Happy Family, The

Building work at the Festival of Britain's South Bank site continues in full swing. To the right is the Dome of Discovery.

More pavilions are seen under construction.

On the blueprints, a foreman spots a problem and goes to see the manager.

At County Hall, it's explained that an error in measurement means that a property lies in the path of a main road. The former County Hall on Belvedere Road SE1.

Captured by Peter now.

News of the mistake is brought to the attention of Mr. Filch at the Ministry. Peter recognised this as Cumberland Terrace in London NW1 . . . .

. . . . . but found scaffolding and refurbishment when he visited.

A further shot of the Dome of Discovery is seen as the camera pans towards a lone building standing on a bombed out street.

The House of Lords, a grocery shop run by Mrs. Lord, sits at a corner on Hamlet Street just yards from the exhibition site on the South Bank. Aidan advises that the shop stood near where the huge Royal Mail office is on Nine Elms Lane now.

The same location from street level. Luckily, the modern Ponton Road almost follows the line of Everett Street. PW

As children play on waste ground, Mr. Filch is driven through the streets towards the Lord's corner shop. Aidan identifies this as Facing Nine Elms Lane from Everett Street.

Nine Elms Lane can be seen in the left distance. PW

Mr. Filch (Naunton Wayne) enters the building and finds Mrs. Lord who tells him to return when her her husband is home. The corner of Everett Street and Currie Street in SW8.

A closer view of what occupies the site now, the rear of one of the new US Embassy's back entrances. PW

Locomotive 70009 creeps out of the shed at Nine Elms Motive Power Depot. The depot was located east of Thessaly Square and the site is now occupied by New Covent Garden Market. Dave W remarks on the fact the engine is a Britannia Class with the name 'Alfred the Great', well known in railway enthusiast circles, while Nick Stanbury remarks that Henry Lord would not have met or driven this engine before retiring in March 1952 as it entered service at Nine Elms two months later in May.

Taken from just inside the perimeter wall of the market, Peter Clift found a different type of transport inhabiting the site of the former engine shed.

After climbing down from the footplate for the last time, Henry Lord (Stanley Holloway) says farewell to a colleague before heading off to his retirement presentation. Nine Elms MPD in London SW8 with one of Battersea Power Station's chimneys to the right.

Filch returns that evening to explain to the family that the house needs to be demolished. Everett Street with the buildingless Ponton Street in the right foreground.

That's Elm Quay Court filling the left background in a view that will disappear in the not to distant future, looking at that hoarding. PW

The Postman delivers mail on the morning after Henry Lord tells Filch that they will not move. The corner of Everett Street and Currie Street with Belfour Street in the background. Information from Aidan.

I didn't pan far enough for this one, but it's all pretty much the same. PW

Henry Lord and his wife Lillian go to see their local Councillor.

Facing bureaucracy at every turn, Mr. and Mrs. Lord return home. The corner of Everett Street and Curie Street with the end of Ponton Street on the right. Located by Aidan.

From almost the same spot. PW

In a milk bar, Cyril discusses active resistance against the government with his fiancé Joan Lord. Surprising how long this location has out stood but Dave W has refocused our attention, telling us that it is the 'Fortes Milk Bar' on the north side of Leicester Square, that is also seen in the 'Blue Lamp' C30. (RL)

The site has hosted many a business. SJ

The windows of the shop are boarded up in preparation for the fight. The corner of Everett Street and Currie Street in SW8 located by Aidan.

And a repeat from earlier. PW

Cyril (George Cole) goes to a phone box to call the BBC, hoping to get the public on the Lord's side. Dave W assessed all the visible evidence and established that the telephone box is outside a rare appearance of St. Anne's Church, Dean Street in W1, post war but before demolition, looking north, opposite Romilly Street. (RL)

The same, rebuilt location. PW

Filch approaches the house with men carrying a battering ram but fails to gain access after being bombarded with tomatoes, eggs and flour. Aidan locates this as Everett Street facing Nine Elms Lane with Newcastle Wharf beyond.

A closer view of Nine Elms Lane in the background. PW

The BBC reports on the resistance of the Lord family. Broadcasting House on Portland Place W1 . . . .shots of which appear in many other production including ‘You Made Me Love You’, ‘Death at Broadcasting House’, 'Helter Skelter', ‘Once a Jolly Swagman’, 'Man on the Run', ‘The Day the Earth Caught Fire’, ‘Band Wagon’, ‘No Trace’, ‘The Oracle’, ‘Mother Riley Meets the Vampire’, ‘Back Room Boy’, ‘The Voice of Merrill’ and ‘Give My Regards To Broad Street’.

Peter took this shot of the same building from ground level.

Newspapers carry headlines about the siege with readers urging the government to call off the police. Dave W has found this one too, Vauxhall Station, London SW8, the entrance on the west side of the viaduct. (RL)

Vauxhall Station today. SR

As the situation begins to grow desperate, the BBC announcer Maurice Hennessey (Tom Gill) who has remained in the Lord's home, agrees that they should end the siege. Through the window can be seen the Shot Tower of the Lambeth Lead Works which once stood on the site now occupied by Jubilee Gardens. Bob Welch adds that, during the Festival of Britain, the tower had a dish fitted to the top which was used to bounce a signal off the moon. This scene is highly likely to have been filmed inside the studio.

After the civil servants give in, the roadway is diverted and the South Bank Exhibition opens. Across the Thames, the Skylon rises left of centre and the Dome of Discovery can just be made out to the right.

Peter captured the same view, with more clutter.