Village Raw - ISSUE 16
Village Raw is a magazine that explores cultural stories from Crouch End, East Finchley, Highgate, Muswell Hill and the surrounding areas. The magazine is created by the community, for the community. The sixteenth issue of Village Raw includes: CREATING COMMUNITIES - Artist Marilyn Collins on her work, community and the natural world. THE WILD COLLECTIVE - A collaborative exhibition nurturing creative responses to nature. A JOURNEY INTO HIGHGATE 'S LITERARY PAST - A who's who of the celebrated writers associated with the area. STRINGS FOR LITTLE FINGERS - Margie Jammie and the wonders of the ukulele. IN A TIME OF ITS OWN - W Martyn has been trading since 1897. THE ART OF ESTATE AGENCY - How Brickworks has defined its role in property, interiors and community. THE MEALS THAT KEEP GIVING - How community food projects have become a valuable lifeline. THE BIG PLASTIC COUNT - Chris Packham discusses our plastic waste problem. ON THE B-LINE - Local initiatives to help our pollinators. SINGAPORE-STYLE CHILLI TOFU - Recipe from the winner of The Great Cookbook Challenge, Dominique Woolf. ASK OLA - Advice for women who are perimenopausal.
Village Raw is a magazine that explores cultural stories from Crouch End, East Finchley, Highgate, Muswell Hill and the surrounding areas. The magazine is created by the community, for the community. The sixteenth issue of Village Raw includes:
CREATING COMMUNITIES - Artist Marilyn Collins on her work, community and the natural world.
THE WILD COLLECTIVE - A collaborative exhibition nurturing creative responses to nature.
A JOURNEY INTO HIGHGATE 'S LITERARY PAST - A who's who of the celebrated writers associated with the area.
STRINGS FOR LITTLE FINGERS - Margie Jammie and the wonders of the ukulele.
IN A TIME OF ITS OWN - W Martyn has been trading since 1897.
THE ART OF ESTATE AGENCY - How Brickworks has defined its role in property, interiors and community.
THE MEALS THAT KEEP GIVING - How community food projects have become a valuable lifeline.
THE BIG PLASTIC COUNT - Chris Packham discusses our plastic waste problem.
ON THE B-LINE - Local initiatives to help our pollinators.
SINGAPORE-STYLE CHILLI TOFU - Recipe from the winner of The Great Cookbook Challenge, Dominique Woolf.
ASK OLA - Advice for women who are perimenopausal.
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MAY TO JULY 2022<br />
FREE<br />
VILLAGE RAW<br />
STORIES FROM CROUCH END, EAST FINCHLEY, HIGHGATE, MUSWELL HILL AND SURROUNDING AREAS<br />
Creating Communities: An interview with Marilyn Collins / A Journey into Highgate’s Literary Past:<br />
The celebrated writers associated with N6 / In a Time of Its Own: Muswell Hill’s W Martyn / The Meals<br />
That Keep Giving: Community food projects / On the B-Line: Local initiatives to help our pollinators.
CONTENTS<br />
EDITORIAL<br />
04<br />
06<br />
10<br />
12<br />
VILLAGE NOTICEBOARD<br />
Festivals, events and openings.<br />
CREATING COMMUNITIES<br />
Artist Marilyn Collins on her work,<br />
community and the natural world.<br />
THE WILD COLLECTIVE<br />
A collaborative exhibition nurturing<br />
creative responses to nature.<br />
A JOURNEY INTO HIGHGATE’S<br />
LITERARY PAST<br />
A who’s who of the celebrated<br />
writers associated with the area.<br />
Welcome to the <strong>16</strong>th edition of <strong>Village</strong> <strong>Raw</strong>. Over the last few years of printing the<br />
magazine we’ve witnessed a steady increase in costs. Brexit caused a jump, Covid-19<br />
caused supply issues but we weren’t expecting the 40% hike in paper costs<br />
between the last issue and this. So if you enjoy this magazine and would like to<br />
see another issue, then please go on to our shiny new website www.villageraw.com<br />
and subscribe – or if you’d just like to donate that is also possible.<br />
This issue is about breathing again, as spring turns to summer, with the hope<br />
that we are better equipped to deal with Covid-19 and that the numerous events<br />
and opportunities that are scattered throughout this issue’s pages all get to go<br />
ahead. We’ll be at some of them and are looking forward to meeting you in person.<br />
Until then, enjoy the content of this magazine which looks back to the past<br />
and asks questions of the future. What kind of world do we want to live in? How<br />
can we make it better?<br />
Luciane and David<br />
hello@villageraw.com / www.villageraw.com<br />
<strong>16</strong><br />
STRINGS FOR LITTLE FINGERS<br />
Margie Jammie and the wonders<br />
of the ukulele.<br />
18<br />
IN A TIME OF ITS OWN<br />
W Martyn has been trading<br />
since 1897.<br />
MAY TO JULY 2022<br />
VILLAGE RAW<br />
STORIES FROM CROUCH END, EAST FINCHLEY, HIGHGATE, MUSWELL HILL AND SURROUNDING AREAS<br />
FREE<br />
24<br />
26<br />
30<br />
THE ART OF ESTATE AGENCY<br />
How Brickworks has defined<br />
its role in property, interiors<br />
and community.<br />
THE MEALS THAT KEEP GIVING<br />
How community food projects<br />
have become a valuable lifeline.<br />
THE BIG PLASTIC COUNT<br />
Chris Packham discusses<br />
our plastic waste problem.<br />
EDITORS<br />
Luciane Pisani<br />
David Reeve<br />
GRAPHIC DESIGN<br />
Luciane Pisani for Studio Moe<br />
COPY EDITOR<br />
Julie Tang-Evans<br />
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT<br />
Alison Evans<br />
ADVERTISING<br />
hello@villageraw.com<br />
PRINTING<br />
Printed in East Finchley by JG Bryson on chlorine<br />
free paper produced by an EU Ecolabel certified<br />
mill from FSC and PEFC regulated forests.<br />
<strong>Village</strong> <strong>Raw</strong> February 2022 to April 2022.<br />
Designed and published by Studio Moe Ltd.<br />
© 2022 Studio Moe Ltd. All rights reserved.<br />
Reproduction of any contents of <strong>Village</strong> <strong>Raw</strong><br />
magazine without prior permission of the<br />
publisher is strictly prohibited.<br />
Creating Communities: An interview with Marilyn Collins / A Journey into Highgate’s Literary Past:<br />
The celebrated writers associated with N6 / In a Time of its Own: Muswell Hill’s W Martyn / The Meals<br />
that Keep Giving: Community food projects / On the B-Line: Local initiatives to help our pollinators.<br />
By subscribing you’ll not only be supporting <strong>Village</strong> <strong>Raw</strong>,<br />
but the community as well. You’ll also receive the magazine<br />
delivered to your door every three months.<br />
www.villageraw.com<br />
32<br />
34<br />
36<br />
38<br />
ON THE B-LINE<br />
Local initiatives to help<br />
our pollinators.<br />
SINGAPORE-STYLE CHILLI<br />
TOFU<br />
Recipe from the winner of<br />
The Great Cookbook Challenge,<br />
Dominique Woolf.<br />
ASK OLA<br />
Advice for women who<br />
are perimenopausal.<br />
A SPECKLED WOOD<br />
Chancing upon a Speckled<br />
Wood butterfly.<br />
COVER IMAGE<br />
Photo by Kate Kuzminova<br />
CONTRIBUTORS<br />
Anna Batchelor, Dan Bridge, Hannah Duncan, Sharon<br />
Goldreich, Kate Kuzminova, Becky Lima-Matthews,<br />
Zoe Norfolk, Ola Nwakodo, Carla Parks, Claire Pearce,<br />
Julie Tang-Evans, Alys Tomlinson, Caroline Watson,<br />
Dominique Woolf.<br />
THANKS TO:<br />
Revd. Kunle Ayodeji, Caroline Beashel,<br />
Shira Bernstein, Julie Bland, Kate Brown, Cee,<br />
Drew Clode (the Coleridge Trust), Marilyn Collins,<br />
Tamineh Dhondy, Fiona Doyle, Ruth Emery,<br />
Nicole Gross (Highgate School Archive),<br />
Ruth Hazeldine, Magnus Hetzscholdt, Julia Hines,<br />
Margie Jammie, Karen Leason, William Martyn,<br />
Piers Mason, Juliet Munro, Vincenzo Napoletano,<br />
Chris Packham, Tom Pink (Highgate Literary<br />
and Scientific Institution Library), Ellie Rees,<br />
Rex Siney, Clare Roels, Beth Sinden, Rod Slater<br />
(JB Priestley Society), Giuseppe Sollo, Ezra van<br />
Wilgenburg, Terry Yoshinaga.<br />
Tweet us: twitter.com/<strong>Village</strong><strong>Raw</strong>Mag<br />
Like us: facebook.com/villageraw<br />
Follow us: instagram.com/villageraw<br />
Contact us: hello@villageraw.com<br />
Support us: villageraw.com/subscribe<br />
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3
VILLAGE RAW<br />
VILLAGE NOTICEBOARD<br />
THINGS TO DO<br />
After a few years of postponements and cancellations there are numerous festivals<br />
and events to look forward to over the coming months, alongside some new openings.<br />
We list some of them here but keep an eye on our social media for others.<br />
THE WILD COLLECTIVE<br />
The Wild Collective is a collaborative<br />
exhibition nurturing creative responses<br />
to nature that opens at OmVed, N6, on 12<br />
May. www.wild-collective.com/about<br />
STROUD GREEN FESTIVAL<br />
Stroud Green Festival, North London’s<br />
quirkiest and friendliest festival returns<br />
for three weekends in 2022. The launch<br />
weekend is 13-14 May, with other events<br />
taking place on 26-29 May (Mayfest)<br />
and 21-25 July + 8 August.<br />
www.stroudgreenfestival.org.uk<br />
MUSWELL HILL CREATIVES MAY FAIR<br />
Creatives from N10 and the surrounding<br />
area will gather in St James Square in<br />
Muswell Hill for the May Fair on Saturday<br />
21 May. www.muswellhillcreatives.com<br />
THE BIG GREEN FAIR<br />
Showcasing a range of eco-friendly<br />
products, services and businesses, The<br />
Big Green Fair will take place on 29 May at<br />
Hornsey Parish Church. mhsgroup.org<br />
FAIR IN THE SQUARE<br />
On Saturday 11 June Highgate brings the<br />
bunting out and the community together<br />
for one of the area’s most popular free<br />
events. There will be live entertainment<br />
from the Pond Square stage, roving<br />
stilt walkers and jugglers, a dog show,<br />
fairground rides and the Kids’ Tent where<br />
Mini Mozart will be running creative and<br />
musical activities. Some 100 stalls will<br />
be selling crafts, plants, clothes, books<br />
and world street food or showcasing local<br />
