Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Harringay Flood 1907
Following my trawl on eBay a few moments ago where I found a postcard to Mrs Bellak at 44 Rutland Gardens, I also found this picture of a flood in Harringay in 1907.
It looks like it is taken from between Allison Road and Beresford, as the Salisbury is in the near distance. Below is the roughly the same view today (from Google Maps). The parade of shops etc where the Tescos currently is has yet to be developed from the looks of it.
Pity about the bus being in the way, but you can clearly see the biggest difference between the Edwardian period and now by looking at the van on the left of the recent image!
Tags for Forum Posts: 1907 floods, harringay flood 1907
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by StephenBln on
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A great find Justin. I'm sure we've had postings on this subject before.
That location is the point where the Stonebridge Brook, which runs down from Muswell Hill, on it's way through to South Tottenham, crosses Green Lanes. It is the lowest point on Green Lanes in Harringay and the road winds it's way down to it from both directions.
The Stonebridge Brook crosses Black Boy Lane at the bend in the road, runs behind Newsam Avenue, under Culvert Road, behind Wickes and under Stonebridge Road. As the road name indicates, the river/stream was culverted at the end of the 19th/early 20th century. Flooding occurred widely in Tottenham along the Moselle, and in Harringay at this location right until the late 1960s. And if I remember correctly, again a couple of years ago.
One of the road crossings must have had a Stone Bridge. I'm not clear as to whether that was Green Lanes or Tottenham High Road or Black Boy Lane, which is also an ancient way from Hanger Green to West Green. I imagine Green Lanes was originally a wide country thoroughfare with a low lying stream/river crossing, one that often dried up in summer.
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Permalink Reply by Justin Guest on
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You really are a font of local knowledge Stephen. Thanks for that, I did not know there was a culverted river under GL.
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My grandparents ran a business on part of the site where Wickes now is and I can just about recall seeing the Stonebridge Brook running behind their buildings. They also ran a business from and owned 2 Culvert Road. That house suffered terribly from subsidence, presumably caused by the Brook, in fact the building was totally rebuilt in 1953 because it had become so dangerous.
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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More pictures and newspaper articles about the regular local flooding here. I see that Stephen's already given the context about the principal cause.
Thanks for posting. I'd meant to add it to the gallery myself then clean forgot. Would you mind also adding it to the gallery?
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Done!
Isn't Ebay (and the internet generally) great for finding great ways to waste otherwise potentially productive time...
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And another stunning image. Posted by someone on the 23rd September 1917.
This is towards the end of Third Ypres, the meat grinder that was the Battle of Passchendaele. Just to put it into context!
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Permalink Reply by Finsbury Park Ranger on
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My uncle always said 'cafefull around green lanes, lots of subsidence' - best to buy on the top of a hill'.
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Permalink Reply by Christine Killick on
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We lived in a flat in Green Lanes near Allison Road in the 1950's and the road often became flooded. We always assumed that it was because of rain water rushing down Allison Road and the drains not being able to cope with the amount of water. Never realised that there was culvert nearby.
We also were able to feel movement when the underground trains ran between Manor House and Turnpike Lane and always believed as children that the underground was directly under the shops along Green Lanes.
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