May 30, 1947 – ‘The famous Windmill Theatre girls work hard, but they know how to play when they get a brief break between shows. London’s own beach by the Thames at Tower Bridge is near enough to the theatre for the girls to change into swimsuits and enjoy a brief breather with hundreds of Londoners who are enjoying a spell of early summer. Picture shows left-to-right Josephine Hamlett, Jill Anstey, Anita D’Ray, Avril Amos, Toni Leighton and Mavis Greenaway springing on the beach as the Tower Bridge go up in the background.’ (c) TopFoto

Retronaut, the photography blog magazine, has been rummaging in the very vast archives of TopFoto to discover material for their timetravels.

The joy of working with such large archive is that surprises keep coming to the surface again and again: did you think London does not allow for a day at the beach? not always this was the case!

1934-1952: TOWER OF LONDON BEACH

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