The quality of the images is a bit iffy, but they perfectly recreate the London I knew when I was growing up.
They come from the book, London by Cyril Bunt which was published in 1956 in a series called Journeys Through Our Early History.
Mr. Bunt wrote a lot of books in the 1950s and most were aimed at children as is this one, which recreated the city as it might have been in Saxon time.
And here I have to admit that of all the periods of the past, the Saxons and Vikings rank pretty low on my step ladder of interesting periods in history.
Still, Mr. Blunt did a good job of making Saxon London believable, and in the process filled the book with a series of interesting illustrations of London life in the Dark Ages.
But what really drew me in, were the pictures of the city in 1956.
True, they may have dated from a few years earlier, but they were close enough to set my memory running.
It starts with the skyline which is not dominated by tall commercial blocks reaching to the clouds, but by nothing taller than a church spire.
While the river is still a busy working place with cranes, warehouses, and ocean-going ships.
During the 1950s I regularly walked over London Bridge, usually on a Saturday as the start of an adventure which often ended at the Tower of London, but which would also take in the fish market and the equally smelly little streets around the Monument.
Never underestimate the excitement of setting off armed with just your pocket money of 2/6d, and knowing after you had paid the price of the return to London Bridge, the rest was yours too spend on whatever came your way.
This involved a packet of Poppets*, which were always bought at the same slot machine just outside London Bridge Railway Station.
Now when you are ten, there are plenty of adventures you want to share with your friends, but the Saturday morning trips were best done without the distraction of others, partly because I never quite knew where I was going to end up, but also because to share the walk got in the way of my imagination.
And there was plenty of scope for that in those twisty streets around Billingsgate.
Get there early enough and the workmen were still cleaning the streets of discarded fish and ice, which gave off that distinct smell.
Even more exciting was the Tower itself which was free to youngsters on a Saturday, and no matter how many times I went, each dollop of the Castle’s history was new all over again.
On a particularly hot sunny day there was the option of going down onto the beach in front of the Tower at low tide, and while there was still sand, it was strewn with the debris of the river, from lumps of wood, broken bottles and unpleasant things which had once been alive but were no longer.
Alternatively, there was always the aimless walk around the city, which by degree might end up at St Paul’s, the Embankment or eventually Trafalgar Square.
All of which was a long way from London Bridge, but then there was always a bit of that 2/6d which could be used to buy a journey on the Underground.
Looking back, those adventures lasted but a few years, and the move to Well Hall offered up different things to do.
And when I did retrace my steps a decade or so later, so much had changed that the magic was lost.
Location; London
Pictures; London in 1956, from London, Cyril Bunt 1956
*Poppets were soft centered toffees, which came in a small red carton. They came on to the market in 1937 and wee made by Payne’s in Croydon, and to my surprise are still manufactured today.
 |
| London Bridge , 1956 |
Mr. Bunt wrote a lot of books in the 1950s and most were aimed at children as is this one, which recreated the city as it might have been in Saxon time.
And here I have to admit that of all the periods of the past, the Saxons and Vikings rank pretty low on my step ladder of interesting periods in history.
Still, Mr. Blunt did a good job of making Saxon London believable, and in the process filled the book with a series of interesting illustrations of London life in the Dark Ages.
But what really drew me in, were the pictures of the city in 1956.
True, they may have dated from a few years earlier, but they were close enough to set my memory running.
 |
| Cranes, and boats and cars, 1956 |
While the river is still a busy working place with cranes, warehouses, and ocean-going ships.
During the 1950s I regularly walked over London Bridge, usually on a Saturday as the start of an adventure which often ended at the Tower of London, but which would also take in the fish market and the equally smelly little streets around the Monument.
Never underestimate the excitement of setting off armed with just your pocket money of 2/6d, and knowing after you had paid the price of the return to London Bridge, the rest was yours too spend on whatever came your way.
This involved a packet of Poppets*, which were always bought at the same slot machine just outside London Bridge Railway Station.
Now when you are ten, there are plenty of adventures you want to share with your friends, but the Saturday morning trips were best done without the distraction of others, partly because I never quite knew where I was going to end up, but also because to share the walk got in the way of my imagination.
And there was plenty of scope for that in those twisty streets around Billingsgate.
 |
| Walbrook, 1956 |
Even more exciting was the Tower itself which was free to youngsters on a Saturday, and no matter how many times I went, each dollop of the Castle’s history was new all over again.
On a particularly hot sunny day there was the option of going down onto the beach in front of the Tower at low tide, and while there was still sand, it was strewn with the debris of the river, from lumps of wood, broken bottles and unpleasant things which had once been alive but were no longer.
 |
| The River at King's Reach, 1956 |
All of which was a long way from London Bridge, but then there was always a bit of that 2/6d which could be used to buy a journey on the Underground.
Looking back, those adventures lasted but a few years, and the move to Well Hall offered up different things to do.
And when I did retrace my steps a decade or so later, so much had changed that the magic was lost.
Location; London
Pictures; London in 1956, from London, Cyril Bunt 1956
*Poppets were soft centered toffees, which came in a small red carton. They came on to the market in 1937 and wee made by Payne’s in Croydon, and to my surprise are still manufactured today.
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