Incredible images have been released to commemorate the 84th anniversary of the opening of the forgotten beach that once lay right in the middle of London – along the banks of the River Thames.
The stunning shots show the famous Windmill Theatre girls running along the beach during a brief break between shows, women relaxing on deck chairs as their children play in the sand and people paddling in the river.
Other remarkable pictures show the Tower Bridge in the background, the beach packed to capacity and the Governor of the Tower, Colonel E.H. Carkeet-James at the opening ceremony in 1946 after the war finished.
Amazing images have released to commemorate the 84th anniversary of the opening of the forgotten beach that once lay right in the middle of London – along the banks of the River Thames. Boys splash in the river with Tower Bridge behind them
The famous Windmill Theatre girls work hard, but they also found time to play between shows. London’s own beach by the Thames at Tower Bridge was close enough to the theatre for them to change into swimsuits and enjoy a brief breather with hundreds of Londoners who are enjoying a spell of early summer. Left-to-right is Josephine Hamlett, Jill Anstey, Anita D’Ray, Avril Amos, Toni Leighton and Mavis Greenaway
The black and white photographs showcase a forgotten time in history when London had its very own beach. On 23 July, 1934 the Tower Hill Improvement Trust opened its beach on the banks of the Thames close to Tower Bridge in London
Children do what children do best – find something to play with – while the woman looks up, maybe keeping an eye on the weather
In 1939 with the start of WWII and the evacuation of many of London’s children the beach closed. This shot is the 1946 reopening when Tower guards helped celebrate the beach party
The Windmill Theatre girls dock besides the Thames beach
A trip to the seaside was financially out of reach for most east end children so they brought the beach to London – a stretch of shingly, muddy foreshore, uncovered at low tide and brought in 1,500 tons of sand in barges to cover it
King George V decreed that the beach was to be used by the children of London and that they should be given ‘free access forever’. This stunning shot shows it was still a popular spot in 1952
The King’s blessing was necessary as a proclamation by King Edward III forbade swimming here ‘on pain of death’. It was just like a proper beach with deckchairs for hire, ice cream carts, sandcastle building and the chance to paddle
This 1952 photo shows Mrs D.E. Greenfield (in chair) and Mrs B.R. Kirk, both of Camberwell, ensuring daytime peace for night-working husbands, who are sleeping at their homes by taking their children to the popular Tower Beach, according to the original caption
This 1951 photo was captioned as ‘Kevin Murphy, a 14-month-old youngster from Shoreditch, London, discarded convention with his clothes when 11-year-old sister Patricia introduced him to Old Father Thames at Tower Beach, near the Tower of London. Passing shipping provides the waves for the youngsters who splash around at London’s Seaside’
When the beach opened a newspaper reported ‘When it was opened a few weeks ago they expected that 500 children a day would visit it. But there were 5,000 a day from the beginning, and considerably more since the summer holidays started.’ It was estimated that between 1934 and 1939 over half a million people used the beach
At the 1946 reopening Chief Warder A.P. Cook, D.C.M., M.M., B.E.M., ( Distinguished Conduct Medal, Military Medal and British Empire Medal ) of the Tower of London talks to visitors
In this 1951 photo, Londoners are still enjoying the beach though some of the men remain suited. The beach was closed in 1971 over pollution concerns. Ironically, at the time pollution levels were probably falling. In 1937 Hansard reported that ‘335,000,000 gallons of only partly treated sewage is ejected into the river every day’. Sewage treatment and the decline in commercial river traffic reduced pollution levels