Tony Grist (poliphilo) wrote,
Tony Grist
poliphilo

Morning In The Streets

BBC 4 showed Morning in the Streets last night as part of a evening of programmes about Liverpool. It's a wee gem- a lyrical impression of the post-war city- somewhat in the style of Humphrey Jennings-  put together by the BBC Northern Film Unit.  It records a society that has completely- but completely- vanished. Respectable tramps are dossing in blitzed out buildings, respectable families are sleeping seven to a room, all the men wear flat caps, all the women wear headsscarves- and girls in the playground are doing a complicated ring dance and chanting,

Take her by the lily white hand,
Lead her to the water, 
Give her gifts and make her cry-
She's the old man's daughter!

And then someone on screen tells us about something that happened in 1957. Sheesh, was I really contemporary with all of this?  But of course I was.  I checked with the Radio Times this morning. The film was made in 1959- when I was eight- approximately the same age as the ring-dancing girls.
Subscribe

Recent Posts from This Journal

  • A Metaphysical Conversation With Rudyard Kipling: Delilah Sullivan

    Our friend Edna passed me a magazine which carried a review of this book. Channeling and Rudyard Kipling- two of my favourite things. I had to have…

  • Crypto

    A younger friend of ours is getting into crypto. The way he explains it is you buy low and sell high. Very like the stock market but more…

  • Picture Diary 81

    Picture Diary 81 1. Ever Deeper 2. It must be here, somewhere.... 3. Moi, Je t'aime 4. Angelus ad Virginem 5. Inner child

  • Post a new comment

    Error

    default userpic

    Your reply will be screened

    When you submit the form an invisible reCAPTCHA check will be performed.
    You must follow the Privacy Policy and Google Terms of use.
  • 9 comments