0:00:02 > 0:00:03# Neasden
0:00:03 > 0:00:05# You won't be sorry that you breezed in
0:00:07 > 0:00:09# The traffics lights and yellow lines
0:00:09 > 0:00:11# The illuminated signs
0:00:11 > 0:00:13# All say "Welcome to the borough
0:00:13 > 0:00:15# "That everybody's pleased in"
0:00:15 > 0:00:16# Neasden
0:00:17 > 0:00:21# Where the birds sing in the 'trees-den'
0:00:21 > 0:00:26# You can hear the blackbirds coo! So why not take the Bakerloo?
0:00:26 > 0:00:30# It'll work out that much cheaper if you buy a "seas-den"! #
0:00:48 > 0:00:51The healthy air of Harrow, in the 1920s and '30s,
0:00:51 > 0:00:52when these villas were built.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59One after another, pretty townships have been grabbed.
0:00:59 > 0:01:01Some have been murdered or obliterated.
0:01:02 > 0:01:06Although we had a garden, and indoor toilet and bathroom,
0:01:06 > 0:01:08it was so boring!
0:01:08 > 0:01:12Over a million people wash in and out of Central London each day,
0:01:12 > 0:01:15and pass through the great grey ordinariness
0:01:15 > 0:01:18that separates work from home.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24No longer need you travel far afield to see your favourite stars,
0:01:24 > 0:01:27because, here on your doorstep,
0:01:27 > 0:01:31is a theatre equal to any in the West End. Indeed, the world.
0:01:31 > 0:01:35It is the true twilight zone of London,
0:01:35 > 0:01:38neither city or country, village nor town -
0:01:38 > 0:01:43coming briefly alive when the commuters flock to Central London,
0:01:43 > 0:01:45or flock back to their illusions of gracious living.
0:01:49 > 0:01:52Chelsea to Chigwell, Windsor to Wapping,
0:01:52 > 0:01:54High Beach to High Barnet.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57The far reaches of the city stretch out to each other,
0:01:57 > 0:02:00and all London is linked together.
0:02:03 > 0:02:07The great influx into the city is starting.
0:02:07 > 0:02:11This is the greatest daily movement of people in the world,
0:02:11 > 0:02:12from their homes, into the city.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18Preparing the rolling stock for this great tide of people,
0:02:18 > 0:02:218,000 workmen have been working in the repair and maintenance depots.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33Metal brake blocks must be relined,
0:02:33 > 0:02:35power units overhauled,
0:02:35 > 0:02:38and coaches washed by power jets and mechanical scrubbers.
0:02:43 > 0:02:47In tram and bus depots, similar work is in hand.
0:02:47 > 0:02:48Engines have been to be tuned.
0:02:48 > 0:02:52Punctures have to be avoided in 50,000 pneumatic tyres.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55Finally, the refuelling.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01When these and a thousand other jobs are done,
0:03:01 > 0:03:04everything is ready to carry Londoners to their work.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29The drivers are ready.
0:03:29 > 0:03:32246 stations throw open their gates.
0:03:34 > 0:03:36Every weekday morning,
0:03:36 > 0:03:39almost two million scramble for buses,
0:03:39 > 0:03:41or sprint the last 100 yards up the station approach,
0:03:41 > 0:03:45to pack themselves into trains that leave the outposts of suburbia.
0:04:00 > 0:04:05Forever on the move over its vast surface,
0:04:05 > 0:04:0911 million journeys made every day by London Transport vehicles.
0:04:09 > 0:04:12I would hate to sever my links entirely with London.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15Commuting every day. And I enjoy that.
0:04:15 > 0:04:17I don't think I would go back to live in London,
0:04:17 > 0:04:19but I like to be near London.
0:04:19 > 0:04:21I don't spend any time in London,
0:04:21 > 0:04:24apart from the time I spend at work, that is.
0:04:26 > 0:04:28The driver keeps a steady speed.
