all be living in our own crap.
@@emilydavison2053why aren't the fathers teaching their kids this. Good that u are but just remember men maintain and protect society especially for women and kids
that's more of it at least he supported his family..and lady's gentleman is all we can ask for and very thankful you dad and outhers were supporting yous and our family...and not poncing thankfully...very proud of all 😊..
I've been a dustman for 20 years,definitely a lifestyle,I agree with the guy at the end who wouldn't change it for the world. Some might say I've wasted my university education but I prefer to enjoy life than worry about money.
Agree 100% mate. I done a degree in south east asian politics with “movement studies”. Honestly I was all a bit beyond me but the taxpayer picked up the bill and it was a nice doss for 3 years. Still managed a 2:1! After a few years on the dole I started stacking shelves at asda and I aint looked back. Mind you I fackin hate my life and I sometimes wish I was dead. Still, mustn’t grumble, eh.
Nice man!
Same here marra. I`m cemetery staff, grave digging, grounds maintenance etc, I get a lot of clap back as I`ve got a BA 1st in History and Political Philosophy and I`m doing an Msc part time, I never thought I`d like this job, but I do. There is an old working class idea that you should`nt be educated, which I find bizarre, you can be AND do a working class job.
Yeah, me too.. Did me PHD in advanced astroturf and now I just prefer to stand on the end of a production line inspecting dog biscuits... it's a real treat
@@peterburry2531 LOL.
Never upset the Dustbin men as I use to hear my dad say & always appreciate at Christmas with a gift for a drink . These men are hard-working men & do not get a decent wage even today . Also worked all through lockdown Respect to all .
Then they are correct.
I used to know a dustman. I always admired the furniture and fittings in his flat and garden, things we now call 'retro' or 'architectural salvage', he got it all ' off the DUST ' he told me.
He was always finished work by lunch time and very happy with his lot in life.
I was a dustman for a few weeks in the summer when I was at college. The guys on the round were real salt of the earth types, very kind to a young naive student like me. It opened my eyes (and nose) to the unseen working world. I first got the call to get down to the depot after one of the men on the regular round had slipped and gone under the truck, it had run over his head and killed him that morning. His twin brother worked the same round although they never spoke to one another. in the depot grown men were crying and cracking bad taste jokes at the same time. My first day at work started like that. I´ll never forget it, nor the smell of the trucks.
Yeah, I loved doing jobs like that. Getting a little peak into their world. Always fun being the 'lad' young and naive working with a few old timers. Usually take the piss out of you in a good way also.
What with them truck tyres, I bet his head went like a watermelon
@@paudsmcmack3117 It was all part of learning your craft & good banter , the new boy 👦 lol 😂
Oh, Man...that one moved me! 😥
Les had it sorted he liked his job and got to spend time with his family. Worth a lot to a man being with his family
what planet are you from?
@@robertsemple299 take it you hate your family then? The man was wise beyond his years in valuing his time over money. Something lost on people like you I guess
@@ive3336Re-read the original comment, let me remind you. "Worth a lot to a man being with his family " Really??? Well, where does domestic violence and wife murder come from? Every day in the world a woman in a family is killed by a man. Explain that.
@@robertsemple299 Are you serious? Wtf has domestic abuse got to do with a man wanting to spend time with his family instead of chasing money? What planet are you on is the real question 🤔
@@ive3336 "He likes his job and got to spend time with his family"... what a load of bollocks. Anyone with those aspirations is a waste of space and, god forbid, likely to pass those genes on to his children. What a pathetic target to give yourself in the one and only life you have. Why not try to better yourself instead of watching crap on teevee and drinking warm beer down the pub. Don't your kids deserve better? I know your wife does.
I love people who can admit they do honest work
Bless them all. My Grandad was a dustman, such a hardworking grafter, he used to have burns from when people just dumped their hot ashes in the metal bins . They certainly don’t make men like these anymore
Where would we be without binmen? Serious question: These guys are what keep society afloat.
