1930s public health film offers window into the life of hop pickers

23 October 2017

The film, ‘Oppin, focuses on the interwar period, when most of the country’s beer hops were grown in Kent. At harvest time people from Peckham and Bermonsey would flock to Kent to work as hop pickers. Sadly, the living conditions, hoppers huts, were very poor and they would often return home sick.

The then Bermondsey Council was concerned that their residents were returning from these annual hop picking trips in poor health. Having recently harnessed the power of public information films, and inline with health propaganda, they produced ‘Oppin. 

The film shows what hops are, how they are picked and how they end up in beer. It also shows what life was like for the pickers, and offers tips about how they could stay in good health.

The 35mm black and white film was recently digitised, and is now available for public to view at the Southwark Local History Library.

Cllr Johnson Situ, Cabinet Member for Business, Culture and Social Regeneration, said: “It is remarkable that our libraries team have kept this gem of film safe for all these years. It’s a real insight into life in the borough 80 years ago, where I am happy to learn the local council was as invested in finding progressive ways to promote public health as we are today.”
 

Page last updated: 23 October 2017