Finder of possibly the earliest picture of Paul McCartney comments

The Liverpool Echo ran a story today with a photo that could be the earliest picture of Paul McCartney. We have some exclusive comments here from Peter Hodgson, who discovered it going through the Echo archives and is also quoted in the story. The photo is below.  

On the one above, Hodgson said, "Just a normal photo of children having fun on a beach. Oglet Shore Speke circa 1947. Well, a normal photo until you take a closer look. Paul facing the camera, Mike looking out to the Merse (Mersey)."  

This is blown up from the one above. "Paul and Mike always wore braced up shorts when they were little boys. There are many photos proving this. See the girl standing with them wearing white dress, white ribbons in her hair?"

"White dress, white ribboned hair. Paul in his braced up shorts," Peter Hodgson says. "The photo of Paul sitting down with the girl is what convinced me as the girl also had white dress and white ribboned hair. As soon as I'd seen her on the beach with them, I immediately remembered a photo of her with Paul, in Paul's backyard in Speke. "

McCartney's brother Mike weighed in today to the Echo and said he's not positive, but he says there's a chance the top photo could be he and Paul. “I couldn’t say it is definitely us, but it might well be! I’d say there is a 50/50 chance it’s us. We did wear shorts like that with the braces on. Our hair did look like that. And the height difference between the two boys looks right as our kid is 18 months older than me," he told the Echo.

He also said the girl resembles one that used to live next door to them on Western Avenue. "She was more our kid’s age, and she did look like the girl standing next to the boy in the photo who could be Paul. It’s a fascinating story!"

Hodgson adds, "Pure luck that I examined the photo. I only examined the photo as it stated it was taken on Oglet Shore in Speke as I knew that the McCartneys used to play there. I wouldn't have bothered otherwise."

If you know who the girl is or have any other clues, leave a comment here.