British Pathe

Various M/Ss of exteriors of modern buildings in London; Castrol building in Marylebone Road; an unidentified one, possibly in Berners Street, with an interesting corrugated canopy above it; Sanderson building in Berners Street - all are "somewhat characterless" as the commentator says. M/Ss of the...

Various M/Ss of exteriors of modern buildings in London; Castrol building in Marylebone Road; an unidentified one, possibly in Berners Street, with an interesting corrugated canopy above it; Sanderson building in Berners Street - all are "somewhat characterless" as the commentator says. M/Ss of the Lloyd's of London building in the City; it looks fairly modern, not sure when it was built, but it does have much more character than the flat glass-fronted buildings we saw previously.

M/S of a recreation of Lloyd's Coffee House in London as it looked when it opened in 1688; a man carries in a sack of coffee beans; another sweeps the paving stones outside; two gentlemen approach the entrance and go in - all are wearing 1680s costume; the two gents wear curly wigs and tricorn hats. M/Ss inside the coffee house as the men stand at the bar and watch a grinning serving wench grind some coffee beans; a serving man drawers some hot water from a large copper urn in the fireplace into one of a row of copper coffee pots.

Commentator tells us "Edward Lloyd catered for ships' captains and merchants... he even started an intelligence-cum-news service, dispatching runners to the docks to fetch the latest shipping news...he also held auctions...let's listen", and we see in M/S a gentleman sitting at a table with a younger man; a serving man brings their coffee and we hear natural sound as the older one explains the candle auction process to the younger. The property being auctioned goes to the man who bids last before the candle goes out.

M/S of a blackboard in the coffee house; written on it are details of a ship 'For Sale by Inch of Candle'. M/Ss of men, some smoking clay pipes, sitting at tables who bid for the ship (in natural sound) intercut with C/Us of a candle about to go out. One of the men bids 1200 guineas just before the candle goes out. M/S of the scene inside the coffee house as the owner calls out "Sold to Mr Durant for 1200 guineas".

Commentator says "Because of this concentration of captains and merchants, the insurance brokers of the time began going here instead of from office to office", and we see in various M/Ss and hear in natural sound an insurance broker going from table to table discussing insurance of a ship called 'The Worcester'. He exchanges greetings and obtains the signatures of two men, shakes hands with the second one and walks out of the coffee house.

Note: print used for transfer; mute neg is incomplete. The documentary 'This Is Lloyd's' (see separate record) contains footage that was probably shot at the same time as this reconstruction of 1688 (same sets, costumes etc).