The Big Smoke: Films from a Lost London 1896-1945

Just browsing through the archives of the BFI and came across this little gem of a video.

Made over a 100 years ago, the footage shows a number of scenes shot around central London, taking in locations such as Hyde Park Corner, Parliament Square and Charing Cross Station.

Its amazing to see all the differences and similarities, through the advertising on public transport to the congestion of traffic (although admittedly it's mainly horse drawn carriages)

There's also a great soundtrack composed and performed by James Pearson with the Ronnie Scott's All Stars.

There really is a wealth of content to be seen in the BFI's Mediatheques and it's a great way to kill a few hours if you're around the Southbank. I would definitely recommend the 'Anarchy in the UK' collection