Or consider JB Priestley's account
of travelling
out of London in 1933 along the Great Western road and confronting the endless, low - density exurbia
of ribbon sprawl: «We might suddenly have rolled into California... This is the England
of arterial and by - pass roads,
of filling
stations and factories that look like exhibition buildings,
of giant cinemas and dance - halls and cafes, bungalows with tiny garages, cocktail bars, Woolworths, motor - coaches, wireless, hiking, factory girls looking like actresses, grey -
hound racing and dirt tracks, swimming pools, and everything given away for cigarette coupons.»