London’s Screen Archives enables Londoners see their past come alive on film. Managed by Film London, we are a unique network of historic film collections that cares for, collects and screens heritage film across the city. Together we preserve London’s rich film heritage from feature films to home movies, public information films, newsreels, and records of the capital’s many different industries.
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Davis Family Films: Second Film Of Stanhope Gardens; Lord Mayor’s Show, Haringey and City (1966)
James Bond, Graham Hill, Winston Churchill and St Paul’s Cathedral all feature in this brilliant home movie from the Davis Family Film collection.
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Overview
We see shots of a rainy West End and Thames Embankment – Waterloo Bridge is in the background – before we head to the 1964 Lord Mayor’s Show. This was a celebration of British motoring and classic British cars and drivers – from James Bond to Graham Hill – feature in the parade. Then comes proud film of the Davis’s own motor – a Ford Consul – followed by London’s Christmas lights, the Post Office Tower and Winston Churchill’s January 1965 funeral.
The film was shot by Haringey’s Davis family and found and donated by the new owner of the Davis family house. Although dated 1966, the principal action is from the 1964 Lord Mayor’s Parade. Among the vehicles shown is Walthamstow’s “Bremer Car” from the 1890s, the first proper British car. Also shown are John Cobb’s Railton Mobil Special, which broke the land speed record in 1947, a steam car, Formula One drivers Graham Hill, Jim Clark and Jack Brabham, a float celebrating the pneumatic tyre, James Bond’s Aston Martin DB5 and Donald Campbell’s Bluebird. We return to London for Christmas, with garish festive lights, Piccadilly Circus, the Post Office Tower and Odeon Leicester Square. Bruce Castle Museum
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