Elvis Costello is quoted as saying: "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture - it's a really stupid thing to want to do." but ignoring this advice a short series of articles will try to record a little of Our Musical Heritage. Part 1 Wood Green Jazz Club

Our local area has a bit of hidden history as a location for the performance and recording of…

This week I found the most amazing Victorian map of London online. Virtually every sheet of the  Ordnance Survey's 1893-6 "Five Feet to the Mile" scale series has been painstakingly layered on top of a modern Google map. 

The detail at this scale is really amazing, you can see the layouts of individual buildings and even recognisable trees. The online version is superior to the original printed sheets as you easily zoom in, search, and move around the map. …

Number 123 Myddleton Road is one of the finest remaining frontages in this once proud Edwardian shopping street.

If you imagine hard you might just see beyond the grimy cracked glass and flaking grey paint to relive its former grandeur.

But it’s unlikely that you would conceive of this to be one of the premier fetish boot and shoe workshops in…

...I go up Cline Road and at the top there's a factory  called 'Textile Team - Bianca'.  It's a nice building, and I love the door and the whole entrance bit.   !   Am I crazy?   I just think it's got that special design  'something'!

Woops - I'm afraid I chopped the top off!…

....  on Blake Road, the humble art of cementing  elevated to a higher dimension:…

Fantastic news for borough although Bowes ward won't get any direct benefit since the scheme is meant to link Enfield Town to Edmonton (the specs being to expand cycle use to deprived populations that have cycled less up until now).

But as a committed cyclist (about 5/6 days a week for last 9 years), I think it's great to generalise usage. If only for air quality reasons...

Bikeworks, a social enterprise, are teaming up with Haringey Council to provide lucky residents the opportunity to take part in a new cycling course, aimed at equipping people with the tools to enjoy their daily commute. Spaces are currently available from now until March 2014. IT'S ALL FREE!!!

Participants will receive:

• A FREE recycled bike from the Bikeworks Re-Use Centre

• FREE lights and lock, brand new

• A FREE six…

Today I went on an organised  tour around London's Alexandra Palace -  'back stage'.  

The most interesting place for me  was the old Victorian theatre which is jaw-droppingly stunning.  It is not open to the public normally, and few people are even aware that it exists.

The deep, rich colours of the peeling paintwork give it a romantic feel.  There is talk of 'sensitive' restoration if the lottery bid is successful.   …

Jane, a friend of mine with a keen eye for detail, snapped this alarm in the doorway of EBH Electrical at 112 Myddleton Road recently. She told me that SHO is the old telephone code for Shoreditch. 

Look, here's another …

Last Saturday I played my first public gig with North London Brass!  It was at Parliament Hill Fields Lido where the Outdoor Swimming Society was holding it's annual winter dip in the outdoor pool.   It was a privilege to be present at a great celebration of true British eccentricity.  And that includes the band....

To be frank, I was a bit 'out of my depth'…

Bikeworks are teaming up with Haringey Council to provide 24 lucky residents the opportunity to take part in a new cycling course, aimed at equipping people with the tools to enjoy their daily commute. Spaces are currently available from January - March 2014. IT'S ALL FREE!!!

Participants will receive:

• A free recycled bike from the Bikeworks Re-Use Centre

• Free lights and lock, brand new

• A free six hour bicycle…

On 28 September, an intrepid group of Londoners set out from Hertford East station to walk the length of the New River Path on the weekend of its 400th anniversary. 

It was a wonderful, friendly group including some Bowes & Bounds locals and London enthusiasts.…

Sharing a message from Thames21's Love The Lea Facebook page. I recommend 'liking' it or having a look at the Love the Lea campaign page. It's shocking how polluted the Lea and its tributaries are. 

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A great new source of local historical information has just been made available with the publication this week by the Wellcome Trust of annual reports from London’s Medical Officers of Health (MOHs).

The online resource – called London’s Pulse contains more than 5,000 fully searchable reports, from 1848 to 1973, detailing the health of Londoners…

Linsdsey has posted a photograph of the newly re-painted sign on the bridge over Pymmes Brook and it reminded me of a mystery that has been touched on…

It's all your fault, Bowes & Bounds Connected!   If I hadn't clicked on a post by Martin Stogden - who was shamelessly touting for complete beginners for the North London Brass - then I would still be curled up in front of the telly on Wednesday nights relishing the life of an OAP.

Instead, I have to get on a bus no…

Found while browsing Flickr, a rather marvellous collection of views of Bounds Green & Bowes Park, uploaded by Janet Smith.

Browse images here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/76267652@N06/sets/72157629245974640/with/6846661116/

Nice postcard of the cottage hospital, including a plan:…

"Writing about music is like dancing about architecture - it's a really stupid thing to want to do."

-- Elvis Costello, in an interview by Timothy White entitled "A Man out of Time Beats the Clock." Musician magazine No. 60 (October 1983), p. 52.

Our local area has a bit of hidden history as a location for the performance and recording of music…

Is anyone interested in communal herb-growing on the Bowes Park station platform?  Herbs would be grown in large pots, weeded and watered by commuters and harvested as needed by them on their weary way home..

This is being done successfully by the 'Incredible Edible Todmorden' project in Yorkshire - see photo at (…

Last weekend a couple of local events attracted lots of people to come together and have fun in public spaces - in the process meeting neighbours and friends. This set me thinking about the way we use our streets and public spaces for community events.

On Sunday the hugely successful …