1974: The Old PUBLIC LAUNDRY | Nationwide | Voice of the People

1974: The Old PUBLIC LAUNDRY | Nationwide | Voice of the People | BBC Archive

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Жыл бұрын

"They want to carry on washing, the way they've always done it."
James Hogg reports from the Silchester Road Public Baths building in North Kensington, which is due to be demolished as part of a redevelopment scheme, with the site earmarked for a new olympic swimming pool.
Local housewives, however - including the mother of footballer Alan Mullery - are up in arms about the decision, because the building houses the public laundry, which has been in use since 1886. Why do these women want to keep this antiquated public laundry, when the council plans to build a modern launderette to replace it?
James demonstrates the process of washing in the old laundry works - from the lead sinks to the scrubbing boards, to the press and the drying horses.
Originally broadcast 25 January, 1974.
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Пікірлер: 107

@zamiadams4343 Жыл бұрын

I live on a peabody estate in Fulham and we have a public laundry, saves me a fortune and is still the same as when it was built in 1906.

@ingiemummalove130 Жыл бұрын

I love the woman who says “who wants easy work!” Bloody hell id die if I had to do all my washing by hand!!!!!

@estusflask982 Жыл бұрын

0:52

@Aerojet01 Жыл бұрын

This was a technological moment in our history when the old manual way of doing things was becoming outdated, and rapidly replaced by automated machines. Change is essential for human development, but at the same time, we risk making people feel redundant and obsolete. Like someone pointed out in the comments section, these public baths were social places in our community for people to meet up. The more technology is used to improve our lives, the more fragmented society has become, which is something that the public authorities have never fully addressed or understood. People are social beings that thrive off social interaction and sense of belonging. This is very similar to retired old men tinkering around with steam engines trying to feel useful in an ever changing world.

@shingitai5882 Жыл бұрын

It’s hilarious watching the reporter explaining how to wash a shirt by hand. I bet someone had just shown him!😂

@chelamcguire

I was born in 1960 and by 1963, my mother had two youngsters plus herself and my father to wash laundry for. Over and above that, we owned two farms, so there was all the overalls to wash every day......really grubby clothes! They really needed a good boiling that only the Wash House could offer. However, by '63 my mother had an Automatic Washing Machine and had kissed goodbye to her Twin-Tub. She still hopped in the car every week to go to the Wash House - as seen in this footage. This was in the southside of Edinburgh. I loved it there. It was always so nice and warm and very busy. Mum took all the sheets and white items to ensure they were boiled and perfectly white again. I had the whitest blouse and socks in my class! I recall the day that the Wash House closed and there was a party for all the regulars. My dear mother actually wept.

@Zlervo Жыл бұрын

They were meeting places. This was before my time but it would be interesting to go back and experience the friendly atmosphere and sense of community.

@JamieSMB Жыл бұрын

I love BBC Archive

@hilaryepstein6013 Жыл бұрын

I didn't like that man from the council, sitting in his ivory tower. I'd love to have seen those women giving him a piece of their minds.

@jq8974 Жыл бұрын

I really like the old washing house. Those drying cupboards are making me jealous! And the more I look at how they scrub a specific area and how the rinse water worked, I get it. I do more and more hand wash in my life, and I would love this much resource and control. And a place to meet others 🙂

@Blackwater_House Жыл бұрын

I remember the Drying Horses from the City of London Freeman’s School Laundry in Ashtead, (Surrey) in the mid to late 1960’s.

@markmooch Жыл бұрын

The councils disdain of the working class goes back a long way.

@dfpguitar

Imagine all the clothes drying you could do with the heat generated by the underground!

@froogsleegs

if you reintroduced spaces like this back into society that actually tried to slow down processes and make them more social, I think they'd be really popular. so much about our environment has become so efficient that it's lacking in the fine, deliberate attention to detail that makes things really special. putting these spaces back in would be like therapy for the masses

@borderlands6606 Жыл бұрын

My mother and aunts would use a wash house, though my mother was a bit snooty about it. I remember the huge drying roller, far more efficient than an iron, you just fed the garment through and it came out flat.

@JasonJonesoriginal Жыл бұрын

They sound like me defending hand washing dishes vs using a dish washer😂

@HaloFlemz86

I find this Fascinating. It was a community, they got the clothes cleaned and could have a chat with friends and cup of tea. It got the ladies out of the house. I think it was a shame at the time to get rid of it.

@Seminal_Ideas Жыл бұрын

Part of the incremental dissolving of British community spirit. What was thought of as progress was in fact increasing isolation. You needn't be a luddite to lament this and once it was gone, it was gone.

@frankhooper7871

"Then you get your faithful old scrubber" - hey, she's standing next to you!

@Jack_Warner

I love these old films. I was a big fan of Nationwide in the day. In 1973, I got myself on a film made by John Swinfield, when he and his crew visited Southend.