activities and societies to get involved<br />
in. In addition St Michael’s Church will be<br />
running its cafe and 52-step tower tours<br />
offering stunning views over London.<br />
www.fairinthesquare.co.uk<br />
HIGHGATE FESTIVAL<br />
The Highgate Festival, now in its 5th year,<br />
takes place from 11-19 June. The festival<br />
celebrates the breadth and variety of<br />
Highgate - its residents, businesses,<br />
gardens, buildings, art, history, music,, literature,<br />
dance, local talent, sustainability<br />
and creatives. www.highgatefestival.org<br />
CITIZENS ART MARKET<br />
The aim of Citizens Art Market is to bring<br />
truly accessible art events to communities<br />
and, in doing so, give new and<br />
emerging artists the opportunity to<br />
show and sell their work. The next event<br />
is at Blue House Yard on 12 June.<br />
citizensart.market<br />
EAST FINCHLEY FESTIVAL<br />
East Finchley Festival returns to Cherry<br />
Tree Wood N2, on Sunday 19 June. With<br />
a full programme of music and performance,<br />
festival-goers can also enjoy<br />
storytelling, arts and crafts, tennis and<br />
basketball and – new for this year – laser<br />
tag in the woods. Over 60 local creatives<br />
will be selling their wares in the central<br />
market place and there’ll be a diverse<br />
range of food stalls, serving everything<br />
from vegan Caribbean fare to deep-fried<br />
ice cream. Muswell Hillbilly Brewers will be<br />
on hand to quench your thirst. And if you<br />
need to wind down, the wellbeing zone<br />
will be offering yoga, breathing workshops<br />
and a range of therapies.<br />
www.eastfinchleyfestival.org<br />
CROUCH END FESTIVAL<br />
Always full of inspiring performances, the<br />
Crouch End Festival will include music of<br />
all kinds, alongside art, craft, photography,<br />
film, storytelling, poetry, drama,<br />
fringe, comedy, workshops, a community<br />
picnic and lots of activities for kids.<br />
Although centred around the weekend<br />
of 8-10 July, events and exhibitions will<br />
be running during the weeks either side.<br />
www.crouchendfestival.org<br />
KALEIDOSCOPE FESTIVAL<br />
Following 2021’s triumphant, sold-out<br />
spectacular, Kaleidoscope Festival will<br />
return on Saturday 23 July. Alexandra<br />
Palace announces a stellar line up that<br />
promises more crowd-pleasing live music,<br />
DJs and comedy at London’s highest<br />
festival. Highlights include Orbital, The<br />
Magic Numbers, DJ Yoda, Craig Charles<br />
Funk and Soul among others.<br />
kaleidoscope-festival.com/<br />
HIGHER GROUND FESTIVAL<br />
Nestled on the rolling hills of Ally Pally<br />
park, with exquisite sweeping views<br />
behind the main stage, Higher Ground<br />
Festival will take place on Sunday 24 July<br />
with the “godmother of punk” Patti Smith<br />
headlining. higherground.london<br />
HORNSEY HILLBILLY<br />
A new Hillbilly is here! The Hornsey Hillbilly<br />
Pop-up Taproom is now open at 40<br />
Tottenham Lane N8 (opposite Hornsey<br />
train station). The Hornsey Hillbilly will be<br />
hosting markets, music, food and more.<br />
See @hornseyhillbilly on social media<br />
for details. Their Muswell Hill taproom (on<br />
Avenue Mews) remains open both inside<br />
and outside, and for takeaway and collections<br />
of bottles, cans and growlers.<br />
www.muswellhillbillybrewers.co.uk<br />
LUDO’S IN BLUE HOUSE YARD<br />
Ludo’s has now moved into Blue House<br />
Yard’s big red bus and we’re looking<br />
forward to a summer of festivities and<br />
events. Follow them @ludoslondon for<br />
further details.<br />
PHOTOS COURTESY OF KALEIDOSCOPE, MIKE COLES (EF FESTIVAL) AND HIGHGATE’S FAIR IN THE SQUARE.<br />
Above: Groove Armada at Kaleidoscope in 2021. Below left: Relentless MC at East Finchley Festival.<br />
Below right: Highgate’s Fair in the Square.<br />
4 5
VILLAGE RAW<br />
CREATING COMMUNITIES<br />
Local multidisciplinary artist<br />
Marilyn Collins works with figurative<br />
sculpture, communities and the natural<br />
world. If you’ve ever walked along<br />
the Parkland Walk then you’ve probably<br />
been greeted by her sculpture of the<br />
Spriggan – the mischievous-looking<br />
creature nestled into an old railway<br />
arch - which was commissioned in 1993.<br />
We chatted to Marilyn at her home<br />
studio about her art, community<br />
and nature.<br />
Words by Becky Lima-Matthews.<br />
Photos by Kate Kuzminova.<br />
Early influences and becoming an artist<br />
I’ve done all sorts of things over the years, including permaculture<br />
work (developing agricultural ecosystems to be sustainable<br />
or self-sufficient) and being a Shiatsu practitioner. But I suppose<br />
it began when I was five and my parents moved out of London to<br />
Gloucestershire. I used to go and watch Walt Disney films with the<br />
boy next door who was a couple of years older. He was just brilliant<br />
at drawing and could draw all the characters from memory. It was<br />
knowing him that first got me involved in wanting to learn to draw<br />
and to make things. I think I was more into making things and he<br />
was more into drawing. There was no concept that anyone could be<br />
an artist in the world I lived in, so I focused on sciences and I didn’t<br />
go to art college after school. I spent a year studying Philosophy at<br />
King’s College London but didn’t get on with it. Then I did loads of<br />
different jobs during my 20s but couldn’t settle to any of them and<br />
did a lot of travelling. When I came back, I started studying art at<br />
what was then The Cass in Aldgate (now School of Art, Architecture<br />
and Design) - so it went on from there.<br />
Art, performance and feminism<br />
I’m trying to give a voice to all things in the world that can’t speak<br />
in my work, and I’m particularly interested in trees and insects. I<br />
used to be a beekeeper. My recent exhibition The Blue Light Was My<br />
Baby at Mayfair Library featured sculptures and films I made during<br />
lockdown - and earlier pieces including a film about restoration of<br />
London’s rivers.<br />
But there’s a feminist aspect to my work too. Eight years ago I<br />
did an MA in Fine Art at Chelsea College of Arts and, as part of the<br />
graduation, I made this large ceramic piece - called Horizontal Herstory<br />
- of a woman covered in phrases from feminist history including<br />
“Virgin Mary mother of god - become a feminist” by the Russian<br />
activist musicians Pussy Riot, and “Boys will be boys and girls will<br />
be feminists” which a friend of mine, Leah Wooding, used to shout<br />
out. It comes apart in sections and I also made a performance film<br />
of the pieces being reassembled, then I lay down and put my arms<br />
around her.<br />
Another piece of work that is about ten years old but was in my<br />
show in February is Negative Spaces. I had been asked to make a<br />
sculpture for one of my activist friends who was creating a seasonal<br />
calendar celebration and I made a “triple goddess” of maiden,<br />
mother and crone out of cardboard that slotted together. It was<br />
carried down the Parkland Walk in a procession and burned on a<br />
bonfire. I liked it and made another one from more durable material.<br />
I was reflecting on the discarded shapes and started thinking<br />
about all the daily experiences and internal images of ourselves<br />
that we reject and dismiss to protect our self-image.<br />
The importance of affordable housing<br />
and community<br />
Two main things have really helped me to continue my work. I live<br />
in a housing co-op and having truly affordable housing has been so<br />
important. The other thing that has meant a lot is community and<br />
supportive friends. One of them was my old neighbour Alpay Torgut,<br />
who sadly died in 2020 just before the lockdown. The building I live in<br />
is near the Parkland Walk and Alpay was going to the first permaculture<br />
course in London, run by a man called Andy Langford, and went<br />
on to help set up Naturewise in 1991 teaching permaculture - and<br />
there were lots of offshoots from that in this area. He was a close<br />
friend and a huge influence on me. I didn’t work for Naturewise but<br />
I got involved with making posters and I used to do artist’s work in<br />
schools too. I was keeping bees at the Alexandra Palace allotments<br />
where I met Kate Allardyce, one of the founders of Meadow Orchard,<br />
which I later got involved with after retiring from being a Shiatsu<br />
practitioner for 20 years.<br />
Another friend I’d like to mention is the sculptor John Sommerville<br />
who I met in my 20s. His sculpture of Spike Milligan was<br />
unveiled in Finchley in 2021. When I was about 26 and working full<br />
time, he gave me a piece of wax and a modelling tool and I spent<br />
6<br />
07
VILLAGE RAW<br />
ART & CULTURE<br />
Previous page: Marilyn Collins with The Spriggan - the sculpture was installed on the Parkland Walk in 1993.<br />
Above left: Marilyn next to her work The Blue Light was My Baby. Above right and next page: Works from The Amazing<br />
Disgraces series.<br />
many evenings playing around with it. Later, when he ran a busy<br />
studio, he offered me work when he had big commissions, as well as<br />
occasional studio space - and I learned a lot about mould making<br />
and casting of sculpture from him. I like engaging other people in<br />
things and making collaborative projects. I don’t really see myself<br />
as an artist with a capital ‘A’. I see myself more as part of a community<br />
that can create something.<br />
Working with Meadow Orchard<br />
and river projects<br />
Nature has always inspired me. I used to love walking in the countryside<br />
and being in the woods and places where everything was<br />
