Some Activities of the Bermondsey Borough Council

1931 | 4 mins (extract)

Pre-NHS, councils in many impoverished areas pragmatically pursued socialist programmes of improved local public welfare. The health department of Labour-run Bermondsey was unusual in documenting and promoting such work via some thirty films made by officials, which would be screened to citizens across the borough.

This one is a thorough account of services available to Bermondsey's then overwhelmingly working-class population: everything from parks to public baths. The contrast between old and new housing conditions, and references to reduced local mortality rates, are a reminder of the grimness of the environment the council was cheerfully striving to improve. There's little artistry in the film, but it's splendidly lucid and thoroughly beguiling - with, of course, an extra layer of location-spotting fascination for today's South Londoners.