Downstream

Children were rescued when
they got into difficulties
swimming in water that was
12 feet deep, and at least two
drowned near Irongate Stairs
when they were swept away
by the current.
In September 1939, with
the outbreak of war, the
beach was closed, as were
other Thames bathing spots.
By then it had been used by
an estimated 400,000 people,
such was Londoners’ love of