Towards the top end of Holloway Road, on each side of the Whittington Park, there are two stubs of streets that seem to serve little purpose other than being a convenient place to park cars. But both of them have streetnames so they must once have had a life of their own before they became the sad remnants that they are today.
The first one you come to, going north up Holloway Rd, is Rupert Road, sandwiched between a tile shop and a pub and ending after a few yards at the metal park gates.
It’s listed in my current A to Z as being “not continuous” and the map shows it as being ‘interrupted’ by the park. On Google maps Rupert Road is named on the other side of the park where the path comes out to Yerbury Road and not shown as related to the Holloway Road stub at all.
Continuing north past the park you come to Hampden Road, similarly truncated by the park and bounded by the park on the left and the Frame Emporium on the right.
Its streetname sign doesn’t even boast the postcode and you can see the faded remnants of the older painted name below it.
Like Rupert Road, Hampden Road is shown in my current A to Z but not named on Google Maps (although curiously the location is pinpointed when you type the streetname into the search box).
All this got me wondering about what these streets were like before the park (and why and when the park itself was developed). The scan from my facsimile 1938/9 edition of the A to Z shows both these roads running through what is now the park and also two roads that have disappeared altogether – Ireton Road which looks as if it ran along the route of the current path through the park and Miilton Grove which joined them all up along the top.
(Click map to view larger in Flickr.)
So these streets existed before the war. I wonder what became of them? Maybe the area was bombed? I’d like to know more about the history of this area so if you have any information or pictures, please contact me. Meanwhile, I’m putting further investigation on my to do list but, as always, it’s a case of too many projects, not enough time…
I was born in Ireton Road and am now in my middle forties,it was a great community to grow up in everyone standing out on their doorsteps in the summer,children playing in the street buying sweets from the small sweet shop ,the men drinking in the Norfolk pub, ,which are both now Chris Stevens D I Y Stores my grandfather and grandmother who are now sadly passed had many a story to tell of their time during the war in Ireton Road.My own mother and her sisters were also born in Ireton Road.Sadly the coouncil pulled all the houses down to make way for the Whittington Park in the 1970s.I still have an uncle who is a very alert 90 who lived in Rupert Road he is full of tales from this area.Most of my family including my self attended a yerbury road primary school I am glad to see that at least is still standing,even now I still feel sad that whole communities were killed off for a park and not a very safe place to be I hear.What a change from leaving your back open in the summer nights to not wanting to walk through a local park in broad daylight.
Thanks for your memories, Rhonda. What a sad tale. It seems crazy to destroy a community for the sake of a park. Were the houses compulsorily purchased or did they belong to the council in the first place?
My family lived in Ireton Road at number 6 next door to the Shop which was run by an old lady, there was a lovely bakers and across the road a garage. Majority of people rented the houses so landlords would have fallen into compulsory order. We had to move and left the area so very sad loved living there. Moved back to the area in my twenties and have taken all my children to the park feels very weird!
The houses were compulsory purchased why I never know, the houses were not war damaged but sound properties.Philomena do you mean the grocers shop in Ireton Road .There used to be a reunion in the whittington park community centre every now and again for past residents of Rupert,Ireton,hampden,yerbury road and surrounding streets.Maybe someone should organise another reunion for 2012.
Ireton Road was name changed from Cromwell Road around 1938. I took an interest because I was puzzled by the WWI memorial just inside Whittington Park -to those from Cromwell Road who perished. There is a council board now which explains the existence of Cromwell Road. The WWI memorial itself is a replacement, the original being smashed during demolition and removal. I wonder where the original was sited?
My parents families lived in these streets until they were moved out. The names were the Pomroys and the Hicks. My mums parents had a Grocers (W Hicks and Sons) on the corner of Hampden Rd and Holloway Rd. I would love to hear from anyone who remembers them.
I lived at 32 Ireton road, we moved from there in 1971 & I am sure we were the last to leave & the last house standing …
As for william gracie’s question I am positive the war memorial was on a wall at the side of a bakers, it would have been on the right hand sid as you enter the street from Holloway Road .
Hi Rhonda, I knew your mum Ann and dad Ron, as i Lived in Ireton Road before moving to essex, sad to see all those old Houses gone, like much of old London!
Hi Jackie thanks for replying was Hodgson your maiden name .I would be interested to find out if there is anyone else you can remember from the old days around Ireton Road area.
Rhonda Smith
I to lived in 15 Ireton Road and was one of the last families to move. The council did compulsary purshase the house I lived in with my Mum and Dad. Molly and Charlie Lomax. It was so very sad to move and to build a so called park in place of streets full of memories. Many old people died as a result of the move. The memorial to the soldiers who died in the first world war included my mothers brother Edward Jenkins. Th residents of the street paid for the memorial to be made and placed on the wall at the side of the bakers. So much for the care of the council who never replaced it it was in honour of the young men who had given their lives for us. My mother several times got in touch with the council about what was happenening to it but to no avail. Sadly I moved away and my mother died and I have never forgotten my roots and all the memories of my childhood. I guess most of the residence are long gone now. It was nice to find out that some of their decendants are interested in the Street. They were happy days. I went to Yerbury Road School at the age of 5 in1946. I remember lots of the houses where in need of work after the war, our house had holes in the hallway. My father Charles Lomax was a builder and was able to repair lots of the damage. Hicks the greengrocer was where I got my veg every week.