Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
I love Harringay because...
when I wanted to start a family, I could buy a slightly knocked about a bit old house with a patch of garden to call my own and a little bit of history and put a smile back on its lovely old face without having to win the lottery.
of my neighbours, who hail from many places, who welcomed me warmly and made me feel at home.
when I'm hungry, it's a cooks paradise around here with good quality meat and game from Baldwins, all manner of fruit and veg, and the possibilty of buying ingredients/spices for all types of cooking (Indian/chinese/north African/ Italian/Polish/Russian/Turkish etc.) Add to that buying my desserts from the French patisserie or Halepi, my bread from Yasar or Danube and my 80% chocolate from the Russian provision shop to go with my coffee and I am in foodie heaven. Or if I'm feeling idle and don't want to cook, I can pick up some (cheap) delicious Turkish stews and rice or a whole roast chicken and a tube of Harissa from the north African butchers.
if I want to eat out, I'm sure of a wonderful welcome at Bianca, a decent omelette and a latte from Cafe Lemon, or a nice Sunday lunch at the Salisbury. I can indulge my love of oriental food at China City or (babysitter required) Mr E can put his glad rags on and take me out to the Garden Ladder for some Modern British food. I can walk the kids to a friendly Spanish style welcome at La Vina or fill them full of delicious goodies at the Anteplier juice bar.
if I arrive back in Harringay after a night out, I feel safe because the shops are open, people are on the streets and the three lovely bars/pubs are, I know, full of good gentle people enjoying a beer or three.
my children are Londoners, although we are not, and they have the chance to go to a neighbourhood school in a beautiful old Victorian building and be cared for by professional and hardworking staff. They will mix with children from every walk of life and will learn that other viewpoints and cultures exist and that there are parents who care enough to give up their time to make the space green for them or raise money for the little extras.
when I want to take them to out to experience their heritage as citizens of one of the greatest cities on earth, I can take a bus to Trafalgar square for 90p or a train to Ally Pally or tube to the wonderful free museums of London all from the end of my road.
when we want to play, we can walk or ride to wonderful green parks, restored through the efforts of people who said 'no I will not tolerate our green spaces being neglected' and have given them back to the children of Harringay.
when I look up I see beautiful old facades and wonderful detailing on buildings that give me a sense of history.
it has a website where there is a free and fair exchange of views between people who care about where they live and who are willing to get off their behinds and work for change, and through which I have met some great new neighbours to go to the pub with.
when I smile at people here, they smile back...
All this in my backyard.
of my neighbours, who hail from many places, who welcomed me warmly and made me feel at home.
when I'm hungry, it's a cooks paradise around here with good quality meat and game from Baldwins, all manner of fruit and veg, and the possibilty of buying ingredients/spices for all types of cooking (Indian/chinese/north African/ Italian/Polish/Russian/Turkish etc.) Add to that buying my desserts from the French patisserie or Halepi, my bread from Yasar or Danube and my 80% chocolate from the Russian provision shop to go with my coffee and I am in foodie heaven. Or if I'm feeling idle and don't want to cook, I can pick up some (cheap) delicious Turkish stews and rice or a whole roast chicken and a tube of Harissa from the north African butchers.
if I want to eat out, I'm sure of a wonderful welcome at Bianca, a decent omelette and a latte from Cafe Lemon, or a nice Sunday lunch at the Salisbury. I can indulge my love of oriental food at China City or (babysitter required) Mr E can put his glad rags on and take me out to the Garden Ladder for some Modern British food. I can walk the kids to a friendly Spanish style welcome at La Vina or fill them full of delicious goodies at the Anteplier juice bar.
if I arrive back in Harringay after a night out, I feel safe because the shops are open, people are on the streets and the three lovely bars/pubs are, I know, full of good gentle people enjoying a beer or three.
my children are Londoners, although we are not, and they have the chance to go to a neighbourhood school in a beautiful old Victorian building and be cared for by professional and hardworking staff. They will mix with children from every walk of life and will learn that other viewpoints and cultures exist and that there are parents who care enough to give up their time to make the space green for them or raise money for the little extras.
when I want to take them to out to experience their heritage as citizens of one of the greatest cities on earth, I can take a bus to Trafalgar square for 90p or a train to Ally Pally or tube to the wonderful free museums of London all from the end of my road.
when we want to play, we can walk or ride to wonderful green parks, restored through the efforts of people who said 'no I will not tolerate our green spaces being neglected' and have given them back to the children of Harringay.
when I look up I see beautiful old facades and wonderful detailing on buildings that give me a sense of history.
it has a website where there is a free and fair exchange of views between people who care about where they live and who are willing to get off their behinds and work for change, and through which I have met some great new neighbours to go to the pub with.
when I smile at people here, they smile back...
