1948: The Whole Family go HOP PICKING in Kent | Newsreel | Classic Clips | BBC Archive
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- Опубликовано: 18 сен 2024
- "Father, mother, children, the dog, the newest baby and piles of household goods all set out for the pleasant and profitable business of hop picking."
BBC Television Newsreel follows hundreds of London families as they embark on their annual 'holiday' - a trip to the hop gardens of Kent, for hop-picking season.
The sound in this film is a little crackly, but the visuals are stunning.
Originally broadcast 6th September, 1948.
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East Sussex/ Kent borders local here. Used to go hop picking as a kid, staying in the huts when very young. Getting picked up early in the morning in an old ex army canvas backed truck in later years. Absolutely loved it. Us kids would pick in the morning then explore the local woods in the afternoon. Spoke to an old local teacher about having time off for picking, they used to know which families had to go hop picking (two weeks after the Summer school holidays) to make it through the year financially, (and two weeks before school holiday to go strawberry picking), it was never a problem, a time when common sense prevailed. If anyone mentions child slave labour, well I guess you've never been in need of anything in your life, including food.Us kids loved it, I've planted hop bines all round my garden because it's the best smell in the world !.
......exactly....it was always AFTER the school summer holidays had finished......I loved it!!!!
I absolutely love that they had their tea while there.
And the older kids helping out with the little ones.
England was so much better then.
Only it wasn't..
They were forced to do this work as companies would lay off workers in the summer with no pay. Sure, much better. You wouldn't last a day.
So cool to see! I’m American, but my dad is British, born in 1945 in Birmingham (Yardley area)! It’s cool to see a video from way back then ❤
My dad's family used to go every year. They whole street used to go to Kent, everyone looked forward to it like it was a holiday even though it was hard work, it was a break from the harder daily grind in London.
They stayed in tin huts, ate food as a group and the kids all played in the green fields and fresh air.
My dad remembers these times as the best holidays! 🥰
I'm curious how long the families went for, they took plenty with them, was it a long stay?
@@christinecarter6836 3-6 weeks, depending on how many went. They took some tinned food and a local butcher used to drop by with meat a couple of times a week. Veg was given by the farmer. Dad said there was always a stew on the go!
@@ArtJourneyUK thanks, although the work was hard I can see how it would have been a fantastic break from city life and pollution etc. I'm in New Zealand, used to live in Nelson the country's hop capital :-)
Absolute nonsense. They were forced to take this work as companies laid off workers for the summer with no holiday pay. Of course they made the moist of it, but after holiday pay was introduced, nobody bothered.
@@zivkovicable .......rubbish! My family was neither laid off work nor "forced" to Hop-Pick! It was a very much "looked-forward-to- late- Summer Break for Londoners".
I used to live in an old oast house in Kent. Guaranteed most of the "hoppers" shown here would have got off at Paddock Wood and then bussed out to wherever they were working. They often lived in tin huts on the farms (there are a few left at Ightham Mote, where I used to be a ranger) where they were working. The huts were really spartan, with just a wood fire stove, and a few beds and that was it.
My mum was born and raised in Kent, and says her earliest memory is that of being in one of the canvas bags and told to go to sleep. Hops have a chemical in them which makes you sleepy which would explain why she was placed in them. A lot of the hop bines have gone from and they are quite rare to see these days.
Quite of a lot of the pubs and street names in Kent also give a clue to the old gardens, such as Goldings and Fuggles.
i think mr Fuggles actually lived in paddock wood.
.......and "The Hop-Poles" pub.
The little angel sat in the hop bag moving her arms in excitement is too adorable
Cups and saucers for a cup of tea around the campfire. Now that is class!
Love it, I live on the London Kent boarder, use London Bridge station a lot. I can imagine my kids face right your annual holiday is hop picking!
I just went on a long walk in the countryside around Canterbury this Saturday afternoon and went through several hop orchards - they haven't changed much in appearance since this video!
........ahhhhhh memories are made of this........xxxxxx
. I am currently reading George Orwels “Clergyman’s Daughter” which is a detailed description of the work of a hop picker.
Love that book!
♥️♥️♥️
West London Chiswick , Devonshire Road/William Street. A relation had an open backed lorry, he and his wife would take us all down to Paddock Wood, leaving his wife with us. Open fires spuds on a stick, black pot cooking rabbit stew. Cant wait for the Fish and Chip van. Tucked up, on the straw the rain bashing off the corrugated roof. Outside the Pub, bottle of Lemonade and crisps. Our own kids gang, didn’t know that East London existed, but kids are kids we all mixed, even with the Gypsy kids , our Chiswick heritage, Hawkers etc . Off scrumping. Being told off for putting leaves in the bin. Whats that your cooking? On the Gypsy fire? First you gut it son , then roll it in clay and when its cooked pull off the clay and off comes the spines? It was an hedgehog. I was not offered any. Mum said if your hungry enough. Off down to Paddock Wood summer 2023, down memory lane.
Imagine this happening in today's times. Lol
It does
I wonder, was hopping just a southern/London thing or did northerners do it too? I know my great grandparents were fortunate enough to go to Scarborough or brid for a week every year despite being firmly working class (grandad a miner) on a low income. They never mentioned hopping
Hops were grown only in Kent (in a hop garden) or in Hereford/Worcestershire (in a hop yard). I went every year with my mother's family until 1959 when the hop-picking machines came in. This video is quite accurate; that's exactly how it was.
Were these times (at least in some respects) healthier than today's?
Using child labour to pick ingredients to make an addictive beverage? Not sure. Imaging children picking poppies in Afghanistan.
@@johnmiller0000 You can't compare it with child slavery. I think it's out of context.
Given that London was a really foggy and smoky city until the Clean Act in 1956 was brought in, 6 weeks in the sunshine and fresh air in the Kent countryside probably improved their health dramatically. Although they did have a bad reputation for drinking and fighting so it's a bit subjective...
@@johnmiller0000
Wow.
I bet you're a blast at parties.
Not.
@@henryottis295 Guess what? I don't go to parties because they are full of drunken pricks.
little children not in school but in the fields......
Safe from government indoctrination and propaganda!
It was the annual holiday.
Slave labour to keep Dad drunk. Old times!
No one seemed to be forced to do it
@@yusufkhan-ig7dv they weren't, they loved it. The kids never did much, most of the time they ran around playing in the fields.