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No Coal Wanted Here

With scant regard for Health & Safety, the women of Chiswick smoke, lounge and leapfrog to their heart’s content for the start of the mixed-bathing season.

Non-Fiction 1921 1 mins Silent

From the collection of:

Logo for London's Screen Archives

Overview

Tremendous free-spirited footage of four women bathers smoking poolside – with no ashtrays in sight – at the start of the mixed-bathing season at the open air pool in Chiswick. Later, they leapfrog with men along the path and splash into the pool. The film’s strange title refers to the national coal crisis, as the mines returned to private ownership after the First World War, sparking strikes.