This England - London: City and Covent Garden

A man with a dozen baskets on his head and Big Ben shrouded in scaffolding feature in this amateur movie exploring various London sites in 1934.

This wonderful amateur film intersperses shots of well-known London locations – Big Ben being repaired, Westminster Abbey, Temple Church – with occasionally head-scratching captions relating to topical goings-on such as the 1934 budget. Contains some real gems, such as Pearly Kings and Queens, Covent Garden high jinx, a train leaving Canon Street, Thames bargemen, Billingsgate porters and tourists crossing Westminster Bridge. Credited to John Wilson.