Harringay is an actual place within the London Borough of Haringey. Because of this, there's great confusion about Harringay, even amongst the people that live there. Some of them are so confused that they don't even KNOW that they're living in Harringay.

How the Harringay / Haringey problem started

Harringay existed quite happily and quietly in North London, between Finsbury Park and Wood Green, right up until 1965. Then local government in London was re-organised, and it was decided to create a new Borough by combining Hornsey (which Harringay was part of), Wood Green and Tottenham. For reasons lost in the mists of time, they decided to call it Haringey. Theories abound as to why the spelling changed - maybe it was because 'gay' had come to mean something quite different by the 1960s, maybe they wanted the new Borough to have a different name to actual the place, or maybe they just couldn't spell.

Ever since then, people have been confused between Harringay the place and Haringey the Borough. The biggest blow to Harringay's identity came in the 1980s. Harringay Stadium was a major greyhound and speedway track¹, and also had an ice-rink next door² with a pretty successful ice-hockey team³. It was something big that you could point to and say, that's Harringay, where the Stadium is, between Manor House and Turnpike Lane tube stations. But greyhound racing went into a decline that hit its lowest point in the 1980s, and the owners elected to sell the stadium. It was knocked down in 1987, and now there's a Sainsbury's there - plus a McDonalds where the ice rink used to be.

A quick history of Harringay

Harringay developed in the late Victorian era as London expanded into the countryside to the North of Islington. It takes its name from Harringay House, whose grounds occupied the whole area West of Green Lanes as far as the Great Northern Railway. The last owner, Edward Chapman, died in 1869 and the sale of his estate began the development of Harringay as we now know it. The modern boundaries of Harringay are:

It's essentially diamond shaped, and Green Lanes runs from North to South as its 'backbone'.

The streets built on the land to the West of Green Lanes were developed from 1881 by the British Land Company. Originally called the Harringay Park Estate, these streets became known as the 'Harringay Ladder'⁵ simply because they run East to West between Green Lanes and Wightman Road. Looking at it on a map, each street is a 'rung' on the Ladder between Finsbury Park and Turnpike Lane.

The streets on the East side, known as the 'Harringay Gardens'⁶, were built from the late 1890s on the land previously occupied by St. John's Lodge Farm. Like a great deal of this part of North London, they were built by J.C. Hill⁷. The houses are smaller than those on the Ladder, and have always been cheaper as a result.

Hill, safe in the knowledge that local population was about to increase by 50%, also built an imposing row of shops along Green Lanes in 1899, known as Grand Parade. At the end of Grand Parade was the Salisbury Hotel⁸, a huge and impressive building with a large billiard room, restaurant and concert hall. It's still there, still huge and impressive, but like the rest of Grand Parade it's not exactly posh any more and hasn't been for years... just a nice old building with a Victorian boozer on the ground floor and offices above.

Why people don't know they're living in Harringay

A lot of Harringay's population have just arrived, or are only passing through. Many are recent graduates, or asylum seekers, or students or immigrants, all here to share cheap-ish houses (for North London) and take advantage of the fanastic Turkish/Greek/Cypriot/Kurdish shops and restaurants⁹. So because so many of the residents are quite new here, the stadium's been knocked down and there isn't a tube station to point to, no-one really knows what to call the place - as well as Harringay and Haringey, signs are also in evidence saying Haringay, Harringey, Finsbury Park, Manor House and Tottenham.

Why there isn't a tube station

When the Northern extension of the Piccadilly Line from Finsbury Park was announced in 1929, stations were planned at the Northern and Southern ends of Harringay, at Turnpike Lane and Manor House. The line was to pass underneath Harringay without stopping there, and the Harringay Ratepayers Association led a spirited campaign for a station for Harringay, next to the Salisbury Hotel at the junction of Green Lanes and St. Ann's Road. But the railway company insisted that the required average speed for the Piccadilly Line would not allow another stop at an extra station, and the campaign eventually subsided. The stretch between Turnpike Lane and Manor House is, suspiciously, one of the longest gaps between stations on the whole underground network.

What Harringay's actually like

It's a great place to live. Despite not having a tube station, or maybe because of it, it feels like actually SOMEWHERE rather than just another anonymous part of urban London.

Because of the Turkish connection, on Green Lanes there are some of the best and most interesting food shops in London. Fresh fruit and vegetables are always available at fantastic prices, and at all hours of the day as well¹⁰. One shop¹¹ even has its own bakery, selling wonderful fresh Turkish bread and pastries. Another¹² has a nifty sideline in plants and statues.

There are also the best kebab houses in Northern Europe. And not the sort that sell Doner Kebabs to drunks, either. Of course, they won't turn you away if you've had a few, and they'll sell you a Doner if you really want it, but the Shish rules in Harringay - marinated spiced lamb or chicken freshly cooked over a traditional Ocakbasi, or charcoal grill. Or there are a multitude of variations from different parts of Turkey, many of them involving aubergines or yoghurt. These guys have made it into an art form, and it's all fantastic value compared to your average London restaurant.

And there are two train stations (both spelt correctly - Harringay, and Harringay Green Lanes) and a Tapas Bar near one of them, plus a decent Sainsbury's and comically the worst Sainsbury's Homebase in existence. What more could you ask for?

Except a night out at the dogs, of course. You'd have to go to Walthamstow for that...