COMMUNITY NEWS FROM THE HIGHBURY COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION Greedy Gillespie goldfish must go…

Sally Oldfield

remove the fish would be to drain the number of days it is open. the pond entirely. This may seem Another group of learning like a drastic step but it might be the disabled students from the college best way. We are looking at other look after some raised beds in options, too. Gillespie Park, growing vegetables. I hope to continue to encourage Why did you take this job? more people to visit us. We have I was attracted by the beautiful recently started a pilot project to surroundings. I can sit at my desk open the Ecology Centre on Sunday and see foxes and sparrowhawks – afternoons between 12 and 4 as well HCA talks to SALLY OLDFIELD, there can’t be many workers in as on weekdays. Council’s Nature who can boast that! Conservation Team Leader, as Before I started here in October History of Gillespie Park the toughest time of year 2008 I was at Bristol City Council – Gillespie Park opened to the public approaches for wildlife in our with a remit to build up community in 1983 after the Council leased the neighbourhood park… involvement in nature reserves. I land from British Rail. In 1986 BR have also worked for two wildlife announced their intention to sell the What do you do to keep wildlife trusts: in Bristol and Reading. My land for housing, precipitating a alive in winter? passion is working in urban locations campaign by the Friends of Gillespie Gillespie Park is a fantastic place for to increase people’s connection with Park to prevent building on the land wildlife. Winter is a good time to nature and green spaces. and to help Islington Council gain spot birds in the Park - such as the freehold of the site and secure herons, long tailed tits and its future as a nature reserve. The goldfinches. We leave some meadow Ecology Centre was built in 1994 and areas uncut over winter so birds can Gillespie Park was designated as a eat the seedheads and insects can Local Nature Reserve in 1996. The hibernate in the plant stems. And we Centre and the Reserve are both maintain lots of habitat piles - piles owned and funded by Islington of logs and branches - for Council. hibernating frogs, toads and hedgehogs. You can do your bit for FACTS AND FIGURES ABOUT wildlife in winter, too, in your own GILLESPIE PARK back garden if you ask for our The pond • The largest of Islington’s three information pack…. Nature Reserves (the other two What links does Gillespie Park are Wood and Parkland What threats to wildlife are have with the community? Walk) there apart from the cold We run a successful schools • 244 plant types weather? programme, with lots of hands-on • 94 birds species Goldfish…Over the years people activities. • 24 types of butterfly have released goldfish into the pond, We also have links with the local perhaps thinking that unwanted pets City and Islington College. This OPENING HOURS would enjoy the freedom of life ‘in summer we experimented with Ecology Centre: weekdays 10-4; the wild’. Unfortunately goldfish are having a café one Sunday a month - Sundays 12-4 greedy predators of other pondlife run by the college and staffed by Gillespie Park: 8am to dusk every and so the biodiversity of the pond students with learning disabilities. day except during Arsenal home is in decline. We see fewer dragonfly The lovely Organic Café was a real matches these days because the goldfish are success and we hope to run it again eating their larvae. One way to in the New Year, perhaps increasing continued on page 2

November 2009 • Issue 64 1 continued from page 1 Do you want to be more

flexible and stronger? More information Have better posture? • Sign up to The Friends of Gillespie Park mailing list to hear About to start on Monday mornings in about regular talks and events, including the popular annual Conewood St, our local Pilates class still has Gillespie Festival a couple of places. Interested? Contact Christine on • Come along on a Thursday to join in fun conservation tasks on [email protected] one of Islington’s three nature reserves. No experience is or 020 7704 2337 needed.

