Now this is how I remember that view from the top of the hill in Greenwich Park, down and across the river.
And I won’t be alone in recalling that back then there were few tall buildings north of the Thames.
But the downside of remembering such a panorama is that simple observation that you will have had to be born before 1970, and perhaps even earlier.
I am indebted to Terry Dickie who shared this photograph which was taken by his grandfather and I guess dates from the 1950s.
And back then, one of the favourite topics for a composition at school was “compare and contrast”, which was always a hard one for a nine-year-old to get to grips with, given that nine is hardly much of an age to have any real experiences or knowledge.
I could go off on one, and lament the passing of the scene and the intrusion of all those high rise commercial enterprises, but instead, I shall just reflect on the importance of the private picture taken on the spur of the moment, which are today as important as any professional photograph.
In the case of this one it was one of a series of negatives, which Terry found and brought back from the shadows.
And I am pleased he did, because I have long looked for an image which fits with my memory of the view, leaving me only to contrast it with one taken by our Jill in 2017 and reflect that I too sat on that bench in the late 1950s into the 70s and gazed down the hill and across the River.
Location; Greenwich
Pictures; looking out from Greenwich, circa 1950s, courtesy of Terry Dickie and in 2017 from the collection of Gillian Goldsmith
But the downside of remembering such a panorama is that simple observation that you will have had to be born before 1970, and perhaps even earlier.
I am indebted to Terry Dickie who shared this photograph which was taken by his grandfather and I guess dates from the 1950s.
And back then, one of the favourite topics for a composition at school was “compare and contrast”, which was always a hard one for a nine-year-old to get to grips with, given that nine is hardly much of an age to have any real experiences or knowledge.
In the case of this one it was one of a series of negatives, which Terry found and brought back from the shadows.
And I am pleased he did, because I have long looked for an image which fits with my memory of the view, leaving me only to contrast it with one taken by our Jill in 2017 and reflect that I too sat on that bench in the late 1950s into the 70s and gazed down the hill and across the River.
Location; Greenwich
Pictures; looking out from Greenwich, circa 1950s, courtesy of Terry Dickie and in 2017 from the collection of Gillian Goldsmith
Would this have been taken pre 1930 and not 1950s as look like the spot where general wolfe statue would stand.
ReplyDeleteWell it might be ... what is your reasoning?
ReplyDelete