Britannia and her colonies and dependencies portrayed by the players in Southampton, Hampshire. Source: Mashable
At the behest of National Geographic, Clifton R. Adams spent the late 1920s and early 1930s in England, where he photographed the country’s farms, towns, and the people who composed them. Using an emerging process known as Autochrome, Adams’ color images were stunning for the time, and remain beautiful examples of early color images today.
The Lumière brothers first introduced Autochrome technology in 1907, and it used tiny, dried grains of potato starch as the primary procedural ingredient. The Lumières would coat a glass plate with approximately four million of these grains per square inch, and fill the spaces between the grains with lampblack. This coated layer allowed the plate to capture a color image.
Clifton R. Adams took these photos in 1928, a key moment in British history and its path to social modernity. It was this year that women gained equal voting rights to their male counterparts. Before the Equal Franchise Act passed, only women over the age of 30 had been eligible to vote in general elections.
A young girl relaxing at the beach in Sandown, Isle of Wight. Source: Mashable
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A call box and postal drop box In Oxford, the corner of High Street and Cornhill. Source: Mashable
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A young boy mails a letter in the hedgerow in Sussex. Source: Mashable
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A double decker bus cruising down a London road.
Source: Mashable
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Actors pose for a photo while preparing for a play as Britannia and her knights. Source: Mashable
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A Bobby (or policeman) directing traffic at Trafalgar Square, London. Source: Mashable
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Two bus drivers stand in front of a tour bus in Ulverston, Cumbria. Source: Mashable
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Two women selling Queen Alexandra roses to raise money for charity in Seaford, East Sussex. Source: Mashable
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A young woman selling flowers for Alexandra Day in Kent. The first Alexandra Rose Day was held in 1912; it commemorated the arrival in Britain of Princess Alexandra of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, from Denmark, in 1862. She was betrothed to Prince Edward, later King Edward VII, and they married the next year. When her admirers wanted to mark the 50th anniversary of her arrival to the country she suggested that they sell paper roses to make money for her favorite charities. Source: Mashable
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A farmer smoking a pipe in front of his cart in Crowland, Lincolnshire Decoy Farm is now the site of a recycling centre and a housing estate. Source: Mashable
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Two women stop for an ice cream treat at an early converted car belonging to the Kelly’s Ice Cream Company, which is still in operation today. Source: Mashable
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Two women take a break from work to enjoy a cup of tea in a Lancashire hayfield. Source: Mashable
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An English woman points to the year painted on her Wicks and Sons farm cart, in Cambridgeshire, England. Source: Mashable
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Farmers gathering hay take time for a chat with a police constable in Lancashire. Source: Mashable
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A vine-covered house on a quiet street at Stratford-upon-Avon Street, in Warwickshire. Source: Mashable
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A local woman knitting and taking in the fresh air of Ambleside, Lake District, Cumbria, England. Source: Mashable
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The Cunard SS "Mauretania" at dock, in Southampton, Hampshire
Source: Mashable
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In Oxford a woman drops a letter at a post box. Source: Mashable
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Women having tea in front of the Clock House, which was originally a hospice, in Buckinghamshire. Source: Mashable
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A retired military serviceman sells matches in front of a building in Canterbury, Kent. Source: Mashable
1928 England Lives On In Timeless Autochrome Photos
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At this point in time, farming still composed a physically large part of English life, with women and men sharing work duties in the fields. Many of Adams' photographs also document the country's emerging female workforce; others capture the frivolities of summer life, and everyday people going about their daily affairs.
Adams continued to work for National Geographic for years, photographing European, Central, and South American countries until his death in 1934 at just 44 years old.
An All That's Interesting writer since 2013, Erin Kelly focuses on historic places, natural wonders, environmental issues, and the world of science. Her work has also been featured in Smithsonian and she's designed several book covers as a graphic artist.
Savannah Cox holds a Master's in International Affairs from The New School as well as a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, and now serves as an Assistant Professor at the University of Sheffield. Her work as a writer has also appeared on DNAinfo.
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Kelly, Erin. "1928 England Lives On In Timeless Autochrome Photos." AllThatsInteresting.com, May 25, 2015, https://allthatsinteresting.com/1920s-england-in-color. Accessed January 30, 2025.
