How grim was mid 1970's London?
Discussion
P5BNij said:
For the most part the film crew didn't venture very far from their HQ at Colet Court in Hammersmith, they were on a fairly tight schedule (ten days per episode with the odd overun) so didn't want to waste time travelling around more than necessary. This meant that the same run down areas were used several times, although they did go out to the suburbs and the docklands occasionally for certain story lines.
The opening title sequence was shot directly opposite Colet Court in the wasteground off Colet Gardens in 1974, it was the site of a school which was demolished in '69 and has since been built on, it was also used in the classic 'blag' episode 'Faces' from series 2, shot in '75...
I used to live in Hammersmith and worked at Willesden and Old Oak Common in the early '80s, much of it was still quite run down looking even then. Everything looked grey and brown back then!
Thats really interesting - thanks!The opening title sequence was shot directly opposite Colet Court in the wasteground off Colet Gardens in 1974, it was the site of a school which was demolished in '69 and has since been built on, it was also used in the classic 'blag' episode 'Faces' from series 2, shot in '75...
I used to live in Hammersmith and worked at Willesden and Old Oak Common in the early '80s, much of it was still quite run down looking even then. Everything looked grey and brown back then!
An interesting post. I watched re-runs of the Sweeney & Professionals as a kid and have done so again over the past ten years or so on ITV4 - as you say it looks pretty grim.
Gentrification from my experience has changed it incredibly. Stratford up until the late 90's was a proper sh*thole, I'll have to beg to differ with the previous poster on that one. As for where the Olympic stadium is now, you'd hardly recognise it. Some of the high rise estates round there were very rough.
I think the combination of Thatcherism and the loosening of regulations around finance and the city saw a lot of money come in. I wonder just how much difference it has made to those that use to live there though?
Gentrification from my experience has changed it incredibly. Stratford up until the late 90's was a proper sh*thole, I'll have to beg to differ with the previous poster on that one. As for where the Olympic stadium is now, you'd hardly recognise it. Some of the high rise estates round there were very rough.
I think the combination of Thatcherism and the loosening of regulations around finance and the city saw a lot of money come in. I wonder just how much difference it has made to those that use to live there though?
catweasle said:
Eastend bombsites were a great places for street urchins like me in the 60's....moved out by the 70's, as did almost every member of our extended family (aunts / uncles etc) and never had and desire whatsoever to move back.
Moved out to the country (Essex/Cambs/Suffolk borders) and moved back to East London four years ago. Best thing we ever did. 
If you watch The Sweeney, Minder and The Professionals often enough you start to notice the same locations being used over and over again! Another one worth a look is the six part series 'Out' made by Euston Films who also did Sweeney and Minder, it was shot at the end of 1977 and is pretty grim, mostly in and around North London.
Made earlier (in 1970) and well worth a look for great London locations is the Richard Burton film 'Villain'.
A few more Sweeney shots....
Colet Gardens, W6...
Southall Gasworks, also used in other Sweeney episodes and in The Professionals...
Chelsea Wharf, now gone and the site of Imperial Wharf station...
Kings Cross...
Peckham Rye...
Battersea...
From the first spin off film 'Sweeney!' shot in '76, I think it's somewhere in Acton...
Made earlier (in 1970) and well worth a look for great London locations is the Richard Burton film 'Villain'.
A few more Sweeney shots....
Colet Gardens, W6...
Southall Gasworks, also used in other Sweeney episodes and in The Professionals...
Chelsea Wharf, now gone and the site of Imperial Wharf station...
Kings Cross...
Peckham Rye...
Battersea...
From the first spin off film 'Sweeney!' shot in '76, I think it's somewhere in Acton...
I remember early to mid 80's. If I'd told my parents I was thinking of buying a place in 'Acknee or Notting Hill they'd have been straight round to take my cheque book off me for being stupid. I lived in Hackney for a few years, full Georgian town house, easy walking distance to the City, dealers and alkies on every corner. I'd like to claim it was because I was fashionably avante garde but it was because it was nothing in rent and all my mates in SW3 were spending as much as £70 a week. That house will be £3m+ now, assuming it didn't get burned down in one of the many festive street riots held locally.
I also remember being taken out to the docklands by a prop dev firm which was looking for funding. A bit hazy now, but IIRC the big canary wharf deal had just been signed and this firm owned some land which had something called a 'data centre' on it, and they felt it was a good expansion opportunity. It looked exactly like a set on the Sweeney, but had a shiny new access road to it. Interestingly, I do remember the access road was single lane and there were already jams building up on it and there was no sign of any public transport provision at all.
I'd say what is now zone 1 was pretty much all rebuilt and sorted, but you didn't have to go far out in zone 2 to still see bomb damage and derelict places. And the really big visual difference was that all the buildings were utterly black and filthy, with a century of soot and crap on them. The clean air legislation was still coming in to force and the large scale exterior cleanups hadn't really started at all.