• Ask for the Ecology Centre’s free information pack on feeding birds in winter and other aspects of wildlife gardening

[email protected] or tel 020 7527 4374 HARDWARE FOR THE HOME & GARDEN - KEYS CUT www.islington.gov.uk/sustainabilitycentres LOCKS SUPPLIED AND FITTED - HOUSEWARES - LIGHT BULBS - TOOLS - PLUMBING & ELECTRICAL GOODS COMING SOON… LOCKSMITH SERVICES AVAILABLE Winter Tree Walk at on 28 November at 2pm 20 Highbury Park N5 2AB Tel: 7354 5029 Fax: 7354 5034 Email: [email protected] Planning update: suburbanization of Islington Get your fabulous jewellery, handmade chocolates, and helium balloons at Action for Children HQ site, To Be Established 85 Highbury Park

cards • gifts • wrapping paper BY ROGER WRIGHT 1c Highbury Park N5 1QJ 020 7354 1223 In summary: the latest proposal for this site is a considerable improvement on other recent developments locally. Unusually it has a good proportion of sizeable family homes. A few concerns remain however. The Council planning brief, agreed at the end of Highburyvintners 2008, called for it to be mixed-use, with commercial and Independent wine store employment opportunities. But this proposal is completely residential, contributing further to the suburbanization of New extended shop Islington. There will be 350 new Highbury residents with Wine club & tasting events perhaps 150 of these being children – requiring extra school Over 900 wines & specialist beers places and health provision. Although Islington Council and the Top quality service & advice Islington Primary Care Trust repeatedly assure us that there is Free delivery to N4, N5 & N16 adequate capacity in the local education and health systems, 71 Highbury Park, N5 1UA our own experiences make us deeply cynical of this. 020 7226 1347 www.highburyvintners.co.uk The detail: At least half will be four-storey terraced houses with the remainder being one- and two-bedroom flats. The existing building fronting Highbury Park, Loxford House, will be retained SMALL COMPANY and converted into flats with a nursery on part of the ground OR SELF EMPLOYED? floor. The mature trees that surround the site will also be kept as will the gates, railings etc. At the back of the site, where the ARE YOU STRUGGLING WITH YOUR BOOK KEEPING? ARE YOU PAYING TOO MUCH IN ACCOUNTANCY FEES? land drops away, the development will be five storeys and nearer ARE YOU THINKING OF COMPUTERISED the front, behind Loxford House, it will be four. Overall the ACCOUNTING (SAGE)? development will not be any taller than the existing buildings. At Let me help you! least 35% of the development will be for social and shared Experienced • Efficient • Affordable • No job too small ownership, the rest for private sale. The development will be car Priti Pederson free except for disabled and car pool rental vehicles. Local Book-Keeper 07870 457398 Action for Children expect to make a planning application later [email protected] this year or early next year.

2 Intensive is the word to describe the work of running the shop. All those involved - Michelle, Annie Lovstav Stress-free present and Michelle’s daughter Sarah Giorgiou who works part buying time - are passionately committed and work long hours. It is not unusual for Michelle’s husband to be unable to BY GRAHAM COULT get into bed because there are too many catalogues and magazines taking up his space. I’ve lost track of The original lines for the shop were cards and gift how often I’ve wrap. Michelle began stocking presents for Valentine’s saved time and day, then Easter…and gradually the gift side grew. The stress by buying range is impressively extensive for so small a retail presents in ‘To Be space - books, scented candles, fine leather goods, bags, Established’ at mirrors, vases, the popular Jellycat soft toys, baby the Barn (and had booties, helium balloons, games and puzzles, calendars very happy and and diaries, and between November and April plants. A impressed huge variety of cards, too, of course, including at this recipients). I went time of year charity Christmas cards. along to talk to Michelle’s daughter Katie Jane Giorgiou is a jewellery the team… designer featured in magazines. She specialises in Founded by Swarovski crystals and her work is central to the shop’s Highbury Hill jewellery range. resident Michelle ‘Unusual’ and ‘exclusive’ are watchwords for Michelle Lovell in 1996, it when selecting. ‘When I look at magazines, if I see two or took just ten months from seeing the need for a good three items advertised that we have stocked before, then card shop in Highbury to her opening for Hallowe’en – I know I am still on the ball,’ says Michelle. ‘We need the ten months of market research, attending exhibitions stock to turn over quickly and not hang around so that and meeting suppliers. The shop’s name arose when there is a constantly changing range for our customers.’ filling in an exhibition registration form - a name had not been decided so Michelle wrote ‘to be established.’ To Be Established: 020 7354 1223

