Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Railway Fields Entrance on Umfreville Road
I live on Pemberton Road and like scores if not hundreds of people who live on the ladder I regularly walk through the passages to get to Finsbury Park. When I hit Umfreville Road the passage stops and I then have to go down to Green Lanes. After going under the railway bridge typically I would go straight back up Lothair Road and cut across to the park, going in the entrance on Endymion Road by the New River.
Why tell us all how you walk to the park you might well ask? Well, in the middle of the route, when you hit Umfreville Road and the passage ends, there is the lovely Railway Fields nature reserve straight in front of you, but with no way in. There is only one way in and out (on Green Lanes), so it's no use as part of a walk from one place to another and hence massively underused. However, there is a disused/possible entrance on Umfreville Road directly opposite the end of the passage, by the old tower in the fields. A project to turn this into an entrance would cost the council peanuts - a nice wrought iron gate to match the one on Green Lanes, a bit of gardening to clear out the passage from Umfreville to the tower and that's about it!
There are really good reasons for doing this: getting better use out of Railway Fields and improving the walk down to Green Lanes for the residents, which could all be done for almost no cost. The only down side I can think of is that the wardens would then have to lock up two gates at the end of the day instead of one - big deal! I asked a warden in Railway Fields about this on Friday and she said something like "oh it would be a bit of a pain to lock up the other gate and we'd have to get more keys cut"! She also said it was always a worry to make sure everyone left at the end of the day before locking it. This would be the same worry if there was one gate or two anyway. Pretty hopeless reasons not to go ahead with a project that would have a very high benifit to cost ratio.
Any thoughts anyone? I'd love to get a head of steam on this and get a proposal to the Council, but it's not something I have any experience in doing. Anyone else interested in this?
Hugo.
P.S. In a more ambitious plan, they would also open the river path between Umfreville and Endymion Roads and build a foot bridge over the railway tracks either on the river path or from within the Railway Fields across to the river path so you could then walk straight over to the park. This quite simple measure would allow you to walk right through to the Endymion road entrance to Finsbury Park from either Hornsey station (along the New River path to Wightman/Hewitt and then down Hewitt, through the passages and then over the bridge and along the last stretch of the new river) or from Turnpike lane, right through the passages and finishing in the same way. However, those plans are much more adventurous and I don't want any grander designs to get in the way of the simple and really cheap plan of simply putting in another gate!
Why tell us all how you walk to the park you might well ask? Well, in the middle of the route, when you hit Umfreville Road and the passage ends, there is the lovely Railway Fields nature reserve straight in front of you, but with no way in. There is only one way in and out (on Green Lanes), so it's no use as part of a walk from one place to another and hence massively underused. However, there is a disused/possible entrance on Umfreville Road directly opposite the end of the passage, by the old tower in the fields. A project to turn this into an entrance would cost the council peanuts - a nice wrought iron gate to match the one on Green Lanes, a bit of gardening to clear out the passage from Umfreville to the tower and that's about it!
There are really good reasons for doing this: getting better use out of Railway Fields and improving the walk down to Green Lanes for the residents, which could all be done for almost no cost. The only down side I can think of is that the wardens would then have to lock up two gates at the end of the day instead of one - big deal! I asked a warden in Railway Fields about this on Friday and she said something like "oh it would be a bit of a pain to lock up the other gate and we'd have to get more keys cut"! She also said it was always a worry to make sure everyone left at the end of the day before locking it. This would be the same worry if there was one gate or two anyway. Pretty hopeless reasons not to go ahead with a project that would have a very high benifit to cost ratio.
Any thoughts anyone? I'd love to get a head of steam on this and get a proposal to the Council, but it's not something I have any experience in doing. Anyone else interested in this?
Hugo.
P.S. In a more ambitious plan, they would also open the river path between Umfreville and Endymion Roads and build a foot bridge over the railway tracks either on the river path or from within the Railway Fields across to the river path so you could then walk straight over to the park. This quite simple measure would allow you to walk right through to the Endymion road entrance to Finsbury Park from either Hornsey station (along the New River path to Wightman/Hewitt and then down Hewitt, through the passages and then over the bridge and along the last stretch of the new river) or from Turnpike lane, right through the passages and finishing in the same way. However, those plans are much more adventurous and I don't want any grander designs to get in the way of the simple and really cheap plan of simply putting in another gate!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Bethany Burrow Atherton on
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I don't disagree with this at all, Hugo, but my main gripe with Railway Fields is that they are only open when I'm at work! If I want to take a look, I have to go to an "event" held out of hours (like one of the bat walks), I can't just go for a wander around at the weekend. This all amounts to the same problem, though - they aren't being used as much as they could be. I guess the argument against more open access is that they are supposed to be a nature reserve and having loads of people tramping through as a shortcut might disrupt things for the nature that is there, but they could at least open it, say, one Sunday a month, to allow those of us who aren't around weekends to take a look.
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Permalink Reply by Mr Growbag on
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Absolutely. The main problem with this lovely nature reserve is that it is virtually inaccessible to any residents who work during the week. I've never understood why they don't open it on the weekend.
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Permalink Reply by Anette on
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Totally agree. I've never been in there, as unfortunately I have to work for a living. And it would be nice to have access to another green space at the week-end.
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Permalink Reply by Alison P on
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I am one of the lucky ones who is able to visit Railway Fields during the week but would similarly love it to be open at weekends too, as I'm sure we'd visit it more often. Although its quietness is lovely, it does worry me a little that it appears so underused by the local community. I don't really understand what the issues are - but presume it is about when volunteers are able to work? I'd have thought the best place to start would be by contacting the group who run it and asking whether their volunteers ever work on Saturdays?
