Granville Road Spinney

The land where Granville Road Spinney now sits has seen many changes over the past 130 years. After being used as farmland until the 1870s, it was built upon when the railway came to north London.

In July 1944 during World War II, a VI flying bomb destroyed seven Victorian houses on the western side of Granville Road. These were replaced by Prefabs that were removed in 1980 and the area reverted back to open land.

This small 0.3 hectare space contains a surprising number of habitats:

• the mown grass is ideal for picnics and sunbathing in summer
• a small meadow with long grass and flowers such as ox-eye daisies, sorrel and knapweed
• the central woodland has wild plum, hazel and sycamore and is covered with daffodils and violets in spring
• the small boggy area is where you will find yellow iris and meadowsweet
• along the southern edge grow plants typical of waste ground including buddleia, teasels, rosebay willowherb, alkanet and evening primrose
• in a few places trees have been trimmed to let in light for flowers such as red campion, valerian, bluebells, aquilegia and gladden iris
• the blackberry patch, a relic of the old Prefab gardens, contains cultivated, edible varieties
• a number of animals live in the Spinney including foxes, bats, hedgehogs, frogs and mice
• nest boxes have been provided for birds that include three varieties of tits - great, blue and long-tailed - robbins, chaffinches, goldfinches (eating teasel and thistle seeds), blackbirds, song thrushes and the occasional great spotted woodpecker.

This is a community open space: visit it, look after it and enjoy it!

For further information on Granville Road Spinney and how to get involved with the Friends of the Spinney please email parks@haringey.gov.uk or call 020 8489 1000.