0:04:28 > 0:04:31He knows when he should reach the next stop,
0:04:31 > 0:04:34and drives so he that will be there right on time.
0:04:34 > 0:04:36People rely on his correct time-keeping
0:04:36 > 0:04:37at the stopping places.
0:04:40 > 0:04:43The roads begin to look busier. London is getting nearer.
0:04:45 > 0:04:49It's been a crowded journey.
0:04:49 > 0:04:51We arrive at our work, tired before we begin,
0:04:51 > 0:04:56and we sometimes wonder if that suburban home is really worth it.
0:05:01 > 0:05:03It was bad enough getting to work.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07It's even worse when we try to get home.
0:05:18 > 0:05:19Hurry up!
0:05:22 > 0:05:25Not only do the buses bring people into London,
0:05:25 > 0:05:28they also carry passengers out, through less crowded streets
0:05:28 > 0:05:31to the surrounding countryside.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34There is a regular service, to or from the town.
0:06:28 > 0:06:30Over here, near Croydon, you can see a batch of houses
0:06:30 > 0:06:32going up in a hurry.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35That's strange enough in itself, but go in closer,
0:06:35 > 0:06:37and you notice why this building site is different.
0:06:37 > 0:06:41Everybody working there is under 16 years of age.
0:06:41 > 0:06:43It's part of a new plan to train the master builders of tomorrow
0:06:43 > 0:06:46on most modern lines possible.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49You start at 14,
0:06:49 > 0:06:52work six months on probation, to see if you're going to like the life,
0:06:52 > 0:06:54and then experienced craftsmen take the class over
0:06:54 > 0:06:57for a five-year apprenticeship.
0:06:57 > 0:06:58When our cameraman caught them,
0:06:58 > 0:07:01they had two finished houses to their credit,
0:07:01 > 0:07:03and work on others was well under way.
0:07:04 > 0:07:06Wages run upon a sliding scale.
0:07:06 > 0:07:09A quarter of craftsmen's rate for boys up to 15,
0:07:09 > 0:07:14one third up to 16, and so on, until they get full pay at 21.
0:07:15 > 0:07:19Foremen and instructors report the scheme a great success.
0:07:19 > 0:07:22According to them, the houses are sound, workmanlike jobs,
0:07:22 > 0:07:24and the only waste is the mortar
0:07:24 > 0:07:27the new recruits take home on their clothes.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53The spacious hall has a wide staircase, well set back.
0:07:54 > 0:07:56And leads to the dining room,
0:07:56 > 0:07:59which, with its tiled surround and hearth,
0:07:59 > 0:08:02and French casement doors,
0:08:02 > 0:08:06is a fitting neighbour to the lofty drawing room.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10There are three bedrooms on the first floor,
0:08:10 > 0:08:12and they all overlook the rolling countryside.
0:08:35 > 0:08:39For 20 years, London raged like a forest fire,
0:08:39 > 0:08:41or like some new craze -
0:08:41 > 0:08:45unstoppable, out of all proper control.
0:08:46 > 0:08:50Suburbs are a gigantic piece of folk art,
0:08:50 > 0:08:53as amazing in their way as Stonehenge or the great cathedrals.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04We've been travelling out through London's ribbon development -
0:09:04 > 0:09:08long, narrow corridors of suburbia
0:09:08 > 0:09:10that stretch far out into the fields.
0:09:10 > 0:09:15London's shaped like an octopus, and we've broken free from it.
0:09:23 > 0:09:27Londoners have been forced to live further and further away,
0:09:27 > 0:09:30and now we get rid of them in places like Wimbledon and Blackheath.
0:09:30 > 0:09:31Tens of thousands of more modest houses
0:09:31 > 0:09:35have been built on these great new roads constructed since the war...
0:09:35 > 0:09:36on the Barnet Bypass...
0:09:38 > 0:09:40..on the Westwick...
