Last spring we provided you, dear reader, with a link to a fascinating film about a youth club in Kennington from the BFI Film Archive. Now that you have more time on those sparkling, germ free hands of yours, we thought we would send it your way once again. And if you still find yourself at a loose end after viewing it, there are about 1,000,000 other films in the archive to fill your days and nights….Original post below. Enjoy!
You could probably spend a day few days, or in our case years, exploring the BFI Film Archive of old films about London. We recently discovered this treasure called ‘We Are the Lambeth Boys’ and it gives a fascinating insight into Kennington circa 1959.
The film depicts the lives of the girls and boys of Alford House youth club, which still flourishes in Aveline Street, pictured below. To 2019 eyes the 49 minute film appears slightly condescending, but it was in fact intended to dispel conceptions of ‘Teddy Boys’ (hence the conversation about apparel early in the film) and the culture of youth clubs in general.
Examining the (nerd alert!) outside shots of the estates, we think they were filmed around Newburn Street. If you are a fellow fan of ‘ohh, I know where that is’ viewing, scroll to (nerd alert 2!) 33:30 for a distinct view of 50’s Kennington Cross (shown below). If you’re still on board scroll back to (nerd alert 3!) to 26:10 for a glimpse of Cleaver Street toward Cleaver Sq. If you have any further nerd revelations please drop them in the comments box….
I need some nicer clothes…..
Are there any unusual or rare pictures incl landing areas, lifts etc of Kerrin Point, the tower block that stood at Hotspur Street from 1969 to 2000. I learnt what happened to Kerrin Point but have yet to find any demolition pictures, even on the 20th anniversary of its demolition, or pictures of the play space that temporarily replaced the building. Thank you for any research into Kerrin Point.