Rural Reconditioning

Grand Designs of the 1930s: rural slums turned into country cottages with the help of government money.

Home makeover, 1930s style: this amateur film looks at a number of rural houses redeveloped from top to bottom to make viable modern homes. These aren't country cottage weekend retreats, but essential agricultural housing. The Housing (Rural Workers) Act of 1926 was part of a wider attempt to deal with slum housing in Britain, which was not just an urban issue but affected workers on the land too.

Matthew Nathan was a prolific 'pro-am', or semi-professional, cineaste for over 50 years, making films into the 1980s. This was the second of two films he made for The Housing Centre Trust (a voluntary organisation that discussed housing issues), the other of which looked at urban housing.