Photo Dating help! 1930s, 1940s or 1950s? Location Suffolk, unknown men

[arthurk]

Nina - you said you'd found a location for the sundial in Suffolk. Could you tell us where, please? It might help in identifying the beach/prom photo, assuming they were close to each other.

However, the beach photo has some noticeable shadows which help in working out the orientation of the prom, and I'm wondering whether it's quite right for the Suffolk coast.

[Relsearcher]

Hello Arthurk - the sundial - at the time of the photos, was located in the Lower Arboretum, Christchurch Park, Ipswich.  That would be great if you might recognise the beach/prom photo location!  I am not familiar with that part of the UK.  Many thanks, Nina

[japeflakes]

http://www.ipswichsociety.org.uk/newsletter/newsletter-january-2017-issue-206/the-john-blatchly-memorial-armillary-sphere-sundial/

[Relsearcher]

Hi Japeflakes - that's the one!

[Gadget]

Interestingly, in another piece it says that it was

An armillary sphere sundial, which adorned the rock gardens in the Lower Arboretum up until the 1920s, has now been restored in the great man’s honour by the Friends of Christchurch Park and put back to its rightful place after an absence of nearly 100 years. The Mayor said: “This is a remarkable installation which celebrates the life of a lovely man."

https://www.ipswich.gov.uk/content/tribute-lovely-man

[Relsearcher]

Hi Gadget - I spoke to the sundial society a while ago and they liaised with 2 experts in this field (David Miller was one of them - who wrote the article in the link below) who both said it was actually in the Lower Arboretum right through the 1920s and 1930s, and at a later date it was moved - the date of moving is not known, but it was moved to the front of the Wolsey Art Gallery until it fell into disrepair, and was restored and unveiled in 2017.  David Miller sent me a detailed 16 page booklet on the history of this area and the restoration of the sundial, and a photo of the sundial in situ in 1933 in the Lower Arboretum.  It's a shame that the date of the move to the art gallery is not remembered/recorded as this would have helped date the photos to the specific decade.  That's why I then went with the suits that the men were wearing as my father always insisted it was the 1950s but the lady at the sundial society felt it was earlier!  I'm happy to go with the era you suggested, that the photos are from the 1930s.  Many thanks, Nina

[Wiggy]

Interesting that one of the men in the third photo is wearing a double breasted jacket.    (not too many of them in the 'dating book' - one in the 1930s and one in the 1940s so no help!    )

Wiggy

[arthurk]

Hello Arthurk - the sundial - at the time of the photos, was located in the Lower Arboretum, Christchurch Park, Ipswich.  That would be great if you might recognise the beach/prom photo location!  I am not familiar with that part of the UK.  Many thanks, Nina

I'm not familiar with it either, but there may be someone who is. Meanwhile, it looks as though the nearest seaside place to Ipswich is Felixstowe, and there do seem to be similarities between our photo and the promenade there as seen on the Francis Frith site:

https://www.francisfrith.com/felixstowe/photos?search_for=promenade

Felixstowe promenade faces south-east, so I think the shadows in our photos would be feasible for some time during the morning.

[Relsearcher]

Thank you Arthurk, that certainly looks like a possibility! It’s a shame that so many family photos never have anything written on the back. Nina