Location to identify, 1921 - beach/river?

[chrisscales]

Is anybody able to identify roughly the location of this photo or come up with suggestions where it might be? It is my grandmother as a baby in 1921 with her family. They lived in Nunhead / Peckham area of London at this time.

We think the ground looks more like sand/gravel than grass. The wooden supports behind I'm not sure about. Could it be somewhere like the docks in East London, or somewhere on the Thames, down on the beach at low tide etc.

All thoughts welcome...

Chris

[groom]

Certainly looks like a beach as the little boy has a bucket for building sandcastles. If it is the Thames I found this:

"The beach (foreshore) is in front of the Royal Festival Hall Access by stairs either side of the Festival Pier. ...and yes, there is sand along with the pebbles."

[avm228]

I am no expert but it looks to me as though they have the sun in their eyes - unlikely on the south bank of the Thames? Though the river winds a merry course so the "south" bank does not always face north, by any means.

My other thought - does the little boy's Union Flag suggest it is a special/patriotic occasion? Or perhaps he brought it to place on top of a sandcastle. Dad looks smart for a beach trip - Sunday best? Even the lad in the background is in suit & tie.

In my experience prams on sand do not make for a happy journey so I hope they did not come too far!

[chrisscales]

Thanks both.

Is the baby in a pram? It does look like it might have some kind if handle but doesn't look like any antique pram I've ever seen... More like a strange chair.

Being smart on the beach was very common then, the next generation down (my grandfather) always went to the beach in a full suit even in the 1950s.

[avm228]

I don't know re pram or chair  - not clear I agree. Still I hope they did not have to lug it far with or without baby in situ.

I was going to say it must be summer until I saw this about the extended heat/drought of 1921:

www.theguardian.com/news/2011/oct/13/weatherwatch-drought-margate-eliot-waste-land

When was the baby born and how old do you think she is in the photo?

[Treetotal]

Chris has already said that the baby was born in 1921....she looks to be about a year old.
Carol

[avm228]

I read Chris' first post as saying she was photographed in 1921.  Birth reg is Mar qtr 1921 if I have the right person but I agree she looks older than one would expect if taken in her first summer.

[chrisscales]

She was born 29 December 1920, so I guess the photo could conceivably be 1922, but more likely 1921. Her brother was born 20 April 1918, so he would be 3 if it's 1921, or 4 if 1922.

Thanks

[chrisscales]

Or perhaps somebody can suggest a good museum that might know about the Thames in this period...