wild. I used to get quite high on it. Until recently, I was a core group<br />
member of the Meadow Orchard, helping to make decisions and<br />
that sort of thing. And I’ve also been a site leader which means you<br />
open and close up on a Saturday when it’s open to the public and<br />
introduce new people and show them things they can do if they<br />
want to. Tasks and that sort of thing. But I’ve had my fingers in lots<br />
of pies there, including growing, and even playing music. Restoring<br />
London’s water courses is important to me too. The meadow is<br />
situated on a small tributary of the Moselle, Haringey’s river, with a<br />
catchment area around the hills surrounding Crouch End, with its<br />
outfall at the River Lea. It’s so important for Londoners to be able to<br />
see and understand how water flows through the landscape. Volunteers<br />
from Meadow Orchard have also been involved with Haringey<br />
Rivers Forum which has been meeting for a few years to increase<br />
the visibility and quality of the Moselle.•<br />
You can see one of Marilyn’s more recent sculptures as part of the River Markers<br />
Sculpture Trail, a collaborative project by volunteers at the Meadow Orchard.<br />
Find out more about Marilyn’s work at: www.marilyncollins.co.uk<br />
To find out more about Meadow Orchard, visit: meadoworchard.org<br />
8
VILLAGE RAW<br />
PARTNER CONTENT<br />
THE WILD<br />
COLLECTIVE<br />
The Wild Collective is a<br />
collaborative exhibition nurturing<br />
creative responses to nature.<br />
Words by Claire Pearce.<br />
It seems fitting that an exhibition about nature should be slightly<br />
out of anyone’s control. The Wild Collective, opening at Omved Gardens<br />
this May, is a collaborative exhibition formed from the results<br />
of an open call - a hand-picked selection of submissions from artists<br />
and makers all over the world.<br />
A collaboration between Omved Gardens, specialist craft gallery<br />
Thrown and floral artist Alice McCabe, the exhibition aims to<br />
“nurture creative responses to nature”, bringing together each of<br />
their distinctive views on this theme. Following on from their material-led<br />
Gatherers (2020) to the reflective Growth (2021), this is their<br />
third collaborative exhibition curated for the Chelsea Fringe, hosted<br />
amongst the impressive glasshouse and green spaces of Omved<br />
Gardens, Highgate.<br />
With submissions open to artists in all media and at all career<br />
levels, the final selection presents an impressive spectrum of original<br />
art, design, craft and everything in-between, responding to the<br />
natural world around us. Expect to see a strong representation of<br />
contemporary craft today with work by established and emerging<br />
names in ceramic, wood, glass and textiles, leading you through the<br />
glasshouse and gardens. The work of multidisciplinary textile artist<br />
Vivian Ge, for example, will be found in the glasshouse - her creative<br />
use of colours, textures and forms drawing on the philosophy<br />
of “dwelling poetically on the earth”. While following Omved’s flowing<br />
path through the garden, you will find the hanging installation Cosmic<br />
Circle by Maria Alvarez Echenique - exploring the circle as a form<br />
found in nature.<br />
The collective will be formed by over 50 artists and makers in total,<br />
alongside chefs, musicians, poets, dancers and more in a series<br />
of workshops and events dotted throughout the exhibition dates.<br />
Two supper club events by Hoxton-based restaurant Gilvic will bring<br />
together a communal table of 30 on each Thursday night of the exhibition,<br />
the first joined by artists from the collective, introducing their<br />
work and ideas with each course. The second, entitled Good Place:<br />
A Series of Interventions inspired by Thomas More’s dinner scene in<br />
Utopia, will include performances and additions to the table by Amy<br />
and Ben McDonnell, Joshua Phillips, Eva Sajovic and Alice McCabe.<br />
There will also be the opportunity for an evening visit on Friday<br />
27th when the exhibition will host The Gathering, wild collective music<br />
making led by improvising vocalist Maggie Nicols. Musicians are<br />
welcome to bring their instruments to join in the event and everyone<br />
is invited to join in or just stand back and listen.<br />
Other ways to experience the exhibition include artists’ tours<br />
each Saturday morning, and a personal introduction to the work on<br />
show by one of the exhibiting artists, as well as the collective’s Slow<br />
Sundays, a series of low-key events in which drawing materials and<br />
clay will be on hand to encourage responses to the work, ideas and<br />
the site around you.<br />
Open Tues-Sat, 10am-6pm, and Sundays 11am-5pm, The Wild<br />
Collective opens at Omved Gardens from Friday 13th May until<br />
Sunday 29th May. Visit the specially created exhibition website<br />
www.wild-collective.com for more details and the full event programme.<br />
Please note, many of the events are ticketed to keep a<br />
watchful eye on numbers and some involve a ticket cost. The exhibition<br />
is a selling exhibition and full details of all artwork involved<br />
will be available to view online from Friday 13th May at 10am via<br />
www.wild-collective.com.•<br />
Opposite page: A Piece<br />
of Garden, 2021, Vivian Ge.<br />
This page: Cosmic Circles<br />
Installation 2, 2019, Maria A.<br />
Echenique (Top); Bracken,2015,<br />
Vladimir Guculak (bottom).<br />
Exhibition dates: 13th - 29th May 2022. Location: Omved Gardens, Townsend<br />
Yard, Highgate, London, N6 5JF<br />
10 11
VILLAGE RAW<br />
VILLAGE PICTURES<br />
A JOURNEY INTO<br />
HIGHGATE’S<br />
LITERARY PAST<br />
A who’s who of the<br />
celebrated writers<br />
associated with<br />
the area<br />
Words by Sharon Goldreich.<br />
For centuries, literati have flocked to Highgate to visit the final<br />
resting places of eminent writers such as George Eliot, Christina<br />
Rossetti, Radclyffe Hall, Douglas Adams (whose devotees leave<br />
pencils by his grave), Alan Sillitoe, Beryl Bainbridge and Andrea Levy.<br />
Yet a considerable number of notable authors also lived,<br />
worked, wrote or were educated in Highgate. In the <strong>16</strong>th century<br />
the area gained popularity, rising above the stench and bustle of<br />
the city and offering clean air and sweeping views of London and<br />
beyond. In the second half of the 17th century, the metaphysical<br />
poet, satirist and politician Andrew Marvell, whose garden imagery<br />
is prevalent in several of his poems, inhabited a cottage in the verdant<br />
grounds of Waterlow Park.<br />
Highgate School itself boasts a prestigious literary history. In<br />
<strong>16</strong>88 Nicholas Rowe, poet, dramatist, writer and first critical editor<br />
of Shakespeare’s works (published in 1709), completed his studies<br />
at the school. He would be appointed poet laureate in 1715 by<br />
George I, three years before his untimely death. Another student,<br />
poet and Jesuit priest, Gerard Manley Hopkins, began composing<br />
verse in his teens while boarding at the school, winning a poetry<br />
prize and leaving for Oxford University in 1863. Little known during<br />
his lifetime, Manley Hopkins is considered the most innovative<br />
of Victorian poets, abandoning traditional metre in favour of his<br />
own “sprung rhythm” which mimicked natural speech. He is seen<br />
as the harbinger of modernist poetry. A key figure of modernist<br />
literature and winner of the Nobel Prize for his poetry in 1948,<br />
TS Eliot also shares a connection to Highgate School where he<br />
taught French and Latin for three terms in 19<strong>16</strong>. Among his pupils in<br />
the Junior School who referred to Eliot as “The American Master”,<br />
was John Betjeman who began writing poems while growing up in<br />
his childhood home at 31 West Hill, Highgate. Betjeman would go on<br />
to become a successful writer and broadcaster and serve as poet<br />
laureate from 1972 until his death in 1984.<br />
Also affiliated with the area was the pre-Raphaelite poet<br />
Christina Rossetti who spent a significant amount of time between<br />
1859-70 volunteering at the St Mary Magdalene Penitentiary<br />
(or House of Charity) - part of a church-founded movement<br />
aimed at rehabilitating “fallen women”. Her experiences are echoed<br />
in poems such as Goblin Market and Cousin Kate.<br />
You may well have come across two blue plaques, diagonally<br />
opposite each other on North Road. At number 92 Charles Dickens<br />
and his family, hoping to recuperate in a pleasant and green locale<br />
from some ailments (or possibly escape Dickens’ creditors), lodged<br />
in cramped conditions for a fortnight in 1832. Conveniently located<br />
next door was The Red Lion pub (demolished in 1900) where Dickens<br />
- as he wrote to a friend - hung out. Five years after this brief<br />
sojourn, Dickens published Oliver Twist in which Noah Claypole and<br />
the servant Charlotte stagger through the Highgate archway towards<br />
the lights of London - and the despicable Bill Sykes scarpers<br />
up Highgate Hill after killing Nancy. David Copperfield, in the eponymous<br />
novel of 1849, visits the Steerforths in Highgate. Dickens<br />
certainly demonstrated a familiarity with the area.<br />
Across the road, at Byron Cottage (number 17), the poet AE<br />
Housman resided from 1885-1905. At this leafy address he composed<br />
the majority of his first popular collection of 63 poems, A<br />
Shropshire Lad (published in 1896). Housman, having not visited<br />
PHOTOS COURTESY PETER O’CONNOR (THIS PAGE) AND MARC HILL / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO (OPPOSITE).<br />
12 13
VILLAGE RAW<br />
