THE HISTORY OF THE BOROUGH OF HARINGEY

Haringey is a borough within North London. It shares borders with six other boroughs. Clockwise from the north, they are: Enfield, Waltham Forest, Hackney, Islington, Camden, and Barnet. The borough in its modern form was founded from the former Municipal Borough of Hornsey, the Municipal Borough of Wood Green and the Municipal Borough of Tottenham in 1965. They had all previously been part of Middlesex. The legacy of these old municipal divisions survives to the present day, with the relative prosperity of the different parts of the borough still split broadly along the old boundary lines.

ETYMOLOGY
The names "Haringey", "Harringay" ["Harringay" is an area of London within the London Borough "Haringey". The two differently spelt words describe different places and they are not interchangeable.] and "Hornsey" in use today are all different variations of the same Old English - "Haeringes-hege". Haering was a Saxon chief who lived probably in the area around Hornsey. "Haering's Hege", meant Haering's enclosure and evolved into "Haringey", "Harringay" and "Hornsey".

DEMOGRAPHICS
Haringey has a population of 216,507. [United Kingdom Census, 2001] with approximately 3,548 known asylum seekers.
The population grew by 8.6% between 1991 and 2006 and is projected to grow by a further 5.4% by 2016 to 233,125. The male to female ratio is 50:50 and the age structure is similar to that of London as a whole although younger than the national average. Haringey has a high proportion of young adults in the 20-39 age range and a low proportion of residents aged 45 and over. The borough has a high proportion of lone parent households. "Knowing Our Children And Young People - Planning For Their Futures", Haringey Council, 2006]

The ethnic composition of Haringey's residents is 65.7% White, 14.7% Asian, 12.1% Black, 4.6% Mixed, 1.1% Chinese and 2% Other. An estimated 193 languages are spoken in the borough.

Data source: London borough of Haringey website, Ethnic Group Theme Tables

POLITICAL COMPOSITION
The borough has been Labour-run since 1971. In May 2006 Labour retained control of the Council with a majority of just three seats over the Liberal Democrats.

In November 2007 a Liberal Democrat councillor, Catherine Harris, crossed the floor to join the Labour Party. This was the first such occasion in the history of the borough. The Labour majority thus increased to 5 (31 Labour, 26 Liberal Democrat).

No Conservative candidate has won a local government election in Haringey since 1998.

The principal shopping areas in the borough are Wood Green and Turnpike Lane, Muswell Hill, Crouch End, and Harringay.

Haringey is situated within the growth corridor connecting London with Stansted, Cambridge and Peterborough. here...

ECONOMY
In 2006, there were 8,200 businesses in Haringey employing a total of 64,700 people. This accounted for 1.6% of all employment in London.

Haringey's economy is dominated by small businesses with 94.2% of businesses employing less than 24 people. These small businesses account for 39.3% of total employment in the borough.

The main sectors of employment in Haringey are:
*Retail and wholesale distribution - 19.9%
*Health and social work - 19.0%
*Real estate, renting and business activities - 15.3%
*Education - 12.8%
*Manufacturing - 8.3%
*Public administration - 6.8%
*Hotels and catering - 6.8%
*Transport and communications - 6.6%
*Construction - 3.5% (Source: Annual Business Inquiry):
Source: Haringey's economic profile

GREEN SPACES
Haringey has convert|600|acre|km2 of parks, recreation grounds and open spaces [http://www.haringey.gov.uk/index/community_and_leisure/greenspaces.htm London Borough of Haringey Website - Open Spaces Page] ] which make up more than 25% of its total area. They include both smaller local areas and large green areas which provide an amenity for Londoners beyond the borough's boundaries. Local Nature Reserves and a number of conservation areas can also be found in the borough. The borough is also home to five distinct ancient woods. These are Highgate Woods, Queen's Wood, Coldfall Wood, Bluebell Wood and North Wood.

Detailed information:
The Natural History of Haringey, David Bevan here...

The borough has achieved Green Flag status for eight of its parks which is the highest awarded to any London borough.. Highgate Woods in Haringey is one of only eight Green Heritage sites in London. English Heritage - Green Heritage Microsite

Amongst the larger open spaces are: Finsbury Park, Alexandra Park, Highgate Woods, Coldfall Wood and the Lee Valley Park.

There are three rivers of note still flowing above ground in the borough. These are:
RIVER MOSELLE (link to this article)

The River Moselle or 'Moselle Brook' is a river in North London, flowing mostly through Tottenham towards the Lee Valley. It was originally a tributary of the River Lee, but it now flows into another Lee tributary, Pymmes Brook, which appears to have been extended artificially in parallel with the Lee, possibly as far back as the 17th century.

