Old films of British life...

[SPLINE]

Not an old film now, but one showing some remote parts of England that haven't changed, haven't been touched by the hand of Blair.. Some truly great people in this....

 

[securespark]

 

[noseall]

Nice use of the old lath axe in a couple of clips, there.

 

[Odds]

Born in 1858, Michael Fitzpatrick talks about the many changes that have taken place in farming during his lifetime and recalls an eviction at Bodyke.Mr. Fitzpatrick moved from Clare to a farm near Maynooth as part of the Land Commission scheme in 1940 where he has lived ever since. [then] aged 107 Mr. Fitzpatrick has experienced many changes in the world of farming. The biggest change that has taken place is the introduction of machinery and specifically the combine harvester.Mr. Fitzpatrick also remembers seeing an eviction taking place in Bodyke, County Clare in June 1887. He recalls the event as being “very cruel” with women and children thrown out of their homes. This episode of ‘Newsbeat’ was broadcast on 7 January 1965.

 

[securespark]

Bless him. He died in 1967.

 

[blup]

We left our 'rooms' in London when I was a year old to live on a new council estate built by the GLC on the outskirts of Slough, one of three estates built in that area. It was a modern home with all the facilities you could want. I'm not sure how many houses made up that estate, several thousand, it was roughly a square mile in area and adjoined the original village. As well as the houses, there were 2 Churches, 2 doctors surgeries, a parade of shops, 4 schools and a library, not something you'll come across in todays developments.
I always felt sorry visiting a cousin who still lived in London, it was a flat opposite Chelsea Barracks, a stones throw from Chelsea Bridge, they had a toilet but no bathroom so my cousin would have a weekly trip to the public baths, although occasionally he'd go to his Grans new council flat to use her bath. She had a 4 bedroom flat with a balcony on the Embankment, directly opposite the decaying factories that made up Nine Elms and Battersea Power Station. As a kid I thought it was a hideous view but I can still picture it as clearly as I did over 60 years ago.
My bucket list includes a trip to those old haunts, the buildings are still there but the view will be very different, then a trip across Chelsea Bridge to Battersea where we and many other relatives lived, then lastly the house where I was born, the one the Germans were always bombing because of it's proximity to the railway, *******s.

Council houses, built under post war Labor, sold off cheap by Thstcher