Railing against change (From Haringey Independent)

Railing against change

6:20pm Wednesday 21st March 2007 in

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KEN GAY from the Hornsey Historical Society looks at the impact war and society has had on our street scene. Picture supplied by HUGH GARNSWORTHY

Bombing by the Luftwaffe in the Second World War brought about a devastating change to many city skylines.

But another subtle and extensive change also occurred. This was the wartime decision by the government to take away metal gates and railings from outside properties to make munitions, but in practice it was of very little use.

In post-war Britain, streets which had once been unified by often elegant railings in front of terraced houses were ruined by their absence.

Individuality being what it is, each house subsequently fitted its own form of wall or railing, not matching its neighbour.

Hornsey largely avoided this fate, and is better looking for it. More often, builders erected low walls in front of the house and these were left untouched. They gave the area its homogeneous quality, especially in Muswell Hill, where the two major developers, Edmondson and Collins, and other lesser ones, adopted the policy of giving walls.

The pictured Edwardian views, of Coniston Road, in Alexandra Park and Princes Avenue, in Muswell Hill, show the neatness.

The walls are made often with a distinctive material, widely used locally. This was clinker, a deposit culled from gas works when cleaning out took place.

Until the 1950s, gas had been extracted from coal. Later, imported gas or natural gas replaced it and the coal industry lost a big customer. Clinker is now hard to obtain, so replacing these walls would not be easy.

It is sad that this distinctive feature is disappearing. With the massive growth in car ownership and use, which has brought in its wake contentious attempts to curb parking, house owners are now demolishing their front garden walls in order to park a car off the road.

If this process continues, the appearance of good local avenues will inexorably change, causing the destruction that the Blitz and wartime metal takers did not achieve.