0:09:46 > 0:09:49..on the North Circular Road,
0:09:49 > 0:09:52actually part of the famous Hampstead garden suburb.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55This is Highgate Village.
0:09:55 > 0:09:57Until 100 years ago, it really was a separate community
0:09:57 > 0:10:00outside London.
0:10:00 > 0:10:01Now the city has enveloped it.
0:10:01 > 0:10:03But it still retains the title
0:10:03 > 0:10:05and character of "village".
0:10:05 > 0:10:08Ten minutes away is the hustle of the city.
0:10:08 > 0:10:11The shops here are small, family businesses -
0:10:11 > 0:10:14no supermarkets or chromium-plated emporiums.
0:10:18 > 0:10:22The railway was one great cause of London's growth.
0:10:22 > 0:10:24All along these railway lines,
0:10:24 > 0:10:26we built our homes.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31Year by year, we've spread further and further out,
0:10:31 > 0:10:35always looking for cheaper land and cheaper rents,
0:10:35 > 0:10:38and fresh air and light and space -
0:10:38 > 0:10:40a bit of England we can call our own...
0:10:41 > 0:10:44..a place where the wife can be mistress in her own house,
0:10:44 > 0:10:48a place where the kids can run about in safety,
0:10:48 > 0:10:51a quiet, peaceful place,
0:10:51 > 0:10:53where a man can rest and forget his worries for a while.
0:10:54 > 0:10:56This is the kind of thing
0:10:56 > 0:10:59we Londoners have saved and scraped for -
0:10:59 > 0:11:02a house in the suburbs, a home of our own.
0:11:05 > 0:11:06STEAM TRAIN WHISTLES
0:11:08 > 0:11:13Metroland, the creation of the Metropolitan Railway,
0:11:13 > 0:11:15which, as you know,
0:11:15 > 0:11:20was the first steam underground in the world.
0:11:21 > 0:11:26When I was a boy, "Live in Metroland" was the slogan.
0:11:27 > 0:11:31It meant getting out of the tunnels into the country.
0:11:33 > 0:11:35The Metropolitan had a very good idea.
0:11:35 > 0:11:38Look at these fields.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42They were photographed in 1910, from the train.
0:11:44 > 0:11:48"Why not..." said a clever member of the board.
0:11:48 > 0:11:52"Why not buy these orchards and farms as we go along,
0:11:52 > 0:11:56"turn out the cattle, and fill the meadow land with houses?"
0:11:57 > 0:12:00Bucks, Herts and Middlesex
0:12:00 > 0:12:02yielded to Metroland.
0:12:04 > 0:12:08When this estate was built, it was just three streets in the country.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11They ended precisely here,
0:12:11 > 0:12:13where the Tarmac stops,
0:12:13 > 0:12:17then there was a pond and a rolling landscape of open farmland.
0:12:18 > 0:12:22Then the pond was filled in and concreted over,
0:12:22 > 0:12:26and the whole rolling landscape became a vast, rolling streetscape,
0:12:26 > 0:12:28and we were living in the country no longer.
0:12:30 > 0:12:34Where earlier expansion had taken place around the nucleus
0:12:34 > 0:12:36provided by an existing village,
0:12:36 > 0:12:38after London had captured it,
0:12:38 > 0:12:40around a place with social and human attributes,
0:12:40 > 0:12:42the new housing was dumped
0:12:42 > 0:12:45in the undifferentiated spaces between villages,
0:12:45 > 0:12:49and all it had for social focus was usually a traffic roundabout.
0:12:52 > 0:12:54It happened in Hendon,
0:12:54 > 0:12:56it happened across the other side of London at Morden -
0:12:56 > 0:12:59places once as different as being 20 miles apart
0:12:59 > 0:13:02on opposite sides of the Thames could make them,
0:13:02 > 0:13:06but now reduced to equality as vassals of Metroland,
0:13:06 > 0:13:10the great suburban empire of the underground.
