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Celluloid film of the capital in 1926 comes to light, revealing a city devoid of skyscapers but teeming with trolley buses, horse-drawn carts and the occasional motor car.
<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/7638752?autoplay=1" width="600" height="450" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe>
This footage was shot by Claude Friese-Greene, a pioneer of colour film in the UK.
The film is the final segment of his Open Road series, which was filmed between 1924 and 1926. Among the scenes he recorded are a cricket match at the Oval, families relaxing in Hyde Park and traffic on Tower Bridge.
While the amount of traffic might come as a surprise, the absense of motor cars is notable as Londoners continue to rely on horse-drawn carts.
But perhaps the most startling difference of the capital in 1926 is the skyline, from which skyscapers and tower blocks are still completely absent.
The film was restored by the British Film Institute (BFI) and is available on DVD.
<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/7638752?autoplay=1" width="600" height="450" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe>
This footage was shot by Claude Friese-Greene, a pioneer of colour film in the UK.
The film is the final segment of his Open Road series, which was filmed between 1924 and 1926. Among the scenes he recorded are a cricket match at the Oval, families relaxing in Hyde Park and traffic on Tower Bridge.
While the amount of traffic might come as a surprise, the absense of motor cars is notable as Londoners continue to rely on horse-drawn carts.
But perhaps the most startling difference of the capital in 1926 is the skyline, from which skyscapers and tower blocks are still completely absent.
The film was restored by the British Film Institute (BFI) and is available on DVD.