Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Hornsey Rise (Other Side of Crouch End Hill), c1905
This is one of the views in the environs of N8 where the landscape has changed completely over the past hundred years. On this site (below the BP petrol station at the top of Crouch End Hill) now stands the Hornsey Rise medical centre.
The pub which was rebuilt in the first half of the twentieth was demolished circa 1995. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, it was a very busy omnibus terminus for buses running from the Royal Exchange in the City. You can see the omnibuses lined up outside the pub in the picture.
The pub was also the venue where singer Matt Munroe made his first appearances in the 1950s after his shifts as a London bus driver.
At the time this photo was taken, just to the north west of this junction there stood, the Alexandra Orphanage, the Aged Pilgrims Asylum and the St Mary Islington Workhouse.
By the second half of the twentieth century, the Volunteer public house on Queensland Road N19 had been renamed and was also called "The Favourite". Both were hosts to the Irish music scene and to differentiate between the two, the Hornsey Rise establishment was nicknamed 'The Big Favourite'. The Queensland Road pub was referred to as 'The Little Favourite'. With the latter having been demolished during the construction of the Emirates Stadium, neither pub still exists.
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Comment by Hugh on September 14, 2024 at 1:16
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I’m sure you’re right: it had no meaning, but it rhymed. Can’t knock it though: it stuck in my memory for almost fifty years.
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Comment by Les G on September 14, 2024 at 1:27
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It's catchy! I suppose there is a serious side to explaining sharpness in a pint of lager. To me it means having a 'zing' for want of a better word. I feel a thirst coming on!
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Comment by Richard Woods on September 14, 2024 at 14:32
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As I recall it was indeed "Harp stays sharp to the bottom of the glass". Harp of course was a play on the logo of the Guinness company. At that time we had a strong family friend, Les Doubtfire (yes, really!) and he was marketing manager for Export Bottlers who exported Guinness, Harp and Baby Cham among others. Our house was ever full of left over merchandising material - ashtrays, glasses, plastic bambis etc! In fact the Baby Cham glasses were still around when we cleared my mum's house in 1994! I think we gave them and more to a charity shop!
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Just holding my breath hoping you haven’t stimulated an interest in a sequel called ‘Mr Doubtfire’ where a woman in England plays a man from Scotland with an American accent. That would turn me to drink! :)
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Nice one Les G!
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Comment by Don on September 20, 2024 at 10:41
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The original photo is a reminder that, even up to the 1970s or 80s, London buses still seemed to navigate by reference to pubs (when I grew up, my local 31 terminated at Stanley Arms) — a throwback to the horse-drawn days when pubs could provide straw or feed for the animals and loos for the drivers. Not sure today’s destinations (often Asda, Tesco or “superstore”) appended to a street name quite offer the same facilities.
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Lewis Collins, who lived in Crouch End, wouldn't get out of bed in the morning, and was always late getting to the studio. Answer? The studio came to him! That's why lots of episodes of The Professional are shot around Crouch End. One episode called "It Will be Alright" is shot around Rocksley school with The Curry Club in lots of scenes.
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