In terms of access through RF, I'd welcome discussion about this too. But its important to bear in mind that at most all it could be would be an alternative way of reaching Green Lanes to walking down Umfraville - because of the railway line you could never cut all the way through to Finsbury Park, unless we start talking about footbridges etc. I think there would need to be quite a lot of work down to sort out a path from the gate that Hugo talks about - my memory is that this area of RF is very overgrown and down a bit of a bank. What do others think?
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Permalink Reply by Hugo Read on
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I wouldn't say there's much of an 'only' about cutting down to Green Lanes instead of walking down Umfreville. This small and very easy step would mean that people would actually USE the fields and then more and more people would hopefully get to know it, which would further promote its use and hopefully aid in getting the hours extended! As for the wildlife, well, there's no reason why people shouldn't see it. Having it one entrance and exit enclosure really limits its use. In contrast, the Railway Path from Finsbury Park to Highgate is also one of Haringey's three nature reserves and it's used all the time and enjoyed by all, basically because it takes you somewhere. The third nature reserve, Queens Wood, is also completely open. So I don't really think there's a preservation argument. I think that's just for lazy officials who don't really want people in there bothering them!
As for the clearing of the path, yes it's badly overgrown but a couple of hours with a few volunteers and a couple of sythes would sort it out. The path is there and needs no infrastructure at all, just some gardening. The only material cost is one gate, which is extremely minor for the benefit.
In terms of the bigger grand project, here's my idea attached! Come on, it's ambitious that Haringey would take it on for sure, but why not? Open a couple of existing paths and build a footbridge, open the Railway Fields in two more spots and the whole thing would be actually be of use and enjoyable by the community, who are the people who matter. - Attachments:
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Permalink Reply by Liz on
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Hi Hugo, just a small point really but "lazy officials" is a a trifle harsh.
Railway Fields is run by the BTCV which is a charity. It is often staffed by volunteers and those who do work for the charity there are running several projects including ones in other parks at weekends. They would probably welcome volunteers from the local community who could open up and staff the Reserve at the weekend. Railway Fields did also mention starting a Friends of Group which if it exists may be a good place to start with pitching your idea (if it didn't get off the ground, why not suggest running it?). The contact for Railway Fields is Catherine Price, reachable at 0208 348 6005 if you would like to inquire. She may be able to explain how the reserve is staffed as well.
I'm not sure who the path up to the water tower belongs to in terms of opening it up, and I think you may have to consider the privacy/wall building and strengthening aspect of the neighbouring properties. There may need to be a consultation with adjoining properties.
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You're right it's a trifle harsh. I was deliberately exaggerating to make the point that I couldn't see any downside at all other than the very minor point that someone would have to lock another gate! Thanks for the contact details.
As for the potential of the bigger project of doing a footbridge over the the tracks to make a direct walk straight across to the entrance of FP on Endymion Road (see my previous attachment), I wonder if this has been considered previously or if anyone is interested in taking this as a project to the council? I reckon my knocked-up drawing is a good starter for ten! Any further ideas on this anyone?...
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One further comment - I would suggest that were you to pitch this to anyone, the water-tower gate might want to be at the street end of the new access route (as you suggest as an alternative on your plan) - otherwise you'll end up with a dark, blind alley leading to a locked gate... not ideal in terms of prevention of crime!
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Thank you Hugo for that. The local BTCV team are frequent users of this site and are good enough to share events and volunteer opps across the borough with us. Someone from the charity will no doubt read this thread as it concerns the reserve. I'd hate for them to get cross at being characterised as 'lazy' (as I certainly would if someone wrote something like that about me in public).
With regard to the New River, that is mainly the concern of Thames Water (depending on the stretch) and there were plans to open up parts of it. You might start there with your enquiries about whether there were ever plans to run a path up the river to FP.
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As I said Liz, accusations of laziness are certainly not being made against anyone from the BTCV team. It was really thinking more of the general inertia and natural instinct to stick with the status quo that can run against a good idea, basically because change requires thought and effort. I'm sure the BTCV team do a great job and you certainly can't knock anyone for doing volunteer work.
It's still owned by the council though right? Therefore any proposals for change projects on how the land is used I would imagine need to go to the council. Or is that rubbish? Not sure if anyone who has experience in this would like turning the Umfreville gate idea into a proposal? I think it's a great, simple and very cheap idea with really good benefit that needs to be written up in the expected format and language and sent to the right people.
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Absolutely Mr. Growbag. I too was imagining the gate would be at the road end for exactly the same reasons, thus making the disused passage part of the Railway Fields. I concede that this would probably mean side fencing down the alley as well as the gate, in order to secure the perimeter, but it's still potentially a very cheap and simple project.
(In my basic drawing I put the gate at the other end of the passage and then wanted to change it, but I would have had to start the picture again so I left it as it was.)
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Permalink Reply by Old-Age-Emporium(OAE) on
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Hugo, I trust you have consulted the Earl of Beaconsfield. Some folks think that it was Endymion that killed off poor Dizzy in 1881, after his sixty years of churning out enough unreadable novels to name every road and alley from Finsbury Park to Turnpike Lane. But no. If your grand project comes to a grinding halt short of the Beacons Fields, call it Falconet Folly after his unfinished twelve-chapter go at Gladstone et al. (published in three instalments by The New York (Sunday)Times in 1905.)
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