Historic Photos of London - 1960's and Now

Brian G

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As a follow on from a previous forum thread (http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/hardly-the-vivian-maier-motherload-of-images.527482/) I decided to continue the discussion by starting a new thread here.

I got started in photography as a result of my father being a keen amateur, and when he passed away I inherited hundreds of his colour slides and black and white negatives.
I've gradually been working my way through them and scanning some of the more interesting ones.
I came across some old shots of London taken, I think, in the late 1960's.
Some are easily identifiable, but others are a little more obscure, but in the other thread we have been able to identify a few that I was not sure about.

I'll start here by some simple then and now shots taken from London Bridge:
[URL=https://imageshack.com/i/jjbw4uj][/URL]
Note the granite parapet to London Bridge, indicating that this is the John Rennie bridge that was sold in 1968 and now stands at Lake Havasu, Arizona.
The impressive warehouses named New Fresh Wharf were not finished until after WW2 and the site was relaunched as the New Fresh Wharf, handling fruit and perishable goods.
It took vessels of up to 10,000 tons – the largest merchant ships ever to visit the Pool of London – and was successful until the late 1960s, but was demolished in 1974.
An office block built in 1977 now occupies the site.

Similar view in 2009.
[URL=https://imageshack.com/i/7go9sgj][/URL
The stainless steel parapet of the 1972/73 replacement London Bridge leads to a much cleaner Adelaide House.
I was puzzled by the fact that you can clearly see the top of the Monument and the spire of St Magnus the Martyr church above Adelaide house in the first picture,
yet they were not visible in the modern shot. I then realised that an extra storey has been added to Adelaide House, plus a plantroom for the air-con etc, making
the building somewhat taller now than in the 1960's.
Another thing that is interesting is that the wooden piles that form the facade of the river bank do not seem to have changed, and the spacing and location appear
to be similar in both pictures.

Of course, this later view has changed considerably even since 2009, since we now have the "Walkie Talkie" and the "Cheesegrater":
[URL=https://imageshack.com/i/f7dankj][/URL]
What a difference in only four years!
I always say London is a great city, it'll be even better when they've finished it!

If anyone wants to see more, I have a few that may be of interest.[/URL]
 
Well, I'll register my interest, but I suspect you already knew that :)
 
Fascinating! Thanks for sharing.
 
Yip. I enjoy looking at historical photographs, and comparisons between then and now. Can you imagine what it would be like if cameras had been around in Shakespeare's London or during the Plague/Great Fire?
 
Excellent! London is my favourite model:). Have you got any of people in recognisable locations?
 
Excellent! London is my favourite model:). Have you got any of people in recognisable locations?
Not really.
Most are straightforward landscape/cityscape shots.

My father took a river trip from Westminster to Greenwich, and photographed a number of scenes along the way.
Because they were taken from low down, it's difficult to get the same perspective from the river bank and circumstances have prevented me from taking a similar river trip.
I hope to make a similar trip later in the year when (if?) the weather improves.
Here are a couple, one from the river and as close as I can match from the river bank.
Free Trade Wharf is one of those areas that has been "redeveloped" virtually beyond recognition, here are a couple of then and now shots from as far as I can find the original location.
It's located on the North bank between Shadwell and Limehouse, and like the New Fresh Wharf shot, there are recognisable patterns in the piles that form the river embankment.

Free Trade Wharf 1960's
View attachment 5567
Unfortunately it's not possible to read the name of the ship, but it might be possible to identify it, or at least the shipping line, from the funnel markings.

The same location from the opposite river bank in 2009
View attachment 5568
I believe that the squared openings in the Jetty by the stern of the ship in the old photo are the three openings to the left in this view.
 
Another pair of shots in which I cannot exactly match the viewpoint from the river bank.

Wapping Old Stairs 1960's

View attachment 5647
Almost in the centre is the Town of Ramsgate pub, with the white sign, adjacent to Wapping old stairs.
Extreme left, where the white posts are, is one of the former entrances to London docks, Hermitage entrance, which appears to have been filled in by the 1960's.

Similar view from the river bank in 2009.
View attachment 5648
The Town of Ramsgate sign is now red, but little else has changed, although Orient Wharf has been demolished.
Oliver's Wharf is now an apartment block, with a 3-bedroom penthouse flat currently for sale at £2.5 million.
 
Another pair of shots in which I cannot exactly match the viewpoint from the river bank.

Wapping Old Stairs 1960's

The Town of Ramsgate sign is now red, but little else has changed, although Orient Wharf has been demolished.
Oliver's Wharf is now an apartment block, with a 3-bedroom penthouse flat currently for sale at £2.5 million.

Fascinating. One of my friends lives just along the road from there - the Town Of Ramsgate is his local - but I've only ever seen it from his side of the river, not from here. There's a 3-bedroom penthouse flat in the block next to his currently on sale for £6.5 million. Ridiculous.
 
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