ETA - Eric beat me to it on the building dirt. Also Kings Cross photo above reminded me just how dodgy that area was and I'd say was the last central spot to have been cleaned up, only really in the last ten years.
I also remember being taken out to the docklands by a prop dev firm which was looking for funding. A bit hazy now, but IIRC the big canary wharf deal had just been signed and this firm owned some land which had something called a 'data centre' on it, and they felt it was a good expansion opportunity. It looked exactly like a set on the Sweeney, but had a shiny new access road to it. Interestingly, I do remember the access road was single lane and there were already jams building up on it and there was no sign of any public transport provision at all.
I'd say what is now zone 1 was pretty much all rebuilt and sorted, but you didn't have to go far out in zone 2 to still see bomb damage and derelict places. And the really big visual difference was that all the buildings were utterly black and filthy, with a century of soot and crap on them. The clean air legislation was still coming in to force and the large scale exterior cleanups hadn't really started at all.
ETA - Eric beat me to it on the building dirt. Also Kings Cross photo above reminded me just how dodgy that area was and I'd say was the last central spot to have been cleaned up, only really in the last ten years.
Edited by Newc on Monday 6th April 16:32
Some decent pics of '70's & '80's London on Flickr - my interest is mostly in e London, Docklands & the City, good pics of all of those areas knocking about online. There's also some decent YouTube videos of London - few links have been posted in the Classics Thread.
My dad had dealings with the London Docklands Development Corporation from the early '80's, as a result I vaguely remember being driving onto and around an various empty Docks - unsurprisingly very different from today.
It's a terrible film, but Empire State (1987) has some cool helicopter shots of a largely undeveloped Docklands in the opening credits. The Long Good Friday (1980) is also excellent for period east end & City, London.
My dad had dealings with the London Docklands Development Corporation from the early '80's, as a result I vaguely remember being driving onto and around an various empty Docks - unsurprisingly very different from today.
It's a terrible film, but Empire State (1987) has some cool helicopter shots of a largely undeveloped Docklands in the opening credits. The Long Good Friday (1980) is also excellent for period east end & City, London.
Eric Mc said:
I first visited London in 1977 and was struck by how dirty and grimy it looked. The main problem was the state of the fine buildings - most of which were covered in 150 years worth of soot and dirt and the after effects of World War 2. From the early 1980s onwards, there was a huge amount of cleaning up on and most of these great buildings now look a lot better than they did 40 years ago.
Good point, I used to travel in to London by train in the early 70s, I can remember going home and seeing soot in my handkerchief when I blew my nose, the air was fithyI went to secondary school in Hammersmith 74-80, and yes, it was pretty grim. The whole station/Broadway has been regenerated.
Large areas or London have been completely reborn, those pics above of Kings Cross would now be Coal Drops Yard. And of course Docklands has been transformed.
But having said that, West London was still a really vibrant place to be a teenager in the 70s, with punk etc. Wouldn't have wanted to miss it.
Large areas or London have been completely reborn, those pics above of Kings Cross would now be Coal Drops Yard. And of course Docklands has been transformed.
But having said that, West London was still a really vibrant place to be a teenager in the 70s, with punk etc. Wouldn't have wanted to miss it.
Robbo 27 said:
Good point, I used to travel in to London by train in the early 70s, I can remember going home and seeing soot in my handkerchief when I blew my nose, the air was fithy
We had some scientists come to our school playground in 1975ish to take readings of lead in the air. This was pre unleaded petrol. We were in the common market now so had to meet different standards. Our reading was about 1000 times the limit that children could be exposed to. Some would say it explains a lot about my intelligence levels 
P5BNij said:
SNIP
This one of Whitechapel is from much earlier ('69) but some areas of London still looked like this in the '70s...
There are streets off Commercial Road that still look like that. I remember visiting one the the last Jewish delis in the area (parallel to Cable Street) within the past ten years.This one of Whitechapel is from much earlier ('69) but some areas of London still looked like this in the '70s...
And this website has some pictures as a reminder of Covent Garden as a fruit market all the way up to 1974 before it was tarted up: http://www.nickelinthemachine.com/2012/05/the-glc-...
psi310398 said:
P5BNij said:
SNIP
This one of Whitechapel is from much earlier ('69) but some areas of London still looked like this in the '70s...
There are streets off Commercial Road that still look like that. I remember visiting one the the last Jewish delis in the area (parallel to Cable Street) within the past ten years.This one of Whitechapel is from much earlier ('69) but some areas of London still looked like this in the '70s...
And this website has some pictures as a reminder of Covent Garden as a fruit market all the way up to 1974 before it was tarted up: http://www.nickelinthemachine.com/2012/05/the-glc-...
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