Historic footage from Yorkshire Film Archive looks back at air pollution after Great Smog of London

Nature Matters uses moving image to explore one of the most important issues of our time: the impact of climate and environmental change on our natural landscapes.

Here is what those at the archive had to say about this film:

“This is a public information film informing householders about the new Clean Air Act which came into force in 1956. The act was put in place to reduce the amount of smoke pollution. This was especially important in urban areas after the 1952 Great Smog of London saw a pungent polluted cloud sat across the capital, which caused the death of around 12,000 people.

"This public information campaign (produced at the time), demonstrates the need to cut down smoke pollution, whilst explaining the requirements and entitlements of the Act, as well as the benefits of using electricity to the homeowner.

“Despite this act being introduced in 1956, it is something that is still affecting us today. DEFRA has a daily air pollution forecast; in 2020, a landmark coroner’s report made nine-year-old Ella Kissi-Debrah the first person in the world to have air pollution cited as a cause of death, after campaigning from her mother, Rosamund.

"Cities around the UK and in our region are introducing Clean Air Zones (such as recently in Sheffield) to try and prevent excessive air pollution.”

This clip is courtesy of the Yorkshire and North East Film Archive as part of their Nature Matters project supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Nature Matters explores the archives through an environmental lens and includes activities such as film digitisation, events, outreach and contemporary collecting – the search for nature-based films of the last few decades.

Find out more about the project at www.yfanefa.com/nature_matters

To watch the full film, visit www.yfanefa.com/record/4735