0:13:11 > 0:13:16The houses of Metroland never got as far as Verney Junction.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19Grass triumphs.
0:13:19 > 0:13:23And I must say, I'm rather glad.
0:13:41 > 0:13:43Wimbledon and Putney Commons -
0:13:43 > 0:13:461,100 acres of green and open country,
0:13:46 > 0:13:49which by an act of Parliament, a century ago this year,
0:13:49 > 0:13:51became the first open space
0:13:51 > 0:13:53to be preserved forever for the enjoyment of Londoners.
0:13:55 > 0:13:57The same act established that the Commons
0:13:57 > 0:14:00should be administered by a board called the "Conservators",
0:14:00 > 0:14:02three to be chosen by the Government,
0:14:02 > 0:14:05and the remaining five to be elected every three years
0:14:05 > 0:14:08from people who live close to the Commons.
0:14:08 > 0:14:10This used to mean the inhabitants
0:14:10 > 0:14:12of Wimbledon's gracious, large houses,
0:14:12 > 0:14:16but today it includes the residents of huge council estates,
0:14:16 > 0:14:18such as Roehampton and Akroydon.
0:14:18 > 0:14:20that now fringe the Commons.
0:14:21 > 0:14:26We would like to see more sports facilities on the Wimbledon Common,
0:14:26 > 0:14:29and we have asked the Commons Conservators
0:14:29 > 0:14:33to set aside certain areas on the Commons,
0:14:33 > 0:14:37so that ball-playing can be carried out.
0:14:37 > 0:14:40There are plenty of places in and around London
0:14:40 > 0:14:43where there are parks with paddling pools and swings
0:14:43 > 0:14:45and children's playgrounds,
0:14:45 > 0:14:48where people can go if they want that sort of thing.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51The whole aim of the Conservators of Wimbledon Common
0:14:51 > 0:14:56is to keep it open and unenclosed, and in its natural state.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06Big wall of seven foot high, it was across this very road,
0:15:06 > 0:15:11and with glass on the top, and not able to be climbed over.
0:15:11 > 0:15:13These people provided it.
0:15:13 > 0:15:15They all clubbed together,
0:15:15 > 0:15:17and had it put up against these people,
0:15:17 > 0:15:21who they thought were the poorer people, a new council estate.
0:15:21 > 0:15:23They didn't wish to mix with them,
0:15:23 > 0:15:26but the children were able to climb over the wall.
0:15:26 > 0:15:30The buses were up this way, and the trams at the top.
0:15:30 > 0:15:32If not, there was a detour for children going to school.
0:15:32 > 0:15:35They had to walk right the way round,
0:15:35 > 0:15:38a mile-and-a-half that way, or a mile-and-a-half this way,
0:15:38 > 0:15:42to get to school, or to the buses or trams, whichever they preferred.
0:15:48 > 0:15:52The waiting list at Hammersmith is about the 6,000 mark.
0:15:52 > 0:15:57The problem is it's not going down. It's going up all the time.
0:15:57 > 0:16:01The answer is to use the land which is in Outer London
0:16:01 > 0:16:04for either housing, or for the relocation of offices,
0:16:04 > 0:16:08so that the pressures on land in Inner London is released,
0:16:08 > 0:16:11and we can use it for housing.
0:16:11 > 0:16:12We would love to share it with people,
0:16:12 > 0:16:14but it is all a question of degree.
0:16:16 > 0:16:19Surely nobody would be so selfish to say,
0:16:19 > 0:16:22"We've got a nice place here, we don't want anybody to come into it."
0:16:22 > 0:16:23But if you have such a nice place
0:16:23 > 0:16:25that everybody wants to come into it,
0:16:25 > 0:16:28then the place itself becomes no longer a nice place.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33We're not rich men. We've worked to buy these houses,
0:16:33 > 0:16:37and we are the true working class, really.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41- Really?- Yes, really working class,
0:16:41 > 0:16:45in as much as I have worked all my life,
0:16:45 > 0:16:48from the time I left school,
0:16:48 > 0:16:52and I bought my house with my earnings,
0:16:52 > 0:16:55and I don't want to see the character
0:16:55 > 0:16:57of this neighbourhood change.
