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i worked with a local mini cab firm and we would buy broken biscuits from peak freans till they clised down in the 80s

That was really enjoyable and familiar, those girls must have had many good belly laughs through the years, they still had laughing eyes, gawd bless em!.

Brilliant

I remember walking to school and smelling all the different smells coming from the factories. My mum worked at the biscuit factory when we were small children. I have such wonderful childhood memories of a community that cared about each other. Playing in the streets all day or exploring the bomb sites which we called 'the country' as they were all overgrown. Thank you for bring back such nostalgic wonderful memories ❤

Thank you so much for sharing this. My aunts, who lived in Sedan St, Walworth, worked in the Alaske Fur Factory. ♥

So interesting thank you 🙏👍👍

This is wonderful. There's been a clandestine class-war raging since 1979 and unfortunately the working class have lost.

My mother,Louisa Fisher,worked Peek Freans in the evening and as a cleaner at Guy's Hospital in the morning. People really don't know what working hard is now compared to those years.

My nan was the First Lady that spoke she worked so hard for her children. Very proud of my nan xx

What a lovely and informative documentary. Real Bermondsey women.

what lovely ladies, it was a pleasure watching this

I really enjoyed this.

Is it about man hatred? I subbed, I'm a man. Interesting stuff. But it's me that goes to work, does the cleaning and do the cooking while my ex is waited on hand and foot. Why? The council don't have a place for me to live. Because, I'm a man!

Forty years ago, when getting together on a Sunday morning (old opening hours) for a few pints was de rigueur among the working classes, you could go to boozers in rotherhithe and bermondsey where grandads would be sitting with dads and their lads having a beer, it was in a time warp even then, hard as nails but salt of the earth people.

My Gran and Grandad lived at 245 Lynton Road in 1913, my Mum and Dad lived in Plough Way Rotherhithe, my Uncles and Grandad worked in Surrey Docks. My Dad worked at Courage's Brewery Tower Bridge from the age of 14 delivering beer on a horse drawn dray. I worked in Peak Freans doing their phones, they had one toilet for the straw hat governors another toilet for the workers. My mate got the sack from Peak Freans falling asleep while stacking the Christmas Puddings in the railway arches, it was so warm and he'd had a late night so he couldn't keep awake. My Aunt worked in Martin Rice's Alaska fur making flying jackets during the war, it affected her lungs. One of my Uncles worked there as well. It was a real community of real Londoners round there. I still feel that's my home around there and they are my people. I worked in Bamfords Lard packers in Rotherhithe St the floor was so greasy your feet would be slipping and sliding. My Gran had a sweet shop, tobacconist in Rotherhithe.

Super lovely days Proper

Worked in a 'fact tree'? What in the world...is a, 'fact tree'? That must be one...very large tree, to be able to 'work' in it.

This is a wonderful documentary. Thanks so much for posting, I really enjoyed it. My family are from Bermondsey, the accent is so nostalgic.

What a breath of fresh air these REAL women are. No affectation at all. I miss them all.

Brilliant watch, cheers!

These people are your real Londoners.

This is so lovely! Bermondsey, Southwark etc, the London of my ancestors. I love these women, so comforting listening to them, wonderful women. 💕

It's funny my nan worked in the biscuit factory now I have a office there.

fantastic

A well produced documentary on social history in Bermondsey. Thank you.

My grandmother, was widowed in 1937, when my mum was 17. My nan had a shop in the railway arches in Druid Street, she was given a weeks notice and a sum of money and that was that. They couldn't find anything in Bermondsey, so they moved to Camberwell, where I still live. My nan found a shop and my mum worked in several offices and factories. She met my dad when he was an air raid warden, prior to joining up and they married in 1942. My dad was garrisoned in Yorkshire, my mum travelled up on her own, got married and made her way back home. After war service, fortunately my dad returned home and my brother and I were born in 49 and 52, respectively. So many of these women's stories are familiar from stories my nan told me as a child about family members and friends. They were a tough bunch with hearts of gold and their stories still bring a smile to our faces today. Mum died in 2015, at 94 years of age after a 5 year struggle with Alzheimer's, which she bore with great fortitude. I looked after her at home, she deserved that and although it was tough at times, we wouldn't have had it any other way. God bless them all, we won't see their like again.