VILLAGE PICTURES<br />
Opening page: The Highgate house where Samuel<br />
Taylor Coleridge and JB Priestley lived. Previous<br />
page: Letters written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge<br />
(pictured). This page: Beatrice Lillie and JB<br />
Priestley at an ‘authors vs. actresses’ charity<br />
cricket match held at Highgate’s Athlone House<br />
(then called Caen Wood Towers) on 12 July 1938.<br />
Shropshire apparently, was inspired by the rural ambience of Highgate<br />
and its vicinity, abundant with farms and sheep-grazing fields<br />
on which London had begun to encroach.<br />
Highgate’s most evocative literary address, however, must be<br />
3 The Grove. Set in an elegant row of 17th century houses this address<br />
was home to the Gillman family and their distinguished lodger,<br />
the Romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge whose famous works<br />
include The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Kubla Khan and Christabel.<br />
Coleridge’s health had been deteriorating due to his opium<br />
consumption and he was referred to Dr Gillman, a physician who<br />
specialised in addiction. An initial meeting in 18<strong>16</strong> resulted in an<br />
invitation to be cared for “in house”, and so Coleridge moved into<br />
the Gillman home, Moreton House on Highgate Hill - relocating with<br />
the household to The Grove in 1823. Building works were eventually<br />
undertaken to transform the attic into a spacious study-bedroom<br />
with a vista of the garden, meadows and woodland for “the Sage<br />
of Highgate”, as he became known after Thomas Carlyle’s vivid description.<br />
“Coleridge sat on the brow of Highgate Hill…looking down<br />
on London and its smoke-tumult, like a sage escaped from the<br />
inanity of life’s battle…” A throng of intellectuals and admirers, including<br />
Carlyle, William Wordsworth and even Ralph Waldo Emerson<br />
called on him and salons were held in the house, where he would<br />
launch into lengthy, often abstruse monologues - as he did on encountering<br />
a young John Keats on Millfield Lane by the Heath. Following<br />
this chance meeting in 1819, Coleridge uncannily remarked:<br />
“There is death in that hand.”<br />
Coleridge wrote prolifically during his final 19 years in Highgate,<br />
completing his major prose work, the Biographia Literaria, numerous<br />
poems, religious, philosophical and other writings. He died in<br />
1834, aged 61, and was initially laid to rest in the local church where<br />
Highgate School’s chapel is now located. His wife, daughter, sonin-law<br />
and grandson were later interred with him, yet the grave fell<br />
into disrepair and the family’s remains were moved to the derelict<br />
crypt of nearby St Michael’s church in 1961. Coleridge’s local<br />
church, it was completed two years before his death and was visible<br />
from the front door of his home. The bricked-up family vault<br />
was only rediscovered in 2018 and a fundraising effort is currently<br />
under way to transform the crypt into a commemoration and study<br />
centre, befitting the great writer.<br />
Almost a century later, in 1931, 3 The Grove was again inhabited<br />
by an illustrious writer who chose to retain Coleridge’s attic abode<br />
as his study. JB Priestley had recently shot to fame as a novelist<br />
with his bestsellers The Good Companions (1929) and Angel Pavement<br />
(1930). He subsequently turned his attention to writing for<br />
the theatre, following his first play Dangerous Corner (1932). One<br />
cannot help but wonder if he knew his neighbour at 9 The Grove, the<br />
poet and playwright John Drinkwater, who lived there from 1930-34.<br />
Priestley had mentioned Drinkwater in an essay in 1922, following<br />
the latter’s big success in 1918 with the play Abraham Lincoln, on<br />
both sides of the Atlantic.<br />
Priestley added another string to his bow as a writer when, in<br />
1933, he was commissioned to travel throughout England during<br />
the Great Depression and record his experiences and impressions<br />
of people and places. The travelogue English Journey became<br />
a seminal work of social commentary - an interest that also led<br />
Priestley to enjoy a stint in broadcasting on BBC radio. Drawing listener<br />
ratings that competed only with Churchill’s, his 1940 Sunday<br />
evening slots titled Postscripts addressed the war, zeitgeist and<br />
social reform. Eventually, his left-leaning sociopolitical slant and<br />
criticism of the Conservative government saw the popular show<br />
cancelled. Yet he remained committed to social and political activism<br />
which, in the next decade, led him to become a founding member<br />
of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. Following a divorce<br />
and marriage to his third wife, Priestley moved away from Highgate.<br />
He died in 1984 and his plays are still regularly produced, particularly<br />
the ever popular An Inspector Calls.<br />
While contemplating this house with its two plaques commemorating<br />
these two esteemed residents, I find myself joined by two<br />
passersby. “That’s Kate Moss’s house, isn’t it?” one young man enquires.<br />
“No,” replies the other, (I hold my breath in hopeful anticipation<br />
of a mention of the writers), “she moved out a while ago.”•<br />
For information on the Coleridge Trust’s fundraising, conservation and<br />
commemoration activities, please visit: thecoleridgetrust.com .<br />
PHOTOS COURTESY EVERETT COLLECTION INC / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO.<br />
14 15
VILLAGE RAW<br />
VILLAGE SOUNDS<br />
STRINGS FOR LITTLE FINGERS<br />
Margie Jammie and the wonders of the ukulele.<br />
Words by Julie Tang-Evans.<br />
The appeal of the ukulele is obvious - it’s small, cute, easy to carry<br />
and fairly cheap. It looks like it was designed for a child’s hands. The<br />
soft strings are much easier on little fingers and the sound is very<br />
upbeat - and (in my view) easier on the ears than the ubiquitous<br />
recorder. This little Hawaiian instrument (ukulele roughly means<br />
“jumping flea”) is used across a wide range of musical genres, including<br />
pop, jazz and classical. An instrument like this that really<br />
engages a child at an early age is more likely to keep them learning<br />
music throughout their school years and beyond - and Margie<br />
Jammie (her musician nickname) has created a unique teaching<br />
method that taps into the natural enthusiasm and creativity of<br />
preschool learners.<br />
The Department of Education Music Education Hubs, established<br />
in 2012, are committed to ensuring every child is offered<br />
the opportunity to play an instrument and sing from age five but<br />
children often get no say in the instruments or what kind of music<br />
they’re offered. Margie took note of the music education provision<br />
and her philosophy is that every child would benefit from starting<br />
an instrument and singing much earlier and that music has, she<br />
says: “an important part to play in early years’ learning and development,<br />
supporting creativity, imagination and emotional resilience”.<br />
Never more so than after the past two years of Covid and<br />
interrupted education our children have endured. We are always<br />
facing financial challenges in education, and music provision in<br />
schools is often the first thing to be cut. But if children can access<br />
music early on - playing and singing - it greatly enhances their<br />
continued development, both educationally and socially. “As music<br />
educators this is key if we are to help each other, our communities<br />
and our children cope and develop emotional resilience alongside<br />
musical preparedness,” says Margie.<br />
With a varied background in graphic design, teaching swimming,<br />
English and music, playing guitar and performing in an Italian punk<br />
band as a teenager, Margie discovered the joy of the ukulele at a<br />
tricky time in her own life and says it helped her cope. She firmly believes<br />
that music unites people of all ages and is a panacea for the<br />
highs and lows of life we all experience. Together with guitar teacher<br />
Luca Comencini and multi-instrumentalist singer/songwriter Alex<br />
Gold (aka Darling Boy), she set up the North London Ukulele Club in<br />
2013, aimed at engaging players of all ages and abilities to learn and<br />
enjoy playing and composing songs, and performing if they wanted<br />
to. Margie quickly realised the potential of the ukulele as an instrument<br />
for young musicians. Parents had begun asking her to teach<br />
their children and in 2015 she put together a unique child-centred<br />
preschool method, calling it Ukulittle. Children are encouraged to<br />
compose their own songs or change the words of songs to sing as<br />
they play along - rare in a music curriculum for young learners. “It<br />
works on the basis that all children have different learning curves,<br />
inclinations and aptitudes regardless of age, and plays to their<br />
strengths, building confidence and a can-do attitude.”<br />
Margie began using her Ukulittle method to teach children at<br />
Kidz Kabin nurseries and also ran a club at St James Primary School<br />
with help from music teacher Awen Duggin. As with so many activities,<br />
in 2020 she had to move to Zoom lessons though she was<br />
pleasantly surprised by the outcome when children kept learning in<br />
1:1 or group sessions and even self-recorded for the end-of-year<br />
talent show. She continued teaching online even when schools reopened<br />
and with pupils who moved out of London or abroad. She<br />
found her method transferred exceptionally well to the Zoom interactive<br />
shared board and the children’s engagement and focus is<br />
