Bowes Rd

A Memory of Palmers Green.

I lived in Bowes Road from 1980 until 1985, when circumstances meant I had to move away, but I always have good memories of the area, as some of my best times were spent there. I had reason to return recently and I could not take in what I was seeing, with mass destruction everywhere. I lived close to Bowes school, and the entire area has been decimated.

I know that this part of New Southgate was under a road building blight, but was under the impression that this was cancelled in the 1990s. It just goes to show that no goverment can ever be trusted, as roads, etc, mean more to them than human life. We were told back in the early 1980s that the then unbuilt M25 was going to mean the cancellation of these plans, but obviously it was more lies (Ken Livingston addressed a meeting at Bowes school to that effect in 1982).

I notice that most of the shops at the junction with Brownlow Road and Bowes Road are still there, although not with the same names as then. I think the only shops that still remained the same were my old opticians and the cafe, which I used frequently. I notice the Chemist shop on the corner of Brownlow and Bowes Road has changed name, but I cannot for the life of me remember the old one. Can anybody remember what it was called, as it is rather annoying, being as I used it so frequently.

Anyway, time moves on and things never remain the same forever, but it is so sad to see such lovely houses and communities destroyed in the name of "progress".

---

---