A return to the scene of that April '69 photo session (Madingley Club/Ducks Walk). As has been seen, the club itself ist kaput long time. Above is what's there now; everything vaguely similar, and completely different. (I have a feeling it would make more sense to visit in the bleak mid-winter.) Below, a fairly pathetic attempt to splice 1969 into 2010, always a poor idea:
After being pictured lounging against the Roller in the car park, they moved along to Ducks Walk for a spot of messing about on the river, probably via this passage, which may or may not be where the '69 shot was taken:
When you get to Ducks Walk, there is a gate, and a sign warning that to proceed to the river is at your own risk. The path is now very overgrown, but it does lead to a small...well, "dock" is too grand a word. But presumably this is where they "pushed off" from. If so, you can see the island, which served as the focus for the final photos on that day, on the right:
Again, things have no doubt changed in the interim, but the vantage point at the end of the path certainly seems to provide the same perspective:
The by now extremely bushy island:
Thanks to The Beatles' London, and to the City of London/London Metropolitan Archive for permission to use the old Madingley Club pic, and to Julian Carr, yet again.
As a Beatles fan and an American one-time resident of London who happens to be familiar with Twickenham and Duck Walk (and fond of all three), your post was a happy serendipitous find.Thank you for your admirable sleuthing!
ReplyDeleteNice one! Yup, know Ducks Walk well. Great effort putting it back together. As you say, might have been easier in winter. Pre the internet, it was an effort getting my Richmond mates to believe me, but I did have one colour pic of the lads by the Rolls in the car park of the Maddingley, alas long gone. I often wondered why they chose that location, maybe because of Twickenham studios, or pherhap access to the Chertsey, two of them lived at Weybridge. Fair play for rowing onto a new looking Corporation Island in the middle of a photo shoot!! Good days, eh?
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