What makes a Tottenham Ploughman?

 We have the answer to what makes a Tottenham Ploughman; you do. You supported the event on Sunday, gave your time and energy, spread the word, encouraged your friends and neighbours to come, spread a picnic blanket, queued for food and beer. You made the day.

Every one of us, from the café and stage team to the purveyors of cheese, bread, beer and pickles and all the musicians and volunteers were knocked out by the reception.

Flourish Bakery donated the rolls for the plate. The café made marrow chutney from Living Under One Sun marrows. I made the pickles. Apples came from allotments. Cheese from Wildes. Beer as you know, from Redemption. And plenty of allotment pickles and chutneys and a cornucopia of beautiful early autumn bounty from Living Under One Sun.

At the start when I saw the queue I asked Andy from Redemption if he could line up more beer; I knew it would sell out and sell out it did.  So; sorry if you came after 2pm to find that there was no food left. We’ll know better next time.  

Andy and his partner had big grins on their faces all day.  He totally got that it wasn’t about a foodie market, as he says;  

‘It was about our local community coming together.  Thank you for letting us be a part of such an awe inspiring celebration.’

Even the Tottenham cake I made vanished.

In response to requests here’s the recipe.

The facebook page will remain live; please like it and keep the conversations going. 

It’s so great to have struck a chord; finding out that I’m not alone in wanting more for Tottenham. Wishing away the grubby streets, the myriad chicken shops. We all have many things to celebrate in Tottenham.  Not just local businesses to support, but pride in our community. Long may it continue. 

The best news is, Hail are very happy for the Ploughman to happen again in 2014.

Out of all of the positive comments there was one complaint from a councillor who took exception to the fact that I said that Tottenham gets bad press. Well, tough. It does. I’m fed up of my neighbourhood being the butt of bad jokes and comments and anyone who doesn't recognise this, needs to open their eyes. It’s not a throw away comment, it’s my opinion. Last week a friend giving me a lift home automatically locked the car doors as we approached Seven Sisters Road.

Many years ago, there was a place called The Rainbow Tearooms at Seven Sisters.  It was owned by a couple of gay men and was so popular you had to book for tea. Living in Archway at the time, I took my whole family there one Sunday.  Kitch antiques filled every available space and Ella Fitzgerald's voice sang out from a huge old Bakelite radio. The eclectic menu contained options such as hundreds and thousands sandwiches, next to the more traditional smoked salmon. Home made cakes and scones. Individual tea pots and mismatched antique cups and saucers. Doesn't sound so strange now, but this was 20 years ago. And it was packed.

If a place like that could work then, there's hope for now. It makes me angry to see the high street so shabby and downwardly mobile.  The bank on the corner of Broad Lane and Seven Sisters road has been closed for years. Why couldn’t it be developed into a café, restaurant, community space?  The Swan, done up last year, or the year before continues to sit empty as does the ex White Hart on The Hale. How about putting in an application to make it an asset of community value and running it ourselves with Redemption?  Yes it’s easy to say but an idea has to start somewhere. I know there are reasons why some areas are more prosperous than others. Doesn't mean I have to accept it.

Traffic and roads dominate both Seven Sisters and Tottenham Hale. There’s no chance of a village feel in either vicinity unless you’re in a park. Or green. Hoorah for the moves to make Tottenham Green more of a community space.

It pains me that the once beautiful blue plaque building on Bruce Grove has been allowed to fall into disrepair. It was the home of Luke Howard, the man who named clouds.  There are plenty of really beautiful buildings in Tottenham but you have to look hard to see them between ugly shop fronts and chipped paint work. And that, in a nutshell sums up Tottenham for me. It’s a place that you sometimes have to search hard to find beauty, between the grey metal shutters and closed signs, but it’s worth it when you do. 

Here’s the best news, an email today from Paul at Flourish Bakery. Paul set up Flourish and has lived in Tottenham for over 13 years.  I’m going to quote directly from his email to me;

I know there is a great community spirit here and events like the one you hosted is exactly what the community is crying out for. We’ve had some great feedback and emails have been flooding in for requests to open a shop in Tottenham. The success of the event has made us realise that there may potentially be a market for us to sell here on our doorstep.

We have already made the decision to concentrate more on the retail side of our business and thanks to you and everyone who attended we will be looking into the possibility of opening a shop locally.

Isn’t that great? It’s exactly the kind of outcome I hoped for.  Now we’re looking at a Christmas event, before planning begins for next year. We have such a great, vibrant community. Thank you for making The Tottenham Ploughman your own.