Help ID-ing location.

[teddington_lock]

Hi all ,

Long story short , a friend of mine has found some of his fathers old photos and is trying to find out where they were taken. He thinks it may be the upper reaches of the Thames somewhere. Can anyone help ?

I haven't shrunk the photos , so as not to lose any detail . Apologies for the size.

From my friend :-

For information, my father and late uncle had between them gathered a load of 35mm slides
- over the last couple of years (as the slides were rapidly deteriorating) I scanned and saved to DVD etc.

The only thing I can say for sure is that these pictures are at least 35 years old, however that doesn't mean they aren't for example 55 years old, hence the people (unknown) to
try and date the clothing.

 

[Chris_d]

Not sure it is the Thames, it looks very Thames like but the Hill, Church and bend in the river doesn't look like any bit of the Thames I can place /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Dying to know where it is now.

 

[teddington_lock]

Could be anywhere , we came to the conclusion that it must be an inland waterway , as there appears to be no tidal influence on the banks ...

Somewhere in oxfordshire has been suggested ...

Here is a link to the original thread if anyone is interested.

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=53409

 

[sarabande]

Just some thoughts:

It's late summer about 3pm, and the top photo is taken looking almost due North from the SW bank of the river. The flow of the stream seems to be L to R, based on the motor boat being moored bows upstream. The soil looks like glacial loess, rather than Thames gravel/sand.

The river is a fairly large one, with slow non-tidal flow, so a long valley.

I'd be tempted to say the River Avon above Gloucester, which might tie in with the hills in the distance being the Cotswolds.

 

[teddington_lock]

Thank you , i shall pass on the information.

 

[halcyon]

How about the Severn around Tewksbury, that church in the background keeps ringing bells as the one near the M5 as you aproach the M50. I used to love that church, it ment I was 3 hours from Cornwall, and only 30 minutes from Sealine.

Brian

 

[photodog]

I thought the same thing as soon as I saw the pic..... its that stretch just south of the Streasham services.....


In fact, I bet that is shot from Twynning Green looking NE towards Bredon........

The M5 now cuts left to right across the frame in the middle distance.....

In fact, Ill go a bit farther than that and say that the top pic is shot from the terrace of the Fleet Inn which is on the edge of the river there.... if you look at that wall its definetly the wall that leads down from the pub onto the road, there is now a bit more of a formal beer garden between the terrace the road in front of the river, but its the same stepped wall.

Shot from here... check out the wall above the beer garden.....

 

[lenseman]

I don't think you will find it to be the Fleet Inn for a number of reasons:

1) On the original picture, there is no road between the wall and the river.

2) The river bends very sharply in the original and in the background of the original, it suggests that the river bends away to the left alongside what looks to be a row of bathing huts which are probably caravans. The river at Fleet Inn does not do this return.

3) The river at the Fleet Inn is quite a bit wider than in the original picture.

 

[photodog]

[ QUOTE ]
On the original picture, there is no road between the wall and the river.

[/ QUOTE ]

look at the top old pic.... see the garden gate ..... see the small road behind the gate..... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Go to google earth and compare......

If that aint shot from the terrace at the fleet Inn, Ill eat my shorts...


Look very carefully at the gate in the original picture at the bottom of the path in the garden.... then look very carefully at gate in the pic from google..... its the same metal gate.

/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[teddington_lock]

Chaps , we just found this old photo , taken from the Fleet Inn ...

I think the original picture was shot from just on the left ( out of shot ) , the hollyhocks are in the right place , even the gate to the garden is right , the river curves away ..

 

[lenseman]

A very convincing argument for it being the Fleet Inn and I do agree about the metal work of the gate coupled with the stepping down of the wall towards the river in both photos. They do seem to be similar.

The river must have changed its course quite dramatically since the first photographs were taken compared with the Google Panoramio photo?

 

[photodog]

I dont think so, unless they shifted it about when they put in the M5, I think its just the perspective......the top shot is very slightly long, maybe 65-70mm's.......

/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif


That second old pic is great! Its amazing how so much changes and so much stays the same.......

 

[lenseman]

All we need now is a day out (upstream /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif) with a camera to confirm the concensus? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
The dress that the four people are wearing places this photo certainly in the mid to late 50's and no later than the early 60's. I was heavily involved in the photographic 'scene' in the 1950's!!

These people are wearing what is known as "De-mob" suits and the pipe smoker with his cravat is certainly 50's attire. (unless it is a fancy dress do)??

The hairstyles are 50's.

No one is wearing a watch in the picture and the button down sleeve (gent with suit on right) is also 50's. Brown shoes and hankies started to go out of fashion in the early 60's when the Rock and Roll era came into force and started to influence peoples dress style.

 

[photodog]

Ive always thought it looked like a great place to do some pottering, Ive seen some boats toodling aroung when Ive been crossing on the M5 and it looks like a great spot.... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[lenseman]

Seems to me like you and me at dawn with either a digital SLR or a whole-plate Linhoff on a large wooden tripod then (with a suitable cable release and a big black cloth over our heads)?

Choose your weapon!! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[sarabande]

Neat work you techy visual guys !

Here's a line of sight connecting the pub garden with the right hand edge of the barn and the church steeple.

[image]

[/image]

and here's a processed extract from the top original pic


[image]

[/image]

That was fun !

 

[lenseman]

/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif I'm not into "Ley-Lines" and I looked on your Google Map and can't see the guy on the bank with the swim trunks? /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[lenseman]

I've kept chickens and they Lay. I can lay a course, and when I was in the RN we used to lay mines (AS Frigate) and have been known to lay a bird . . . /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif . . . but Ley Lines, that's another matter! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[photodog]

Shame they dropped the M5 across that view.....

 

[teddington_lock]

Many many thanks chaps.

One of the forum members is going up there in the next couple of days and is going to take a shot from the same viewpoint .

I'll post the photos when he does.

H