even better than in physical lessons where the environment can be<br />
distracting. While Margie hopes soon to resume in-person classes<br />
her goal now is to take a step back from teaching and promote the<br />
Ukulittle method to early learning school teachers and other music<br />
teachers, encouraging use of the child-friendly teaching materials<br />
and stories she has created. Materials include colourful bracelets<br />
with ‘skin’ coloured plectrums attached (stops them being lost),<br />
coloured dots for the ukulele and eco-friendly ‘rep’ sliders with felt<br />
balls. These resources are available to buy via the Ukulittle website.<br />
Also available to download for free (donations welcome) is a<br />
fun-packed innovative eBook - each story supported by a companion<br />
video presented by Margie’s charming and colourful alter ego,<br />
UkuLeela. There are also individual songs and pdf printables plus<br />
a teacher’s book in the pipeline - and Margie is confident there’s<br />
nothing similar to Ukulittle in the early years’ music market.<br />
It’s clear to see what a huge labour of love this project is and<br />
continues to be. Margie has a passion for the ukulele and loves<br />
children - and is truly committed to bringing the two together. As<br />
we finished chatting she told me she sees teaching the ukulele as<br />
her ‘ikigai’ - the Japanese philosophy where your passion becomes<br />
your purpose and brings you joy and inspiration. For Margie the ukulele<br />
means far more than a cute set of strings.<br />
•<br />
Margie is very happy to discuss Ukulittle and what she<br />
offers in more detail and can be contacted via the website<br />
or email: www.ukulittle.com / hello@ukulittle.com. To<br />
download the free Ukulittle eBook visit: www.ukulittle.com/<br />
freepreschoolukuleleebook. To make a donation for the free<br />
eBook visit: www.ukulittle.com/donations. North London<br />
Ukulele Club: www.northlondonukeleleclub.co.uk<br />
<strong>16</strong> 17
VILLAGE RAW<br />
VILLAGE PICTURES<br />
IN A TIME OF ITS OWN<br />
W Martyn has been trading since 1897. As its 125th<br />
anniversary approaches, <strong>Village</strong> <strong>Raw</strong> visits the shop<br />
with timeless appeal.<br />
Words by Carla Parks. Photos by Zoe Norfolk.<br />
When William Martyn was just a little boy in the 1960s, he inherited<br />
a sack of wooden bricks that he’d use for building whatever his<br />
child’s imagination dreamt up. Imagination is a talent he would later<br />
use to create towering window displays at W Martyn, the Muswell<br />
Hill shop that has been in his family since 1897.<br />
It’s well over 100 years since his great-grandfather William<br />
Martyn left a farming family in Devon, with his brother, to seek his<br />
fortune in London. He settled at 135 Muswell Hill Broadway and<br />
opened W Martyn as a greengrocer selling fresh food and essentials<br />
to middle class families. He lived upstairs with his extended<br />
family (and even some members of staff) until he’d saved enough<br />
money to move out to Whetstone.<br />
When you visit the shop today, it’s still evocative of its past.<br />
A patinaed wooden counter runs almost the entire length of the<br />
store where old-fashioned sweets, chocolates and cakes compete<br />
with branded teas, dried fruit and nuts for counter space.<br />
The unmistakable aroma of freshly roasted coffee greets anyone<br />
who walks in. Canvas sacks of beans sit on the floor, with a<br />
coffee roaster from the 1950s still spinning away in the window<br />
fronting the street. Stories and memories abound. For example,<br />
Great Aunt Freda apparently had her appendix removed on an upstairs<br />
kitchen table sometime in the 1900s.<br />
In a back room office, where time has moved on, William<br />
explains that his parents met as a result of the business.<br />
18 19
VILLAGE PICTURES<br />
21
VILLAGE RAW<br />
VILLAGE PICTURES<br />
Opening pages: The W Martyn<br />
coffee roaster - when in<br />
operation the aroma seeps<br />
out into the high street.<br />
These pages: The inside<br />
of the shop retains many<br />
of its original features.<br />
William’s grandmother was a regular customer and used to have<br />
her groceries delivered. At some point his mother started dating<br />
Mr Martyn the grocery man. “Perhaps she thought she’d get a discount,”<br />
he laughs.<br />
William is the fourth generation to run the family business. The<br />
youngest Martyn, his 21-year-old son, is an electrician. With the<br />
emergence of supermarkets and chains in the 1950s, W Martyn<br />
couldn’t compete and started to specialise and consolidate. Three<br />
W Martyn stores became one and the Golders Green site became a<br />
Costa Coffee while the Finchley premises is rented out by the family<br />
to a bookmaker.<br />
William’s father came into the business in 1948 and worked<br />
sporadically until his late seventies. “Father used to tell me stories<br />
about going down to the docks in London to pick up our dried<br />
fruit and bringing it back to the stores - and having to prepare it<br />
because it wasn’t prepared in those days,” William says. “We still<br />
have some of the massive sieves for washing the dried fruit before<br />
it was put on sale.”<br />
Customers still come for the dried fruit (a bestseller) and of<br />
course the coffee, which is now also sold online. Some of W Martyn’s<br />
regulars have been coming in for decades. “We have custom-<br />
ers who come in here for a chat and we’ll sit them down and make<br />
them a cup of coffee or tea,” says William. “We are part of the community<br />
as well. I’ve always said it is not a job but a way of life.”<br />
Will this way of life continue for another generation? William<br />
isn’t sure, explaining that owning the building’s freehold has<br />
helped ensure their survival until now. At 59, however, he’s thinking<br />
about the future. It’s physical work too. As a sign of how things<br />
have changed, the shop used to close every lunchtime between<br />
1.00 and 2.15pm, early on Thursdays and all-day Sunday. It’s now<br />
seven days a week.<br />
But there is genuine love for the place - and a 125th anniversary<br />
to celebrate in August. William says he often thinks of his<br />
great-grandfather and what he would make of the store today.<br />
“He’d recognise the front, I’m sure, but would he believe that the<br />
shop would still be employing family members who make a living<br />
from it? I find that amazing.”<br />
•<br />
You can find out more about W Martyn’s history and view more archive photos on their<br />
website: www.wmartyn.co.uk<br />
22 23
VILLAGE RAW<br />
PARTNER CONTENT<br />
THE ART OF<br />
ESTATE AGENCY<br />
How Brickworks has defined<br />
its role in Property,<br />
interiors and community.<br />
Words by Caroline Watson.<br />
Photos by Alys Tomlinson<br />
and Anna Batchelor.<br />
For Ellie and Rex, the driving force behind Brickworks’ business<br />
model comes from a desire to challenge the industry status quo<br />
- they knew there had to be a better way to buy and sell a home, believing<br />
the process itself should be positive and not something to<br />
be endured. From the inside out, their actions are clear: Brickworks<br />
is different - and not just for the sake of being different.<br />
The team is a vibrant, socially conscious crowd combining<br />
backgrounds in everything from academia and the arts to business<br />
and media. They believe this broad range of expertise and experience<br />
makes the company and the service they provide more adept<br />
and well rounded. Teamwork is at the core and no one is paid by<br />
commission – they are rewarded by their level of customer care.<br />
There is also no cold calling, no gazumping, no door knocking or flyering<br />
and, importantly, no sale boards (which are typically made of<br />
non-recyclable plastic). Just human connection and nurturing the<br />
process from start to finish. Ellie, who trained at Central St Martins<br />
College Art and Design, says: “Even after seven years working in<br />
the property sector I don’t consider myself a conventional estate<br />
agent. I feel that my role is to help people move home - but I’m not<br />
part of the established industry.”<br />
Of the 54,000 practising estate agencies in London, Brickworks<br />
is the only agency to provide a scholarship fund to help young<br />
homeless people reconnect with education and the arts. Their<br />
charitable partnership with Accumulate, a London youth homelessness<br />
charity run by inspirational Crouch Ender Marice Cumber,<br />
is a creative, practical and authentic response to a very real need<br />
for change. Rex says: “We believe in building a better society and a<br />
shared responsibility to end homelessness. We reject the idea that<br />
caring about these things and being business-minded are mutually<br />
exclusive. In fact, the opposite, we think these shared aims make<br />
us stronger. So, from day one, we pledged to give a percentage of<br />
each and every sale fee we received to a homeless charity. It started<br />
small but, over the years, these contributions have added up.” In<br />
recent years, the initiative has evolved into a formal collaboration.<br />
With Accumulate providing creative workshops for young homeless<br />
people living in hostels or temporary accommodation in London,<br />
the Brickworks’ sponsorship supports someone new each year -<br />
with the first student who was sponsored four years ago about to<br />
finish a photography degree.<br />
Brickworks has also recently launched Studio Brickworks which<br />
offers interior design, home staging and house doctoring services.<br />
The way a home is presented has a considerable impact on how<br />
much you sell for - typically about 10% - but Brickworks has seen<br />
