Ponders End

Ponders End

Tower blocks at Alma Road

The Navigation, Ponders End formerly known as the Navigation Inn from the towpath of the River Lee Navigation
Ponders End
 Ponders End shown within Greater London
OS grid referenceTQ35595
London borough Enfield
Ceremonial county Greater London
RegionLondon
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town ENFIELD
Postcode district EN1, EN3
Dialling code 020
Police Metropolitan
Fire London
Ambulance London
EU Parliament London
UK ParliamentEdmonton
London Assembly Enfield and Haringey
List of places
UK
England
London

Coordinates: 51°38′46″N 0°02′46″W / 51.646°N 0.046°W / 51.646; -0.046

Ponders End is a mid-sized commercial and large residential district of the London Borough of Enfield, north London adjoining to its east the Lee Navigation in the mid-Lea Valley. It has a central high street, the Hertford Road and is formed from parts of the north of Edmonton and the south of Enfield.

Wright's Flour Mill here is the oldest working industrial building in the London Borough of Enfield.

Geography

Elevations range from 21 metres (69 ft) to 13 metres (43 ft) above sea level, uniformly dropping from west to east. Two north-south railway lines enclose the residential parts of the area, bounded east and west by estates of warehousing, industrial and commercial use, one of which, Meridian Water area has the much under-utilised Angel Road railway station and is the subject of major reconstruction including 5000 homes and 3000 new jobs and a wide range of community facilities.[1] The railways are:

Its northern and southern limits are along Hertford Road at The Ride and The Boundary pubs (north to south). Its loosely defined east and west limits coalesce around Wharf Road in the west and the Southbury station or Kingsway in the east.[2]

Etymology

Ponders End is marked on the Ordnance Survey map of 1822. It was recorded in 1593 as Ponders ende meaning the "end or quarter of the parish associated with the Ponder family" from the Middle English ende. John Ponder is mentioned in a document of 1373; the surname is believed to mean a "keeper of, or dweller by, a fish-pond or mill-pond".[3]

History

All but a southern belt of the district was in Enfield, as the south lay in Edmonton, the parishes becoming a civil and ecclesiastical after a split of functions in the 1860s, which saw the final secularisation of government, the disestablishment of the vestries following the increase in Poor Law Unions in the hundred years before.[4]

Through the 19th century the area became industrialised, due to its straight road and waterway network up and down the Lea Valley including the 17th century River Lee Navigation.[4] The first major firm to arrive was Grout, Baylis & Co, who were established in Norwich in 1807 as crape manufacturers, the material being used for widows' weeds. They opened a dyeing and finishing plant in Ponders End two years later. Crape went out of fashion by late Victorian times, and the factory closed in 1894. The buildings were taken over by the United Flexible Tubing Company.

In 1866 the London Jute Works Company established a factory on the Navigation in a desolate area known locally as Spike Island. Many of the new employees came from Dundee, the traditional centre of the jute industry in Scotland. The jute works closed in 1882, to be replaced by the Ediswan factory. Over the years the factory was enlarged, eventually covering 11.50 acres (4.65 ha), and employing many people, notably girls, from the area. Ediswan produced electric lamps, and the factory was colloquially known as The Lamp. They also manufactured appliances for the shipping and aviation industries, mechanical pianos and butter makers.

To the south of Ponder's End Lock a factory making white lead was built in 1893. Further south of that factory, the Cortecine works produced floor-cloth and carpet backing. By 1906 over 2000 people were employed in local factories. Another major industry in the latter years of the 19th century was horticulture. Tomatoes and cucumbers were the principal produce but flowers and fruit were also grown in the many orchards and greenhouses to the north of the locality.[5] During World War I, a huge munitions factory, the Ponders End Shell Works was built in Wharf Road. The factory building was sold after the war. Further factories were built in the 1930s alongside the newly built Great Cambridge Road.[6]

Today (2009) little remains of manufacturing and much of the area has given way to warehousing and residential developments. Aesica pharmaceutical manufacturers (formerly Thomas Morson Ltd) [7] closed its plant in 2011.[8] Wright's Flour Mill, the oldest working industrial building in the borough remains, some of its buildings having been constructed in the 18th century.[6]

