A view of Greenwich from the Isle of Dogs (i.e. the north-west) with figures, probably local boys, swimming off the beach in the foreground around a small lighter. The Royal Naval College is to the left and the Royal Observatory high in the background above the Park and the riverside town centre of Greenwich proper. In the centre cargo ships are unloading sugar into lighters alongside, in the deep-water mooring tier between Greenwich and Deptford. The atmosphere beyond over the shoreline is one of industrial haze through which a Thames barge, chimneys and a crane can be seen. Astern of the ships small steamers cluster off Greenwich Pier.