Among the many photographs scanned by the Society photo scanning group, was a picture of a village outing, for which no information was (or could be) supplied at the time of the scan.
We noticed that there is a similar image which Burford Tolsey Museum and Archive posted on Facebook, but also with no information about its subject matter!
We felt it should be identifiable from that distinctive bit of architecture in the background, but we could not relate it to anything local that we knew.
However, with the aid of Google Lens we were able to identify the location of this photo as ….. Windsor Castle!
Here is another photo which shows the lodge and the distinctive brick wall also visible in the photograph.
So, we know that our photo was taken just beside Datchet Gate Lodge, close to Windsor and Eton Riverside railway station. The lodge was built circa 1820-30, and is grade II listed.
Our investigations showed that outings to Windsor Castle were popular in the Edwardian period. There were also the annual Royal Windsor flower shows, started in 1892, which meant that some parts of the castle grounds were opened up, and which may have been a cause of many outings.
Though we still have no details of this group, or indeed have not researched into any of the names, it is to be hoped that one day we will know more. However, the use of AI and image recognition technology is likely to be of growing help to us in the near future.