Wonderful documentary. I worked in Bermondsey. Next door to the Alaska fur factory. Evening classes, and a sports ground in Dulwich for staff. My mother worked in Bermondsey town hall. Uncle John on the river. My Grandmother came from Cherry Garden Pier, was schooled there. Grandad, a great darts player. My other grandmother was a Slum Sister Midwife and suffragette. The Mayflower sailed from here. Captain cook set off for the far side of the world. London The home of Daniel de Foe, Dickens, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Henry the V returned home after the battle of Agincourt up the old Kent road. Isaac Newton, Dr Salter. Many many more amazing people. A wonderful inheritance I am so glad and grateful for. London an amazing place. The Greenwich observatory, St Mary's church. My children were the first to go to university. Some thing we never even contemplated. The injustice of unequal pay and pensions. Great video. Viola coaches. Wow!

Fantastic documentary....as a bermondsey girl ........it captures my childhood .. Perfectly ....plus Sylvia was my nanny mays very good friend ...wonderful memories

This is a fascinating documentary. Love this kind of social history. Thank you for adding it. Its very moving. The older lady reminds me of another woman in a documentary called 'We was all one' which focuses on Bermondsey, Elephant etc. It was done in 1972. If there are any more like this, please share!!

Yes,and what did all these ladies work their socks off for.? What is left of Bermondsey and Rotherhithe is a multi cultural highly desirable area for outsiders!! The community these ladies enjoyed has gone.They endured hard times but lived in a true community. The London I now know is nothing like the one my mum and dad knew.London is no longer a place that you can call a true community.It is a place of selective community depending on what race has the majority in a particular area.(For example the area around Canada Water,which I prefer calling Surrey Docks, has become very much Chinese and Korean)The reason is that they are the people that can afford to buy and rent in the area. As a REAL local of Bermondsey I live in sad times.

When women were real. My mum worked at the Tin bashers. And was a cleaner all her life and Im proud of her more than you could imagine. What a Women. R.I.P mum till we meet again.

My school

That's my school EDIT: was my school

A superb short film. Utterly fascinating.

A brilliant film: I wish it was three times longer! A compelling and vital document . Do watch.

Michael, these are good points that you are making. Obviously, 'everyone knew one another' is a colloquilism. No-one expects that everyone actually knew one another, but it is the kind of thing that people say to connote that a community was close and that people were friendly. Yes, on the comment about women and work. We also have Mrs Magold talking about her mum working and herself. I do think our interviewee was trying to indicate that the world of work for women has changed since shje was a young woman and the expectations of women at work pre and post WWII. We intend to look into this and will follow up with more information about woman and work in the factories in the area.

Some excellent old footage in this, but filming people saying 'Everybody knew each other in Bermondsey' is making a mockery of the truth. We didn't know everybody, we knew the people in our street and in our flats, but would never know hardly anyone on the next estate or those a couple of streets away. And to put in someone saying 'in those days women didn't go to work ' is outrageous! Who kept Peek Frean's going? Watch this 1906 film of Peek Frean's and see how important women were to local industry: ruclips.net/video/8O2EYrueHNE/видео.html

OMG THATS MY SCHOOL 😀😀😀

Fantastic film, thank you for recording and highlighting this all. Very illuminating.

An account of political and social changes in housing and people's lives that is resonating all over the country (and the globe in fact). The accounts of the residents and the various other agents (and is what is not being said) are revealing of the complexities, contradictions and challenges people face in securing safe and affordable housing. By Debra Watson and Immo Horn

Well done Debra Watson and Immo Horn for documenting this interesting, important slice of North London history. So many issues and questions for today are raised in the process. A hopeful film.