Prints from the early 1800s are notorious for plenty of artistic licence, and none more so than in the first one top left, which is captioned Court Garden and Great Marlow.

I am uncertain, even back in those days, where you would have found this viewpoint looking down on the old church and the old bridge, and, to the left, a rather different looking Court Garden with no balcony at the front.

I was unaware Court Garden house ever appeared like this.

The second print is certainly more accurate and is set below The Anglers Inn (later The Compleat Angler) and the weir, and has some Military College cadets from Remnantz: two fishing and the other two chatting up some local ladies.

Number three looks down on what is now Longridge and above the bend in the river that used to be known as Marlow Point.

This viewpoint might well have been possible in the early 1800s but not today due to the dense growth of trees.

Interesting that an eel “buck” or trap can be seen on the Berkshire bank. Another used to be on the weir.

Then comes the first print showing the new suspension bridge having been just completed.

No church is depicted so this must date from the very short time (1833) between demolition of the old and construction of the new.

Alongside the bridge is the building now widely regarded as Marlow Manor, or at least a part of it.

Bottom line, the new church from the north side. As originally built the church had no chancel, a low roof, a thin spire and main entrance on the side.

Then another early church and bridge view, and finally Bisham Abbey with the river bank looking considerably different from today, once again possibly a bit of artistic licence.

The invention of the camera came around 1840, soon after these prints above, but initially only in very experimental form.

It took almost 20 years before photographs began to be taken on a regular basis, and the appearance of a cameramen in the streets with his weighty gear on a tripod usually brought a crowd of onlookers eager to get in on the picture.

Marlow’s first professional photographer was Mrs Rebecca Blake from West Street and the earliest examples of her work that I have are dated 1859.

Contact Michael at michael@jazzfans.co or 01628 486571.