Hey Neighbour,
You know that feeling when your brain's running faster than your calendar?
That was me last weekend, I convinced myself the Angel Canal Festival was happening that day.
It wasn't. I'd shown up 24 hours early.
Instead of going home, I wandered into Graham Street Park where I found a few locals tending to their community garden by the canal. Next thing I know, someone's handing me their favourite gardening gloves (I felt ridiculously special about this) and I'm spending time digging, planting and getting to know the neighbourhood.
It wasn't the day I'd planned, but it was a day I needed. Sometimes life surprises you like that, being at the wrong place at the right time. Big thanks to the Friends of Graham Street Park for giving me special gloves, small spade, a branch of fresh mint and a warm welcome.
I bet loads of you are quietly doing things that make your neighbourhood special.
Maybe you're part of a local group, or maybe you recycle every week. Whatever your thing is, I want to know about it.
Hit reply and tell me about it.
In the meantime...
Plan Your Weekend:
A Walk Down Memory Lane
Interesting things I've found about the places we see every day.
The Palace That Made History on the High Road
It's 1908 and you're preparing for the social event of the week. You check your reflection one last time, gather your coat, and join the stream of excited neighbours heading down the High Road to the brand new Palace of Varieties.
As you take your seat, the anticipation builds. Then it happens, the platform opens and a magnificent organ rises from underneath the floor, filling the theatre with music. This is Saturday night entertainment in Tottenham, and there's nowhere else you'd rather be.
Source: Tottenham Palace, 1908. From the collections and © Bruce Castle Museum and Archive
That Palace Cathedral you walk past today is the only completely preserved theatre by architects Wylson & Long left in London. Wylson & Long were major theatre designers who built venues across the country, but this is the only one that remains intact.
The Palace was built with cinema projection equipment from 1908, making it one of only 20 theatres nationwide that could show both live acts and films from opening day. By the 1920s, Harry Champion was still packing audiences with his songs, but they were also screening films between acts.
Source: theatrestrust.org.uk
When audiences' tastes shifted, the Palace adapted again: cinema, bingo hall, even a church. Through it all, its Edwardian structure survived, remarkably intact.
Back then your ticket would have cost a few pence. Today that wouldn't even cover your bus fare there.
What local stories have caught your attention?