0:17:12 > 0:17:15BELLS RING
0:17:22 > 0:17:28Yes! Lovely. Rounder! Rounder! Rounder!
0:17:28 > 0:17:30CHILDREN SHOUT
0:17:30 > 0:17:32TRAIN HORN BLARES
0:17:35 > 0:17:37RADIO: We'll make it exciting for you now
0:17:37 > 0:17:40by playing a sparkling record.
0:17:47 > 0:17:49DOG BARKS
0:17:51 > 0:17:55MAN SHOUTS TO DEER
0:18:05 > 0:18:09ICE CREAM VAN CHIMES
0:18:13 > 0:18:14BIRDS SQUAWK
0:18:50 > 0:18:53Why, in this street, everybody who isn't washing their car,
0:18:53 > 0:18:56seems to be snipping their hedge, or mowing their lawn,
0:18:56 > 0:18:58or doing something like this family.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01Are you ambitious? Do you try to do anything fancy with your garden,
0:19:01 > 0:19:03or just keep it tidy?
0:19:03 > 0:19:04Nothing at all. Just keep it tidy.
0:19:04 > 0:19:06Are you a keen gardener?
0:19:06 > 0:19:09No, I just do it because I have to do it.
0:19:09 > 0:19:11- To keep it tidy?- Yes.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14Did you know there was stuff you could spray on privet hedges
0:19:14 > 0:19:16to stop them growing?
0:19:16 > 0:19:18No, I've never heard about it.
0:19:18 > 0:19:21- This might save you a bit of labour. - Yes, it would.
0:19:21 > 0:19:23From the window,
0:19:23 > 0:19:27I can see my neighbours' gardens divided by a privet hedge.
0:19:27 > 0:19:31The other Sunday, I noticed they came out together to cut the hedge.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34Incidentally, they are both much the same build,
0:19:34 > 0:19:36and use the same type of shears.
0:19:38 > 0:19:43This one is an eager beaver, and it shows up in his gardening.
0:19:43 > 0:19:48Our friend here, on the other hand, is the more easy-going type.
0:19:48 > 0:19:51They both started at ten o'clock, and by eight minutes past,
0:19:51 > 0:19:55one was well on the way, while the other had still only just started.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58Well, he never stopped talking.
0:19:58 > 0:20:05By quarter past, he was still talking - this time, to his dog.
0:20:05 > 0:20:07Then he noticed a few weeds in the flowerbed,
0:20:07 > 0:20:10so he had to put that right before getting on with the hedge.
0:20:13 > 0:20:15By then, his neighbour had almost finished.
0:20:15 > 0:20:17In all, it had taken him roughly 20 minutes
0:20:17 > 0:20:19to cut his half of the hedge.
0:20:21 > 0:20:23What with the dog, the flower border,
0:20:23 > 0:20:25and then half-an-hour-after elevenses,
0:20:25 > 0:20:28this one wasn't finished when the pub opened.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31So how long does it take to cut a hedge?
0:20:35 > 0:20:38For the benefit of motorists who haven't got a garage at home,
0:20:38 > 0:20:40we pay a visit to the home in Hampstead
0:20:40 > 0:20:42of Colonel Westland Wright,
0:20:42 > 0:20:45for an original and down-to-earth idea for housing a car -
0:20:45 > 0:20:48a garage in the front garden that disappears when it's not wanted.
0:20:56 > 0:20:57With houses like this,
0:20:57 > 0:21:00an ordinary garage would not only be an eyesore,
0:21:00 > 0:21:03but blot out the daylight, leaving front rooms in semi-darkness.
