Description: The Pioneer Health Centre was founded by Dr George Scott Williamson and Innes Pearse in 1935 and was home to a unique experiment to promote the growth of positive health. Past members, and the staff that worked there, including Mary Langman, who was Williamson’s secretary, return to the Centre and reminisce about the ‘Peckham Experiment’. Five hundred families took part and paid a shilling a week to participate in a wide range of activities from swimming, dancing, keep fit and games. Every family member would take a ticket for an activity and doctors would then collect the tickets to see which activities they liked best. Central to Williamson’s philosophy was the belief that left to themselves members would initiate activities themselves and discover latent talents. He and Pearse had tried a similar experiment in Queen’s Road in 1926 but the improvement in health had been curtailed by the lack of space for physical activity. They believed that increasing health by using muscles enabled people to use other faculties and improve their physical, mental and social health. In 1935 they moved to a purpose-built facility in St Mary’s Road. The structure of the building, with its large open spaces and glass partitions, promoted the cross-fertilization of activities and enabled doctors to observe the centre’s members in a non-obtrusive way. Every member of the family would have a yearly check-up. The purpose of the medical was not to treat but to find out what sort of health they were in. The consultation was an exchange of information and it was up to the family if they wanted to act upon the findings. The Centre also recognized the importance of nutrition for parents and the next generation and from 1936 had its own farm 14 miles away which provided it with milk and organic fruit and vegetables; families could also go there for camping holidays. The café was open to everyone so that members could see where food came from and how it was made. The underlying belief was that if you could change trends you could break the cycle of deprivation and promote vitality. The Centre finally closed in 1950 through lack of financial support.