Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Take a walk on Wightman's wild side
Sometimes a book has a strong influence on you. It keeps working away at you long after you've closed it. One such book for me, I've come to realise, is Alexandra Horowitz's On Looking. It's not a perfect book (here's my review of it from some time back) but there's something about its basic premise, that everyone sees a neighbourhood differently depending on their interests, skills and expertise, age or even whether they're a human being, that keeps coming back to me.
Recently, I've begun some new volunteer work that involves me looking closely at tiny moving things, picking up rocks, peering at flowers and trying to name everything I see, all in the company of small children. Needless to say, I love it!
Very quickly, I'm feeling a new set of skills developing and a new, although decidedly patchy, knowledge of my neighbourhood based on what is growing or living wild. I've even started writing short pieces under the 'wild in harringay' tag.
Today, as I was sauntering along Wightman Road on my way to the library, I realised that I was now treating this walk which I have done dozens of times, maybe even hundreds of times, in a very different way.
Once upon a time, when I was #wheeliebinliz I would have seen overflowing bins, dumped rubbish, uneven pavements and pavement parking - all of which would have had me writing furious emails to THE COUNCIL (note, I still do this). As I grew more interested in gardening at the front of houses, I started noting and photographing well-kept front gardens, seeing what people were growing and how. A growing admiration for modern architecture meant I would get excited about glimpsing the great roof of St Paul, Harringay and photographing it in different seasons. As my interests changed, developed and my expertise in some things grew so I kept seeing that little stretch of Wightman road between Warham and Burgoyne with fresh eyes.
So what did this latest pair of eyes spot as I strolled along?
As I passed an untidy elder on the corner of Wightman/Mattison, I realised I was looking at a ladybird nursery. Armed only with a phone, I could be seen sticking my head under leaves and awkwardly trying to snap the early stages of ladybird growth. There were lots of these
and these.
Crossing over, I passed under this glorious blossom (anyone know what it is?) which was buzzing with bees.
After a very pleasant hour with Vicky the head librarian at Stroud Green and Harringay and a light lunch at Wightman's oasis, Moka, I headed home again. The sun had come out and, having spent some time mulling over my trip up the road, I started to look at the gardens which were wild and free.
It's a bold move to give your garden over to ground elder or alkanet (not one I'm ready to take) but, somehow on Wightman with its low walls and high gardens, it can work and the bees and bugs love it. I stood for several minutes watching several species of bee and hover fly crawling all over the alkanet
A mown lawn is no friend to wildlife. Milverton's front gardens are a riot of daisies, dandelions and herb robert and I bet the insects are loving it.
Even if there is only concrete and brick, nature will find a way to colonise. Strictly speaking, yellow corydalis is an escapee from gardens and originally comes from the foothills of the Alps but is now considered wild in this country. The walls of Wightman recalling the sides of mountains it grows out of cracks and crevices
Meanwhile, little campanula will find its way into any hole in a wall. Campanula is also known as Canterbury Bells as it is said to resemble the bells on the bridles of the horses of 12th century pilgrims riding to Thomas A Becket's shrine in Canterbury. In the language of flowers, it represents gratitude. I'm certainly always grateful to see it in flower.
There are lots of lovely rose bushes on Wightman but spare a thought for our native rose, the humble but still lovely dog rose. This one was shyly entwined around a rather gloomy (probably self-seeded) sycamore.
Not far from Pemberton and one last stop at the house on the corner with some impressive shrubbery. The pretty pink flowers are alive with bees.
And a little cheat as it wasn't spotted on Wightman but as I paused at the river on Pemberton.
I spotted this mayfly sunning itself on the bridge. The life of the mayfly isn't quite as short as we think although by the stage they are above, there's probably only a few hours left of life.
All streets have their ecosystem but because of Wightman's raised gardens and the "untidiness" of some of them, this stretch of N4 truly is a living Wightman, ideal for a nature walk.
Tags for Forum Posts: living wightman, nature notes, wightman road, wild in harringay
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Old-Age-Emporium(OAE) on
-
Just for the record, the untidy and ladybird infested elder Liz passed at Wightman-Mattison junction was not (on this occasion) me. I have an alibi for this morning and all afternoon.
-
Permalink Reply by Liz on
-
I looked for you OAE but your garden is far too tidy for my expeditions into the wilds of Wightman
-
Permalink Reply by Karen Alexander on
-
Thanks for posting this Liz. Amongst all the wonderful things Wightman has become over the last few months it is also a beautiful nature reserve. Now that's worth protecting.
-
-
Enough jaw-jaw, Karen... you've got a by-election to win.
-
Permalink Reply by Stephen Middleton on
-
Lovely pics, Liz.
You probably already know, but I think that the young ladybirds are harlequin lava then two harlequin chrysalises. Also I think that the "cow parsley" is ground elder.
-
-
I did think it was a bit late for cow parsley but actually looking at the leaves again you could be right. Both that and alkanet are highly invasive but v popular with bugs. As I said, it's a bold move to just let them grow :)
I think the chrysalis maybe are harlequin too. I'm not good enough at this lark yet to tell from the larvae. Such are their numbers now that it is almost impossible to control them but there are groups monitoring them. All insect sightings can be put on irecord http://www.brc.ac.uk/irecord/
-
Permalink Reply by EMC2 on
-
Liz, thanks, your post made me look this up...
- What is this life if, full of care,
- We have no time to stand and stare.
- No time to stand beneath the boughs
- And stare as long as sheep or cows.
- No time to see, when woods we pass,
- Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
- No time to see, in broad daylight,
- Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
- No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
- And watch her feet, how they can dance.
- No time to wait till her mouth can
- Enrich that smile her eyes began.
- A poor life this if, full of care,
- We have no time to stand and stare.
- ... & I agree with Joe, post of the month.
-
-
I'm from East Anglia. Matthew Hopkins didn't manage to burn all the witches. I may, however, have been over zealous in my petitions to the rain gods this evening just to save myself some watering.
-
-
Yesterday I spotted what I thought was a mini butterfly - turns out it was a mint moth! I have never seen one before (sadly no photo as yet)
Liz, you are a woman of many talents and interests!
© 2024 Created by Hugh.
Powered by
