Vintage Footage of London

[John Pickup]

I remember seeing those cars and vans from years ago. Consuls, zephyrs, Ford prefects, Austin somersets and the Comma vans. Thanks for posting that, John.

[Katharine]

Interesting to hear that it was Soho - I always thought it had rather a 'dodgy' reputation? Looked quite respectable to me.

I love the look of cars, shops, clothes etc from the 1950s. Obviously I never lived in that era, but I always think it looks a much nicer way of life than today.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Interesting footage. Thanks very much for the link, John (Lucky Star). The 20th Century Fox building is instantly recognisable.

That is definitely Soho Square that the car goes round three or four times, it is a favourite lunchtime spot to have sandwiches before a theatre visit, but you need to be careful not to sit under pigeons perched on the trees above you!! Anita might comment on this.

I think that particular picnic lunch came just before seeing Funny Girl at the Savoy in 2016. Tony and I were sitting on a bench beneath some tall trees in Soho Square, enjoying the shade as it was a hot day. I leant forward to get my drink from my bag and something hit me hard between the shoulder blades. It actually felt as though somebody had thrown a smallish stone or piece of fruit at me, and I looked round expecting to see grinning faces. It was only when I touched my back (an unwise move!) that I realised I was covered in pigeon poo! The pigeons were a long way up so it was no wonder that I'd been hit with some force! There was so much of the stuff that simply scraping it off was impossible. I ended up popping to the "facilities" in a nearby Pizza Express, discarding my top and wrapping it in a carrier bag. As I didn't have a spare top, I had to wear my summer coat for the rest of the day and remember that I mustn't absent-mindedly unzip it!

Interesting to hear that it was Soho - I always thought it had rather a 'dodgy' reputation?

Probably even worse than Seven Dials!

[Lucky Star]

Interesting to hear that it was Soho - I always thought it had rather a 'dodgy' reputation? Looked quite respectable to me.

The dodgier parts of Soho don't appear in the film. They are (or rather were) located about five minutes walk from the area shown.

Not that I've ever been there of course!!

[Boodi 2]

It looks so respectable in the film footage I would never have guessed that there were dodgy areas a mere five minutes walk away, although I had heard that Soho had a bad reputation!!! I think "Soho Square" is mentioned in one of the songs from the musical "My Fair Lady"...something like: "hear them down in Soho Square dropping Hs everywhere...."

[Moonraker]

There are dodgy areas everywhere!

[Boodi 2]

True, there is no shortage of them.
By the way, the song from My Fair Lady I mentioned above is entitled "Why can't the English?"