some sales increase by much more.<br />
Creative studio director Tamineh Dhondy says: “Our team works<br />
creatively to make the houses we sell reach their absolute potential.”<br />
They adopt the same core business values as Brickworks, using<br />
secondhand furniture wherever possible and supporting local<br />
artists and craftspeople by buying and including their work in the<br />
properties they stage. Tam adds: “Time and time again homes that<br />
have previously sat on the market for months, which we have taken<br />
on, renovated and transformed, then go under offer in a weekend.”<br />
The costs for these services are paid from the completion funds<br />
at the end of the sale which helps reduce associated admin and<br />
removes the financial burden from upfront costs.<br />
In some respects, the journey for Brickworks and Studio Brickworks<br />
has only just begun - and they are launching a new website<br />
including a series of videos, visual guides and kitchen table<br />
interviews with industry experts, charitable collaborators, artists<br />
and makers. Ellie says: “There are so many crucial conversations<br />
to have. I will continue to bang my drum loudly for women in the<br />
industry. I’d like to see deep dives into company culture and reformed<br />
parental leave and pay. I’d like flexible working (for parents)<br />
to become the norm.”•<br />
To share in their conversations, collaborate on a topic or to simply find out more<br />
about Brickworks and the studio, head to: www.brickworkslondon.com or follow on<br />
Instagram: @brickworks_london<br />
24 25
VILLAGE RAW<br />
COMMUNITY<br />
THE MEALS THAT KEEP GIVING<br />
The cost-of-living crisis has pushed some people to the<br />
edge. Two community food projects - started in lockdown -<br />
are now a valuable lifeline run by volunteers.<br />
Words by Carla Parks. Photos by Dan Bridge.<br />
When Marcus Rashford launched himself into the pandemic debate<br />
over free school meals, it wasn’t just the Twittersphere that<br />
took notice. Giuseppe Sollo, who was then working as a chef at the<br />
Houses of Parliament, was struck by the level of need in a place as<br />
ostensibly wealthy as England. He wrote a Facebook post from his<br />
private account asking how many people in the Finchley community<br />
needed a free meal. He was inundated.<br />
While many people might feel paralysed or daunted by the scope<br />
of such an undertaking, Giuseppe didn’t hesitate. People needed<br />
meals, he reasoned, and he was prepared to roll up his sleeves and<br />
cook. He started from a friend’s kitchen about a year and a half ago,<br />
cooking nearly all day as the space was too small to produce food in<br />
large quantities. Today, this hard work has evolved into the N2 Food<br />
Project, serving people in the community who can’t afford to buy or<br />
cook nutritious meals themselves.<br />
Initially conceived as a lockdown project that would eventually<br />
wind down, the need hasn’t tailed off. Project manager Fiona Doyle<br />
is one of those who volunteered to help. “We initially thought the<br />
‘end’ of the coronavirus pandemic would see a drop in need,” she<br />
tells <strong>Village</strong> <strong>Raw</strong>. Instead, a combination of soaring bills, a hike in<br />
National Insurance contributions and a freeze in wages has meant<br />
the opposite. “The project is still very much an important part of<br />
people’s lives,” she adds.<br />
Recently I met Giuseppe in the kitchen of Martin Primary School<br />
in East Finchley, where his team of volunteers cook roughly 200<br />
meals every Sunday. As a result of a new partnership that number<br />
will roughly double. Some of these meals are distributed at the<br />
Phoenix Cinema, while some get delivered to homes. Today’s meal<br />
is chana masala, a dish that originally comes from the Punjab region<br />
of India. The chefs make meals from different cultures as a<br />
way of being inclusive.<br />
Originally from Napoli, Giuseppe insists that nothing on this<br />
scale would have been possible without his loyal volunteers. “My<br />
kitchen is always open for those who want to come and cook with<br />
us,” he adds. Some volunteers have even launched new careers<br />
as a result of the experience. Two plumbers, for example, are now<br />
working as chefs after spending six months in the kitchen.<br />
From the start Giuseppe’s vision has been to use fresh, quality<br />
ingredients to make the dishes, almost all of which are vegetarian.<br />
It’s something on which he hasn’t compromised. It’s a lean team<br />
working in the kitchen this Sunday, led by Vincenzo Napoletano,<br />
who stirs a large pot of curry. A close friend of Giuseppe’s, he’s<br />
credited as the “mastermind” behind all the meals. Some in the<br />
team chop vegetables while others delicately fill pastry for the apple<br />
turnovers that are this week’s pudding. This is not just cooking,<br />
Giuseppe tells me, it’s about giving.<br />
He vows to keep going “until no one is hungry” - but it’s hard<br />
to see how that persistent social issue will ever be resolved. On<br />
the surface, East Finchley is a leafy, middle-class suburb, but its<br />
appearance hides pockets of severe deprivation. “It’s in a borough<br />
not considered to be deprived and so it doesn’t have the<br />
support you would get in other places,” says Julia Hines, who lives<br />
in the area and helped the team at N2 with some logistics and<br />
practicalities.<br />
An estimated 14% of children are living in poverty in Barnet, according<br />
to the Department for Work and Pensions. Astonishingly,<br />
81% of these children come from working households. These are<br />
the worst figures since records began in 2014-15. Food banks are<br />
increasingly in demand too. The number of people using a food<br />
bank in Barnet soared during the pandemic. Two years ago 21,000<br />
people per week were visiting a food bank in the borough. The number<br />
in 2021 went up as high as 107,000.<br />
26 27
VILLAGE RAW<br />
COMMUNITY<br />
Previous page: The N2 Food Project outside East Finchley’s Phoenix Cinema. Opposite page and above:<br />
The Food for All project in Wolves Lane, N22.<br />
“I expect there to be a lot more calls for what Giuseppe does,”<br />
Julia tells me. Despite being deeply impressed with his resolve, she<br />
feels saddened that such a service is needed locally.<br />
Similar schemes have cropped up elsewhere. Wolves Lane - a<br />
former garden centre and nursery which has become a community<br />
food hub - has been growing and cooking food to support the<br />
Haringey community through Food for All, a project that started in<br />
lockdown in 2020.<br />
A small team makes about 250 meals weekly, using some of<br />
the vegetables grown on site and with food donated by The Felix<br />
Project. These are distributed to the Selby Food Hub, sheltered<br />
housing and Homes for Haringey. Shira Bernstein is one of the<br />
chefs who leads the volunteers, supported by Ella, the project’s<br />
vegetable grower. “It’s really hard work,” Shira admits, “but we<br />
have a great crew and it’s therapy as well.” Like the N2 Food Project<br />
they have found the need still exists despite the easing of<br />
Covid-19 restrictions.<br />
One Tuesday in early spring, I went along to the Phoenix Cinema<br />
to meet the volunteers who distribute the food prepared on<br />
Sundays for the N2 Food Project. There’s a slow trickle of people<br />
who have come to rely on the service. Anyone can turn up<br />
and take food but those who can pay are asked to make a small<br />
donation to fund those who can’t. On good days they might make<br />
about £90 - but it’s not enough.<br />
The food that isn’t given away or sold goes to various local<br />
charities and to PINT, a London project that helps the homeless<br />
and those in need. Cee, its charismatic founder, picks up what he<br />
can carry from the cinema, distributes it to a few people he knows<br />
nearby and then takes the rest to other areas. He calls their collaboration<br />
with the N2 Food Project “an instant success”.<br />
A natural storyteller, Cee tells me about the many people he’s<br />
met on the streets, from builders to former doctors. “With the current<br />
state of the economy and energy prices going through the<br />
roof,” he explains, “we have seen more and more people forced into<br />
poverty and homelessness weekly.” Cee asks if I’ve tried the food<br />
and I shake my head. He tells me I must try it, as he starts packing<br />
up to head out on the road.<br />
•<br />
The N2 Food Project is part of East Finchley Neighbourhood Support, a Community<br />
Interest Company. Check: @N2FoodProject, or email: efnsfoodproject@gmail.com<br />
to volunteer. You can also drop non-perishable food at the Phoenix Cinema between<br />
10.30am-12.30pm on Tuesdays. To find out more about PINT (People in Need Today)<br />
check: @pintgiving on Insta, Twitter and Facebook. To find out about Food for All check:<br />
@wolveslane_n22 and if you’re interested in volunteering complete an application at:<br />
wolveslane.org.<br />
28 29
VILLAGE RAW<br />
SUSTAINABLE VILLAGE<br />
THE BIG PLASTIC COUNT<br />
<strong>Village</strong> <strong>Raw</strong> caught up with naturalist Chris Packham to<br />
discuss The Big Plastic Count – the UK’s largest-ever<br />
investigation into household plastic waste.<br />
Words by David Reeve. Photos by Isabelle Rose Povey.<br />
Chris Packham has been a huge part of my life - from The Really Wild<br />
Show in the 80s and beyond - so I was looking forward to our conversation.<br />
When Chris’s image appeared on the Zoom link at 11am<br />
he mentioned he hadn’t brushed his teeth yet (“mossy teeth”)<br />
having just arrived home at 4.30am from a late-night presentation.<br />
