|
|
PHILIP LANE N15 |
|
|
PHILIP LANE N15 |
| Philip Lane has long been established as one of the Major
roads in Tottenham and has featured on many old maps of the borough. It served as the
route between Tottenham High Cross and the West Green and onwards to Ducketts Green in
Hornsey. For centuries this had been just a rural lane bordered by agricultural fields
until the area began to be developed in the mid 19th Century. In 1851 there were 36 acres
of meadow offered for building on the land between Philip Lane and West Green Road. The
two roads were connected by Summerhill Road, where terraces had been built in 1856 and
1859, and by Bathhurst (later Lawrence Road), which contained a floor cloth factory. These
roads were dissected by the new Clyde Road, where new terraced housing had also been
constructed in the early 1850's. |
 |
|
| Earl Dorset's 1619 map showing Philip Lane - Note orientation of Map South to North |
|
It was interesting to note that in 1851 Philip Lane was
referred to as West Green Lane, and indeed the Ordnance Survey map from 1848 also shows it
as West Green Lane. We can only assume that for a brief period in its history Philip Lane
was for some reason renamed. The Auction notice offers 36 acres of Meadow land for
development between West Green Lane and West Green Road. |
|
|
|
|
|
We are indebted to Mike Diprose, a former resident of
Summerhill Road, who on a recent visit to see his former home, took some interesting
photographs of Philip Lane at its junction with Summerhill Road. We have reproduced some
of Mike's photographs and where possible have shown some old photographs to help give a
THEN
and NOW perspective. |
|
 |
|
St Philips Church -1911 |
St Philips Church 2007 |
|
|
Parade of Shops East of Lord Palmerston 1913 (looking West) |
Parade(Obscured) looking East from Lord Palmerston 2007 |
 |
|
Philip Lane from Downhills Park Rd 1920 |
Philip Lane from Downhills Park Rd 2007 |
|
|
Philip Lane looking West from Downhills Park -1908 |
Downhills Park Road 2007- Note old 'Rowley Estates' Office Building |
|
The following photographs of Philip Lane from the 1970's originate from John Brillus |
|
 Parade of Shops that once included ''Lances' Newsagent and Confectioner |
 Cadge the Chemists alongside 171 Bus Stop |
 The Lord Palmerston at the top of Summerhill Road |
 Parade including 'Longs' Sweet Shop and Brakespeare Greengrocers |
 St Phillips Church on corner Clonmell Road |
 St Phillips Church on corner Clonmell Road |
 Philip Lane at Corner of Downhills Park Road |
|
|
To help provide a further perspective of
Philip Lane we have collected some more archive images and interspersed some of Mike Diprose's recent photographs. |
||
|
|
|
Holy Trinity Church 1894 |
The Swan -High Cross 1890 | The Greyhound-Philip Lane-1908 |
|
|
|
The Lord Palmerston 2007 |
Junction Summerhill Road 2007 | Shops West of Summerhill Road 2007 |
|
|
|
| Philip Lane - Clonmel Road - 2007 | Philip Lane -Mansfield Road- 1930's? | Philip Lane-Mount Pleasant Rd- 1908 |
|
|
|
| Downhills Junior School | Downhills School Crossing 1951 | St Philips Church Hall |
|
By way of the authors licence, the above photograph of the Downhills School Crossing. which I believe must have been taken in 1951/2, actually shows me(Alan Swain) and my brother Ray and my sister Christine returning home from school. Also in the picture is Stewart Green (walking alongside the pram). |
||
|
Obviously our powers of observation were not so good when we
were kids walking along Philip Lane, as Mike Diprose has taken photographs of some of the
architectural features on the buildings in Philip Lane, which on my part I cannot recall
ever noticing all those years ago. The large ornate looking plaque on the building at the
corner of Summerhill Road is of particular interest. I must have passed that building on
thousands of occasions but cannot recollect ever having seen it before. |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Many of the older residents of Philip Lane and Summerhill Road will recall that the 'HOVIS' sign was once 'Browns Bakeries',(Mr Brown lived at number 23a Summerhill Road) and you would often call in on the way to school to buy stale cakes which were left over from the previous days bake. In those post-war years it was certainly a case of 'Waste not-Want not'. The 'Off Licence' was once called 'Berridges' and I can recall that you had to take a step down into the shop from the pavement outside. In days of heavy rain the water would often run down into the shop and cause minor flooding. One of the more famous residents of Philip Lane was Dave Clark from the 'Dave Clark Five' a very successful pop group from the 1960's. Dave Clark lived with his parents above the 'Williams Brothers' grocery store in Philip Lane. It was situated on the corner of Kitchener Road and almost immediately opposite the 'Greyhound' Public house, although the pub had since been renamed as the 'Botany Bay' |
|
Philip Lane is also the location for Tottenham Bus garage,
and the following photograph dating from 1911 shows the garage from its days when owned by
the M.E.T Transport company prior to being absorbed within London Transport. Philip Lane
was also the route for the 171 Bus that used to run between Bruce Grove and West Norwood.
