1969 England

About this footage

Soldiers in red tunics and black bearskin hats fill a large share of these reels. They march toward Buckingham Palace behind a flag, a band plays brass as it crosses the forecourt, single sentries stand by their boxes outside the stone facade, and mounted guards on black horses ride past the crowds.

The rest of London was filmed on foot, much of it with a strong purple color cast. The dome and cross of St Paul's Cathedral rise against the sky, a church spire stands over traffic, and the camera looks across the river at bridges, black taxis and boats. In Aldwych, a couple in a suit and a pale blue dress walk past a red postbox.

Outside the city the pace slows. There are close views of a mossy thatched roof with stone chimneys, a whitewashed cottage, sheep on a hillside, two donkeys crossing a lane, a seaside bandstand with a yellow glass roof, a lighthouse and a long sea wall. The material suits programs about ceremonial London and English country travel in the late 1960s.