This page contains a selection of photos taken out and about in Highams Park. The only criteria are that they should be interesting, informative or amusing in some way.

Please send us yours to the email address shown in the "Contact us" link. We'd be pleased to receive any photos taken on mobile phones or digital cameras that capture local scenes and fit the above criteria. Please include a two line description saying where the photo was taken, the date and time, and your name (which we won't publish if you don't want us to).

6th September 2010 - Stargate in The Avenue?

If you've not seen the film or TV series, you'll be puzzled by the picture's title. They've been pretty clever disguising the portal as a coil of gas pipe.

6th June 2010 - New tube trains at Walthamstow Central

David Shepherd snapped a picture of a new design tube train at Walthamstow Central.

David writes: "I was at travelling home the other day and was delighted get on to one of the new tube trains at Finsbury Park. It looks as if we can travel into London using shorter journey times when the entire stock of the 40 year old trains are replaced.

The Victoria Line at Walthamstow Central Station provides an essential link to Central London for residents in Highams Park. Originally intended to reach as far as Wood Street it never made it, as did proposals to join the Central Line at South Woodford or Woodford.

Now the rolling stock is being updated (see pictures of the latest and the original tube trains below) we can expect faster journeys into town.

The Highams Park Forum continues to support the aim to link Chingford to Stratford via the Hall Farm Curve (to be seen on the left of the line as the overground line leaves St James Street). When (or is it if ?) this link is re-opened we will have really good links to The City, The West End, and Stratford, enabling residents to get quickly to the job opportunities that will arise over the coming years."

24th May 2010 - Old photo of the prefabs in The Highams Park

Observant visitors to the park next to Highams Park Lake (confusingly named "The Highams Park") might be puzzled by a few of its strange looking features:

- The tarmac paths: Why are they so wide?
- The drains: Aren't they unnecessarily large?
- And, what are those odd "giant banjo" shapes indented into the grass?

The answer to all these puzzles lies in a bit of local history. After the second world war the desperate need for housing meant that the park became the site for an estate of single story prefabricated buildings ("prefabs"). 176 families were housed in the estate until 1960 when the buildings were removed and the grounds were returned to parkland. The wide paths, drains, and banjo shaped roads hidden beneath the ground, are reminders of what was once here.

We recently noticed that The Highams Resident's Association has an interesting photo of the park on their website, taken when the prefabs were still there. Click the link below to see it. The page is a bit slow to load so please be patient.

Link : The Prefabs in The Highams Park.
 

28th March 2010 - Aerial photos taken 2008/9

We stumbled across some interesting aerial photos of the area on the website of Highams Park School. The photos were taken by a helicopter which had been commissioned to record the building of the new sports hall and teaching block but they also show much of the surrounding area too.

Click the link that follows to visit the page. There are three large pictures on the page but if you scroll to the bottom of the page there are icons for 10 further pictures covering a wider area (click them to enlarge).

Link : Aerial photos on Highams Park School website
 

30th January 2010 - Hale End Cottages circa 1905

The picture below is from the rear of a postcard which is postmarked 27th October 1905. It was kindly sent to us by a reader of this website in South Australia who found it when having a clear out. The original photo was in black and white but was obviously hand tinted to add the colour before being printed as a postcard. The exact date of the photo is unknown but is presumably just a little before the 1905 postmark. The photo shows the familiar triangular junction where Hale End Road is joined by Oak Hill (the current location of The Royal Oak Pub).

30th October 2009 - Demonstration against proposed Tesco development

Around 130 people assembled at lunchtime in Jubilee Avenue on Friday 30th October 2009 to demonstrate against the proposed Tesco development at that location. Tesco's plans for a large store plus dense housing was narrowly approved by LBWF planning committee on 13th October. The proposal now needs the approval of London Mayor Boris Johnson and the Government office for London. MP Iain Duncan Smith attended and addressed the demonstrators. He explained that he too was against the development and was doing all he could to lobby the decision makers.

Then and Now - Highams Park Station in 1948 and 2009

Highams Park Station featured in the 1948 film "The Winslow Boy". Malcolm Shykles captured a still from that film and then photographed the modern station from the same position. The two photos are below. When looking at them, try to ignore the footbridge which was rebuilt further down the platform sometime in the intervening years.

Malcolm says: Notice that the bridge started at the servery. I wondered why the track was so dark then I remembered that in the days of steam, this is how they were. Mine was an evening shot as against the morning shot for the film. The station roof was better illuminated from below in the film, due to sun the sun shining onto the platform but shadows are missing from the canopy supports. I think whitewash and floodlighting were used. It would be a challenge to make a theatrical setting there nowadays.

26th July 2009 - The Mulberry Tree damaged by wind

Back in July 2008, an eagle-eyed contributor spotted this unusual Mulberry Tree growing on the land where the new Tesco is proposed to be built. Given its size it must have been there for many years but most residents were surprised by its existence. In the latest version of the plans for the Tesco development, Tesco have included a square named after it ("Mulberry Green") and propose moving the tree to that green.

Unfortunately, in July 2009 the tree, laden with fruit, has suffered some wind damage (see pictures below). People have been taking the opportunity to sample the fruit. Apparently it is nice and sweet, similar to blackberry but leaves a woody after taste.

Then and Now - The Level Crossing in 1911 and 2009

Here are two pictures taken from (almost) the same location nearly 100 years apart. Malcolm Shykles sought to create a modern view of the historic 1911 photo. Malcolm took his picture from upstairs in the Signal Box. The Signal Box was not built until 1925 so the original photo must have been taken from an upstairs window above one of the shops in Hale End Road (probably number 507). In 1911 a (smaller) Signal Box was in use, located next to the station, and this can been seen in the older photo. It's close to the current location of The Village Florist flower shop.

June 2009 - The Level Crossing in the late evening - Without Cars!

Here are two dramatic pictures of the level crossing taken on a late June evening by Malcolm Shykles. Due to some local road works he was able to capture the scene without any vehicles. To create the panorama effect, each scene actually comprises two photos joined together using Panorama Maker 3.

16 June 2009 - Storm rains uproot trees and test the bridge

The very heavy rains during the evening of 15th June 2009 temporarily raised the level of the River Ching beside the lake and uprooted trees. This was the scene the afternoon of the day after. Broken boughs have been swept against the bridge over the river (next to the lake). Looking at the "tide mark" it suggests that at one point the river level was over the bridge floor. It's surprising it wasn't washed away. Full credit to its builders for "screwing it down" so well.

24 April 2009 - Piling has started on the Handsworth Ave/Church Ave site

Development (of a block of luxury flats) has now commenced on the site of the former Methodist Church. The tall yellow piling derrick is visible from much of Highams Park.

24 April 2009 - Handsworth Avenue looking down towards Hale End Road

20mph limit needed here?

Final crowds at Walthamstow Stadium

This picture was taken Saturday 26th July 2008. With the closure of the Stadium imminent it appears large numbers of residents turned out for a final flutter.

What's this growing in the garden?

A contributor found this growing in his garden. Apparently it's called The Apple of Peru and is a close relative of Henbane, the plant Crippin used to poison his wife!

According to Wikipedia: In 2008 celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson recommended Henbane as a "tasty addition to salads" in the August 2008 issue of Healthy and Organic Living magazine. He subsequently said he made an error, confusing the herb with Fat Hen. He apologised, and the magazine sent subscribers an urgent message stating that Henbane "is a very toxic plant and should never be eaten".