0:21:03 > 0:21:06In this case, the garage is operated from inside the house
0:21:06 > 0:21:11by a switch gear that controls a one-horsepower electric motor,
0:21:11 > 0:21:13which in turn drives a shaft with four sprocket wheels,
0:21:13 > 0:21:16over which chains lift or lower the garage.
0:21:18 > 0:21:20The whole operation takes only a few minutes,
0:21:20 > 0:21:23and once underground, the car is safe from the elements -
0:21:23 > 0:21:28a simple but ingenious idea at a time when space is so limited.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43BRAKES SCREECH
0:21:43 > 0:21:46SIRENS BLARE
0:21:52 > 0:21:54On December 6th, 1978,
0:21:54 > 0:21:57police burst into this discreet Victorian house
0:21:57 > 0:21:59in Ambleside Avenue, Streatham.
0:21:59 > 0:22:03Inside, they found 13 prostitutes, some of them naked,
0:22:03 > 0:22:05and 53 men.
0:22:05 > 0:22:08Some of them were clutching £25 luncheon vouchers -
0:22:08 > 0:22:10their tickets for sex.
0:22:11 > 0:22:13It was originally claimed in court
0:22:13 > 0:22:16that a member of the House of Lords, an Irish MP, solicitors,
0:22:16 > 0:22:19accountants, and barristers were present.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22Yesterday, at the appeal, this was said to be untrue.
0:22:22 > 0:22:26No barristers or peers were at the house, at least when it was raided.
0:22:26 > 0:22:28But what did the neighbours think?
0:22:28 > 0:22:31Did they know what went on next door?
0:22:31 > 0:22:34Well, absolutely nothing at all,
0:22:34 > 0:22:38until the day of the raid and I just picked up the children from school.
0:22:38 > 0:22:42We used to see, er...
0:22:42 > 0:22:44a lot of cars parked here
0:22:44 > 0:22:46fairly late at night,
0:22:46 > 0:22:48but my idea was that somebody
0:22:48 > 0:22:50was holding a bridge party,
0:22:50 > 0:22:52or something like that.
0:22:52 > 0:22:53Never associated it
0:22:53 > 0:22:55with anything like
0:22:55 > 0:22:56what was going on, at all.
0:22:56 > 0:22:59Cynthia Payne was breaking the law -
0:22:59 > 0:23:02a law that has come under close scrutiny
0:23:02 > 0:23:04with all the publicity the case has received.
0:23:04 > 0:23:09I have no regrets really of anything I've done in my life,
0:23:09 > 0:23:13and the only regret I have now is I'm not younger
0:23:13 > 0:23:15so I can start it all over again,
0:23:15 > 0:23:20because, though I was acquitted on my last trial,
0:23:20 > 0:23:23you just mustn't allow that sort of thing to go on in your house.
0:23:23 > 0:23:25That goes for everybody, not just for me.
0:23:25 > 0:23:29Of course, if your name is Cynthia Payne, then you're in trouble.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42Do you remember this scene? A corn field not so long ago.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48No longer need you travel far afield to see your favourite stars.
0:23:48 > 0:23:53No more discomforts of travelling on wet and wintry nights,
0:23:53 > 0:23:56fighting for buses and strap-hanging in the tubes, and why?
0:23:56 > 0:24:00Because, here on your doorstep,
0:24:00 > 0:24:02is a theatre equal to any in the West End.
0:24:11 > 0:24:15Tenpin bowling is a sport with a fast-growing following.
0:24:15 > 0:24:18Naturally, when they heard there was over £1,100 to be won
0:24:18 > 0:24:20in the British Masters Championships,
0:24:20 > 0:24:22bowlers from all over the country
0:24:22 > 0:24:25flocked to the popular centre at North Harrow.
0:24:27 > 0:24:31Britain's bowlers are now amongst the best in the world.
