Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Lindsey Berthoud on December 11, 2011 at 11:32

Space Makers got Brixton Village going again: http://spacemakers.org.uk/

What a great idea. I wonder if you could lure artists/designers from the Chocolate Factory to stalls on Myddleton Road, for example?

Looking forward to The Step opening.  

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Permalink Reply by Lucy Whitehead on December 11, 2011 at 22:08

checked out the site sounds like they do really good work.. er why aren't all council doing the same thing!? The market in West Norwood is something like I was thinking. Your Chocolate Factory idea is great.

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Permalink Reply by Richard McKeever on December 13, 2011 at 12:37

This is a terrific idea and chimes with the recomendations of the Mary Portas Review into the state of the UK's High Streets published today.

Ally Pally has a very busy Sunday market in the Car Park. There have been a couple of other attempts at generating local markets in recent years  - the community market by Palmers Green station was succesful for a while - but now is very small with only a couple of stalls. Wheras the more recently launched craft and home grown markets organised by the Big Green Bookshop have generated a bit of new retail activity based around the bookshop Hub.

Any new initiative would do well to work with existing local initiatives to amplify the effort - rather than compete. And just like the Spacemakers group Dan Thompsons Artists and Makers / Empty Shops Network have collected the experience of others who have successfully reclaimed underused retail space in recent months

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Permalink Reply by Nell Riches on December 13, 2011 at 15:49

Really brilliant idea Lucy! We were thinking about trying to organise a Myddleton Road street party for the Olympics or the Queen's Jubilee next year, but a regular market would be even better. Once we get going we will be holding lots of events at The Step and we would certainly support an initiative for a weekend market on the street.

Brixton Village is ace and we could definitely recreate something similar in Bowes Park. There is a property at the top of Myddleton Road that is ripe for a collective to get their hands on. They could transform it into something amazing... Space Makers may well be able to advise / assist negotiations but that's a much bigger project!

I'm not sure if anyone has explored the market idea before - might be worth contacting Cathy Herman (she's a member of this forum) who plays a lead role in the Myddleton Road Action Group. The Regeneration Team at Haringey Council should also be able to help?

Anyway, love your idea and it makes us feel even more excited about Myddleton Road's future!

Nell.

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Permalink Reply by Mat Riches on December 14, 2011 at 10:19

Richard...really interesting you mention the Mary Portas review, because it is astonishing how many of her  recommendations really do strike a chord with Bowes Park and Myddleton Road in particular.

http://mediastreetapp.com/mary-portas-report

It is perhaps stretching it a bit to call Myddleton Road a "High Street" in the modern conventional sense, but it can certainly be looked on as a town centre in microcosm. And many of the issues raised by Mary are already been faced up to head on by the excellent Bowes Park Community Association and also the Myddleton Road Action Group.

One of the biggest frustrations we had getting The Step off the ground (and it's not fully off yet!) was actually finding a premises for our venture, which is quite absurd when you look at Myddleton Road and the amount of boarded up, seemingly vacant shops there are. In fact it is so absurd we ended up buying a pub - if we'd looked in to a crystal ball this time last year and it came up with that scenario we'd have asked for our money back! 

It is difficult to engage with landlords on the street, many of whom do not live in the area or even in the UK, so the idea of a Sunday market is excellent. It would be an effective way of bypassing the landlords to do something positive for the area whilst demonstrating to them that there is a greater value to be had from their properties than the current activities or lack of activities they use them for.

 

Having just read all that back, I've realised it's a very long winded way of saying - what a great idea Lucy!

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Permalink Reply by Kari Koonin on December 16, 2011 at 8:06

This is a great idea. What we need is a Myddleton Road Regeneration Committee to work on this - or is there one already? I'd be happy to do what I can to help.

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Permalink Reply by Lucy Whitehead on December 16, 2011 at 9:23

I think we should try and explore the idea for sure! Thanks for your suggestions. I'll drop Cathy Herman a message and find out if the Action Group have ever had any headway. I think at least aiming for a one off during spring/summer would be feasible. Of course there will be the problem of councils short of money and ever decreasing funds but you never know! Seems it is a hot topic and high on governments agenda so hopefully that has filtered down to Haringey.

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Permalink Reply by MrsBaldwin on December 16, 2011 at 9:38

This is a great idea, Lucy.  I would certainly come and shop there. Idly speculating, I wonder if there is any research out there about farmers markets etc and how many there can be in an area until they start affecting each other's business (just thinking of the existing market at Ally Pally).

And just an out-there idea but ... maybe someone should ask Mary Portas to put such a project in her next TV series ... Pimping Britain's High Streets - Myddelton Road episode. 

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Permalink Reply by Lucy Whitehead on December 16, 2011 at 11:08

Excellent ideas! Mary Portas pimps Myddleton Road. Why not?!

MrsBaldwin said:

This is a great idea, Lucy.  I would certainly come and shop there. Idly speculating, I wonder if there is any research out there about farmers markets etc and how many there can be in an area until they start affecting each other's business (just thinking of the existing market at Ally Pally).

And just an out-there idea but ... maybe someone should ask Mary Portas to put such a project in her next TV series ... Pimping Britain's High Streets - Myddelton Road episode. 

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Permalink Reply by Cathy Herman on December 17, 2011 at 14:31

It is great to hear all these ideas being discussed about Myddleton Road. It really needs some new approaches to create the road as 'the hub' of our local community. I think a market could start quite small-so many local craftspeople,cooks,artists,vegetable growers etc. who could kick it off. The Step will make a terrific difference when it opens in the new year. The outdoor gym-if all goes to plan-will also create another open space alongside the community garden. How about a session at The Step-when it opens in the new year-for people to come together and share inspiring ideas? Dreams of Myddleton....

There is a Myddleton Road strategy group which meets with local councillors and local council officers which you would be welcome to come to. This group has been considering the future of the street and the english heritage proposal. The group commissioned a report from the architects Butler Hegarty which is very helpful. It is too large to add here as a file but if anyone wants a copy I can email you one.

But, there would be nothing better than a few of you coming up with ideas and getting together to think how to make them happen-will give any help we can from the community association and I am sure that our local councillors will do the same.

Wonderful to see people thinking about changing their local patch in inspiring ways. It is one of the things that makes the area a great place to live!

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Permalink Reply by Richard McKeever on December 18, 2011 at 15:50

In reply to Cathy's point: the Architects report from Butler Heggarty is a large file ( 6Mb PDF) and it is lengthy but well worth looking through, even if only for the delightful historic images.

The Bowes Park Community Association Website hosts a copy of the file:  it can be downloaded here.

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Permalink Reply by Simon Freeman on December 18, 2011 at 21:16

Having recently moved to Bowes Park from London Fields, I must say that I think that Myddleton Road would be an ideal location for a brilliant street market. For 18 months I lived across the road from Broadway Market and whilst that is a very well established market with a huge (and largely self-consciously fashionable) catchment area, there is no reason why Bowes Park could not have something similar. I'll makes sure I watch this thread and if there is a group that comes together to make the idea happen, I'll do what I can to get involved. Great idea!

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