A Vision of Middlesex – Part One

As the Old Schoolhouse is closed for the time being, we thought we’d share some extracts from HHS publications on over the coming weeks and months.

A Vision of Middlesex : The North Middlesex Photographic Society’s Survey and Record of Middlesex by Janet Owen and John Hinshelwood was published in 2011 by the HHS to celebrate the Society’s 40th anniversary.  The book contains a selection of images from the North Middlesex Photographic Society archive which is held by the HHS.

Skating on the New River, Wolves Lane, Wood Green/Palmers Green,  Tappenden, 1894
Skating on the New River, Wolves Lane, Wood Green/Palmers Green, H P Tappenden, 1894

“This charming late nineteenth century scene is intriguing. Exactly where are they skating ? This frozen stretch of water is one of two old courses of the New River which terminated in Wolves Lane, a road which extends from Wood Green to Palmers Green. The houses in the background do not correspond with buildings in the road or surrounding roads today, making it nigh on impossible to pin-point the location. One old course of the river existed at the top of what are now sports fields whilst the other lies under the inter-war housing further north. This print shows just how rural the area still was in the last years of Queen Victoria’s reign.

“Location : Either at the northern boundary of White Hart Lane Community Sports Centre, next to the the Scout Group Hall and Wolves Lane Allotments or between Upsdell Avenue and Tottenham Road N13.”

Website editor’s note

A Vision of Middlesex is in stock and will be for sale at the Old Schoolhouse once we re-open.