Monday 10 November 2008

More film of Edwardian London

If you enjoyed seeing London in 1904 on film, here's another extract from the previous year. It proves that rush hour congestion is more than a century old, even if it used to involve horses rather than engines. However, look at the speed some of the vehicles manage - it's easy to believe that the average traffic speed has declined over the years!




Also online from the BFI are other fascinating glimpses of old London including Blackfriars Bridge in 1896; colour film of Kensington Gardens, London Bridge and the Thames in 1926; and a suffragette demonstration of 1913. Amazing stuff.

3 comments:

Evangeline Holland said...

lol, I think the camera may make the vehicles appear faster than they truly are. But thanks for the videos! I'm going to waste even more time on YouTube. *g*

Chris Partridge said...

Did you see the wonderful glimpse of the Bank of England before it was vandalised in the 1930s?

CarolineLD said...

Evangeline, you're right that the film is faster than real life at some points, yes! But if you look at the speed people are walking in the first section, and I think one or two other bits, the speed does seem to be correct - it just looks wrong to see vehicles actually moving in central London! Chrisp, thank you for pointing out the Bank of England which I hadn't noticed first time.