I was born in 1985 so I grew up in the 90's but one thing I will say whilst watching videos from 50+ years ago is that people were so much more humble, polite and hard working. People in this day and age are very self entitled and ignorant. These appear to be better days when people actually talked and were grateful for what they had,no matter how small.
@@samsara3694 These guys look older than the post war baby boom generation. They had probably done national service so had some discipline and work ethic.
Plus they actually had to lift up the bins on their shoulders back then , the little princes these days have wheelie bins which are automatically lifted into the wagon.
They still threaten strikes though .
Through ignorance manners are not taught at home anymore if they are they are nor endorsed enough.
There’s not a parent out there who would admit to that but that’s the plain truth!
@@samsara3694 What the heck’s a boomer you great pillock,who makes these stupid words up,nearly as bad as non-binary.Are you a member of the gaming clan.Probably American!
My bin men look like they work hard, wheelie bins or not. It stinks, running to get things, cars beeping at them. Do a day yourself and then tell me if it is hard work.
I did a year on the dustcart with a temping agency and I can honestly say it’s the best job I ever had. The guys I worked with were the nicest people you could ever meet.
well you need to meet more people then.
@@robertsemple299 🥱🥱🥱
Mumn dad always treated our bin men with thanks and gratitude in the 60s n 70s etc.. Top blokes. Got tea n coffee etc and gifts regularly
No bin man ever had time to stop and have a cup of tea
Now THAT was grafting.
Thats proper hard work that is. Ive done a week on recycling collections and that was tough enough, mid winter, rural areas. Just did it for a bit of cash near Christmas one year. Hats off to those who did the dustbins year after year, no grumbling.
My Uncle Ronnie was a dustman in the 60's and 70's, working around the Dalston area of London.
He was a down to earth man, with a rock solid character... 😊❤🙏
When i was a kid i used to want to be a bin man because i thought they only worked one day a week.
😂😂😂
You are getting mixed up with a politician 😅
God bless! The more people look down on a job, the more important it is if you ask me. If the an MP does not show up for work in two weeks no one cares. If bus driver does the same thing it will mayhem!
As an ex domestic electrician of some ten years, I got to spend a week with families from all walks of life.
But the filthiest most disgusting house I ever set foot in was a surgeon's house from Northampton.
I actually stood on his stairs on a pile of filthy underwear and exclaimed "Chri*t... Was is squatters?"
He said ... "Squatters... Where?" Whilst looking out of the window over his stable-yard!
I will not type what I found in the bathroom (it was my job to lift the floorboards).
Best wishes from a French forest. 🌞🇬🇧
It brings a tear to my eye when I think of what a fantastic broadcaster the BBC was, the entire content was like this. Logical, intelligent and fare, it was the most respected station on the planet. Thats what it used to be like, compared to the patronising drivel it is now a days. Everyone in the BBC at that time spoke like the interviewer, it is called received pronunciation, slightly posh but accent less. This is classic example of good telly, straight to the point and letting the binmen have their say, you know what it's like to be a binman after watching this. Great piece and thanks for posting.
I know its late 80s 90s
Aye, now it's just a Tory mouthpiece. Sad times.
I agree, now we have 'reggae' presenters wheelchair presenters although with little or no experience. The only way a child could listen to perceived pronunciation is to watch Peppa Pig 🐷
Patrick - RP is still alive and well, just not in the UK. My partner is only 29 and from India and he speaks RP in English and an RP style thing in his local language. My first date with him was the first time I'd heard this accent outside of these old b&w youtube videos!
@@DrBagPhD is this sarcasm ? The BBC are far left promoting toxic woke ideology . In bed with the labour party
Now if the wrong tin is in the wrong bin they leave it. These fellas on here earned their corn. I remember em well.
I was thinking the same
Last time I was in England circa 2015 I was visiting my elderly father and I offered to help with the garbage. I stepped outside the back and was confronted by an array of different coloured bins. I paused one moment before heading back inside to fetch a large bin bag. Filled it up with everything mixed and drove off to the nearest public bin and shoved it. None of that recycling cobblers for me because it all gets sent to China and burnt together in the same power station.
"They",are only doing the job the way they're told to do it,any little contamination spoils the whole load,Fact!The number of houses have risen dramatically in modern times,the loads are larger and contaminated with syringes and the like nowadays,the guys these days very much earn their corn also.
My Grandad worked for the council on the bins in the 1980s they used to go around the back of your house and carry the bins to the truck, now they’ll leave a label on it, saying it’s too heavy.
@@felinemad There aren't many older binmen nowadays,with the amount of rubbish they have to collect these days most are younger lads who run most of the day just to complete their rounds,I appreciate the binmen of yesterday but the tonnage was a lot less ,that's why men could do it well into their 50s,those days are sadly long gone
A contented family man - brilliant.
Its crazy the amount of physical graft they had to do back then and they still considered it unskilled. Shouldering bins, rubbish spilled down stairs and having to press everything down with hands. You'd need to do an NVQ nowadays and even then that is pushing the boundaries of health and safety.
It was adorable to see Les and his family at the end. In an era when men, especially working class men spent such little time with their families. Working in factories and then going to the pub afterwards. That he and many other early morning workers may have chosen their job for the sake of family time is really lovely.
Hearing Bob Wellings again was wonderful. I knew him as a good neighbour many years later. A gent and good company.
I remember the old dustbins ,i took mine out by the pavement every Thursday morning ,when full they could be very heavy ,used to see dustmen carry one over each shoulder ,the wheelie bin men don`t know they`ve got it made these days!.
My nan allways gave them all some whiskey or brandy for a drink at Christmas when they came round. Just some in glasses for each of them. Allways grateful. How it's all changed now.
I’m always greatful for our bin collectors and street cleaners they do an amazing job…
Proper hard work back then,I remember as a kid the ashes from the coal fire went in the bin along with anything & everything.The bins weighed an absolute ton.Absolute respect to them guys without doubt that would have been a job not for the work shy....respect 👍
Done 2 stints on the bins, both back when Sulo bins first came in but we still had ash bins too. To this day, I got more from the job than any other I've done since. Sadly they're still underpaid & seriously under appreciated
I did that in the north of England in 1965 or 6. £13 a week before tax. We worked through the rain otherwise there'd be complaints. We also had a bloke used to sweep up after us and put the bins back. No steaks though, just a sandwich eaten in the cab when we were at the tip. Kept the germs away or so they said. And no one o'clock finish either
My shoulders are aching just watching these guys , we’ll done fellas
No asthma or hayfever when i was a kid and the ' big men ' were around to pick up our 2 bins. Make sure your dog was tied up or it would get a metal toe cap in it or a shovel over its' back. You didn't want to argue with that group of men.
I'm a bin man, bins out bins in at serviced properties. Nothings changed much when it comes to the 'state' of some bin areas at properties. The more richer areas tend to be the worst for mess.
Wow really. Lazy dirty rich . Ewww
🫡
@@Jimbo-og6ei Sorry, dont get your response! Upended rectangle with a cross through it!. 🤷
I respect everybody no matter the job. Trash collecting is a very important job. If we didn't have people to do it we would be in trouble. No reason to put someone down simply because they do something different than we do!
Back when I was a kid in 1950's Los Angeles, they use dump trucks. One guy had to lift up a can to a guy in the truck bed. It looked tough but still it was the first job I ever wanted.
Why you ask?
Because I thought they only worked one day a week so it must pay really well. Plus, in my kids mind I'd have six days a week off to play. 😂
😂 great story 👍
how is working less days better pay than working more days?
😂😂😂
Although most folk look down on scaffies, it's a vital job in any society and more need to realise this and give them a lot more respect.
I respect them I don’t understand anyone who would not.
Those were the days ... five bob for a decent breakfast ... the bins brought back into the garden ... men were heard whistling ... they were jolly 😊
Whistling??? Gasping more like, 'cos of the weight.
"I wouldn't change my job for anything" and God Bless all the happy people in the world.
Salt of the earth hard working blokes
This is true happiness. Giving for your community.
Why are British historical docs on literally any subject no matter how obscure so excellent in comparison to anywhere else docs get produced?
Because everything made today sounds blandly the same (music, camera work, editing etc)
Because they were all produced by the BBC, which, without competition, was putting out it's programmes solely for the wealthy, educated classes who could afford a television set. People working on BBC Television at the time all came across from BBC Radio, so were highly skilled and experienced. Also most early BBC programmes were designed to be educational so the quality had to be very high. Plus television was only broadcast for a few hours a day, resulting in quality over quantity.
@@davidh7088 Yuck. Expected but still unfortunate to know... Thanks for sharing that though nonetheless
A case of rose tinted specs ?
@@thefreedomguyuk I didnt grown up with these Im not even 30 yet and I live in the US.
After 31 years driving for the council I’m done at the end of the month been a blast
Respect
That was in the day when they picked everything up and even carried a brush and shovel to clear up any spills. If anything falls to the floor now it's left there.
I remember them days well. We often used to see the dustman walking up our path knees buckling cig in mouth then shoulder tip into a Bedford dustcart truck. Nowadays if you put a crisp packet in the wrong bin all hell breaks out.
These days we do most the work …
@@diegestive4167most general waste bins now are 60-80 kg. Try hefting a pair of those between parked cars.
4000 times a week….
@@Jafmanz my heart bleeds …try getting rolls of vinyl 140kg to 170 kg off the deck and around construction sites or rolls of carpet up stairs all day plus all the other stuff needed to get jobs done on a daily basis then spend all day on your knees fitting it see which one you thinks easier
@@diegestive4167 I worked on construction sites as a carry and fetcher when I was in my early 20's University campus builds. High rise. Every single bit of vinyl, carpet, every door had to be fire retardant. they all had to be carried up those stairs past the loose wiring and half finished hallways. I know how heavy they are.
We have an ex carpet fitter working with us. he can't hack it.
The difference is rest..
you don't get any!
I'm a powerlifter for the last 4 years as well.
My 7 mile walk/jog shifting 20-25 tonne a day is the warm -up for the real work.
see when you have your cup of tea after you've fitted a carpet just think i'm still outside in the rain, still moving weight...
As for being on your knees...
choices fella... choices...
@@Jafmanz at least you know how it works then as for breaks I don’t have any get it done and gone …
Definitely real men in a bygone era!!!!💙
🙄🙄🙄
What is a “real man”
What great guys! God bless them, they had such character. Great how they all sat down to breakfast together and for a natter.
Why don't you see such people anymore?
No camaraderie these days. Everyone watching their own back in case there’s a snitch in the gang.
Too much division in the country nowadays. People hate each other .
@@chrisjohnson3590 Yes it's dreadful it's become like this isnt it? Camaraderie, you hit the nail on the head with that word. Thankyou for the reply on that sometimes i ask myself how it got like this..
@@Mors_Inimicis Yes again how true, it seems governments divide and conquer strategy over the years has worked wonders for them. People now hate each other, a harsh statement but sadly true.
I was a coalman after leaving school in the 1970's. Up to 20 tons (not quite metric tonnes at that point) a day, all weathers. Bloody hard graft. I now drive a Rolls Royce, and enjoy a nice life, but NOTHING will ever stop me remembering my roots.
Incredible if true.
Does the weather change much in a coal mine?
Also what sort of roller you got mate?
@@herrfister1477 HF, I own a modern Ghost. I was not actually underground, rather delivering sacks of coal. Each one weighed 112lbs.
Thanks for keeping us warm Bib 🙏👌
@@herrfister1477 Why would he lie about that?
@@louisep4805 You tell me love.
That is some seriously back breaking work. Amazing. Sounds like a young Paxman interviewing.
What insulting questions they asked him at the end! Just goes to show the class system in the 70’s that still exists today
I’m 65 and remember when the bin called every week. They walked up your path to the back door, collected the bin, emptied it in dustcart and returned your bin to back door.
They are so fussy about what they will take away now, in the '60s, We took just about anything, we even took dead animals that had been killed on the road and dead animals from the vets. A stinking job for very little pay.
Exactly! I always made sure they got a Christmas and summer tip as well as drink for any extras they took. Now they cry and refuse to empty your wheely bin if it's not placed kirbside with millimetric precision.
You need a tracker on the wheelie bin now,! they discard it anywhere.
I remember bin men carried a metal bin on each shoulder full to bursting, hot fire ash ,all manor of rubbish, even bricks, and rubble, garden waste, glass, e t c! collected, and returned to the back of the house lid back on.
The biggest insult at my school was,you'll end up on the bins you.!
You can't get on the bins now.
@@gefleigh4264How right you are. My teacher used to say the same. The funny thing is I did end up on the bins and I loved it even though it was hard work and the pay was crap. I went on to better things later on in life but I will never forget my days working on the bins.
I've always said being a dustman is a real grafters job, only the hard working will do it. I can remember in the 80's when mum would leave bin bags in the entry like everyone else, there would always be loose rubbish from people who don't care or respect them. They had to carry all those bin bags to the bin lorry. I'm so glad they have the bins now but it's still a grafters job.
I was a dustman for 16 years best job ever, worked with some fantastic people, not a easy job as some people think, I would still be doing the job if it wasn’t for my accident, miss it terribly
Dignity of labour I respect
I am sure the interviewer is called Bob Wellings. He used to be a staple on Nationwide, back in the 70s. It had a steller presenting team on this magazine programme. It was hosted by Michael Barrett. Sue Lawley and Bernard Falke were also on the team.
I worked on the bins as a student summer job.
Some of the most grounded, savvy people I've ever met.
One was a former senior projectionist in a cinema, another used to work in an office, another was a former postman.
One or two, despite being low paid were pretty much financially independent - they'd plough their spare money into pensions and investments all their working lives.
On facing the prospect of downsizing and restructuring one said to me "I don't care. I got stacks of money"
im 52....ill always remember watching these boys hanging on to the back of the wagons, oh and the smell :)
This was filmed in London, Colville Terrace and Colville Square off Portobello Road in the 1970s RBCK Council
The hardest working people I ever met ❤
I remember the bin men too back in the 70's before that jobsworth you see today with his little sticker book going round checking you've been putting the right things in
wonder if these amazing characters are still with us? :)
I should imagine sadly no , I'm a binman doing missed bins , born in early 1970 same year as this film I work alone just my dustcart and me , I do around 50 + hours a week it's tough going and I'm feeling my age now . I think once you've conquered the bad smells and maggots you're ok.
I was a bin man in the 60s. It was hard work but I was 17 years old and very fit. we collected the bins from the rear of the house as they never put the bins out in those days. the bins were full to the brim with ashes, tea leaves, dog muck, garden waste, bricks, rubble etc. The tea slops ran down our backs when we picked the bins up and onto our shoulders, sometimes it took two men to lift the bin if the bin had old bricks and rubble in it. The hot ashes burned our backs and our clothes were always soaking, we weren't supplied with overalls as the bin men are today, we wore our old clothes. We had fires in the back of the waggon as some of the ashes were still alight. The men in the video went to a cafe for breaks, we worked without a break so we could get finished. Despite this, I loved the job as the men I worked with all worked as hard as me, there were no slackers. I had a good friend who worked with me who was killed, he was riding on the step of the wagon, as we all did and he was knocked off when the waggon went too close to a lamp post, and his head was crushed by the back wheels. The driver was so shocked he never drove again for several months. The bin men of today have it good, no heavy lifting, overalls supplied and a decent wage.
I agree with you up until the last part. I'm a bin man in glasgow and we do not "have it easy" as you say. Try Pulling tailor bins i.e double metal bins in the govanhill area of Glasgow and tell me it's "easy", and the money we get is justified.
@@scott0239 We als had the big bins and they were heavy. Another one of our jobs in the 60s was the outside toilets we had to shovel them on to the bin wagon. That was a stinking job. We didn't have nice dayglow overalls, gloves or hand washing facilities. The wages then were about £5 per week. It still may not be a great job but it is far better now than then.
@@SloopyDog nobody is doubting that you and other guys worked hard back then. You are making out that it is all rosy nowadays when it is not the case. We work hard every single day and I'm pretty sure if you were giving the chance to wear " nice dayglow overalls " then you would wear them, the same also applies to wearing gloves etc. Who in their right mind would refuse to wear protective clothing if it was offered. Again no doubt you guys worked hard for very little pay, but don't make out that we have it easy because I can assure you we don't.
@@scott0239 I am sure you still work hard and a bin mans job is never going to be easy. I am not trying to imply that you don't work hard. I am sorry if I have given this immpression. Best Wishes.
@@SloopyDog no hard feelings my good man . From 1 bin man to another, take care of yourself and put your feet up, you've earned it.
The days before recycling when nobody gave a toss, people still don't in many cases. Where the hell would we be without them. Good on them.
You are respected and admired as true workmen ,and worth your weight in gold. Well done showing these men how they used to do it..
This is the BEST !! I love Steptoe and Son and all things British through US Public Television in the 1970's with Monty Python , Young Ones on MTV in the 1980's and then finally the Mighty Boosh in the 2000's - specifically the Crack Fox episode where Howard Moon gets fired and becomes a Dustbin Man or Dustman or whatever the exact correct term is . Anyway I love this stuff !!
Always happy to give them a tip for getting rid of a bit of our extra waste, and a big bottle of whiskey Christmas time. They were more like friends than binmen.......Now, they can FOff !
Parents always made sure the bin crews got a good Christmas tip .
It's men like these that make civilized society livable for snobs, like the interviewer, to question the Dustmans ambition.
That type of lifting must have led to destroyed backs and wrists, especially by the time they retired.
It was a shock the first time you encountered it - urban round, blocks of flats. Town bins were heavier, more ash and had to be carried up of down steps. I got a lot of stick at first as I struggled, but the strength and technique soon comes. Then you had the country rounds, far lighter bins and often you could get the lorry up to them. Poly bags were coming in and you had to watch out for glass in them.
In those days they would have been employed by the local council with all the benefits that entailed before being taken over by Serco or some other company with reduced benefits and conditions, they were lifting heavy rusty metal bins and physically emptying them into the back of the dustcart breathing in a constant cloud of noxious dust, now they just toss a tied up bin bag into the back of the cart. At Christmas they would knock on all the doors to get their Christmas bonus from the residents, I don't see that anymore it's probably been banned by the outsourced companies the councils employed to avoid paying their dustmen holiday pay sick pay and pensions. they started early and were home by lunchtime so had the rest of the day to themselves not a bad lifestyle if you could live on the low wage and didn't mind the work.
You are spot on I'm a serco binman.
I was obsessed with the bin men and their trucks as a young kid. It was never "grunt work" to me, always respected them
"my old man's a dustman, ee wears a dustmans at"............
Really enjoyed this vid. And the guys that get all that family and leisure time, wow!
We were lied to when hey said computers would give us all more time to do other things😢
The furthest back I can remember were those metal bins with the tar lids. Of course some still had metal lids.
Wheelie bins must have came into mass useage around 1990.
Yeah ours has 1990 printed on the green lid.
Good grief, im so old I remember our rubbish being collected in black bin bags back in the 70s. mum and dad ran the pub and they bin men took anything for a quick pint, those were the days hehe.
Just as I red that I think I remember seeing one of those tar lids. Memory unlocked
12th March 1968 in the UK. First wheelie bin.
I didn't have bins with wheels where I live until 2014...
I really enjoy these old BBC clips, life was simpler but everyone seemed happier.
Had a cousin in England who saw the change, which came in the 80's at the same time as fast food. That's when garbage got huge.
films like this should be made all the time so that a timeline can be made for future generations
These type of people are the ones who really DO, run the country!!!! I salute them!!! 😊
Those were the days 🥰
Where the bin truck is on the corner of portobello Rd by the zebra crossing , I live just 2 houses up from there , it still looks the same apart from the area has become gentrified now and a very expensive place to live , good old days back then in the 70's not like it is now unless you have plenty of £££....
Can you imagine life with the dustmen? Got to be one of the most important jobs there is. Thanks fellas.
Absolutely love this video, crazy how much has changed in 50 year
Absolutely fascinating.
Totting sounds like a good thing for recycling. Granted everything is in bags now, so that makes it harder and they're probably on tight time scales. We have issues round here with housing clearance businesses dumping random furniture and stuff round the housing estate, especially in grassy areas. If they had somewhere to take the junk and get money for it that would be great. They don't want to pay the fees at the local dump.
There are a ton of recycling schemes now
The blokes at our local dump spend more time picking valuables out the skip than grafting. "Just leaves it there, mate, I'll sort that out for you", with eBay on in the hut all day.
@borderlands well fair play to them really, who's the mug they're recycling stuff people can't be bothered to and making a bit of extra cash at the same time
Love these Vintage Clips..They Gems...
Doing an honest day's work, and an essential job. Good for them.
The good old days, how things have changed
Love how the BBC guy talks to working class people as if they are a different species
Most of those bins are full of newspapers, back in the 70's they worked their butts off and were proper nice guys.
My dad always commented the fact that bin men were always laughing and content. Very rarely seen anywhere else.
Interesting blast from the past. The bin lorry I believe is an Eagle Engineering `Crushload' (although I apparently incorrectly remember them being labled `Crushaload').
The examples I remember seeing in operation in Maidenhead, Berkshire, UK in the mid 1960s had the `inverted drawer' ram crushing the rubbish against and through fixed vertical tines (that assisted in breaking it up) into the truck body. The later but very similar SD `Pakamatic' (manufactured by Shelvoke & Drewry) had no vertical tines but was otherwise very similar in operation **.
Modern bin lorries crush the rubbish against a hydraulically moveable wall that I believe improves upon the packing density achieved and saves energy (reduces the tendancy for the refuse to behave like a spring). When empty at the beginning of the round the wall is positioned fully to the back of the truck, it is inched forward automatically when hydraulic pressure sensors indicate that there is little remaining space until it is fully forward and the lorry is ready to be emptied. The `Crushload' & `Pakamatic' may well have featured a moveable wall but if so it would have been manually moved forwards by the driver / workers when it became clear that the compactor was struggling & more room was needed.
For emptying the compactor assembley is unlocked from the body and hydraulically lifted up and out of the way and the `wall' is used to eject the rubbish at the landfill site.
Annoying that the Warning label on the LHS of the loading area is not entirely readable.
** The fixed tines were, I imagine, a nuisance sometimes, for instance when handling an old enamelled steel kitchen sink, I remember an operative loading one into the compactor, letting it crush the bowl area flat and then reaching into the loading bay to retrieve it and store it on a shelf above the compactor, possibly for recycling. It couldn't be left in the compactor because it would behave like a diaphragm, preventing other loads from being forced through the tines. Also the practice was energy intensive.
Wow... This looks like serious hard work! How different attitudes were back then. Can't imagine many young people doing this now. Even without qualifications or any skills or experience, so many would rather get benefits than minimum or even average wage and graft.
None of us could get by with out our dustmen they are the hidden heroes 😊
Hopefully some of thesemen will be still above ground probably in there 70 s or 80 odd bless them ❤ proud working men
I remember seeing a council van that had on the side ‘If the rates you would reduce, Burn the refuse you produce’.
You’d get shot for it now!
Great men
God bless them. Doing a job that absolutely has to be done. We're would society be without people prepared to do jobs like this.
2001/2 we used to work Camden/ London bins we toted copper metals all sorts sold it behind Angel underground station and we used to buy breakfast with the money at café express on York way kings cross good times