Friends of Broomfield Park are hoping to find a new home for the decorative railings that until not long ago adorned the entrances to the subterranean Ladies and Gentlemen's toilets at Palmers Green Triangle.
The planned new location is in front of the beautiful restored Conservatory in Broomfield Park, replacing the functional, but not exactly pretty, chainlink fence that currently protects the vulnerable building from vandals. A suitable design has been devised, but more money is required. A source of money has been identified - the Enfield Residents' Priority Fund. The chances of obtaining money from the Fund will be greatly increased if they can persuade Enfield Council that their proposal is supported by the community at large. Which is where you come in...
The Friends are asking everyone who live in Enfield borough and who support the idea of reusing the railings in this way to drop them an email. All that's needed is one sentence saying that you support the idea, plus your name and address. [Comment: The deadline for contacting FoBP to express support has now passed. Thanks to everyone who emailed Chris Brook - she received 71 messages.]
The Triangle Toilet Railings project
The railings in their new role - an artist's impression
The cast iron railings - described by one expert as "historically important" - were installed around the entrances to the underground toilets on the Triangle island some time in the 1920s, and stayed there long after the toilets were closed, until 2013, when the stairs leading down to the toilets were filled in.
To begin with their fate was something of a mystery, but they were eventually tracked down by conservationists at a council yard in Hertfordshire. The Friends were able to persuade the Council to move the railings back to Broomfield Park, where they are now kept in a closed storage area.
The plan developed by the Friends is to refurbish the railings - which are suffering not just from the rigours of age, but also because of the crude method used to remove them from the Triangle - then mount them on foundations, a low brick wall and two brick columns - the brick will match that used in the Conservatory itself.
The railings will need to be adapted at the smithy located not far from the Triangle. The pointed tops will need to be made blunter for safety reasons. The gates from the Ladies' and Gents' toilets would be rehung to form a double entrance way.
The total cost would be in the region of £9000. The Friends have secured a grant of £5000 from the Enfield Society and can add to that another thousand pounds, made up of money raised though the Conservatory Group's fundraising efforts plus a large donation from a generous benefactor.
The remaining £3000 will hopefully come from the Residents' Priority Fund. So please add your voice to those of others who would like to see the return of these once familiar friends.