This was the first bus service to run along Philip Lane and, at the time of its
introduction in the 1950's, was one of the longest routes operating on the London
Transport system. |
||
|
|
 |
Tottenham Garage -Philip Lane 1911 |
London Transport -171 Bus |
London Transport - 171 Routemaster bus |
UPDATED PHOTOGRAPHS PHILIP LANE We are indebted to Ken Haynes for sending us a wonderful collection of photographs that feature Philip Lane. Many had been taken during that very cold winter in 1963 and other from the 1970's taken in more acceptable weather conditions |
||
 |
 |
 |
| Forsters Almshouses - Philip Lane 1963 | Philip Lane -Opposite Winchelsea Road Looking West- 1963 | Jansons Road - Philip Lane - 1963 |
 |
 |
 |
| Greyhound Road -Philip Lane- 1963 | Beechers Cottages - Philip Lane - 1973 Looking East | Beechers Cottages - Philip Lane - 1973- Looking West |
 |
 |
 |
| Stowe Villa's - Corner of Jansons Road 2007 | Smylies Garage -Philip Lane | Looking East from Forsters Almshouses - 1963 |
 |
 |
 |
| Forsters Almshouses - Philip Lane 1973 | Forsters Almshouses - Philip Lane 1973 | Forsters Almshouses - Philip Lane 2007 |
 |
 |
 |
| Former site of Beechers Cottages looking East 1981 | New building constructed on Beechers site -1981 | Prefabs -Corner Philip Lane - Carlton Road - 1973 |
 |
 |
 |
| Philip Lane -Looking east from Arnold Road - 1981 | Re-Development of 'White House' junction Philip Lane and Clyde Road | The White House pictured in 2007 |
MANY THANKS TO KEN HAYNES FOR HIS PERMISSION TO USE THESE PHOTOGRAPHS ON THE WEBSITE NOTE: Beechers Cottages and Stowe Villas in Philip Lane were so named by the builder, William Janson' in recognition of Harriet Beecher-Stowe the authoress of the classic book 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' |
FURTHER COLLECTION OF PHILIP LANE PHOTOGRAPHS - ADDED TO WEBSITE DECEMBER 2010 |
||
 |
 |
 |
| Gloucester Road - Philip Lane 1908 | Junction Summerhill Road -Philip Lane 1908 | H.C Jones - Electrical Shop - 200 Philip Lane -1950's |
 |
 |
 |
| House - Jansons Road - Philip Lane 2006 | Same House - Jansons Road - Philip Lane - 1908 | Carey's - Once stood opposite Trinity Church in Philip Lane |
 |
 |
 |
| Lismore Road - Off Downhills Park Road | Former Education Offices - Philip Lane 2008 | West Green - Junction Philip Lane 2008 |
FURTHER COLLECTION OF PHILIP LANE PHOTOGRAPHS - ADDED TO WEBSITE FEBRUARY 2015 |
|
 |
 |
WILLIAMS BROTHERS STORE - KITCHENER ROAD - FORMER HOME OF DAVE CLARK FROM 'DAVE CLARK FIVE' |
PREMISES OF J JONES DAIRY - 178 PHILP LANE |
 |
 |
MILK CART OPERATED BY FRICKERS DAIRIES- MOUNT PLEASANT ROAD |
EASTERN COUNTIES BUS -NEAR MOUNT PLEASANT ROAD 1981 |
 |
 |
FORMER HOME OF WILLIAM JANSON - PHILIP LANE |
PHILIP LANE JUST BEYOND MOUNT PLEASANT ROAD - Date unknown |
 FORMER HOME OF TALBOT BAINES REED - AUTHOR AND TYPOGRAPHER Photograph courtesy of Bruce Castle Museum |
|
FURTHER COLLECTION OF PHILIP LANE PHOTOGRAPHS - ADDED TO WEBSITE APRIL 2023 Showing a few more photographs of the roads that run into Philip Lane. |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 DURHAM ROAD -RENAMED AS KITCHENER ROAD IN THE 1970s |
 |
 |
PHILIP LANE LAUNDRY 1913 Pictures added April 2023 |
|||
 |
 MISS HALE SUPERVISING HER STAFF |
 LADIES WORKING IN THE WASHROOM |
|
 MISS HALE AND STAFF IN BACK YARD |
 PROPRIETOR MISS HALE AT TABLE |
||
| The Philip Lane Laundry was owned and operated by Miss Hale who had lived in nearby Summerhill Road. We understand they were recognised locally for their high standards and quality of its laundry services. | |||
|
Clearly we have only scratched the surface in recalling the long history of Philip Lane and hopefully we can add to this memory from time-to-time as we receive more photographs and historical information about the road. CLICK here for link to St Philips Church Newsletter dating from 1933 |
 THE BACKGROUND PICTURE SHOWS PHILIP LANE IN 1864. IT IS INTERESTING TO NOTE THAT THE NORTH SIDE OF PHILIP LANE WAS AT THAT TIME OPEN FIELDS AND ALMOST TOTALLY UNDEVELOPED |
|
Article written by Alan Swain-March 07 Updated photographs from Ken Haynes - Published December 2010 Further update of Philip Lane Photographs - February 2015 Browns Bakeries Cart Added November 2018 - Photo by henry Jacobs Website article redesigned and new photographs- April 2023 |
