A compilation reel produced by George & Norah Cummin featuring both amateur and commercial footage showing London between 1935 and 1968. The content produced by the Cummin’s features several important events including the Silver Jubilee of King George V in May 1935, the Festival of Britain in 1951 and the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in June 1953. The film also contains footage of many of London’s most famous attractions including the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park as...

A compilation reel produced by George & Norah Cummin featuring both amateur and commercial footage showing London between 1935 and 1968. The content produced by the Cummin’s features several important events including the Silver Jubilee of King George V in May 1935, the Festival of Britain in 1951 and the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in June 1953. The film also contains footage of many of London’s most famous attractions including the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park as well as Kings Cross railway station where an A4 locomotive travels back to the region. The final part of the film made in around 1968 features a journey along the Regent’s Canal as well as crowds walking around Petticoat Lane Market and what was then the recently opened museum ‘Cockneyland’. Title: This is London [Colour] Aerial views of London following the River Thames. [B&W] Pedestrians and traffic move along Abingdon Street outside the Palace of Westminster followed by the same along the Strand outside the Royal Courts of Justice. Views of St Paul’s Cathedral in the distance firstly along a busy street and then from the banks of the River Thames. Two soldiers with rifles slung across their shoulders march past Traitor’s Gate leading into the Tower of London. A platoon of Dragoon Guards in dress uniforms are inspected by two officers, possibly in the grounds Horse Guards Parade. The replica of Robert Stephenson’s Rocket locomotive slowly steams along a track watched by a crowd of onlookers. The film changes to a passenger steam train speeding along the track passing under a bridge. Onboard, a view of the passing landscape. In the dining car a waiter services two men at their table. The entrance to Kings Cross railway station on Euston Road with trams, buses and other traffic moving past. More double-decker buses travel along Euston Road passing St Pancras railway station. A man sits on the edge of the road chipping away at a pile of bricks laying nearby. A large modern building, possibly Oxford Street, changes to passengers standing at a tram stop outside a railway station. Inside passengers look up at departures boards or move past towards their platforms. Nearby a shop, a porter pushes a large trolley past loaded down with luggage. He is followed by two women. On a platform at Kings Cross an A4 locomotive waits to depart. A small crowd of men look over the engine, the words ‘Silver Link’ stencilled on the tender. Passengers climb aboard, and from the train itself views of the platform as the train departs. As the train passes through a town a guard looks at the camera. At York railway station passengers and porters pushing trolley make their way to the exit passing the A4 locomotive. On board another smaller commuter train, passengers jostle for a place to sit. The film changes to a large crowd walking along the Embankment in London. Union Jacks and bunting hand down from lampposts. Along a busy street more bunting and flags hand down from various department stores and buildings, a man on the street wearing a Union Jack Fez hand sells souvenirs. Heavy traffic moves around Trafalgar Square changes to the Strand where a large banner hangs across the street that reads, ‘The City of Westminster God Bless Our King and Queen’. Buses, cars, and other traffic jostle for position along the Strand. A view of Admiralty Arch and a crowd gathered outside the gates of Buckingham Palace. A soldier stands guard beside the gate as several members of the crowd wear handkerchiefs or newspapers over their heads protecting them from the sun. In a nearby park, possibly Green or Hyde Park, people lay or sit on the ground relaxing surrounded by rubbish. Crowds of people walk past an overflowing rubbish bin. At night a large neon sign attached to a building reads, ‘Jubilee. Long May They Rein’ with pictures of King George V and Queen Mary underneath. Other large buildings around the city are lit up with lights including Marble Arch station which has a neon sign that reads ‘Long Live the King’ Other locations featured include the Holborn Empire and News Theatre as well as Piccadilly Circus. [Colour] A policeman watches over a crowd walking around The Cenotaph on Whitehall looking at various memorial wreaths. [B&W] Possibly commercial newsreel of clouds in the sky and three aircraft dropping leaflets onto a bombed-out city, not London. General views of the destructions. The film changes to possibly another commercial film dating from around the early 1960s filmed around Hyde Park featuring crowds gathering around Speaker Corner listening to people speak, horse riders riding up and down a track, boys fishing in The Serpentine, and crowds sun-bathing near the water’s edge. A large café is followed by a couple laying on the ground relaxing in the shade of a tree. The sequence ends on the Royal Albert Hall on Kensington Grove and the nearby Albert Memorial. [Colour]. A pair of woman’s hands flicking through a brochure for, ‘The South Bank Exhibition’. Along the Southbank the Royal Festival Hall and crowds walking around the site of the Festival of Britain. At a café, women sit around tables drinking tea and chatting, views of