Forum topic: Former Whitewebbs Golf Course

"Over 40 acres of currently open, wilding land will be lost to public access" - that's not correct, is it? I didn't think half the golf course measured 40 acres.

Almost 45 acres. I can't say if it's correct, I'm quoting Spurs' consultant's own figure - see consultation board #4 from link in earlier posting. Maybe they have it wrong? 

In the spirit of the Radio 4 programme The Long View, local historian Joe Studman in an Enfield Dispatch article draws our attention to the negative public reaction to the enclosure (ie the transfer of publicly accessible land to private owners) of a large part of Enfield Chase in the 17th Century. The "good folk of Enfield" were none too pleased about "the removal of their common rights, that they had enjoyed since time immemorial" and acted to reassert them.

I'm sure many people will find this an interesting bit of local history. However, Joe goes on to float a completely far-fetched scenario, that today, in the enlightened 21st century, someone might again try to remove the common rights of the good folk of Enfield:
It's bad enough reading complete nonsense in some of the national papers, but most disappointing to see our esteemed local community newspaper printing such totally absurd ramblings!

Enfield Dispatch: Cromwell, the Civil War, and Whitewebbs Park