Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Making Wightman Our Own (For 6 Months At Least)
Anyone not know that Wightman is closed for the next few months?
How do we make the most of it? Wightman has been a most unloved part of our world because of the traffic blight, and we should take the current closure as an opportunity to do something positive over these coming spring and summer months.
We've been teased with a few ideas and images, from cycling kids, to generally perambulating for no other reason but that you can (I even ran in the middle of the road the other day). I heard talk of kids roaming unaccompanied on their way home from school today and (shock) a BBQ in one front garden- can it be true? There is even a mooted street party.
A couple of thoughts to get you going....
- Reclaim the bollards: Stealing Eugene's picture (I loved this). Any thoughts on (say) getting the Turnpike Art Group to help turn the bollards into some from of static art installation? Maybe work with the local schools and get the kids involved? Maybe have one set of bollards to be our very own 'fourth plinth' and have a rotating piece of art for a month? I have heard talk of setting cyclist who do not dismount when crossing the temp bridge to be cast in concrete and pilloried. Any volunteers John?
- Plant The Streets: Guerrilla garden around the plinths (ala Friends of the Harringay Passage and their raised beds plantings along the Passage). Get some planters going to try to break up the drab grey of concrete and harsh tarmac with our own 'Harirngay In Bloom'.
- Mass Cycle: Get Dr bike out and have a bike event, I had my son learning to ride on Allory Road at the weekend. Can we have a mass cycle event and get Hugh to take a picture with more than three yoots in it?
Use the appropriate voting buttons if you have any thoughts.
Tags for Forum Posts: traffic, wightman bridge, wightman bridge closure
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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Thanks for posting this, Justin. I hope you won't mind my expanding just a wee bit on my thinking when I suggested this earlier.
We already have a group working hard with Jessica and Ant organising a street party and the mass cycle sounds good. Events are critical, and my sense was that as a community we could add to the momentum these create by building something so innovative and so compelling over the remaining period that its echoes would leave a permanent legacy. The lasting legacy is the critical issue for me. What can we do that might suggest new ways of relating to and using Wightman Road in the longer term?
I loved Michael's idea of using the concrete barriers as blank canvases and as promised I've already reached out to TAG. I'll also see if there's any interest from the Warehouse folk.
I don't care if we end up copying something that's been used elsewhere, or building on something, but my hope is that we can find and realise an idea that will be strong enough to ring bells in all the right places and have an enduring effect on the quality of all our lives.
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Permalink Reply by Penny A on
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Any news on potential artists tackling the roadblock barriers? I'm looking at planting next to one of them and think a bit of stencilling with a nature theme could work well. Just sharing the thought! Amazon sell lots of great ones https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stencil1-8-5-inch-11-inch-Stencil-Multicol...
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Permalink Reply by Justin Guest on
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That is a good idea. In the absence of permission to (spray) paint them (I do not know who actually owns them) maybe chalks would be a good plan?
Let me know when you do one, I would like to come along.
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Permalink Reply by John D on
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Just be careful that your decoration does not hide the fact that they are big heavy concrete blocks. Otherwise, you'll get cyclists and pizza delivery boys crashing into them.
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Hi Justin! Has anyone asked for permission in the context of an arts project?
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Permalink Reply by Peter Chalk on
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I can verify the barbeque near the bridge. It reminded me of Notting Hill Carnival. Now that's an idea...
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Permalink Reply by Old-Age-Emporium(OAE) on
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I support the suggestion for a Mass Cycle. I am sure that the Parish Priest of St Paul's would be glad to organise an ecumenical 6-month Cycle of Masses together with the Catholic Workers of Mattison and the Greek Orthodox of North Wightman. The Pentecostal Gospel Centre might even join in.
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Thanks for your positive contribute as ever Edie. You made me think of the scene in Father Ted with Dougal in the milk-float that he has to keep above 3mph (ala the film Speed)...
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I like the idea of planters in front of the bollards, might stop people driving through them in cars or vans. Assuming the fire brigade aren't supposed to be able to push through the blockades?
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Permalink Reply by TTTH on
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A bit of guerrilla gardening in the pavements would be good, like Bonnington Square in Vauxhall. This all formed organically by local residents and is now protected by local policy!
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