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Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

'Living Woodberry' - Traffic Shy Cyclists and Road Barriers in 1905 Woodberry Down

Whilst trying to track down the exact location of the scene in this Edwardian postcard, I was struck by the evidence it offers of the possible similarities between some our current concerns and theirs.

It's difficult to avoid noticing the barriers placed across the road. It doesn't look to me like they were put in place at the time of construction. I think this is a scene shot at the junction of Bethune Road and what is now called Newnton Close. At the time the picture was taken Newnton Road was the eastern end of the road called Woodberry Down. It was a very very well-to-do road with huge houses in sprawling gardens. It looks to me like the area was built with a gateway, as was the fashion for high end housing estates in years gone by.

One wonders if what might have started as quiet privileged backwater in the mid-nineteenth century begun to get plagued by traffic as the London sprawl grew and traffic increased exponentially. Their reaction was very similar to what's happened to the east of Green Lanes - the barriers went up. Having witnessed the furore that barriering has caused in the modern-day, one wonders at the reaction at a time when the ability to achieve such a change was so much more tied to privilege.

I was also struck by the possibly implied need for cyclists to find quiet places to enjoy pedalling. The author writes:

Do you know this spot. quiet little nook for cyclists?

Does anyone else see the links with the frustration, hopes and needs expressed in the recent Living Wightman campaign, or am I taking a flight of fancy?

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