All this in my backyard.
Tags for Forum Posts: what's harringay like?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by GillianM on
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Finsbury Park!
Stroud Green library
Transport
Finsbury parkrun
Anna's yoga classes at St Paul's Church
The Castle Climbing Centre on Green Lanes (ok, not Harringay but the reason we settled in this part of London!) Also they have a very comprehensive environmental policy which is well worth a look.
Movers and Groovers at the Ladder Children's Centre
Dostlar shop at the bottom of Cavendish
Bianca pizzeria
Danube bakery
Yayla kebabs
(all within a minute's walk!)
Breaking a needle on my sewing machine and realising there was a sewing machine shop a minute from my front door.
My neighbours.
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Permalink Reply by Louise Nazeraj on
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Ahh Liz, your post made me cry! What an inspiring little essay on the delights of Harringay.
I love Harringay for many of the same reasons and although I'm currently living just over the tracks, I will be moving back to the Ladders once Nazeraj number two arrives. I love the community spirit of the place and that I can walk down Green Lanes with Issy in the buggy and she is greeted by the shop and restaurant owners the whole length of the street. She even asks now why no-one "hellos" her when we go into Crouch End.
I love that my husband has been able to start a career as a chef at the Salisbury, going from a lowly KP five years ago to now being the head chef and being sponsored through a vocational college course. Being Albanian, he seems to have made friends with everyone up and down Green Lanes and feels very much part of a thriving community rather than an homesick immigrant.
I think the provision of services for children through the children's centres and local libraries is amazing and is very much the envy of my surburban and Northern friends.
I'm also delighted and grateful at the commitment of people to making this site work so well, fostering the spirit of caring and sharing in the community and helping us to feel connected to our environment.
Viva Harringay indeed!
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Permalink Reply by Liz on
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I'll be all teary myself again in a minute :)
Thanks for adding your loves to the post.
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Permalink Reply by james walsh on
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I love Haringay so very very very much. it is the best place to live in the whole world. I cannot think of a better place than Harringay and all the wonderful things that go on here. Harringayonline is the best website in the whole wide world there is nothing better. I pity people that don't live in Harringay because they are really missing out on all the wonderful things Harringay has to offer people who live here. I'm going to have to end this post now incase i get carried away with emotion.
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And Harringay loves you too James and is moved by the depth of your feeling.
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Well James, I have to say I never understood your depth of emotion about our area before today. Thank you so much for sharing.
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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Damning with faint praise as usual, James.
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I heart Harringay because:
• People actually seem to give a £*&% about the environment they live in.
• We can walk down Green Lanes and go on a culinary tour of the Mediterranean in the space of 500m.
• The resources for children (children's centres, playgrounds etc.) are fantastic.
• Fresh bread, cakes, fruit and veg pretty much 24/7 thanks to Yaser Halim (and many others I am sure).
• You can get a bus (essential when you have a pushchair) to central London within a couple of minutes, pretty much from the doorstep.
• Our doctors surgery receptionist seems to manage the whole family's healthcare; whether proactively booking my OH into smoking cessation clinics, calling up to remind me of my daughters impending immunisations (way ahead of time) and sorting out my old health authority when they screwed up my NHS card. I've never had that kind of service from any other doc's surgery.
• And of course, this website. We may have our disagreements - but at least we're talking!
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As you say, Liz: careful what you love about Harringay or it'll disappear - like the fish shop, juice shop, Halepi, Dolcetti (and of course, Nationwide). Maybe you should start loving your Metrobet neighbours just a little?
What I love about Harringay (after returning today from an interesting mixed week in Madeira's Funchal which wended its way from Valentine's and Carnaval via Ash Wednesday to Saturday's floods of death and destruction) is that when our turn comes I'll sit up here on Wightman Road watching all our century-old silt, rubbish and litter wash down over the Ladder to really mess up Green Lanes.
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Careful, don't think that because this post has 'love' in the title I won't call down a Meldrew from 'on high' for anyone who tries to rain on this particular parade.
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Permalink Reply by John D on
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So it's possible to get a Meldrew and bar? Or is it a Meldrew with Oak Leaves ?
Must work on it :-)
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Is it also possible to get I Heart Harringay t-shirts anywhere? I have seen a half decent one in the kickboxing shop but only man's sizes I think :( I would like to wear my Harringay love with pride!
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