The river's name bears no direct etymological relationship to the major continental Moselle River. Instead, it derives from 'Mosse-Hill' in Hornsey, the high ground containing one of the river's sources [The Moselle has a number of sources on the high ground from Muswell Hill to Highgate - Albert Pinching & David Bell, Haringey's Hidden Streams Revealed, 2005] and which also gave its name to the district of Muswell Hill; for a time the river was known as the Moswell.

Unlike the Hackney Brook further south, the Moselle is not a lost river. Although long stretches have been culverted, it does not disappear into the London sewer system, and much of its route can be easily traced. It can be seen flowing overground in Tottenham Cemetery (right) and Lordship Recreation Ground, and gave its name to the Broadwater Farm area between the two.

The Moselle is quite a modest flow in modern times, but it once posed a serious flooding threat to Tottenham. Until the 19th century, the whole of the river remained above ground, but in 1836 the stretch around Tottenham High Road and White Hart Lane was covered over. More major culverting occurred in 1906 and subsequent years, so that now the river is completely enclosed from Tottenham Cemetery to the point at which it now runs into Pymme's Brook.

Even so, the river continued to burst out of its confinement and flood the area around the High Road near the junction of Lordship Lane and around Scotland Green. This was an annual event until the late 1960s, when the culverting was rebuilt as the area was redeveloped. During the construction of the Broadwater Farm Estate in 1967, there was such concern about flood risks from the river that all public walkways on the estate were elevated to first-floor level and no housing or shops were built at ground level.

Sources
* A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5 - Tottenham
* Moselle River Report Some excellent historical photos and accounts

NEW RIVER
The New River is a man-made waterway in England, opened in 1613 to supply London with fresh drinking water taken from the River Lee and from Amwell Springs (which ceased to flow by the end of the 19th century), ["Guide to the Waterways 1 London,Grand Union,Oxford&Lee" Published by Nicholson& Ordnance Survey (1997) p.104 ISBN 0 7028 3296 0 Retrieved January 042008] and other springs and wells along its course. Pollution of much of London's existing water supply by industries that had developed in the Lee's downstream reaches was the principal driver for its construction. Enfield.gov.uk River Lee History

Route
It starts between Ware and Hertford in Hertfordshire and today travels convert|20|mi|km|0 down to Stoke Newington. Among the districts it flows through are (from north to south):
*Great Amwell
*Broxbourne
*Cheshunt
*Enfield
*Palmers Green
*Wood Green (passing close to Alexandra Palace)
*Hornsey
*Harringay
*Finsbury Park

Its original termination point was at New River Head near Clerkenwell, Islington, close to the current location of Sadler's Wells theatre. Today by following the New River Path it is possible to walk almost the whole length of the New River from its source between Hertford and Ware to its destination in Stoke Newington.

Construction
The design and construction of the New River is often attributed solely to Sir Hugh Myddelton. However, an Edmund Colthurst first proposed the idea in 1602, obtaining a charter from King James I in 1604 to carry it out. However, after surveying the route and digging the first two-mile long stretch, Colthurst encountered financial difficulties and it fell to Myddelton to complete the work between 1609 and its official opening on 29 September 1613. Myddelton gave some of the shares in the New River Company to Colthurst. here... "The Story of the New River" (Thames Water)] accessed 4 Jan 2008]

The expense and engineering challenges of the project—it relied on gravity to allow the water to flow, carefully following the contours of the terrain from Ware into London, and dropping around just five inches per mile (approx 8 cm per kilometre)—were not Myddelton's only worries. He also faced considerable opposition from landowners who feared that the New River would reduce the value of their farmland (they argued that floods or overflowing might create quagmires that could trap livestock); others were concerned at the possible disruption to road transport networks between Hertfordshire and the capital. Myddelton, however, was strongly supported by the King, who agreed to pay half the project's expenses in return for a 50% shareholding; such backing quickly silenced the scheme's critics.

When it was originally constructed, long sections, for example around Forty Hall and in Hornsey, wound around the heads of small tributary valleys of the Lea. Other sections of the river, including the one in Harringay, were carried across valleys in wooden aqueducts lined with lead and supported by strong timbers and brick piers. In at least one section, locals referred to the river as the "boarded river". Improvements in canal making in the 18th century led to these sections being replaced by clay-banked canals. [History of Tottenham, William Robinson, 1840]

Modern alterations
A winding original section of the channel that used to run through the town centre of Enfield has been cut off from the main flow, but is still maintained as an important local civic amenity, called the New River Loop. Another semi-redundant section of the New River's course between Canonbury and Islington town centre now forms a picturesque walk alongside the now shallow stream.

