Downstream

‘more prominent boys in the
school’. But the days of
swimming in the Thames
came to an end, at least
officially, in the 1950s. Penny
tells me this was partly
because an outdoor pool was
built, and also because of
fears of pollution and polio.
The highly infectious polio
virus was a frequent cause of
death and paralysis in the
1940s and 1950s, especially
among children, who were