'The parks are the lungs of London' - William Pitt

Railway Walk Guide: Palace Gates to Seven Sisters

To coincide with the council’s Haringey Walks campaign, a new walk guide has just been published. It follows the three-mile route of a railway which went from Palace Gates near Alexandra Palace in the west of the borough to Seven Sisters in the east.

This Great Eastern Railway line opened in 1878 and did not close until 1964. Wood Green shopping centre, Wood Green Library and Park View School are all built on the site of the railway. Two stretches of the line have become allotments, others are housing estates. Remains of the railway, such as embankments and bridge abutments can be seen at various points.

The railway line went through the centre of Wood Green, then under Westbury Avenue near Turnpike Lane. The route enables people to see some of the wonderful urban art displays on walls, shop fronts and street furniture created by the Turnpike Art Group. They include an image of a guard waving a green flag and a booking office window painted on the wall of an electricity sub-station.

The walk goes through Downhills Park, passing statues of three famous Tottenham people – Luke Howard, Walter Tull and Nicola Adams. It crosses West Green which has had major improvements with two-way traffic replacing the gyratory system and the entire north side pedestrianised.

The names of various railway pioneers, such as Isambard Kingdom Brunel (Brunel Walk), Archibald Sturrock (Sturrock Close) and Sir Nigel Gresley (Gresley Close) are commemorated in the names of some of the housing developments built after the closure of the railway.

The walk booklet is the third in a series published by Haringey Federation of Residents Associations (www.haringeyresidents.org ) and Haringey Friends of Parks Forum (www.haringeyfriendsofparks.org.uk). The first was ‘Alexandra Palace to Bruce Castle’ and the second followed the route of the Moselle River. Copies of the three booklets can be obtained from local libraries, residents associations and friends of parks groups or downloaded from the HFRA or HFPF websites.

Further information from Joyce Rosser 020 8347 7684 joyce.rosser13@gmail.com

To print the booklet download the following links: