**A Journey Through Time**

As I sit here today, reflecting on my life, I am reminded of the transformative power of experiences that shape us at a young age. It's a day that changed everything for me and has become etched in my memory forever – August Bank Holiday 1978, when I embarked on what would become my first significant journey from Birmingham to Weston-super-Mare.

**The Birth of a Benchmark Journey**

That fateful day marked the beginning of a series of experiences that have since become benchmarks for me. The journey itself was about 130 miles, and we took the M5, although it wasn't quite complete back then. Our trusty Ford Anglia or Morris Marina Coupe served as our steed, with my three brothers and parents by my side. As I lay back on the vinyl, resting my head on the floor, I would listen to the rumble of the prop shaft spinning below like the engine of a ship. The sound became music to my ears, a symphony that lulled me into a state of relaxation as we droned along the motorway.

**The Importance of Journeys**

As I look back on those early journeys, I realize that they hold a special significance in my life. Each journey was an exercise in patience, trust, and teamwork. We'd chat as a family, argue over the middle seat, and then settle into our respective positions. The anticipation of reaching our destination kept us engaged, and the excitement of finally seeing the sea became a shared experience that united us all. These journeys may seem ordinary to some, but they instilled in me a sense of wonder, a love for the journey, and an appreciation for the little things in life.

**A Right of Passage**

As I grew older, these journeys became more than just a means of transportation; they were a right of passage. The act of driving, even if it was just on the motorway, gave me a sense of freedom and responsibility. It was a feeling that I've carried with me throughout my life, often finding myself comparing future experiences to those early journeys from Birmingham to Weston-super-Mare.

**The Legacy of Those Journeys**

Fast forward to today, and I find myself in a new chapter of my life – as the proud owner of a classic car restoration workshop. It's a culmination of all those years spent working with cars, and I'm grateful for the journey that brought me here. The experience has given me a unique perspective on life, one that I hope to share with others through my work in television.

**A Full Circle**

As I reflect on my life, I realize that those early journeys have become an integral part of who I am today. They've taught me the value of perseverance, teamwork, and the importance of appreciating the little things in life. And now, as I sit here, surrounded by classic cars and tools, I'm reminded of the journey that brought me to this moment.

