The Government of London

David Prowse (the frame of Darth Vader) appears as the iconic Green Cross Code Man, heaping praise on a young GXC expert.

An enticing government call for men to retrain as skilled engineers to help with the war effort.

Dusty the kangaroo catches a shadowy figure in the act of dumping an old mattress in this campaigning cartoon

Long before the ‘Charley Says’ campaign of the 1970s and ‘80s, another cartoon Charley was used to demystify the newly created NHS.

TB or not TB – that is the question travelling x-ray screening programmes are out to answer on a large scale

Another of Richard Massingham’s snappy public information fillers finds the oafish everyman’s personal hygiene in question again.

Capital scenes thanks to Victorian filmmakers

Vivid images of Victorian London - but where?

A sports day gives the young residents of the Foundling Hospital a chance to let off steam

Londoners turn out in their thousands to greet the returning Boer War hero after his famous defence of Ladysmith

Horse-drawn traffic on one of London's busiest thoroughfares

The Band of the First Life Guards approaches Westminster Bridge during Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee.

A new luxury express is put through its paces. This film looks over the shoulders of the select band of craftsmen, engineers and operators, whose combined skills try to ensure that a train journey is a delightful experience.

British Transport Films record the varied daily lives of their neighbours as seen from the high roof of their building in London’s Marylebone.

Illustrating the efficiency of express freight trains, and how they link manufacturers with their customers at the other end of Britain.

Examining a day in the life of what was then the busiest railway system in the world – British Railways.

The Stationmaster at York guides us through a typical day, from dawn to dusk.

A 1957 film examining the future for British Railways, and some of the opportunities provided by a new modernisation plan.