I should have been a bit further to the left, however the Belfast would have obstructed much of the view. More on these buildings and the area in later posts. This is the Ye Old Tiger Tavern on Tower Hill which survived bombing but was later pulled down in the reconstruction of the area. Below the PLA building and facing the river is the side of a building. This is the church of All Hallows by the Tower. To the left of the photo is the shell of a church tower. The area on the left of the photo, down to the river was bombed heavily during the war. The Tower of London is at the right of the photo (just behind the trees) and the large building in the centre is the former Port of London Authority building. There are few high buildings immediately behind the Tower to detract from the view, however I doubt that this will remain the same for long, the number of cranes in the background are rather threatening. The view today from the opposite bank of the river. As with last week’s photos the beach in front of the Tower looks to be busy on an August summer afternoon. Starting the journey in 1947 with the Tower of London.

I have no idea why movie film was available, or where it came from.Īfter taking the photos for last week’s post about Tower Bridge, I continued along the south bank of the river towards Westminster, so these photos are in reverse order. Film was hard to get just two years after the war had finished and these photos were taken on 35mm movie film which was cut up to fit the film holder in the camera. I prefer the unprocessed look as a more genuine presentation of photos that are now 69 years old. I have not processed these photos, they are straight from the scanner and some show some imperfections. My father’s photos were taken from a boat at low tide, so I was not able to get the view exactly right, however they do show roughly the same view and the changes that have occurred along the north bank of the river.

I will be on the river later this year to photograph the same views on the stretch between Tower Bridge and Greenwich, however for the photos covering the route between Westminster and Tower Bridges, I cheated by taking a walk along the south bank of the river to photograph the north bank views.

I am able to date this accurately as the date was written on a number of the photos taken along the route that he printed afterwards.

During the afternoon of Saturday 23rd August 1947, my father took a boat trip along the Thames from Westminster to Greenwich.

Tower bridge structure