On 7 August 2011 Ponders End was the scene of copy-cat riots which spread from Tottenham to neighbouring districts.[9]

Musician Jah Wobble was inspired to write his (2005) album Mu by his experiences in the Lea Valley and Ponders End.[10][11]

“ It's as close as London gets to New Jersey. But it's one of my favourite places for walking, through the Lee Valley. It gets beautiful in that urban way, but then you go through soap factories up near Ponders End. It's got a wonderful, dislocated, alienated feeling ”
— Jah Wobble

Ponders End Allotments Club is a track from the (1975) Chas and Dave album One Fing 'n' Annuver.[12]

Historic buildings

Wright's Flour Mill and the mill stream

Nearest places

Watercourses

South Marsh, Overflow Channel and the grassed embankment of the King George V Reservoir

Angling is allowed on the River Lee Navigation upstream and downstream of Ponders End Lock. Information from the River Lea Anglers Club.[16]

Nearest railway stations

Demography

The 2011 census showed that 45% of the population was white (26% British, 17% Other, 2% Irish), 16% Black African and 8% Bangladeshi.[17]

Notable people

Local newspapers

The local newspapers are as of 2011:

Politics

After boundary changes in 2010 - Ponders End became one of seven wards which form the Edmonton parliamentary constituency.[20] The MP for constituency is Andy Love, Labour Co-op who polled 21,665 votes (53.7%) at the General Election held on 6 May 2010.[21]

Schools

Higher education

Places of worship

Open spaces

References

  1. ↑ Meridian Water Retrieved 23 February 2015
  2. ↑ Local Government Map of Ponders End Boundaries Retrieved 28 February 2008
  3. ↑ Mills, A, D, Oxford Dictionary of London Place Names (2004) p180 ISBN 0-19-860957-4 Retrieved 17 October 2008
  4. 1 2 Map of the Edmonton Hundred of Middlesex Victoria County History of Middlesex, Volume 5, A P Baggs, Diane K Bolton, Eileen P Scarff and G C Tyack (1976). Retrieved 2015-02-20
  5. ↑ Godfrey A (notes to) Old Ordnance Survey Maps: Ponders End 1895 Alan Godfrey Maps, ISBN 1-84151-043-2 Retrieved 7 September 2009
  6. 1 2 Ponders End history Retrieved 19 February 2011
  7. ↑ Thomas Morson Retrieved 8 September 2009
  8. ↑ Plant closure Retrieved 18 April 2011
  9. ↑ News report 8 August 2011
  10. ↑ Hatts, Leigh The Lea Valley Walk p99 ISBN 1-85284-522-8 Retrieved 14 March 2008
  11. ↑ Lea valley walk Retrieved 15 May 2008
  12. ↑ Chas and Dave Retrieved 14 May 2008
  13. ↑ History of Enfield Retrieved 22 November 2007
  14. ↑ Buildings of England London 4:North by Bridget Cherry & Nikolaus Pevsner pg 451 ISBN 0-14-071049-3
  15. ↑ The Navigation Retrieved 13 July 2009
  16. ↑ River Lea Anglers Club Retrieved 2 December 2014
  17. ↑ http://www.ukcensusdata.com/ponders-end-e05000206
  18. ↑ "News, sport and local information for Enfield and surrounding areas". Enfieldindependent.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-06-30.
  19. ↑ "The Enfield Advertiser". Mediauk.com. Retrieved 2011-06-30.
  20. ↑ Electoral boundaries Retrieved 15 April 2011
  21. ↑ Andy Love MP Retrieved 28 August 2010
  22. ↑ St Matthew's Ponders End Retrieved 25 May 2011
  23. ↑ Mary Mother of God RC church Retrieved 15 December 2010
  24. ↑ Ponders End mosque Retrieved 27 June 2009
  25. ↑ Lincoln Road chapel Retrieved 9 January 2013
  26. ↑ Ponders End Methodist church Retrieved 9 January 2013
  27. ↑ Ponders End United Reformed church Retrieved 9 January 2013
  28. ↑ London Borough of Enfield parks Retrieved 23 July 2014
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