Originally the course was above ground throughout, but more recently some sections have been put underground, enabling the course to be straightened. The picture (right) shows where the river now disappears underground in Hackney to reappear in Islington. This section used to run along the route of Petherton Road in Highbury. The algal bloom shows how stagnant the water is at this point, most of it being diverted into London's water supply just north of Clissold Park.

The New River Company was taken over by the Metropolitan Water Board in 1904 and became part of Thames Water in 1973. The northern part of the New River is still an important link in the supply of water to London.

RIVER LEE
Etymology
The name of the river is thought to mean "bright river" or "river dedicated to Lugus [a God] ". [cite book |title=The Place-Names of Hertfordshire |author=J.E.B. Glover, Allen Mawer, F.M.Stenton |publisher=Cambridge University Press |work=English Place-Name Society, vol. XV |year=1938]

The spelling Lea is predominant west (upstream) of Hertford, but both spellings are used from Hertford to the River Thames; the Lee Navigation was established by Acts of Parliament and should be so spelt. However, the variant spelling is used for several locations and infrastructure in the Capital, such as in Leamouth, Lea Bridge and the Lea Valley Railway Lines. The divergent spellings of the river are also reflected in the place-names of Luton and Leyton: both mean "farmstead on the River Lea". [cite book |author=Mills, A.D. |title=The Popular Dictionary of English Place-Names |year=1991 |publisher=Phaidon |location=Oxford]

Course of the river
The source is usually said to be at Well Head inside Waulud's Bank at Leagrave Common, but there the River Lea is also fed by a stream that starts convert|2|mi|km|1 further west in Houghton Regis. The river flows through (or by) Luton, Harpenden, Welwyn Garden City, to Hertford where it changes from a small shallow river to a deep canal at Hertford Castle Weir, which then flows on to Ware, Hoddesdon, Broxbourne, Cheshunt, Waltham Abbey, Enfield Lock, Ponders End, Edmonton, Tottenham, Upper Clapton, Hackney Wick, Stratford, Bromley-by-Bow, Canning Town and finally Leamouth where it meets the River Thames (as Bow Creek). It forms the traditional boundary between the counties of Middlesex and Essex, and was used for part of the Danelaw boundary. It also forms part of the boundary between Essex and Hertfordshire.

For much of its distance the river runs within or as a boundary to the Lee Valley Park. Between Tottenham and Hackney the Lee feeds Tottenham Marshes, Walthamstow Marshes and Hackney Marshes (the latter now drained). In their early days, Tottenham Hotspur and Leyton Orient played their matches as football amateurs on the Marshes. South of Hackney Wick the river's course is split, running almost completely in man made channels (originally created to power water mills, the Bow Back Rivers) flowing through an area that was once a thriving industrial zone.

Inside Greater London below Enfield Lock the river forms the boundary with the former Royal Small Arms Factory, now known as Enfield Island Village, a housing development. Just downstream the river is joined by the River Lee Flood Relief Channel. The man-made,concrete banked water is known as the River Lee Diversion at this point as it passes a series of reservoirs: King George V Reservoir at Ponders End/Chingford, William Girling Reservoir at Edmonton and the Banbury Reservoir at Walthamstow. At Tottenham Hale there is a connected set of reservoirs; Lockwood Reservoir, High Maynard Reservoir, Low Maynard Reservoir, Walthamstow Reservoirs, East Warwick Reservoir and West Warwick Reservoir. It also passes the Three Mills, a restored tidal mill near Bow.

River history
In the Roman era, Old Ford, as the name suggests, was the ancient, most downstream, crossing point of the River Lee. This was part of a pre-Roman route that followed the modern Oxford Street, Old Street, through Bethnal Green to Old Ford and thence across a causeway through the marshes, known as Wanstead Slip (now in Leyton). The route then continued through Essex to Colchester. At this time, the Lee was a wide, fast flowing river, and the tidal estuary stretched as far as Hackney Wick. here... 'Bethnal Green: Communications', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 11: Stepney, Bethnal Green (1998), pp. 88-90] accessed: 15 November 2006] Evidence of a late Roman settlement at Old Ford, dating from the 4th and 5th centuries, has been found.

In 894, a force of Danes sailed up the river to Hertford, [cite book | last = Hadfield | first = Charles | authorlink = Charles Hadfield (historian) | coauthors = | title = The Canal Age | publisher = Latimer Trend & Company | year = 1968 | location = Plymouth | pages = p. 15, 19 | url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 0-7153-8079-6 ] and in about 895 they built a fortified camp, in the higher reaches of the Lee, about convert|20|mi|km|1 north of London. Alfred the Great saw an opportunity to defeat the Danes and ordered the lower reaches of the Lee drained, at Leamouth. This left the Danes' boats stranded, but also increased the flow of the river and caused the tidal head to move downriver to Old Ford.

