Finsbury Park gates

Comment by Arthur Astrop on January 30, 2009 at 10:58

Roy,
Splendid photograph. Many thanks. Almost every summer weekend between 1928 and 1933, my father would take me to Finsbury Park either to watch the (grown-ups) fly their kites, or to fly the kites he made for me from split cane and brown paper. We were living at that time in Wightman Road.
Renewed thanks for a very nostalgic photo,
Arthur Astrop

Comment by Roy aka Smiffy on February 3, 2009 at 11:49

Hello Arthur,
Thanks for the comment. My favourite uncle lived not far from you at 99 Seymour Road.

Do you remember that just inside the gates was a floral design in the flower bed? Very intricate designs, all in flowers and small plants. I distinctly remember the Festival of Britain logo in flowers.

Yes, I remember the split-cane kite flying in the park, I never got the hang of it and just watched. My dad knew the theory but they never got off the ground! I think they used the park as it had large open play areas.

It was just inside the gates that I have one of my earliest memories, must have been 1943-4, I was in my push-chair, pushed by lovely auntie Biddy and a platoon of Canadian soldiers came marching by, singing loudly.

To the right of the gates, during the war was a battery of anti-aircraft guns and made quite a noise when they fired. I remember the noises but whether they were the guns firing or bombs falling I'm not sure....
Roy

Comment by StephenBln on February 3, 2009 at 12:14

The anti-aircraft guns were often just as dangerous as the bombs..

As a kid, I was told about an anti-aircraft shell which landed on a 'fruit and veg' stall on Seven Sisters Road, junction of Moreton Road, killing the owner and a couple of people shopping...

I understand that this was quite a regular occurrence in those days

Comment by Roy aka Smiffy on February 3, 2009 at 12:36

Yes, the shrapnel and shell splinters were very dangerous. That is one of the reasons why it was important to take cover.

'Nice' pieces of sharapnel were very sought after by us kids. My dad worked in the west end and as part of his job as a maintenance engineer had to go on the roof of the hotels - he did Fire Watching up there too. He got me lots of fine pieces, including a very rare nose-fuse.

Roy

Comment by Alan on March 15, 2023 at 1:10

Perhaps now's not the time to mention this, but both my parents served on the ack-ack guns in FP, during ww2 of course. !

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