Pictures ofBermondsey & Rotherhithe

Your local web site ~
Today's pictures are tomorrow's history




Shopping in Bermondsey 1931 Add Video

This remarkable film showing working class London life was shot around 1931. The majority of the film concentrates on the major street market at the Bricklayer's Arms end of Tower Bridge Road. Then onto Southwark Park Road. c BFI

Posted by Bermondsey on July 23, 2009 at 2:31 AM 1335 Views

Post a Comment

Oops!

Oops, you forgot something.

Oops!

The words you entered did not match the given text. Please try again.

Already a member? Sign In

16 Comments

Reply doug simmonds
06:32 PM on January 31, 2010 
[/bill killick]
yes ,i thought i recognised the photo,what a great memory,seem's so long ago now but i can almost taste it, ha ha.
Reply bill killick
04:22 PM on January 31, 2010 
Can you get the delicious Aroma as well Paul lolol
Reply paul
04:01 PM on January 31, 2010 
Doug there is a picture on this site find the search button and type in George and it will bring back visual memories not sensual ( as we are working on that one as we speak) Paul
Reply bill killick
03:36 PM on January 31, 2010 
doug simmonds says...
Does anyone remember the hole in the wall by the dun cow by dunton bridge? my brother used to take me their when i was a youg kid for proper saveloys and pease pudding,happy day's in small pleasures.


Yes it was Georges..the perfect end to an evening out was a Sav and Peas pudding at Georges.You could smell it halfway down the Old Kent road.Theres was always a queue,murder if you was hungry.He was a rather large man,with hands like a bunch of bananas. mmmmm can still smell it.I can remember my wife and i,sitting outside in our Ford Zephyr,Scoffing it..then a cuddle on the Bench seat .Great Days and all for a Couple of Bob .
Reply doug simmonds
02:15 PM on January 31, 2010 
Does anyone remember the hole in the wall by the dun cow by dunton bridge? my brother used to take me their when i was a youg kid for proper saveloys and pease pudding,happy day's in small pleasures.
Reply Bob Clark
03:25 PM on January 27, 2010 
What a brilliant piece of cine archive? Clearly, it was shot on a windy day. Just note the dusty fug and the wafting coats caught by the gusts. And, how the people loved to be ?put in the frame?; standing there; jostling to be pictured because they were aware ?one of them fangled cameras was filming them?. Not like now?where you can be dragged to the nick for breaching data protection laws. Where does archiving progress proceed if you can?t point a camera where you please?
Reply MH
03:10 PM on August 17, 2009 
The only shop still there is good old Manze's. May it reign forever.
Reply bill killick
03:26 PM on August 04, 2009 
Pat ...i dont believe you about the Apple core...as i know that we used to eat it all down to the pips....If there was any left...your mate was waiting for it
Reply bill killick
03:18 PM on August 04, 2009 
Pat...i didnt fully explain about the "one armed man"He had a false arm,,that he used to bend up and the elbow....and that was the one he clumped us with..he he...i did know a girl that worked there when she left our school,she was an Usherette...Name was Pauline Pearce,looked a treat in her uniform and pill box hat and Torch ...I used to love the Theatre Organ..it has stuck with me all of my life,i could always play Piano,,but i now play Organ and Keyboard..It always bring back memories of the Cinemas...Im going to dig a hole in the garage,and come up like they did ..he he he.
Reply Pat Long
02:47 PM on August 04, 2009 
Bill, sorry about the apple core, it fell out of my hands while I was clapping! :)
My mom worked there as an usherette for a while, probably about 1950. I was only about 5 years old then, but I remember us getting in for free. She also worked at the Old Kent cinema for a while too after that.
I vaguely remember the one-armed usher, but hopefully you figured out what side of the aisle to sit on when he was doing the head wacking?
On Saturday mornings we used to see: Gene Autry, Hop-A-Long Cassidy, Superman, Rocket Man, and Pancho and the Cisco Kid. I'm sure there were lots more, but they were some of my favorites.
Regards: Pat
Reply bill killick
02:26 PM on August 04, 2009 
Pat,i remember Singing "The Smoke Goes up The Chimney Just the Same" with the Dots over the Words on the Screen...i used to like Don Winslow of the Coast Guard....but there was so much noise,i dont think i heard a word of it ....i can also remember the Upstairs people peppering us with Cherry Pips and Apple cores....those were the days eh ??? Do you recall the "Usher"that only had One Arm...he was a bit handy with the one he had left...thinking nothing of a whack on the head....as he walked down the aisle..ha ha ha... wouldnt swap a day of it
Reply Pat Long
01:30 PM on August 04, 2009 
Hi Bill, yes I agree with you, the doughnuts were the very best.. Not only taste, but value too. Everyone that I know from the Bermondsey area, raves about how great Edwards was. I think you're right, it wasn't just the food, it was the smell that had a lasting and pleasurable impression on everyone. I too remember the Saturday morning pictures at the Trocette, and the doughnuts afterwards. Do you remember the wooden seats in the front section of the Trocette, with the padded comfortable ones in the 2/6d section upstairs in the balcony section?
Reply bill killick
11:54 AM on August 04, 2009 
Hello Pat..i reckon you are right about the Hovis shop being Edwards ...we used to queue up there after Saturday morning pictures in the Trocette...Those Doughnuts were like nothing youve ever tasted.and they rolled them in Sugar....Yummy.. The smell used to waft down Tower Bridge Road..............I used to try and make two Doughnuts last until i got home in Major Road....but they never did ...All gone by Grange road Baths lol.
Reply Pat Long
11:36 AM on August 04, 2009 
The video is great. The scene in the Tower Bridge Road was really good as it captured what are lasting memories of the old neighborhood. I'm wondering if the scene with the HOVIS bread sign over a store in the video, is where Edwards was located? Anyone know?
Reply bill killick
05:44 PM on July 29, 2009 
This is a wonderful Video....ican remember my Mum and Dad taking me "Down the Blue" at Xmas time........allofthe Barrows(Stalls),had coloured lights and decorations on them...everyone seemed to be so friendly,even though we never had a lot of money to spend...On the way home,we would g Down the Blue Anchor Lane to a small Shop that used to sell Faggotts,also called Savoury Duck,but was in fact meat balls....and some Pease Pudding in a small bag,and eat them on the way back home.Usually ending up on my Dads shoulders.Great times..in a different world.......thanks for the Memories Paul......
Reply June
07:30 AM on July 25, 2009 
Well what can I say other than what a fantasitc video - well done. I also shopped in Tower Bridge Road in the 1950's as many others did it was great. There was a bakers called Edwards that did great jam doughnuts etc.,