CHARITY CORNER

cover her training expenses. Sports charity The Joanna Brown Trust is a Breast cancer A Highbury charity is helping an registered charity set up in memory aspiring 10-year-old gymnast from of 30-year-old Joanna Brown, a aftercare Holloway work towards her dream. sports enthusiast from Highbury Having been treated for breast The Joanna Brown Trust together who tragically died last summer in cancer, Michelle Lovell of To Be with SportIslington have awarded a trekking accident in Siberia. Established expresses enormous Aasha Kimpton £2,000 to help Helen Hagan, a trustee of The gratitude to her ‘three girls’ - her two Joanna Brown Trust and a local daughters and Annie - for their resident, says: ’Our aim is to support but believes there must be encourage and enhance more aftercare once the intensive involvement in sport at all levels.’ phase of breast cancer treatment is For more information go to over. Michelle is setting up a ‘walk www.thejoannabrowntrust.org and talk’ support group with another breast cancer survivor, Christine. The idea is to chat about experiences of Shoes for Rwanda living with breast cancer while having Have you any unwanted shoes you a stroll in the park. On 31 October, as are tired of or bought in haste and a fundraising effort, To Be have never worn? If so, many people Established sold strawberry sticks in Highbury and other parts of dipped in chocolate made by Islington are donating shoes to send Michelle’s daughter and cup cakes to Rwanda - for Rwandans who are baked by a family friend and held a rebuilding their country after the raffle - collecting £505.25. 1994 genocide. To give shoes, please For more information contact ring 07941 386 443 or email Christine 07939 147 242 or Michelle [email protected] 07770 477 359

3 there is a local market or community event. I prefer to work Going through personal contacts, so the website brings in a relatively small proportion of my sales, though I am barefoot working to develop that. There are no sales targets. It is very family-friendly and flexible.’ BY GRAHAM COULT I asked Cinzia if she has a favourite book. ‘Yes – What is This? – Cinzia Sarigu of Highbury Grove is a book about growing. A little girl an ambassador for Barefoot Books, finds a sunflower seed, plants it and a business founded by two working looks after it. When the plant is mothers in Highbury in 1993. One of grown she harvests the seeds, takes the founders moved to Bath and the them to school and all her other to the USA so now it has schoolmates then grow sunflowers become international. as well. It is a very beautiful book, The Barefoot books ethos is and also very simple. I really like the about encouraging children to be Cinzia and her son, Elfo, aged 6, in front environmental titles, but they also responsible citizens in the future: of a Barefoot-Books–style wall mural in publish classics and beautifully their home ‘exploring other cultures, our planet, illustrated multicultural books. The ourselves. It’s making time for books are about friendship, make-believe and letting company and handle the money community, celebrating our respect imaginations run wild and free’. yourself.’ for the environment and for I asked Cinzia how she got ‘I started by driving to events all diversity. involved. ‘The business specifically over London. When my car broke For more info targets mothers like me who are down, I also saw it as an opportunity, www.cinziabarefootbooks.com or looking after young children and and I began to concentrate on call Cinzia on 07519 576 962 to find who need flexibility in their work.’ Highbury. I have a trolley, and I take out when her next local event is or ‘It is a franchise model. You have the books on the trolley to wherever when to visit her at home. a commitment to sell only Barefoot Books, produce good displays, love the books and believe in them.’ ‘Barefoot Books provide you with a website, all you have to do is customise it. When books are sold through the website, the parent company takes the payment, and you as an ambassador receive a commission. If you sell personally, you buy the stock from the parent Christmas Diary Reader’s letter: Quill St 19 Nov to 05 Jan Designer Jewellers Group Dear HCA Barbican Centre: daily from 12noon to 8.30pm Jewellery for sale will include Christine Kalftoft’s work Regarding the letter in HC News No 63 about Stephens (HCA Treasurer). Special offer to HCA members: email Ink and Quill St - when the houses in Quill St were [email protected] for an invite to the being built my daughter, Rhiannon, then a pupil at private view on Monday 30 November – the invite Drayton Park School, was doing a project on buildings. entitles you to a 10% discount on any jewellery you buy. The school took her class on visits to the building site to see modern construction methods and learn about 1-19 December (Tuesdays to Saturdays) building technology. Part of the project was a Hen and Chickens festive season competition to name the new street. Because of the Lady Julia (7pm, Sat Mat 3.30pm £12) an adaptation links with the old ink factory Rhiannon suggested the of Miss Julie, Strindberg’s play set on New Year’s Eve name Quill St. Her idea was chosen as the and The Night Before Christmas (9.30pm £12), a winning entry. She was told that when the building yuletide satire definitely NOT suitable for children. work was completed there would be a party and a prize, See www.henandchickens.com plus a write up in the local paper for her. No sign of a prize, write up or party ever materialised. Wednesday 16 December Over-60s xmas party When Gillespie Neighbourhood Forum chose the name Sotheby Mews Day Centre: 11.30 for 12 noon for Quill St, it was Rhiannon‘s idea. Includes lunch and a live band. Entry fee is £5. Tel: 020 7226 1421 VALERIE M CROWLEY

