Thamesmead | Promotional Film (1970) | London Housing

This is a fascinating and with hindsight rather sad study of the building of Thamesmead, a new town in south-east London that was envisaged as “a town for the 21st century” but which was soon plagued by social problems caused by lack of facilities and public transport. Includes great shots of the estate being built as well as derelict munitions factories and abandoned homes that occupied the site before construction began. Filmed in 1970, before the project was complete. An early sign of the problems to face Thamesmead comes in a public meeting for residents, one of whom wonders whether communal areas have only been cleaned because of an impending visit by dignitaries to open new tower blocks. Thamesmead was driven by utopian ideals but this wasn’t always reflected by its later management. The scale of the planning is fascinating to behold, with every area carefully considered – which just goes to show how difficult it is to create from scratch something as organic as a community. 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.