Tower Bridge Approach, London 1980s

This 1980s photograph looks north along the south side approach to Tower Bridge, with the great stone tower and high-level arch dominating the end of the road. The scene still has a noticeably harder, more industrial feel than today, with hoardings and vacant-looking riverside plots on the left, older brick warehouse buildings on the right, and a row of period traffic heading onto the bridge including a red Ford Cortina in the foreground, a white box van and a small red van further ahead. Beyond the left-hand wall the riverside and part of the Tower of London can be glimpsed across the Thames, while the blue-painted suspension elements of the bridge frame the roadway beneath the tower. It is a strong record of the south bank before later redevelopment transformed this stretch around Tower Bridge into a much more polished visitor district.