Harringay Characters: Rhodesia Charlie

"Rhodesia Charlie"

I wandered in to Railway Fields this afternoon and whilst there I met Charlie. "Hello there", he hailed me, "What a fantastic place to get away from all the grime and noise of London, eh! We could almost be in Africa!"

I'm not so sure about the Africa bit, but yes Railway Fields is a slice of another place altogether just off busy Green Lanes.

Spring in Railway Fields today

But there again, Charlie's from Africa. So perhaps I should bow to his knowledge. Perhaps that part of Harringay is like Africa. At least it seems to serve that purpose for him. 

He's from Zimbabwe, but insists that he's from Rhodesia - different countries he said.  His apparent involvement in the resistance movement against Mugabe may go some way to explaining why he's so reluctant to use the country's new name. And, who am I to argue! We whiled away a few pleasant minutes chatting. As I was leaving he spotted my camera and asked me to take and publish his picture. Job done - here it is Charlie. Good talking with you.  Hasta luego.

I snapped off the ten seconds of video below for the soundtrack, rather than the image - you can see (or, rather, hear) what Charlie means about Railway Fields being a place to escape for a few minutes.