0:24:40 > 0:24:44You may well be proud of this magnificent cinema,
0:24:44 > 0:24:46the latest landmark for Ealing.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52Although the job of work had been getting on pretty quickly,
0:24:52 > 0:24:56this wasn't even fast enough, so the order was given -
0:24:56 > 0:24:57"Speed things up."
0:24:59 > 0:25:01This must be ready in time.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04Ealing must not be kept waiting for their super cinema".
0:25:04 > 0:25:06They know how to work.
0:25:06 > 0:25:09HE LAUGHS
0:25:09 > 0:25:10This sort of thing is catching.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13Ealing may soon be known as a "fast town".
0:25:20 > 0:25:23One thing is certain, we will do everything in our power
0:25:23 > 0:25:25to make the Forum your favourite cinema.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30All the glitter and glamour of a West End premiere comes to Brixton.
0:25:32 > 0:25:34The guests of honour are not connected with show business.
0:25:34 > 0:25:37The mayor of Lambeth, Councillor Mrs Wood, JP,
0:25:37 > 0:25:39and mayoress, Mrs Robinson.
0:25:41 > 0:25:44Like on so many big occasions, it's raining outside,
0:25:44 > 0:25:47but the crowds cheerfully wait to see the stars arriving.
0:25:47 > 0:25:49Here's Hollywood actor, Forrest Tucker,
0:25:49 > 0:25:51filming in this country.
0:25:56 > 0:26:00Here we are, all complete, and ready to receive you.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03And now, let's on with the show.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22Dagenham was an opportunity for us to leave a flat,
0:26:22 > 0:26:26and go to live in a house, which I thought was a wonderful idea.
0:26:26 > 0:26:28We all did, until we got there.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31Then we found, although we had a garden
0:26:31 > 0:26:33and indoor toilet and bathroom -
0:26:33 > 0:26:36all the amenities we hadn't had before,
0:26:36 > 0:26:38it was so boring.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41It was miles from the nearest shops.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44My husband seemed to get home much later at night than he did before,
0:26:44 > 0:26:48and I found myself travelling back to the marketplaces,
0:26:48 > 0:26:51where I was used to going, to see my mother and friends, twice a week.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54Finally I felt, "Oh, God, let's get away from this wonderful house".
0:26:54 > 0:26:57Mind you, I would have liked to taken the house with me
0:26:57 > 0:26:58back to Canning Town,
0:26:58 > 0:27:01and get back to civilisation, which is what we did.
0:27:08 > 0:27:12We thought that Bromley was some place you could go for an holiday,
0:27:12 > 0:27:17but we never dreamt that we'd be able to move there, you know.
0:27:17 > 0:27:23So, when we did eventually move here, we thought we was somebody.
0:27:23 > 0:27:28I was looking for something we could go and sit there in the summer,
0:27:28 > 0:27:32and entertain our friends with it, and have a barbecue,
0:27:32 > 0:27:37like we've seen on the telly - like what they do in Dallas, really.
0:27:37 > 0:27:42We'd come from a flat, and we could never entertain anybody.
0:27:42 > 0:27:44We could on the little balcony,
0:27:44 > 0:27:45you know, but now
0:27:45 > 0:27:46we think to ourselves...
0:27:46 > 0:27:48and we was quite chuffed
0:27:48 > 0:27:50when it started taking shape.
0:27:57 > 0:28:03Nobody down in Rotherhithe or Bermondsey had nice, big gardens.
0:28:03 > 0:28:08We used to take our chairs out, even have our tea in the garden.
0:28:08 > 0:28:12Everywhere was clean and open.
0:28:12 > 0:28:16Such a different life for us, altogether. It was lovely.
0:28:21 > 0:28:24We have said how lucky we are,
0:28:24 > 0:28:26lucky to be pensioners,
0:28:26 > 0:28:29and move in a nice house, which is nice.
0:28:29 > 0:28:34We've got it how we want it, and we sit in the garden.
0:28:34 > 0:28:38He'll say to me, "Cath, we're so lucky."
0:29:02 > 0:29:05Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd