The new (but actually old) railings in front of Broomfield Conservatory were officially inaugurated on 29th September. A ceremonial "ribbon" holding the new gates together was cut (using secateurs, of course) by Tony Dey of the Enfield Society.
Tony Dey cuts the "ribbon" with help from David Burrowes MP. Looking on are Elizabeth Dobbie, Chair of the Friends of Broomfield Park's Conservatory Group, and Alison Trew from the Enfield Council, who administers the Enfield Residents' Priority FundA grant from the Enfield Society helped towards the £9000 cost of adapting the railings, which date from 1926, when they were built as part of a post WWI "land fit for heroes" public realm improvement programme. They survived the WWII nationwide cull of similar metalwork only because they prevented people falling into the subterranean toilets during the blackouts.. Other sources of funding were a grant from the Enfield Residents' Priority Fund and money raised by the Friends of Broomfield Park, whose volunteers maintain the plants in the Conservatory and open it to the public twice a week. The adaptaton and installation were carried out by two local firms.
Tony Dey and Elizabeth Dobbie in front of Broomfield Conservatory. The decorations on the railings are a reminder of their original location!The Triangle toilets have long been closed, but it was only a couple of years ago that the toilets were covered over by a reinforced concrete slab and the railings removed (they were actually just hacked off at ground level). This was part of a "decluttering" exercise that has left the Triangle looking bare and uninviting. The toilet railings were in fact one of the Triangle's attractions, unlike the modern railings that surround the traffic island - many people would have liked to see the modern railings removed and the old railings retained.
The Friends of Broomfield Park tracked the Triangle toilet railings down in a builders yardThe Friends of Broomfield Park were keen for the old decorative railings to be reused. They eventually tracked them down in a builders yard in Broxbourne and managed to persuade the Council to bring them back to Palmers Green. Now, with the aid of the Enfield Society and with public backing for the use of Residents' Priority Fund money, they are back in use, providing a suitably handsome boundary for the beautiful Broomfield Conservatory.