Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

Green Lanes - Flood 1937 - looking NE to Junction with Allison Rd

If you'd like to learn more about the history of Harringay , see my article on Wikipedia providing an overview of the History of Harringay. The series box at the top of that page will take you to more detailed articles I've sketched out on periods in Harringay's history.

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Comment by StephenBln on October 8, 2007 at 13:43: The whole of the Borough of Tottenham was often subject to flooding... right up into the 1960s.
The bus is a "ST" type bus on route 29 South Mimms - Victoria, the tram a "Feltham" UCC tram purchased by the Middlesex County Council for service on their "MET" routes. The 21 tram North Finchley - Holborn was replaced in 1938 by trolleybus routes 521 & 621 which were also replaced in November 1961 by routes 221 & 168 (later168A). These days the 221 has lost it southern section totally, starting from Turnpike Lane Station and the 168 disappeared from the area in 1968 at the same time as the opening of the Victoria Line.

Comment by alistairj on October 12, 2008 at 18:19: A rather drier scene now...

Comment by Hugh on October 12, 2008 at 20:41: Nice touch getting a bus in almost exactly the same spot as the tram!

Comment by StephenBln on November 7, 2008 at 16:34: I imagine there was a line of submerged trams in front blocking the tracks (you can just about see another one follwing up behind on the edge of the photo).
Bus drivers were often dismissive of the 'inflexible' trackbound trams and it looks as if the bus driver is arrogantly trying to prove his superiority... I bet he 'came a cropper too..

Comment by StephenBln on November 7, 2008 at 17:44: Just a postcript on Arrogant Bus Drivers:
Being a bus driver in the late 1930s was to be an esteemed member of society. It was the N°1 job in working class terms and I remember being told.. Bus drivers could always get H.P. where other ordinary mortals couldn't.
Within London Transport, Bus drivers & conductors earned more than their trackbound colleagues. Not to mention the fact that the tram crews worked longer and more unsociable hours. Trams started earlier and finished later than the buses.
Also a bus crew worked the same duty on the same route for a whole working week, whereas tram crews often worked on different routes in one duty period.

Comment by Christine Killick on August 15, 2015 at 22:00: I have just found these pictures of Green Lanes flooding and it brings so many memories back. I was born in the flat above, what is now, the medical centre. We often watched the floods as water rushed down Allison Road after a downpour. Watched as men tried to walk through with their bicycles with carrier bags tied around their feet hoping that they wouldnt get too wet. Thanks for sharing these photos.

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