4 Highbury history: CALIGARI CABINETS Bespoke fitted furniture 1940s and 1950s Tailored to your taste Diane Burridge talks to her long-term neighbour and interior DAVID PROFIT www.caligaricabinets.co.uk 07976 417 227 Sheep being herded along Caledonian Road from King’s Cross to Caledonian Park, trams bisecting the area, many factories manufacturing goods, all night shunting of trains in what is now Gillespie Park and major shows at the Park Empire. And only 60 years ago! David Profit, resident of Avenell Rd since 1956 and near Essex Rd since 1936, remembers so much of this activity. ‘I saw Max Miller, Gerthie Gitana, Abbott and Costello and Issy Bonne - just by popping down to the Empire - where Vaudeville Court now stands. The Empire was one of the most Drug & Health Food Store famous venues in London, and Finsbury Park also had two 17 Highbury Park, N5 1QJ. cinemas. It was a major entertainment area.’ Tel 020 7359 3623 ‘And there were so many factories nearby – Stephens Ink in Organic & Non-Organic • Food • Baby Products Gillespie Rd, the Express Dairy and Western’s Laundry in Toiletries • Household Products Drayton Park, and Cossors Radio Factory at Highbury Barn. I Aromatherapy • Homeopathy remember the workers streaming out of the factory gates at Herbal Remedies • Eco Friendly Products the end of the shifts.’ Organic Fresh Fruit and Vegetables David, a long-time member of Highbury Community Body Building Products Association, has always loved the area - even when in the 1950s trains shunted in and out of train sheds and sidings - where Gillespie Park now is. ‘You got used to the noise even though it was very clear day and night - and there was always a fair DA : MARIO amount of dust.’ Highbury Barn But David was used to noise and dust, having been buried under a house for five hours during the war - when a doodle bug At the heart of Highbury since the 1960s Come and see what’s new (flying bomb) landed on a house near Essex Rd on 21 June 1944. He couldn’t speak for 10 days whilst he coughed up dust. And he Artisan Italian & French Patisserie Counter remembers with sadness so many deaths from the bombings, Italian & French Fresh Sausages including 30-40 people killed in Queensbury St (now Bentham And now also Organic fruit, veg, salad, Court) and the many killed at Highbury Corner where a pasta, baby food, dairy produce at sensible remembrance plaque is now positioned. prices to help you buy ethical And so the noise and dust from the shunting of trains and Our hams, salamis and cheese are of such from the local factories in Highbury were quite minor to David quality that if you can buy better let us know after his war experiences. As well, his sister worked on the 020 7226 2317 artillery guns (Ack-Ack guns) at the top of Finsbury Park - where the athletics track is now, with the area targeted for bombing. One main change since the 1940s is how people used to Help!! move around. David’s great love is trams, and when he and his wife and young son moved to Avenell Rd in 1956, there was one My holistic therapy business is exploding. I am looking car in the whole of the street, and children did then play in the for self-motivated people to help me, working from street. home full- or part-time. I distribute Forever Living David worked as a conductor on the trams and trolley buses (Aloe Vera and Bee Hive) products. You do not need from 1948 to 1954 and it was a sad day when he worked on the experience as full training will be given. last tram ride in all of London - the No 35 tram - on 6 April 1952. Contact Elizabeth Lock on 07711 501055 Although sheep are no longer herded outside our houses or [email protected] and trams no longer trundle along our streets, David still loves living here, and has been active in many community activities. www.yourinnerglow.co.uk And we are lucky that we have HCA members with such a rich www.foreverknowledge.info knowledge of Highbury, for all of us to feel part of the on-going ‘Your Future’ history of the area.

