Green Islands
35mm film Colour Sound 1954 10:58
Summary: A film made for the London County Council about the London's parks and open spaces they operate, showing them through the seasons.
Title number: 1091
LSA ID: LSA/18670
Description: The film begins with text on screen 'This film shows some of the Parks and Open Spaces provided by the LCC which along with the Royal Parks are enjoyed by Londoners and their visitors all the year round'. A shot of London housing, including terraces and low-rise flats, precedes views of people boarding a bus out of town and a woman pushing a pram to the park. There follow, shots of a city park including a man on motor mower and the flowerbeds. Some people are sunbathing in the park, including a flirting man and a woman. There are children paddling and swimming in an artificial pond and families queuing to enter a Lido. Scenes within the Lido include men diving from high boards, women exercising in the pool, women sunbathing in swimsuits, and general shots of people swimming. A boating lake and ornamental ponds are near a courting couple in the shade of a tree. Two young women are filmed enjoying the 'green belt' by walking on the South Downs. Back in the city, there are children playing in artificial swimming ponds and on public playground equipment. Some children are filmed playing on a static bus named 'Buffalo Bumper'. Scenes of motor car racing are intercut with men speed walking on an athletics track. In Battersea Park a woman throws a discus (Battersea Power Station is visible in the background). A mixed couple play tennis dressed in tennis whites, a man tees off on a golf course and there are shots of a park cricket match. Elsewhere, some men play bowls while a seated audience and the park keeper look on. Some other men are caught fishing beside a pond, while men and boys sail model boats in a pool. Some shots of Battersea power station, the working Thames and the Houses of Parliament introduce film of flower beds on the South Bank (Waterloo Bridge is visible in the background). Some people are filmed dining outside in Victoria Embankment Gardens, where there is a lunchtime concert on the bandstand. Other people are seated on deck chairs, with Shell-Mex House in the background. In north London there are scenes around Kenwood House, including shots across Hampstead Heath and Kenwood House's False Bridge. A montage shows the fauna found in some parks: a squirrel on a tree, a petting zoo featuring llamas, sheep and deer, a group of children riding donkeys. There are also scenes of crowds at Hampstead Heath Summer Fair on August Bank Holiday, including people riding a chairoplane and a roundabout. A courting couple walk hand in hand along a quiet wooded path. A park keeper and assistants collect discarded litter left behind by fair-goers, mainly paper collected on spikes but including some broken glass. A couple of female gardeners (described as 'girls') are filmed attending to a park flower bed. Autumn scenes are introduced by park trees losing their leaves. A park keeper rings a bell to announce a park closing for the evening. Young women are filmed playing hockey and netball in a park, and boys are shot playing football. Winter scenes are introduced by the snow covered rooftops of houses. A family are filmed having a snowball fight in the park. There's also a park kangaroo and stag in the snow (possibly Golders Hill Park). People are also filmed walking about a snow laden park, there are frozen ponds and a woman feeding the birds. Springtime scenes include a park pond, flowers blooming, daffodils emerging, trees budding and magnolia blossoming. Moorhens are nesting and ducks are seen with their ducklings. A peacock seeks the attention of some peahens. A small boy feeds a pair of rabbits. The film ends with various shots of people enjoying parks as their true 'keepers'.
Credits: Director: Cecil Musk; Producer: Cecil Musk; Photography: A.T. Dinsdale; Editor: Cliff Boote; Sound Recording: Ron Abbott; Commentary: Ivor Brown; Music Composer: Ronald Goodwin; Sponsor: London County Council
Further information: The film shows some of the outcomes of the 1944 'Abercrombie Plan' for post-war London, which is mentioned briefly in the commentary as 'the plan'. In 1943 Patrick Abercrombie prepared a 'County of London Plan' for the London County Council, which proposed remedies for five defects of London. The defects included three that are referenced and redressed here: traffic congestion, the inadequacy and misdistribution of open spaces and the sprawl of London. The same author's 'Greater London Plan' of 1944 advised on the protection of a green belt about London inhibiting urban sprawl into the countryside. Green belts were a campaign aim of the Council for the Protection of Rural England, which Abercrombie was a founding member of. The concept of 'green islands' also follows his call for 'standards of open space' recommending that there should be at least four acres of open space available for every one thousand inhabitants of a city. The film was made by producer/director Cecil Musk, probably for [the uncredited] Cecil Musk Productions, the company he ran as an associate of the Film Producer's Guild. Musk had made a previous film for the London County Council in 1951 called Capital County, which described the history of the LCC and provided a survey of its current work. It was distributed by Anglo-Amalgamated Productions, a company known in the 1950s for its second or 'B' features, low budget films shown as part of cinema double-bills before a higher quality main film. 'Green Islands' would likely have been shown as the short film within a full cinema programme preceding both feature films. London Metropolitan Archives' holdings of this title may not be available to view; those available are accessed by appointment only. Please contact LMA for details.
Keywords: Leisure time activities, Parks, Recreational facilities, Sport, Urban Communities, Urban Life, Urban
In galleries: Green Spaces
Locations: United Kingdom; England; London; Battersea Park; Hampstead Heath; Thames (river)
Related
Comments
I am not computer proficient - is there a way I could cut out just my section for storage on my computer? I realise copyright applies - but I was one of he "Stars" !
Any help or advice you can give me would be highly appreciated
Thanks and regards,
Bill Saunders