Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
11 Woodberry Grove prewar
This is a pre-war picture of 11 Woodberry Grove where I grew up.
We had the sub basement. Only one bedroom and an outside toilet. No bathroom untill dad built one in a disused cellar. Wonderful big garden with dad's shed and workshop.
We lived there from 1942 till 1958.
The downside was the dry rot and beetles that came out at night, ugh!
The house and northern housing was demolished to make way for the Rowley Gardens estate.
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Comment by alistairj on January 25, 2009 at 16:42
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Nice looking building - shame it got demolished.
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Comment by Roy aka Smiffy on January 25, 2009 at 17:22
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It had been a very fine house and built for just one well-to do family. At some time it was divided into 'rooms' for letting with just one bath room for the house.
All the houses in Woodberry Grove on the north side were of this style. They stretched the length of WG. During the war half of them - on the eastern end were requisitioned by the War Department and for a short time some housed US troops who were on the way home after the war.
After the war the eastern end of Woodberry Grove was demolished and the LCC built flats.
Our house - the rest of the old Victorian ones were demolished.
The one thing that I remember of the house (apart from the beetles and damp) was that cast-iron down-pipe from the gutters. It was barley sugar - twist cast-iron, most unusual. I'm interested in architecture and I've never seen the same anywhere.
Happy days!
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The twisting ironwork is quite distinctive.
I am guessing that the decision to demolish was based on the post-War need for denser, 'more modern' housing than dry rot etc.?
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Yep, the houses were in very poor condition. The ones at the eastern end of the road were badly damaged, in some cases by us kids! The need for clean modern housing was paramount.
The attic was home to a In the early 50’s a Dutch man, Mr van Dyke he and his English wife came to live in the attic. It was like a breath of fresh air sweeping through the house, they were young - all the other tenants were so old!
Shortly after they moved in Mrs van Dyke had a baby girl. He was a nice man with a big moustache and wonderful rich Dutch accent. He was a pastry chef at one of the big hotels in the West-End. He had many tales about the war. The only one I remember now is how, to avoid being sent to Germany as forced labour he hid under the floor. The Germans caught him. And interrogated him. He wouldn’t tell them where others were hidden so they stood him up against a wall in front of a firing squad. The officer gave the command to fire and - click - the rifles weren’t loaded! They did this several times after interrogation. He was sent to prison.
I liked Mr van Dyke, he was always very friendly and frequently made us cakes. A luxury as rationing was still in force.
The most memorable cake he made was for a 5th November Guy Fawkes bonfire party. I’d never seen such a fantastic thing. It was chocolate Guy Fawkes!
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Comment by dubmill on August 31, 2010 at 12:25
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Great picture and fascinating stories
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Comment by Elizabeth on March 29, 2018 at 12:20
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The Rowley Gardens development, was built on the grounds of an old derelict 'mad-house' (as us typically un-P.C. kids called it!) at least what we were told.
We would go there and play run-outs or cowboys & indians amongst the ruins, you could see down into what was the House's old basement. I don't know if it was in ruins because of a WW2 bomb? perhaps someone else on here knows about its history - it was definitely called (something)? House, but not Rowley House.
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Comment by Hugh on March 29, 2018 at 12:37
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