I was slightly relieved that it wasn’t our zoom call that woke him up<br />
though – it was his poodles that jumped on him.<br />
The launch of The Big Plastic Count comes as new polling from<br />
YouGov, commissioned by Greenpeace UK, shows how more than<br />
four in five people (81%) want the UK government to introduce targets<br />
to reduce plastic waste. The Big Plastic Count – a collaboration<br />
between Greenpeace UK and non-profit organisation Everyday<br />
Plastic – encourages individuals, households, schools, community<br />
groups and businesses across the UK to count their plastic packaging<br />
waste between <strong>16</strong>-22 May, record the different types they<br />
throw away and enter their results onto the campaign website.<br />
“It’s ridiculous that we’re still swamped with plastic waste when<br />
it makes so many of us furious. The natural world can’t cope,” says<br />
Chris. “We talk about the existential problems of climate change, biodiversity<br />
loss and they appear to people, unfortunately, as things<br />
that are over there and out of their control. We’re shown images<br />
or told stories about levels of destruction and waste which are far<br />
greater than our own as individuals. I think it’s all about awareness.<br />
It’s getting people to connect with how they are playing a part in<br />
our problem but, at the same time, it’s critical to empower them so<br />
that they’re also part of a solution. If they are significant enough<br />
to be collectively contributing to create a problem, they are also<br />
significant enough to be empowered to be part of a collective solution.”<br />
The data each participant of the plastic count generates will<br />
contribute to an overall national picture, filling a crucial evidence<br />
gap on exactly how much plastic packaging waste is leaving UK<br />
homes. The results will demonstrate the scale of the plastic waste<br />
problem and pressure the government and supermarkets to tackle<br />
the root cause of the plastic crisis.<br />
“The waste issue is very interesting in that it’s something which<br />
we’ve come to tolerate,” says Chris. “We accept wastage in our<br />
lives and we think nothing of it.” According to a recent report, the<br />
UK produces more plastic waste per person than almost any other<br />
country in the world, second only to the USA - that’s nearly 99kg<br />
per UK citizen. The unique methodology of The Big Plastic Count<br />
will provide participants with their plastic footprint - an in-depth<br />
account of what they’re throwing away and what happens to it -<br />
and will tell them how much of their plastic waste will be recycled,<br />
landfilled, incinerated or exported. “Campaigns like this offer us<br />
the opportunity to empower ourselves as individuals to make a difference,”<br />
continues Chris. “And certainly when that empowerment<br />
spreads to a community, a home, a workplace, a school, whatever<br />
that community is, then it becomes more meaningful.”<br />
Greenpeace UK and Everyday Plastic will use the results of The<br />
Big Plastic Count to push the UK government to introduce stricter<br />
policies to reduce plastic waste. These include setting a target to<br />
halve the UK’s single-use plastic by 2025, banning all plastic waste<br />
exports and implementing an all-in Deposit Return Scheme (DRS)<br />
for recycling and reuse. “Ultimately what we need is the entire<br />
planet community to wake up to this - and then demand change<br />
from ourselves and from those that govern us.” As we come to say<br />
our goodbyes I tell Chris I hope he will find a moment to brush his<br />
teeth before the next interview begins. That makes me wonder and<br />
after a quick search I find that toothbrushes can’t be recycled in<br />
general waste - the nearest toothbrush recycling point to us is the<br />
New North London Synagogue in N3 - and we have to email in advance<br />
to tell them we’re coming.•<br />
You can join The Big Plastic Count at: thebigplasticcount.com<br />
PHOTOS © ISABELLE ROSE POVEY/GREENPEACE.<br />
30 31
VILLAGE RAW<br />
SUSTAINABLE VILLAGE<br />
ON THE B-LINE<br />
Local initiatives to help our pollinators.<br />
Words by Hannah Duncan. Photos by David Reeve and Annie Spratt.<br />
Kate Brown is one of many deeply concerned about the rapid decline<br />
of pollinators and she helps run East Finchley Community<br />
Trust’s Pollinator Project. Pollinators are creatures that fertilise<br />
plants by moving from one to another, and this is how we get a lot<br />
of our food. Kate explains: “Without pollinators there would be no<br />
wheat for bread - or fruit to eat. Astonishingly, one in every three<br />
bites is thanks to the humble pollinator.”<br />
Paul Hetherington corroborates: “We would lose eight out of<br />
ten of every wildflower, as well as most of our fruit and vegetables”.<br />
Paul works for Buglife, an organisation dedicated to preserving<br />
Britain’s insects. Emblazoned across its website is a hard-hitting<br />
warning from Sir David Attenborough: “If we and the rest of the<br />
back-boned animals were to disappear overnight, the rest of the<br />
world would get on pretty well. But if the invertebrates were to disappear,<br />
the world’s ecosystems would collapse.”<br />
Worryingly, they are disappearing. According to European Union<br />
research, around a third of our bees and butterflies are in decline.<br />
Our pesticide-intensive farming and sprawling urbanisation<br />
has forced pollinators out of their homes. “Over the last 50 years,<br />
we’ve lost an area the size of Wales in wildflower meadows,” elaborates<br />
Kate.<br />
In our neighbourhood we’re in a truly unique position to help. A<br />
major B-Line passes through much of the area covered by <strong>Village</strong><br />
<strong>Raw</strong>, encompassing Highgate, East Finchley, Muswell Hill, Hornsey,<br />
Wood Green and a part of Crouch End. A Buglife initiative, the<br />
B-lines are a network of insect pathways that weave their way<br />
across the British landscape, providing a highway for bees and<br />
bugs to connect and migrate. If we offer open flowers and places<br />
for them to rest, we can help preserve the delicate ecosystem<br />
everyone relies on.<br />
“If you create the habitat, the pollinators will come,” Kate<br />
smiles. To get the ball rolling she’s hosting free classes and providing<br />
materials to help you build your very own bug hotel in Cherry<br />
Tree Wood. Everyone is welcome to join the classes which promise<br />
to be a lot of fun - especially for kids.<br />
If a bug hotel doesn’t sound up your street, you could create<br />
a “nectar cafe” - which simply means planting flowers. Across<br />
East Finchley, the community has been getting involved. A particularly<br />
striking example can be seen at the underground station<br />
where a drab grassy patch was transformed into a festival<br />
of colourful flowers.<br />
Some locals have even been scattering seeds - delighting<br />
neighbours with surprise flowers as well as helping pollinators.<br />
One of the younger activists is Magnus Hetzscholdt. As a 15-<br />
year old guerrilla gardener, he plants sunflowers in memory of his<br />
grandfather who started the tradition in his home town of Nijmegen<br />
in the Netherlands. A seasoned secret gardener, Magnus recommends<br />
others to: “Avoid places where there’s shade or people<br />
cut the grass.”<br />
Kate, Magnus and his mum Ezra van Wilgenburg are part of a<br />
wider community enriching the neighbourhood with bug hotels and<br />
nectar cafes. The Archer Academy garden is the latest location to<br />
enjoy a new colourful burst of wildlife. But you can spot tiny nectar<br />
cafes dotted around everywhere. Anyone can get involved by<br />
planting flowers and providing sanctuaries for pollinators.•<br />
If you’d like to find out about events, organise a free talk or see what’s going on, email<br />
The Pollinator Project at: efpollinators@gmail.com<br />
For more info about Buglife and to view the B-Line map check: www. buglife.org.uk<br />
32 33
VILLAGE RECIPE<br />
SINGAPORE-STYLE<br />
CHILLI TOFU<br />
Recipe by Dominique Woolf.<br />
This recipe was inspired by the stunning dish Singapore-style<br />
chilli prawns, which is itself a version of the famous<br />
Singapore chilli crab. Tofu can sometimes get a bad<br />
rap but it makes a fantastic alternative to prawns, especially<br />
midweek. It has a relatively long shelf life so is great<br />
to have on hand in the fridge. Frying it until crispy gives it<br />
great texture and it absorbs all the flavours of the sauce.<br />
This dish is all about the sauce. It even converted my tofu-fearing<br />
husband.<br />
Note: The egg thickens the sauce and adds a lovely richness and flavour but<br />
can easily be omitted for a vegan version.<br />
INGREDIENTS (Serves 2)<br />
40g cashew nuts<br />
Neutral oil, for frying<br />
200g firm tofu, dried with kitchen paper<br />
and cut into bite-sized cubes<br />
1 onion, finely chopped<br />
1 tbsp grated ginger (approx. 3cm)<br />
3 cloves of garlic, crushed<br />
2 red chillies, finely chopped (use fewer chillies<br />
or deseed if you prefer a milder heat)<br />
1 medium tomato, diced<br />
200ml hot veg or chicken stock, or boiling water<br />
1 small egg, lightly beaten<br />
For the sauce:<br />
4 tbsp tomato ketchup<br />
2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce<br />
1 tbsp light soy sauce<br />
1 tsp sesame oil, preferably toasted<br />
METHOD<br />
1. Toast the cashews in a large non-stick frying pan over<br />
a medium heat until golden. Remove from the pan and<br />
set aside.<br />
2. Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the pan and when hot, add the<br />
tofu and fry for 5–10 minutes - until all sides are golden.<br />
