Description: Some Activities of the Bermondsey Borough Council – A film about the public and social activities of Bermondsey Borough Council (RT 25' 37")

Some Activities of Bermondsey Borough Council

A newsreel style film that catalogues the public and social welfare activities of Bermondsey Borough Council. The film opens with exterior shots of the Health Department’s offices in Spa Road. From the vantage of a moving car travelling along the new streets of Bermondsey, the viewer sees some of the 7,000 trees that have been planted nine years previously by the Gardens and Beautification Department. The department is also responsible for the mass of blooms in the park. The trees and the plants are propagated at Fairby Grange, which is the council’s estate. Provision has also been made for the children in the borough with a big slide, swings and areas to play cricket. The film then focuses on the Electricity Department and the new distributing station in the Neckinger. In the Show Room the public can buy lampshades, and a council scheme provides for the hiring out of electrical equipment. There is free instruction in their use and a woman demonstrates how to use a vacuum cleaner and a cooker. The Baths Committee controls the swimming pools and wash-houses and for 2d an hour housewives can use the latest laundry equipment. One of the biggest problems facing the council is the provision of housing. Slums are being cleared, and modern cottages and flats are being built by the council workmen. During the last 30 years the death rate in Bermondsey has been reduced from 21 to 13 per 1000 - a reduction of 38%. This is attributed to the modern and efficient facilities of the Public Health Department, such as the Bacteriological Unit with its laboratories and scientists. The council’s latest building, the Disinfecting Station, fumigates bedding in thirty minutes. The inspection of food is of paramount importance and food inspectors, who are continuously employed in this work, are shown inspecting meat at the butcher’s and butter at the grocer’s. The Maternity and Child Welfare’s twelve centres are attended by 85% of Bermondsey mothers. The council also has a convalescent home at Hartley in Kent, which is primarily for expectant and nursing mothers and their children during the winter months, although convalescent women are also received. Two dental clinics treat every man, woman and child who live or work in Bermondsey. The council also provides artificial sunlight treatment and its solarium is the largest municipal light clinic in the country, providing over 25,000 treatments each year. Babies, toddlers and older boys in goggles are seen receiving light treatment. The Tuberculosis Dispensary, situated in Grange Road, holds weekly sessions and the Foot Clinic has proved so popular the council has had to increase its sessions from one to nine per week. The Borough is endeavouring to teach its citizens that ‘Prevention is Better Than Cure’ and has instituted a number of health lectures that are held in schools during the day, and in specially adapted cinema vans in the evening.

‘Oppin – A film about the Bermondsey people who go to Kent to pick hops. RT14’ 08” (starts at 25’ 44”, finishes at 39‘ 52“)

‘Oppin’ is a film about the seasonal hop-pickers who “migrate” from Bermondsey to Kent during September. The film is a mixture of the expositional - describing the pickers experience of picking and the hop-picking process - and instructional for the pickers themselves. The film opens with pickers packing up their luggage in vans and travelling to Kent.

From 27’ – 27’ - 29’ 59” there is a flickering error message and a three-minute section of the film is lost. See Some Activities of the Bermondsey Borough Council and ‘Oppin LHLDVD8_b for the missing section.

The film resumes with a well-picked field and the hops in sacks. The hops are then taken to the oast house where they are dried using anthracite, which is a smokeless coal, and bleached with sulphur. When they are ready the dried hops are pressed into sacks or ‘pockets’ and taken to a hop store in Borough. The total cost of the process from plants, poles, wire and picking is £168.10. For the farmer, the caption says, picking is relatively unimportant - it is only £3.10 of the total cost – and consequently accommodation for the pickers is primitive. The film goes on to advise pickers what they can expect to find at a campsite: curtains are not necessary in the huts, and don’t invite any weekend visitors because there is no spare room. Some pickers pose happily outside their brick hut which has Ivy Lodge written in chalk on the side. Water often comes from ponds and the water should be boiled. If there is a mains tap pickers are requested not to make a mess and to generally keep the camp clean. In some camps there is a canteen or tradesman call but most pickers prefer to cook outdoors. But with open fires, the film warns, accidents often occur and at a temporary Red Cross station a child is shown being treated: a hopping camp is not for babies or the infirm. Outside the Kent Arms the pickers are shown milling around and having a drink. The film ends – ‘And so to bed’ - with the campfire burning.

The Public Health Service – A film about the health services provided for the people of Bermondsey [is essentially the same film as Some Activities of the Bermondsey Borough Council with additional footage. RT 17’ 54” (starts at 39’ 56” finishes at 57’ 10”)

The film is essentially a repetition of Some Activities of Bermondsey Borough Council but with some additional material. It begins with the statistic that during the last 30 years the death rate in Bermondsey has been reduced from 21 to 13 per 1000 - a reduction of 38%. This is attributed to the modern and efficient facilities of the Public Health Department, such as the Bacteriological Unit with its laboratories and scientists. The council’s latest building, the Disinfecting Station, fumigates bedding in thirty minutes. The inspection of food is of paramount importance and food inspectors, who are continuously employed in this work, are shown inspecting meat at the butcher’s and butter at the grocer’s. The additional footage is of a milkman and his cart being stopped in the street by two inspectors who sample the milk; and a butcher’s stall is also inspected to see if it is covered in at the back and sides. The Maternity and Child Welfare’s twelve centres are attended by 85% of Bermondsey mothers. The council also has a convalescent home at Hartley in Kent, which is primarily for expectant and nursing mothers and their children during the winter months - although convalescent women are also received. Two dental clinics treat every man, woman and child who live or work in Bermondsey. Additional footage describes how the advances in medicine have made it possible to see whether a child is susceptible to diphtheria. A sample of the disease is injected into a young man’s arm. There is no reaction and he is not susceptible. The arms of another child show a reaction and he is given a vaccine. The council also provides artificial sunlight treatment and its solarium is the largest municipal light clinic in the country, providing over 25,000 treatments each year. Babies, toddlers and older boys in goggles are seen receiving light treatment. The Tuberculosis Dispensary, situated in Grange Road, holds weekly sessions and patients are seen by appointment. Additional material shows a doctor examining the chest of a TB patient and looking at an X-ray. Patients can also have fresh air during the night, and there is a shot of a summerhouse that is provided for some patients free of charge. The Foot Clinic has proved so popular the council has had to increase its sessions from one to nine per week. The Borough is endeavouring to teach its citizens that ‘Prevention is Better Than Cure’ and has instituted a number of health lectures that are held in schools during the day and in specially adapted cinema vans in the evening. For further information the viewer should apply to the Medical Officer of Health Municipal Offices Spa Road SE16.

Maternity and Child Welfare – A few seconds footage of the Maternity and Child Welfare section in Some Activities of the Bermondsey Borough Council. RT 19” (starts at 57’ 17” finishes at 57’ 36”)

Footage from the Maternity and Child Welfare section of Some Activities of Bermondsey Borough. A baby sits on a high chair looking at the camera. The film ends.