**Getting Back to Work**

With a newfound sense of purpose, I'll return to my workshop, eager to share my story with others through my show on Discovery Plus – Richard Hammond's Workshop. It's time to put into words the experiences that have shaped me and continue to inspire me. The journey may be over for this particular trip, but the memories and lessons learned will stay with me forever.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enit was here on this patch of sand that I saw one of three events that would shape my life and the other two events all happened within this square mile and they all happened on the same day oh no no I can't we can't it oh no way no not talking um oh this is just I'm going to love this I think what I need to do is remind myself why I love this why I started this whole thing there there is a reason there's a good reason I'm going to remind myself why I'm here waiting at the end of this journey is the one place the single spot in the world that set the course for my entire life and it happened on one particular day the place it's not Monte Carlo it's Western supermare ranked 18th in a list of the top 20 British Coastal resorts at the telegraph it's the birthplace of John C home to the largest Helicopter Museum in Europe Europe and in 2024 to more antisocial Behavior than any other town in Somerset it was also the place my grandparents retired to in 1970 that's why we used to Trek here from Birmingham and on August bank holiday 1978 I was here three things happened that combined Define my entire adult life there the reason I'm sitting here in this car having escaped my workshop and talking to you that's how life goes isn't it and here's the story of it so to the day that explained why I just left my classic car restoration workshop and I'm talking to you August bank holiday 1978 we're here in Western supermare on holiday because my dad's parents retired here in 1970 it's where we came on holiday every year this was well just like every other time we saw my grandparents we came out here to the front pass this the grand Pier we always pass the grandp because it was full of expensive things that soaked up all your money and I'm one of three brothers so we avoided that what we could do was walk here along the front and out there on the beach and that's what I'm going to do now to take you to the first spot that shaped my life it happened here well I wasn't exactly here I was just there looking over the wall 8 years old and what I saw here was a small group of people kind of Milling around but in the middle of them was one blow waving his arms around frantically obviously doing something communicating energetically and I thought well who's he talking to and I looked closer and it it wasn't a person it was a TV camera and then I recognized the guy it was Derek Griffith he was a very well-known children's presenter he was doing a piece probably for playway and I watched him as he did it I watched how he he was pouring anything and everything into that lens and I thought what does that feel like to talk to somebody who isn't there but clearly is there and I thought how does he do that I want to do that and that's that's what set me on the path to doing what I do to doing what I'm doing now I'm talking to you through that lens But the lens isn't there you are that's what I watched him do so that really was the first of the few moments that absolutely set the path for my entire life and it happened here and it's kind of old to be back doing what he did apart from this isn't for playway which was brilliant by the way it also featured a presenter called Brian Kant there's another story about that we moved on from the seafront the five of us probably because of the risk of getting too excited at seeing people riding donkeys and playing in their sand with their own buckets and Spades and I tagged along behind my head still just full and fizzing with the image of Derek Griffith communicating with an audience of unseen millions and we came here to the beach gardens and suddenly I was snapped out of it because the place was alive vibrant exploding with colors and shapes that somehow summed up my every dream thought darkest imaginings it was a car show I'd never seen one the only Gatherings of cars I'd ever witnessed was the car park at the library in s hall or at school and they were parked in ordered rows people got out and went and did stuff this though this was something else the cars were dotted about and it wasn't just cars there were 19 30s hot rods classic cars vintage cars trucks modern cars Maxes and imps all dotted about randomly and my head was just I couldn't contain it all people were people weren't leaving them and going off to do things the object of the day was the cars I slowly worked it out they they'd parked they'd stopped and people were looking peering photographing talking all around and all about the cars that was the point of the day it it changed my whole mindset I changed immediately from an 8-year-old boy to an 8-year-old bee I flitted from flower to flower car to car to look for myself to do what other people were doing to somehow soak it up to sample them to take a piece of them with me in my imagination and it it changed the way I thought of cars they weren't now just something to go to school and the shops in they were something else they were something in themselves in their own rights worthy of our Attention our thought our dreams it changed everything for them here on that same day I can see them there just went from one to the other the third stop today the third event that shaped my life happened here to be fair it didn't just happen on August bank holiday 1978 it happened every time we came to Weston supermare because this is where you parked that's Public Road this isn't which meant at the age of eight and before and after I could get out of the car come around to the driver's door perch on my dad's lap I could operate the steering wheel we've all done this it was kind of a right of passage this was where I did it he did all the pedals and boring stuff down there but I I was captain of the ship I was steering this thing I was driving it was the single best day the best moment of my year every year and I went back to school and boasted to my mates about it as if if I'd landed the space shuttle on my own it was