Remove from the pan and set aside.<br />
3. Meanwhile, mix the sauce ingredients together in a<br />
small bowl and place near the stove.<br />
4. Wipe any excess tofu crumbs from the pan, then add<br />
another tablespoon of oil. Reduce the heat to medium-low<br />
and add the onions, ginger, garlic and chillies<br />
along with a pinch of salt. Cook for 7–10 minutes, stirring<br />
occasionally, until softened. Add another drizzle of<br />
oil, if necessary.<br />
5. Add the tomatoes along with the sauce and simmer for<br />
3–5 minutes, or until the tomatoes have reduced down.<br />
Stir frequently to prevent it sticking to the pan, adding a<br />
splash of water, if needed.<br />
6. Pour in the hot stock or water, turn the heat to medium<br />
and bring to a simmer. Add the broccoli and coat in the<br />
sauce. Cook for a couple of minutes, then pour in the<br />
egg and stir to mix.<br />
7. Return the tofu to the pan and cook for a further minute<br />
until heated through and the broccoli is just cooked.<br />
Loosen the sauce with a little water if needed, then<br />
taste for seasoning and adjust as necessary.<br />
8. Just before serving, stir through the toasted cashews.<br />
Serve with rice.•<br />
Recipe extracted from Dominique’s Kitchen,<br />
published by Penguin Michael Joseph,<br />
out on 9th June and available to pre-order<br />
now from Amazon. Follow Dominique on<br />
Instagram @dominiquewoolf<br />
The Big<br />
presents<br />
Green Fair<br />
DISCOVER<br />
LOCAL<br />
SUSTAINABLE<br />
BUSINESSES,<br />
ECO-FRIENDLY<br />
PRODUCTS AND<br />
SERVICES<br />
£1 ENTRANCE<br />
SUNDAY<br />
29TH MAY<br />
10AM - 2PM<br />
HORNSEY<br />
PARISH<br />
CHURCH HALL<br />
N10 3AH<br />
34
VILLAGE RAW<br />
WELLNESS<br />
ASK OLA<br />
Ola Nwakodo is a medical herbalist and writer who helps and supports<br />
people in applying a holistic,integrative and empowering approach<br />
to taking care of illness and health. Ola advocates knowledge as power.<br />
Send your questions to hello@villageraw.com<br />
Words by Ola Nwakodo. Photo by Bundo Kim.<br />
READER QUESTION: “Do you have suggestions for women who<br />
are perimenopausal on how to improve disrupted sleep and<br />
relieve musculoskeletal pain?”<br />
A time of transition, perimenopause is typically a phase when<br />
hormones are in flux. Female hormones, especially oestrogen,<br />
surge and fall in what seems like an erratic fashion. For some<br />
these swings result in myriad symptoms.<br />
Oestrogen receptors are located in cells all over the body<br />
and are involved in the regulation of many complex physiological<br />
processes in women. They can be found in the ovaries,<br />
breasts and uterus as well as the brain, kidneys, liver, lungs,<br />
heart, bones, endothelial cells, intestinal mucosa, adipose tissue,<br />
immune system and central nervous system.<br />
Research shows that symptoms, such as sleep disruption,<br />
anxiety and depressed mood during the menopausal transition,<br />
are also linked to pain symptoms, particularly musculoskeletal<br />
pain which is highly prevalent in perimenopausal<br />
women. Females who experience sleep disruption also seem<br />
to have increased pain severity.<br />
Oestrogen which is known to be an anti-inflammatory is in<br />
decline so things start to hurt more. Hormonal changes also<br />
make the body more inclined to dehydration, which can cause<br />
joint swelling as a result of uric acid build-up. These changes<br />
could also bring on osteoporosis and osteoarthritis.<br />
You don’t mention any other symptoms that you may be<br />
experiencing. I wondered if your sleep was disrupted solely by<br />
musculoskeletal pain or whether it is also affected by swings in<br />
body temperature - “hot flushes” - which can also be linked to<br />
stress. Understanding the different types of musculoskeletal<br />
pain can help you to develop a pain management strategy. I<br />
would recommend an integrative approach.<br />
black cohosh, fennel and motherwort. If there’s nervous tension,<br />
irritability, anxiety or exhaustion, skullcap can be a welcome<br />
addition.<br />
A mixture of essential oils including lavender, basil, juniper<br />
and sweet marjoram is shown to reduce sleep disturbance and<br />
improve overall well-being. I particularly like blending lavender<br />
and marjoram essential oils in a bath, diffuser, as drops on a<br />
pillowcase or massaged on the chest. They both have an extremely<br />
calming effect and strong sedative qualities.<br />
PAIN MANAGEMENT<br />
I regularly rely on the combination of devil’s claw and meadowsweet<br />
herbal tinctures to tackle and alleviate pain and inflammation.<br />
Meadowsweet is really useful as an analgesic and<br />
anti-inflammatory that also promotes wound healing and can<br />
stimulate the creation of new cells. Devil’s claw is known for<br />
the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory actions of the class of<br />
compounds it contains known as iridoid glycosides. Research<br />
states that it is found to have a similar action as steroids with<br />
none of the side effects.<br />
Women suffering from musculoskeletal pain may see some<br />
benefit and safe relief from chronic pain by using frequent<br />
contrast showers - this is the alternation of hot and cold water<br />
on the body, ending the cycle with cold water. It’s a centuries<br />
old rehabilitation tool to support whole body healing. It is used<br />
to relieve chronic pain, stiffness, inflammation and soreness<br />
as well as to revive circulation and encourage elimination. Caution<br />
is advised where cardiovascular issues or any open injury<br />
exist. Also likely to improve sleep quality is a warm shower an<br />
hour or two before bedtime.<br />
FEED THE HORMONAL SYSTEM WITH PLANT SOURCES<br />
Infusions of nettle can nourish the body with plant hormones,<br />
numerous vitamins and minerals, and vitex can support the pituitary<br />
gland which helps regulate oestrogen and progesterone.<br />
A well-balanced diet - one that includes rich sources of<br />
phytoestrogens such as seeds (flax, pumpkin, sunflower, sesame),<br />
alfalfa, hummus and soya - may help in regulating hormonal<br />
fluctuations and support metabolism of oestrogen. You<br />
may want to look into seed cycling. Any foods, vitamins and<br />
minerals that reduce inflammation are also a must.<br />
PROMOTE REHYDRATION<br />
Hormonal changes can cause dehydration and a build-up of<br />
uric acid resulting in joint swelling.<br />
MEDITATION – BODY SCAN<br />
When sleep is disrupted body scan meditation whilst lying<br />
still in bed, with eyes closed, can be an effective way to reconnect<br />
with it. Starting from the top downwards seems to<br />
do the trick for many!<br />
•<br />
SLEEP<br />
To improve sleep, especially when disturbed by stress and/<br />
or night sweats and palpitations, support sleep quality with<br />
a combination of tinctures of hops, sage, zizyphus, clover,<br />
For consultations, enquiries, requests contact: www.saintandsmith.com /<br />
07971193396<br />
36 37
VILLAGE GREEN<br />
Local Nature<br />
Nurturing character<br />
through nature<br />
OmVed Gardens’ new initiative - Local Nature -<br />
was inspired by our community conversations<br />
about how the experience of lockdowns<br />
has shaped our relationship with ourselves,<br />
others and the planet. We have taken<br />
these conversations forward to create<br />
the Local Nature project.<br />
Each month, we pose a question for reflection<br />
and invite our community to share in-person<br />
at our monthly meetups at OmVed, or virtually<br />
via our website. Come, listen, share, commune.<br />
Details to get involved can be<br />
found at www.local-nature.com<br />
www.omvedgardens.com<br />
Nurturing Day<br />
Giggy & Bab<br />
retro step stools<br />
Beautifully British<br />
Vintage design<br />
reincarnated<br />
10 frame colours<br />
3 wood finishes<br />
Highgate<br />
Art School<br />
A full-day retreat programme<br />
available for small groups of 10-12 people to engage<br />
with our garden, kitchen and creative activities exclusively.<br />
Born out of an interest to share our work and restoring<br />
philosophy in a holistic way and with a range of communities<br />
after the stresses of the covid pandemic, the day provides<br />
a much-needed break and pause from everyday routine<br />
and an opportunity to reflect and connect to the environmen<br />
oneself and each other at a slow pace.<br />
THE SPECKLED WOOD<br />
Words and photo by David Reeve.<br />
Speckled Woods enjoy dappled woodland which is where<br />
we chanced upon this specimen. They mostly feed on<br />
honeydew sap in the treetops and otherwise can be<br />
found basking in the sun, defending their patch from intruders.<br />
The Speckled Wood is the only brown butterfly<br />
with three eyespots on the hindwings and one on each<br />
forewing. While three quarters of UK species are in decline<br />
- with 2021 being a particularly bad year for butterflies<br />
- the Speckled Wood has bucked the trend and enjoyed<br />
an 84% increase in numbers over the last 40 years.<br />
Why not join the Big Butterfly Count which runs from 15<br />
July to 7 August. You can download a butterfly ID chart<br />
and a free app to get started. For further information<br />
check: bigbutterflycount.butterfly-conservation.org<br />
www.giggyandbab.co.uk<br />
Giggy & Bab<br />
MADE IN ENGLAND<br />
More information and bookings:<br />
Join us for adult and children’s www.omvedgardens.com/nurturing-day<br />
art classes in<br />
painting, drawing, ceramics and sol@omvedgardens.com<br />
mixed media collage.<br />
Daytime, evening and afterschool.<br />
For more information and to book visit<br />
www.highgateartschool.com or email art@highgateartschool.com