In 1110, Matilda, wife of Henry I, reputedly took a tumble at the ford, on her way to Barking Abbey and ordered a distinctively bow-shaped, three-arched, bridge to be built over the River Lee ("The like of which had not been seen before"), at Bow. During the middle ages, Temple Mills, Abbey Mills, Old Ford and Bow were the sites of water mills (mainly in ecclesiastic ownership) that supplied flour to the bakers of Stratforde-atte-Bow, and hence bread to the City. It was the channels created for these mills that caused the Bow Back Rivers to be cut through the former Roman stone causeway at Stratford (from which the name is derived).

Improvements were made to the river from 1424, with tolls being levied to compensate the landowners, and in 1571, there were riots after the extension of the River was promoted in a private bill presented to the House of Commons. By 1577, the first lock was established at Waltham Abbey and the river began to be actively managed for navigation.

The New River was constructed in 1613 to take clean water to London, from the Lee and its catchment areas in Hertfordshire and bypass the polluting industries that had developed in the Lee's downstream reaches. Enfield.gov.uk River Lee History The artificial channel further reduced the flow to the natural river and by 1767 locks were installed below Hertford Castle Weir on the canalised part of the Lee, now the River Lee Navigation with further locks and canalisation taking place during the succeeding centuries. In 1766, work also began on the Limehouse Cut to connect the river, at Bromley-by-Bow, with the Thames at Limehouse Basin.

The Waterworks River, a part of the tidal Bow Back Rivers, have been widened by convert|8|m|ft|0 and canalised to assist with construction of the Olympic Park for the 2012 Summer Olympics. A new lock is being installed on the Prescott Channel to maintain water levels on the Lee, within the park at a depth of convert|2|m|ft|0. This will allow access by 350–tonnes barges to ensure that at least 50% of the material required for construction to be delivered, or removed by water. More... "Milestone 5" "demolish, dig, design" January 2008 (The Olympic Delivery Authority) accessed 25 April 2008]

(Not certain the heading of Education will be included on the site, however the real way I’d like to use it is to have a link to each school name to bring up their listing in all its glory. Abdel: How possible is this?)

EDUCATION
Haringey has 63 primary (including infant and junior) schools, 10 secondary schools, a City Academy, 4 special schools and a pupil support centre. In addition there is off site provision and study support centres for children and young people with additional needs. Ten Children’s Centreswere opened in 2006 and a further eight are planned for 2008. (This needs to be checked out) Haringey Council Web page on Children's Centres

The number of pupils in Haringey Schools as at January 2006 was 34,990 (Including nursery age children). This total was made up as follows:
*Primary Total 16,705 (pupils of compulsory school age).
*Secondary Total 12,431 (including sixth form students).
*Special School pupils and students 299 (including post 16 children).
*Pupil support centre 77.

Source:
Primary schools

*Alexandra
*Belmont
*Bounds Green
*Broadwater Farm
*Bruce Grove
*Campsbourne
*Chestnuts
*Coldfall
*Coleraine Park
*Coleridge
*Crowland
*Devonshire Hill
*Downhills
*Earlham
*Earlsmead
*Ferry Lane
*The Green CE
*Highgate
*Lancasterian
*Lea Valley
*Lordship Lane
*Mulberry
*Muswell Hill
*Nightingale
*Noel Park
*North Harringay
*Our Lady of Muswell RC
*Rhodes Avenue
*Risley Avenue
*Rokesly
*St Ann’s CE
*St Aidan's Voluntary Aided
*St Francis de Sales RC
*St Gildas’ RC
*St Ignatius RC
*St James CE

*St John Vianney RC
*St Martin of Porres RC
*St Mary’s CE
*St Mary’s RC
*St Michael’s CE (N22)
*St Michael’s CE (N6)
*St Paul’s and All Hallows CE
*St Paul’s RC
*St Peter in Chains RC
*Seven Sisters
*South Harringay
*Stamford Hill
*Stroud Green
*Tetherdown
*Tiverton
*Welbourne
*West Green
*Weston Park

:"Sources" London Borough of Haringey Website: Schools & Education

Secondary schools

*Alexandra Park School
*Fortismere School
*Gladesmore Community School
*Greig City Academy
*Highgate Wood Secondary School
*Hornsey School for Girls
*The John Loughborough School
*Northumberland Park Community School
*Park View Academy
*St Thomas More RC School
*Woodside High School

:"Source" London Borough of Haringey Website: Schools & Education: Secondary Schools

Public school

Highgate School, which is a public school, lies within the London Borough of Haringey.