just the best I can feel it now I probably covered 200 yards but I might as well have driven across Mongolia or Africa or anything I've done since ironically whil I could drive on the beach at 8 here today at 54 I can't it's shut but that's okay because today I can go one better it's a short drive to the sight of the final of my three significant moments from the summer of 78 and before I go just wanted to take a moment to think about getting here Journeys the journey from where I lived in Birmingham well Sly H to be precise to Western supermar back then was about 130 Mi the M5 didn't quite join up by then and we've all got those Journeys the long ones we did repeatedly as a kid that one became my Benchmark Journey 3 hours maybe 3 and a half at the ages of 6 7 8 as I was in 78 that's a lifetime it was impossible to imagine we'd set off and I assumed well we're never going to get there we'd be in our Ford Anglia with a hole in the floor behind the driver's seat or our Morris Marina Coupe we talk for a bit we'd chat as a family no DVD screens obviously and then me and my three brothers would slump in the back having already had the fight over which of us was stuck in the middle seat and then I'd lie back I'd rest my head on the vinyl and I'd listen to the rumble of the prop shaft spinning below like the engine of a ship and I'd imagine where it intersected with the differential which did its magic and sent the power out to the wheels and drove us droning along the motor I'd try and sleep like try to sleep when you're at to make the journey go away if we were traveling in the evening I'd see the motorway lights flash past I know from the speed they were going the speed we were doing if it was light BEC comes a point when we're all alert through the Flatlands as you're approaching and we know at some point one of us will shout I can see the sea my parents knew where you'd see the sea they'd hold off shouting to let one of us have the joy but we all have those Journeys that become The Benchmark is it as far as Western supermare that was our question is it as far as Western and now and since in all the journeys I've done all over the world there's a little bit of me comparing it to Birmingham to West and superare whether I'm crossing Africa morania mamb beak doesn't matter I still instinctively measure it in Journeys from Birmingham to Western Superman H I'm not claiming to be the only one to have formative years and experiences we've all got them I'm just sharing mine and it's nice to get out of the workshop and the chips are better in Weston it's raining right onward and now it's a direct result of that sequence of events that I find myself a middle-aged man the proud owner of a classic car restoration workshop and after a lifetime of working in television with cars here I am allowed on The Grand piir in my car yeah the the 8-year-old me is sitting on a bench there there somewhere well he's not is he he's out there wishing he could be on a bench to see a television presenter in a yellow car drive past there is no explaining how life goes well I hope you'll forgive me the slightly self-indulgent sky but I have now reminded myself why I'm doing it so now I better get back to the workshop and do it and if you want to see what happens you can of course watch my show all about it Richard Hammond's workshop on Discovery Plus the link is in the description see youit was here on this patch of sand that I saw one of three events that would shape my life and the other two events all happened within this square mile and they all happened on the same day oh no no I can't we can't it oh no way no not talking um oh this is just I'm going to love this I think what I need to do is remind myself why I love this why I started this whole thing there there is a reason there's a good reason I'm going to remind myself why I'm here waiting at the end of this journey is the one place the single spot in the world that set the course for my entire life and it happened on one particular day the place it's not Monte Carlo it's Western supermare ranked 18th in a list of the top 20 British Coastal resorts at the telegraph it's the birthplace of John C home to the largest Helicopter Museum in Europe Europe and in 2024 to more antisocial Behavior than any other town in Somerset it was also the place my grandparents retired to in 1970 that's why we used to Trek here from Birmingham and on August bank holiday 1978 I was here three things happened that combined Define my entire adult life there the reason I'm sitting here in this car having escaped my workshop and talking to you that's how life goes isn't it and here's the story of it so to the day that explained why I just left my classic car restoration workshop and I'm talking to you August bank holiday 1978 we're here in Western supermare on holiday because my dad's parents retired here in 1970 it's where we came on holiday every year this was well just like every other time we saw my grandparents we came out here to the front pass this the grand Pier we always pass the grandp because it was full of expensive things that soaked up all your money and I'm one of three brothers so we avoided that what we could do was walk here along the front and out there on the beach and that's what I'm going to do now to take you to the first spot that shaped my life it happened here well I wasn't exactly here I was just there looking over the wall 8 years old and what I saw here was a small group of people kind of Milling around but in the middle of them was one blow waving his arms around frantically obviously doing something communicating energetically and I thought well who's he talking to and I looked closer and it it wasn't a person it was a TV camera and then I recognized the guy it was Derek Griffith he was a very well-known children's presenter he was doing a piece probably for playway and I watched him as he did it I watched how he he was pouring anything and everything into that lens and I thought what does that feel like to talk to somebody who isn't there but clearly is there and I thought how does he do that I want to do that and that's that's what set me on the path to doing what I do to doing what I'm doing now I'm talking to you through that lens But the lens isn't there you are that's what I watched him do so that really was the first of the few