5 HIGHBURY COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION Address label space www.highburycommunity.org The HCA represents over 900 residents and businesses on all aspects of living and working in Highbury, and Finsbury Park. • • Membership is free. To sign up HC News No 64 November 2009 or talk to us about anything Highbury-related please write to PO Box 43396, N5 9AD or as winning the rest of the awards in email [email protected] News in Brief this group. Well done to everyone involved and for making our # Highbury in Bloom neighbourhood more beautiful. # As HC News was on the printing Cutting your energy press last issue it was announced # New Highbury business costs without cost that Islington had won London in In September Horsell Rd resident, A tip the Editor was glad to pick up at Bloom 2009. Since then individual Robert Barker, set up a new business Transition Highbury’s ‘Greener awards have been handed out. The whose aim is to provide a one-stop Future’ event advertised in the last Highbury stars were Ambler and shop for fresh produce from small food issue of HC News is how to save Plimsoll Roads and Quill St producers within 100 miles of London. energy cheaply and simply, using Allotments. Top prize for Best Mr Barker has fifteen participating radiator reflective panels. The Allotment Plot in Islington went to suppliers so far. Highbury residents Council’s Green Living Centre on Plot 12 Quill St Allotments while the can order produce online any time up Upper Street is offering four free per residents of Ambler and Plimsoll until 1pm on a Thursday. The order is household to those who ask. Roads dominated the ‘Best Street or brought to Mr Barker’s little depot Apparently only half a radiator’s heat Part of Street’ category. next to very early on a comes out of the front into the room, Although pipped at the post by Saturday morning. Customers can with the other half disappearing Ockendon Road for first prize, then either come and collect from the through the back. But put a radiator Ambler and Plimsoll Roads came depot or pay £3.95 to have it home reflective panel behind the radiator second and third respectively for delivered. For more information see and the amount of front-loaded heat Best Street or Part of Street as well www.farm-direct.com increases to 95%. Copyright HCA 2009. Printed and published by HCA, PO Box 43396, N5 9AD Which telephone box will be next?

You might or might not Festival of grafitti in a Waterloo remember from an earlier HC tunnel in May 2008. Bob, whose News (No 61) an image of a girl’s image is also known as ‘Forgotten face painted on a telephone box more than most,’ appeared at the in Liberia Rd. The Editor has Cans Festival – this was after his since discovered this girl is arrival in Calabria Rd which known as Lola and - being according to Grafter’s own Flickr stencilled - is in many other site was 1 April 2008 – or was he locations, too. As is Bob, around joking? the corner in Calabria Rd close to For more see the junction with Baalbec Rd. Bob’s picture is signed by the • http://www.canned- artist of both – Grafter, known for goods.co.uk/graffiti-pictures/ his stencilled faces. Grafter was the-cans-festival/4/grafter/164 one of 30 street artists invited by • http://www.flickr.com/photos/ Banksy to appear at the Cans grafter Old Bob

#COMING SOON... in the next issue, HC News interviews Mark Lyminster, Theatre Manager of the Hen and Chickens

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