Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Chocolate Factory homes and Wood Green regeneration featured in the Standard
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Renato B on
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Not only do I remember that sweet smell of the air coming from the factory and the factory workers walking to and fro along Station Rd., but when I was a kid I used to buy all my sweets such as the sherbet fountain and the fruit salad (four for an old penny) at my old primary school's (St Paul's RC) tuck shop which was at the bottom of Bradley Rd at Station Rd. That shop was actually directly opposite the Barratt factory. My childhood in Wood Green was paradise.
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Sorry, I don't have any photographs of the shop, just my vivid memories.
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Thank you for the Francis Frith link. Lots of information. Was often over at Crouch End and Muswell Hill (as well as Tottenham). I have also moved to Norfolk (40 years ago). I participated in the many activities he described ... trainspotting at the various stations, roller skating and boating at the Ally Pally. Coincidentally when I moved to Norfolk I once lived in a house only a couple of miles (Mulbarton) from Colin Chapman's Lotus factory in Hethel and his home in East Carelton Manor. (I suppose the same sort of distance of when I lived in Wood Green and his premises in Hornsey before he moved). I never saw him here but saw many Lotus'. I moved here because of civil service jobs dispersal. I still love Haringey though and often visit the area as I still have family living in nearby Enfield. I am interested in seeing the changes.
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I recall the shop was rather dark. When inside, opposite the front door was a door leading to the back rooms. The sweets were displayed on the right hand side such as black jacks, gob stoppers, liquorice wheels, aniseed balls, nougat, cigarette sweets and shrimps etc etc and the majority of the large jars of sweets such as the aniseed twists, american hard gums, humbugs were on the left hand side. I remember buying just one sweet for just a farthing or two sweets for a ha'penny. I used to get my orange frozen jubblies and tizer from there too. They probably sold other things other than confectionery but at that age (4-11) I was only interested in the sweets.
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It is very difficult to say what sort of business would be successful in that particular location these days. Shopping habits have changed. Over 50 plus years ago there were two corner shops (a grocery and a green grocer) in Ringslade Rd, two in Warberry Road (Off Licence and a grocery) and a couple of corner shops in Selborne Road, these type of shops were simply everywhere meeting the essential needs of the locals. Supermarkets have changed all that. All of these shops are now residences apart from one in Ringslade Rd which is some sort of sandwich and tea shop. I notice that in the early mornings and lunch times many of the people who visit that place are from the council offices on Station/Cumberland Roads and some sit outside to be in a different environment for a while I suppose. It is also in a sunny location. The corner shop at Bradley Road is also south facing and in addition has the benefit of being opposite a little park. So, if it was a sandwich type shop it would be a comparatively nice place to relax with a falafel and smoothie either outside the shop if there was seating, or across the busy road in one of the little parks, one of which happens to be called Barratt Gardens. I think the footfall looks good too. The shop is also across the road from some flats which I think look like sheltered housing, the Middlesex University residences and the Job Centre in Mayes Road which is next to the old Barratt sweet factory. From my observations of what is happening in my neck of the woods (Norwich) new businesses in a similar type of location tend to be baker/coffee/sandwich shops, barbers, hairdressers, junk (or antique, charity, vintage (second hand) clothing, tattoo artists, takeaways, nail shops to name a few. A thought has passed my mind though perhaps a retro sweet shop selling Barratt sweets as the main line (with pictures) with a smell of chocolate in the air ... could become a shop of pilgrimage and wouldbe just a couple of hundred metres away from the original factory too. Just a few ideas for you. Good luck. Norwich once had a Rowntree sweet factory. It closed in 1994, and Rolo, Yorkie, and Easter-egg production moved elsewhere. The factory was knocked down and replaced with a shopping mall and flats. That's progress.
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Permalink Reply by Geoff watts on
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I remember the old sweet shop oppsite Barratt gardens,after a good run around in the park it was off to the sweet shop for a glass of Tizer for a penny, good old days in wood green.
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I can't say when it stopped being a sweet shop. But it certainly was one during my primary school days .. of between 1956 and 1962.
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I went to alexandra school in 1957 and the sweet shop was open then,when i left school in 1965 and worked as a van boy for Barratts sweets and delivered sweets to that sweet shop and then as a driver for Barratts.The sweet shop was still open when i migrated to Austrailia in 1968
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