Vintage Footage of London

[Julie2owlsdene]

Great to see the old footage, especially when they did then and now side by side. There was still quite a lot of people about I thought, but no traffic of course, apart from the horse drawn and the early motors. No white lines in the road too.

[Lucky Star]

Marvellous footage Anita. Thanks for sharing it.

[Moonraker]

When I have eleven minutes, I will take a look. Isn't time precious?

[Courtenay]

It's well worth 11 minutes of your life, honestly, Nigel! (although some of the background music is a little annoying)

[Petermax]

Wonderful footage Anita!

[Lucky Star]

Split from another topic.


I came across this on you tube. London in 1959. Quite fascinating.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc3REovEx-Q

[Boodi 2]

I was surprised to see the number of parked cars, some of which appeared to be double parked!

[Boatbuilder]

And not a sign of a yellow line, either.

[Katharine]

I noticed the double parking too. Surprised at the seeming lack of pedestrians, I wonder what time of day it was filmed?

Very interesting clip.

[timv]

Very interesting video - thanks! I think from the style, heights, building materials, and different uses of the buildings and the layout of the roads that this was filmed in central London - probably Soho. There's one shot of a small square with trees in it , then the car (which presumably has a film-camera in one of the left-hand windows, very pioneering) turning into a long , narrow street of tall buildings with a distinctive narrow street with an archway coming in from the right. The latter is unusual, as is the size of the square, and I think that this is the northern end of Greek Street, Soho, coming Southwards out of Soho Square - running parallel with Charing Cross Road and just at the back (West side) of Foyles' Bookshop. The street coming in from the right would be Manet Street. My parents used to park around the corner in MS outside Foyles when we went there in the 1970s, and later as a student I was always going in and out and used to take a short cut along Greek Street so I knew this bit of central London well. Greek Street used to have a favourite politicians' and journalists' restaurant, the 'Gay Hussar', and the Private Eye satirical magazine offices were (and are) nearby too - you could often spot celebs walking along the streets here.

Of course there could be other similar places, but the small square is distinctive. The mixture of cars and delivery vans are very like models which I had as a child in the 1960s - I recognise some of the makes from Dinky toys. It's a reminder of just how much London has changed - and even in the late 1970s it was a lot easier to drive into and park in the centre! A lot of the area close to this at the N end of Charing Cross Rd has now been bulldozed by the Crossrail Underground Line project, and Foyles has moved down CCR, but the area where this film was shot is largely unchanged if a lot smarter and with cars' parking severely restricted. You can still see the post-War drabness in this film.

[Katharine]

That's interesting Tim, it's not a part of London I've ever been to (as far as I'm aware).

I noticed there was a branch of Martins Bank in one shot - could that help confirm your placing of the location?

[Moonraker]

Yes, I would agree, timv - definitely Soho. The car passed a side street, Sutton Row. Strangely, it passed the same streets at least three times - did you notice the poster for the film, North West Frontier? This is my all-time favourite film and was released in 1959, which confirms the date. A good find, Lucky Star.

[Tony Summerfield]

That is definitely Soho Square that the car goes round three or four times, it is a favourite lunchtime spot to have sandwiches before a theatre visit, but you need to be careful not to sit under pigeons perched on the trees above you!! Anita might comment on this.

[Boodi 2]

Yes, I too noticed that the car drove around the same streets at least three times. All the cars and vans were familiar as they were still popular in Ireland in the early and mid-1960s and my parents had a black Austin Cambridge for several years until they changed it for a beige Hilman Minx. What I also noticed was a Wimpy Bar, which was very popular before the arrival of other fast-food outlets.

[Lucky Star]

Yes it's definitely Soho Square. The car drives up and down the side streets leading between it and Old Compton Street several times. It's very atmospheric, Enid would certainly have recognised these scenes.