various sculptures around the festival site with large crowds walking past. In the distance, The Skylon followed by a large fountain display near the Thames. At the Festival Garden inside Battersea Park, people feed the Swans around the boating lake while others sails model boats. Several displays and attractions have been set up around the park. A woman sells candyfloss from a stall, a man is dressed as a clown, and a woman wearing a bonnet and carrying a wicker basket poses for the camera. In another part of the park, a fairground with various rides. Writing along one reads, ‘Ducks & Drakes’, nearby the ‘Max Myer’s presents the Rotor’. On the lake motorised pleasure boats motor past while on dryland crowds walk past various attractions and through the fairground passing those riding a carousel, the ‘Big Dipper’ roller-coaster and a flying cars ride. In another part of the park a family stands beside an ice cream stall, a large crowd gathers around ‘The Original Mystic Dancing Doll Illusion’ attractions. Older people walk around ornate flowerbeds or sit on benches relaxing. The woman’s hands seen earlier now flicks through another brochure, this time for ‘The Coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’. From the back of the crowds outside Buckingham Palace a procession of soldiers, Yeomen Wardens and marching bands make their way past. The Gold State Coach enters the palace followed by several other carriages and soldiers on horseback. George Cummin walks through the gates of ‘Brent Laboratories Ltd / Tropical Films co. Ltd’. Red double-decker buses and other traffic moves along the Strand, the pavement is busy with pedestrians. A car and bicycle attempt to turn right through traffic. In the distance a modern road bridge crossing the Thames, possibly London or Waterloo bridge. Between several buildings, the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral changes to shows what appears to be a former bomb site. At night Christmas lights decorate the streets and departments stalls. A number of neon signs including one for ‘Sandeman Port and Sherry’. Around Piccadilly Circus large neon signs for the likes of Coca-Cola and Wrigley’s. Various birds and ducks rest on thin ice on a lake or River Thames. Pidgeon’s feed from a pavement, a pelican prune itself near the water’s edge. At Horse Guards Parade a small crowd watch soldiers on horseback do the changing of the guard. A lone soldier in a red tunic carrying a sword marches up and down. A Union Jack flies from the roof of Victoria Tower, scaffolding surrounds the majority of the Palace of Westminster. Nearby views of both Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral with its tower. Piccadilly Circus during the day with buses and traffic moving around the Shaftsbury Memorial Fountain and statue of Anteros. Large advertising billboards adorn many of the surrounding buildings and cinemas including the Coca-Cola sign seen previously. The film changes to Marble Arch and traffic moves around Bayswater Road. The St Ermin’s Hotel and Restaurant on Caxton Street. A pair of male hands opens the menu card for the Institute of Amateur Cinematographers (IAC) Annual Banquet at the St Ermin’s Hotel on Saturday, 12 March, 1955. The hands then hold up the IAC 1954 Competitors List of Prize Winners. The film changes to around 1968 and an airplane coming into land at Heathrow Airport before taxiing to its gate. On Oxford Street a man attempts to cross through heavy traffic on both sides of the road. The BT Tower on Cleveland Street and views across the city from a viewing area including a high-rise building under construction nearby. Crowds both young, old, and diverse walk around Petticoat Lane Market passing various stalls selling everything from bric-a-brac to ethnic clothing. Two policemen speak with a woman in a red dress. (A former warehouse has been converted into ‘Cockneyland: See the Greatest Cockney Exhibition in the World’.) At the Tower of London, a number of Japanese women in kimonos mingle with other visitors walking around the attraction. Pedestrians cross the nearby Tower Bridge while boats pass underneath. Tables have been set up outside the Tower around which people sit eating and drinking. Crowds gather outside Traitors Gate. A view of St Paul’s Cathedral, its dome partly covered in scaffolding changes to shows the remains of the old Roman City Wall. A garden has been created around it with benches. From a high-rise building, the London skyline changes to barges and other boats traveling along the Regent’s Canal. A journey along the canal itself showing views of the passing city both old and new. Norah Cummin sits in a deckchair in Hyde Park near Marble Arch, nearby George Cummin sits on the grass playing with a light meter. Views of nearby fountain followed by others around the city containing various sculptures. Noah stands in Trafalgar Square, views of a fountain sculpture. Deckchairs are set up around The Serpentine Lake inside Hyde Park, pleasure boats sail on the water. Norah sits looking out from a pleasure boat traveling along the Thames going under Westminster Bridge as it passes the Palace of Westminster. In the distance the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral as it approaches Tower Bridge passing the Tower of London. The boat continues downstream passing warehouses and dockside cranes as well as the cargo ship ‘Wandrahm’. The boat approaches Greenwich passing the Old Royal Naval College as well as the British clipper ship Cutty Sark on display there. On land visitors look around the ship, two men sit high up in the rigging. The film ends back at the BT Tower and additional views across the city below. End title: The end