The photo will be a scene in the book, east end of London circa 1830. Average of ten people per row house (only one room wide), the street shares one water pipe (that's it in the middle of the road) and toilet. Work out the sums, you can almost see the typhoid and cholera.
Fascinating walking through the east end, by Regent's canal, down to docklands. Nice little parks—until you realize that that's where a stick of German bombs landed in 1940 and it was never rebuilt.
Wow, it's photos like this that really bring it home sometimes just how much times have advanced. And I can see how it's inspiration for your book. Your comment about the toys in the Museum of childhood made me chuckle by the way - the one in Edinburgh is the same though, and has things that I remember playing with as a child (I'm in my twenties!). Take it as a celebration of your youth :) I haven't yet visited the Ragged School Museum or Docklands. They're both in easy distance of my London apartment so I really should. Good luck with your book.
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