Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

Hampden Road Flood, 1907

Fascinating that we see there seems originally to have been some shops or a pub, half way along Hampden Road

The buildings I think were shops or a pub were in the location where these four houses now stand:

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Comment by Richard Woods on March 14, 2013 at 23:14: Interesting - the old camera makes the road look wider and the houses taller.

Comment by hob on March 15, 2013 at 0:38: I wonder if the cars and narrowing of the road were photoshopped out would it look more impressive?

Comment by Hugh on March 15, 2013 at 23:33: I walked by today and noticed that in fact the buildings I assumed had been rebuilt are in fact the original ones which have merely been refurbished. If you look at the wall by the passage you can see the original exterior wall tiling along the corner of the building and a filled in window,

Comment by Seema Chandwani on March 25, 2013 at 2:28: You sure this is our Hampden Rd? Looks wider and the houses are different

Comment by Seema Chandwani on March 25, 2013 at 2:28: You sure this is our Hampden Rd? Looks wider and the houses are different

Comment by John D on March 25, 2013 at 6:11: It's the same Seema. The road in the old picture looks much wider because the pavements are covered by water and there are no parked cars. The perspective in the 1907 one is different because the lens was wider than mine. The houses are the same although most have lost the little spike above the second floor windows.

Comment by Alix on March 25, 2013 at 8:13: Like Stephen I live on Hampden, and am sorry to have missed the pub.

But look at all the trees in 1907! Sad that we have only a very few trees left in 2013...

Comment by Hugh on March 25, 2013 at 8:32: I think the trees were limes planted in front gardens. This was done in many late Victorian front gardens. The trees would almost certainly have been pleached and at one time formed a linked row of greenery right along the road.

On a quick scan. I can't find a picture of a good example, but pleaching means training branches, often with the aid of wires, to grow horizontally to link with nearby trees to form a row.

Here's the best example I can find (not very good) of the sort of effect it gave:

There's a time warp house in Warham that retains two lime trees which, by their size, appear to have been kept pruned at least. They would almost certainly have been pleached way back.

Comment by Alix on March 25, 2013 at 8:59: Ah, yes, just noticed that the trunks aren't visible in the flood water, so they must be in front gardens. Would have been lovely with lines of pleached limes along the street (even if Hampden Road doesn't look quite as grand as your picture!). Of course lime trees aren't very popular for parking cars under... I'm missing all the cherry trees from our road at this time of year - just a few left now, though they did look strange and beautiful bearing all their blossom under the snow on Saturday.

Comment by Angela on March 25, 2013 at 13:23: According to the 1901 census, no.71 was occupied by Edwin Hurley whose occupation is

builder and wine & spirit dlr "off-licence"

And in the 1911census, nos.71-77 are referred to as

Hampden Mansions - shops and flats

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