moments that absolutely set the path for my entire life and it happened here and it's kind of old to be back doing what he did apart from this isn't for playway which was brilliant by the way it also featured a presenter called Brian Kant there's another story about that we moved on from the seafront the five of us probably because of the risk of getting too excited at seeing people riding donkeys and playing in their sand with their own buckets and Spades and I tagged along behind my head still just full and fizzing with the image of Derek Griffith communicating with an audience of unseen millions and we came here to the beach gardens and suddenly I was snapped out of it because the place was alive vibrant exploding with colors and shapes that somehow summed up my every dream thought darkest imaginings it was a car show I'd never seen one the only Gatherings of cars I'd ever witnessed was the car park at the library in s hall or at school and they were parked in ordered rows people got out and went and did stuff this though this was something else the cars were dotted about and it wasn't just cars there were 19 30s hot rods classic cars vintage cars trucks modern cars Maxes and imps all dotted about randomly and my head was just I couldn't contain it all people were people weren't leaving them and going off to do things the object of the day was the cars I slowly worked it out they they'd parked they'd stopped and people were looking peering photographing talking all around and all about the cars that was the point of the day it it changed my whole mindset I changed immediately from an 8-year-old boy to an 8-year-old bee I flitted from flower to flower car to car to look for myself to do what other people were doing to somehow soak it up to sample them to take a piece of them with me in my imagination and it it changed the way I thought of cars they weren't now just something to go to school and the shops in they were something else they were something in themselves in their own rights worthy of our Attention our thought our dreams it changed everything for them here on that same day I can see them there just went from one to the other the third stop today the third event that shaped my life happened here to be fair it didn't just happen on August bank holiday 1978 it happened every time we came to Weston supermare because this is where you parked that's Public Road this isn't which meant at the age of eight and before and after I could get out of the car come around to the driver's door perch on my dad's lap I could operate the steering wheel we've all done this it was kind of a right of passage this was where I did it he did all the pedals and boring stuff down there but I I was captain of the ship I was steering this thing I was driving it was the single best day the best moment of my year every year and I went back to school and boasted to my mates about it as if if I'd landed the space shuttle on my own it was just the best I can feel it now I probably covered 200 yards but I might as well have driven across Mongolia or Africa or anything I've done since ironically whil I could drive on the beach at 8 here today at 54 I can't it's shut but that's okay because today I can go one better it's a short drive to the sight of the final of my three significant moments from the summer of 78 and before I go just wanted to take a moment to think about getting here Journeys the journey from where I lived in Birmingham well Sly H to be precise to Western supermar back then was about 130 Mi the M5 didn't quite join up by then and we've all got those Journeys the long ones we did repeatedly as a kid that one became my Benchmark Journey 3 hours maybe 3 and a half at the ages of 6 7 8 as I was in 78 that's a lifetime it was impossible to imagine we'd set off and I assumed well we're never going to get there we'd be in our Ford Anglia with a hole in the floor behind the driver's seat or our Morris Marina Coupe we talk for a bit we'd chat as a family no DVD screens obviously and then me and my three brothers would slump in the back having already had the fight over which of us was stuck in the middle seat and then I'd lie back I'd rest my head on the vinyl and I'd listen to the rumble of the prop shaft spinning below like the engine of a ship and I'd imagine where it intersected with the differential which did its magic and sent the power out to the wheels and drove us droning along the motor I'd try and sleep like try to sleep when you're at to make the journey go away if we were traveling in the evening I'd see the motorway lights flash past I know from the speed they were going the speed we were doing if it was light BEC comes a point when we're all alert through the Flatlands as you're approaching and we know at some point one of us will shout I can see the sea my parents knew where you'd see the sea they'd hold off shouting to let one of us have the joy but we all have those Journeys that become The Benchmark is it as far as Western supermare that was our question is it as far as Western and now and since in all the journeys I've done all over the world there's a little bit of me comparing it to Birmingham to West and superare whether I'm crossing Africa morania mamb beak doesn't matter I still instinctively measure it in Journeys from Birmingham to Western Superman H I'm not claiming to be the only one to have formative years and experiences we've all got them I'm just sharing mine and it's nice to get out of the workshop and the chips are better in Weston it's raining right onward and now it's a direct result of that sequence of events that I find myself a middle-aged man the proud owner of a classic car restoration workshop and after a lifetime of working in television with cars here I am allowed on The Grand piir in my car yeah the the 8-year-old me is sitting on a bench there there somewhere well he's not is he he's out there wishing he could be on a bench to see a television presenter in a yellow car drive past there is no explaining how life goes well I hope you'll forgive me the slightly self-indulgent sky but I have now reminded myself why I'm doing it so now I better get back to the workshop and do it and if you want to see what happens you can of course watch my show all about it Richard Hammond's workshop on Discovery Plus the link is in the description see you\n"