Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

The Story of the Harringay Estate Map at the Haringey Local History Fair

Last Saturday saw the annual Local History Fair at Bruce Castle Museum and first on the list of talks was HOL member Bethany Burrow Atherton who gave an very interesting presentation on how the Harringay estate map came to be discovered on ebay and how a neighbour's consortium of HOL members bought the map and brought it back to the neighbourhood.

Bethany also explained how copies were made, including one to be stored at St Paul's Harringay so that a copy would be stored in Harringay and then the original was given to the archive at Bruce Castle Museum where it can be viewed by appointment in their archive room.

There were some observations from the floor from former residents of Harringay including one recalling that sharing of our houses was always common and that although his family owned the house, they only lived downstairs while they rented out the upper floor.

Bethany also pointed out some places of interest marked on the map including the location of the hot houses where the super luxury item pineapples were grown and where the original iron church of St Paul's Harringay was erected in Burgoyne Road, I think around about where the NHS clinic is on that road, before the late Victorian building on Wightman Road was built.

It was a fascinating talk and very much enjoyed by the audience, (including a Twitter one as I was tweeting out some of the main points) and thanks to Bethany for doing such a great job!

Tags for Forum Posts: harringay house, harringay house map, local history fair

0 members like this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Bethany Burrow Atherton on February 25, 2013 at 12:48

Thanks Liz. I look like I was freezing, but it was actually fairly warm in there!

It was great to see such a large and varied audience there, and to hear of other people's ties with Harringay.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Glynn Davis on February 26, 2013 at 15:03

Agree. It was very informative. As a resident of the top of the ladder it's a shame the map does not include this. I wonder if any examples of maps of the top end are still in existence?

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Bethany Burrow Atherton on February 26, 2013 at 16:16

Thanks, Glynn - it's worth asking at Bruce Castle about the top end of the Ladder - I know they have other similar maps, but I'm not sure which exact sections they have.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Dick Harris on February 26, 2013 at 15:04

I was away when the drama of buying the map on ebay took place so I missed the whole thing. I enjoyed very much hearing Bethany's account of the purchase and it was also my first visit to Bruce Castle. So, double thank you.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Michele on February 26, 2013 at 15:53

Could she do another talk in Harringay?

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Liz on February 26, 2013 at 16:06

I could ask the Friends of Stroud Green and Harringay Library to invite Bethany to give her talk again if she were interested in doing it? Bethany, would you be up for that?