Early summer outdoor events nearby

Open Gardens Day, Barnsbury (36 Thornhill Square, 44 Hemingford Road, Barnsbury Wood on Crescent Street and 1 Battlebridge Court on Wharfdale Road): Sunday 3 June, 2:00 pm-6:00 pm

Open for the National Gardens Scheme.

• See contrasting gardens, with old roses, perennials and unusual shrubs at 36 Thornhill Square and 44 Hemingford Road, mature woodland in Barnsbury Wood, and plantsman’s layouts with views to the canal and houseboats in 1 Battlebridge Court.
• Support charity with the combined admission charge of £6 for adults and £0 for children.
• Buy home made teas and plants at 36 Thornhill Square.

Barnsbury Wood is also usually open on Tuesdays 2:00 pm-4:00 pm (but not on Tuesday 5 June this year) and in the summer (from July to September) on Saturdays 2:00 pm-4:00 pm.

Jubilee Big Picnic, Thornhill Square: Monday 4 June, 12:00 noon-3:00 pm

Organised for the Huntingdon Street and Crescent Street Residents Association and the Thornhill Square Association.

• Bring food and drink to share and something to sit on.
• Have a free drink on arrival.
• Take part in games in Thornhill Crescent Gardens (surrounding St Andrew’s Church).

Diamond Jubilee Party, Barnsbury Square: Saturday 9 June, 2:00 pm-5:00 pm

Organised for the Friends of Barnsbury Square Gardens.

• Bring cake or biscuits for those who want them.
• Take part in a ‘Costume and Queen’s Beasts Competition’, with dressing up for those who would like to enter themselves, members of their families or their pets as lions, unicorns, dragons or whatever.
• Have free face painting 3:00 pm-4:00 pm.

Open Squares Weekend, Barnsbury Square: Sunday 10 June, 2:30 pm-4:30 pm

Open for the London Parks and Gardens Trust.

• Get tea, coffee and soft drinks in the hut.

The hut is also usually open on Tuesdays 2:00 pm-4:00 pm and on Saturdays 11:00 am-12:00 noon.

Come to the summer picnic on Monday 4 June

Find out how anti-social behaviour is handled locally on Wednesday 23 May

There are public meetings every six months or so to discuss what is happening in Caledonian Ward. The forthcoming one is expected to focus on anti-social behaviour and to include (as usual) a summary of the current priorities for Caledonian Ward. The note below, from Mo Hammoudan (who co-ordinates the meetings), says more about it.

In recent years residents have become much more aware of the issues of anti-social behaviour and the things that can be done to address this type of problem.

There are a lot of different organisations who have a role to play in directly dealing with, and helping to resolve, anti-social behaviour. The Islington Metropolitan Police, Islington Community Safety Teams and Islington Housing Department work with local people, communities, other social landlords and various organisations to address problems of anti-social behaviour by working in partnership to use the most appropriate interventions to stop these problems and support victims.

A large number of calls are received by the police throughout the year from people complaining about ‘nuisance youths’.  Some of these calls are not to report any crime, damage, noise or a direct threat but many are from people who feel intimidated by groups of youngsters who congregate in public places such as on the Caledonian Road and in parks and estates.

Children and young people are part of our communities and will always congregate; it’s a natural part of growing up and very few youngsters who meet in public places are actually committing any criminal or other offence. Young people often gather in groups because it makes them feel safer, choosing places near shops because they are well lit and busy. In many cases they are actually unaware that their presence alone can seem intimidating to others. However there is a difference between young people acting deliberately to cause damage or upset and those who have simply gathered to socialise.

The Caledonian Ward Partnership Public Meeting is an opportunity for local residents to hear how all the different agencies have worked together over the past year and in some cases over many years to address issues of crime and anti-social behaviour in Caledonian Ward.  More importantly this is your opportunity to put forward your ideas on how to make our ward safer for everyone in our community. 

The meeting is also an opportunity for you as residents to meet your local councillors, shape the future of neighbourhood management in Caledonian Ward and contribute to the priorities for the area.

Thornhill Square in the 1950s and 1960s, by Michael Rose

Hi,

As a London taxi driver I recently dropped a young lady off at Thornhill Crescent and she suggested I visit this website. It was a nostalgic fare for me as I was christened in St. Andrew’s Church. I also attended Sunday School there; I think the vicar’s name was Mr. Curley.

I lived in the area – Shirley Street (now gone), just off Matilda Street – and attended St Thomas’ School in Everilda Street (now also gone). I was born in 1948 so my ‘active’ time around the square would have been from the mid-fifties until the early sixties. The square was always a favourite place with the local children as it was the nearest open area of grass – plus trees and a playground.

What struck me most when I drove around the square was that nothing really had changed! The swing park is how I remember it; the big Plane Tree by the swing park is just as majestic, and I remember a pair of Crows always nested high up in its branches. The best bit, for us kids, was the small hill just to the north of the Plane Tree because it had plenty of bushes to hide in and to have a crafty cigarette (I was about fourteen by then – 50 years ago). Also, at the southern end in Matilda Street was the Buffalo Club. Not a disco, but a working men’s club where adults went for a drink and a jolly-up.

Those of you around at that time may also remember we had a milkman in Matilda Street. He had a small dairy and a cobbled yard where he kept his horse! His name was Bill Morgan. You may also recall a lady known as Beetroot Annie who sold her beetroots on the corner of Tilloch Street and Caledonian Road. And, of course, the Home & Colonial store in Caledonian Road.

Probably my earliest memory was at the age of four or five attending a party in Matilda Street to celebrate the queen’s coronation.

Just across the ‘Cally’ was Tilloch Street where my cousins lived and I remember vividly the gaps in the rows of terraced houses where a bomb had landed during the war. These ruins were our playgrounds. In fact my cousin, who is ten years older than me, says he remembers barrage balloons above the area during the war years.

Thornhill is a beautiful London square well worth preserving. I just hope it stays that way.

All the best,

Michael Rose

Artists and writers at Large Glass on Caledonian Road

The WW2 bombing of 55-57 Huntingdon Street, by a descendant of the survivors

I was just pointed in the direction of this web site, as I was wondering if there had ever been anything ever written about the WW2 bombing of Huntingdon Street Islington. My mother is a survivor of that bombing. She lived at 57 Huntingdon Street, in (she thinks) the upstairs of the house.

She always told us this story. She was a little girl at the time and doesn’t remember much about it, but the bomb had come through her house landing in the house next door and blew up the whole block. Her family, consisting of my grandmother, grandfather, aunt and mother, and a little baby girl living next door were the only ones to survive. My aunt can remember coming down the stairs in the house when there were no walls. My mom can only remember walking up and down the street afterwards.

Melanie Mackenzie.

Take part in community gardening in Thornhill Square and elsewhere