Highbury and Islington Station, early 20th century

wonder if anyone can help me ,i lived at 1 hemmingford road which does not exist now we moved to basildon ,i can recall on the corner of Copenhagen street/ hemmingford road a bomb crater with all the houses going don to matilda street being prefab buildings, the house at 1hemmingford road road was held up by shoring ,i am just being curious if any one knows why 1 hemi did not come done the blast seemed to take out the then houses going back to Matilda street ,was it a vbomb or some other device .if any one can tell me i would be grateful many thanks alec

Alec: I’ll try to answer your question. First, the area was devastated as the result of a V2 explosion. The WW II bomb map shows that the impact was at the crosing of Charlotte Street and Matilda Street. Most of the blast damage destroyed houses at this point and as far as Copenhagen Street, Bryan Street and Charlotte Terrace. Hemingford Road was also affected but not to the same extent, hence No. 1 partially survived. Following is another account:

Bombing during the Second World War destroyed many houses, particularly north of Copenhagen Street and west of Caledonian Road, and the borough council began large-scale rebuilding. The Barnsbury estate was also extended in several phases to fill the area between Barnsbury and Caledonian roads south of Copenhagen Street, while to the north the streets between Barnsbury Road and Matilda Street were cleared to form much needed open space.

many thanks page 45 for you reply it answers what i wondered about .

You’re very welcome, Alec. I did make a small error and mentioned that the V2 impact was at the junction of Charlotte Street and Matilda Street. This is incorrect: the actual intersection was Charlotte Street and Catherine Street. I have added this image on my Highbury Corner photostream that shows a composite of the bomb map and early street map. Regards from Barry Page.

I have recently moved back to the area after some time away and am fascinated by all the history of Highbury and the wonderful contributions everyone has made to this page - fantastic. I would like to buy some good quality old prints/maps/photos of the area. any ideas as to the best place to go? bob

Hi Bob: you might want to try this shop. You may be able to buy the Highbury & Isliington Station print shown above there.

The Only Place For Pictures
216 UPPER STREET
Islington, London N1
Gallery
Open Days
M T W TH F SA SU
Open Hours
10.00am - 6.30 M T W TH F
10.00am - 5.30pm SA
Tel
020 7226 8200

Best regards. Barry Page, Goderich, Ontario, Canada

No1 hemingford Road was occupied by my mother and her sister and brother and parents . The only night that they stayed in the shelter was the night the bomb fell as her father was on duty with the AFS. Their name was Festa and my Grandad had the barbers in Copenhagen Street. They were moved into 99 Copenhagen street soon after. I was born in 1949 while my parents shared the house with my Grandparents and saw the Barsbury Estate being built.

does anyone have a photo of charlotte terrace islington from the early 1900s?

Notional67: Thanks for the feedback. The footdragging is ticking me off. Hopefully it'll be resolved in my lifetime. See my comments on your latest contributions.

Just stumbled across this thread by accident. Believe it or not my grandmother remembers walking out of the post office after being served, walking halfway up St Pauls Rd and she remembers hearing the bomb falling. She ran because towards her home (towards the end of St Pauls rd) and the bomb hit Highbury Corner. It chills her to this day to think that she could have been killed.

Nicolahairam: This is very interesting. There aren't too many eyewitnesses' statements available (or photos, come to that), but any information would be welcomed by the Islington History Centre in St, John Street, Finsbury. Likewise if you have anything else to share on this incident or even the station building itself, please communicate. Thanks. Barry.

I was a seven year old when that V1 landed on the bank at Highbury Corner. I was in Miss Keats news shop on St Pauls Rd opposite Compton Rd with my Mother. We heard the buzz bomb cut out and Miss Keats took us through a door that led to some stairs which led to the basement. We cowered on the stairs waiting for the inevitable.
The explosion blew out the shop windows and I can remember the dust and people running. Sad to say, the fiance of Miss Keats was just leaving the bank when the doodlebug hit. He was killed outright as we found out later.
Miss Holden who ran the bakers shop on the corner of St Pauls Rd and Highbury Gve, I believe was in an air raid shelter which was outside the post office. The shelter was badly damaged, but she was against the wall the survived and she to survived. It really is the luck of the draw!!!

Hi edwardicusrex: Thank you for that eyewitness account. Description of the air raid shelter from the official Civil Defence records: Surface shelter FK1 situated in Green opposite No 35, roof collapsed. My grandma, who lived in Liverpool Buildings, Highbury Station Road, remembered the incident and the carnage the V1 explosion created; often describing it to me in detail. She lost her next door neighbour, Mr. Bonus.

This is a fascinating thread.

I am researching and setting up a film about Highbury and Islington Train Station and the V1 bomb attack. The film will involve an architectural historian helping a CGI expert to "re-create" the original station, as well as pertinent interviews with people who remember the station and the bombing.

I would love to hear from anyone who remembers the station as it was, and anyone who remembers the V1 attacks. Please do get in touch if you could help.

My e-mail address is: wjsteel@yahoo.co.uk

Many thanks.

dogman83: I don't have any photos of Charlotte Terrace as requested, but the following Flickr link may be of some interest.
www.flickr.com/photos/36959568@N02/6428278379/in/photostr...

Thanks for relaying this image, Notional67, so that others can appreciate the magnificence of this building - now sadly just a memory. There is some controversy about the northern wing, where the Boots chemist shop was. It's possible that, although shown in the original woodcut illustration of 1873, the wing was not constructed at the same time as the southern wing (Cock Tavern) and the main hotel-cum--station. OS map evidence shows a distinct blank in that area some years after the main structure had been completed. Also, the architect/surveyor of the southern wing may not have been Edwin Henry Horne - designer of the station. There are some architectural details that do not compute with Horne's overall plans. If anyone out there can enlighten, please respond. Thanks. Barry.

There is evidence that Tetramarsh's image shows the NLR Highbury Station as it was at the turn of the 20th century. Horse trams and buses predominate, perhaps before the single decker electric trams came on the scene. At one time, the Cock Tavern seemed to have shared some of its premises with a company called W. Farrish & Co. Does anyone know anything about it? I think it was short lived as the upper rooms of the Cock Tavern became a Grill Room. They were destroyed in the June 1944 V1 explosion. Thanks. Barry.