The Meadow of Hares

It’s a stones’ throw away from me but also a bit further than an arrow’s flight… Haringey – The boundary with the London Borough of Barnet is just about a mile away from my house but Harringay Station is around 4 miles. Both names, along with Hornsey, have a common historic link to the Saxon settlement of Haeringehaia – haeringe being the old English for a ‘meadow of Hares’ (According to Wikipedia at least). You’d be hard put to find any Hares in the area these days although there is a lot of green space to wander through😎

On Sunday I treated myself to a new pair of walking boots for my photographic / trainspotting expeditions. So, on Monday it was time to try them out. When you’re trying new boots a degree of sense is needed – not too far to start with.

I have been thinking about visiting Harringay Station for a while as it looks like it could be a good photo spot – the tracks curve quite sharply through there. So off I went – Bus to New Southgate and then train south to Harringay. It proved to be a worthwhile visit and I have added it to my local photo locations for future short day’s out.

The Station is on the mainline from Kings Cross to Peterborough, York and Edinburgh. It is served by Thameslink Great Northern trains from Moorgate to Welwyn Garden City, Stevenage and Hertford North. These services are operated by Class 717 units…

Express services pass through without stopping and are mainly operated by Class 800/801 units operated by London North Eastern Railway…

…Which is in the hands of the Department for Transport currently as the privatised franchise has failed (more than once). There are also ‘Open Access’ operators like Hull Trains and Grand Central – here’s one of their Class 180 units on its way to Bradford…

There is a small amount of freight – here’s an intermodal service from Leeds to Southampton hauled by a Freightliner Class 66…

…being overtaken by a Lumo Class 803 with an express service from Edinburgh.

And – like on any trainspotting outing – sometimes there’s a surprise…

…A Rail Operations Group Class 37 taking two Class 379 units from Ilford off to storage at Worksop after they were replaced on the Stansted Express services a few months ago. That locomotive, 37611, will be 60 years old in September!

A pleasant Monday’s trainspotting😎 And the boots? Chafed a little bit on my right shin just above the ankle but generally very comfortable👍