Tottenham High Road – Past and Present

Tottenham Brewery

In the late 19th century, set behind the High Road in what is now a mews known as Morrisons Yard, was once Tottenham Brewery. It was run by Harry B. Woolridge, a Tottenham local. From 1894 he was residing in accommodation at the London Provincial Bank/ Tottenham Brewery on the corner of the entrance of the mews. Woolridge also appears to have been a brewer with a national reputation amongst his peers as he published a number of articles about his experiments and contributions to the brewers’ craft. 

(This great view may show the London Provincial Bank at Tottenham High Road, just up from where it meets Bruce Grove, but it also catches sight of the gateway into the Tottenham Brewery, set behind in the mews area at 551a Tottenham High Road. From the collections and © Bruce Castle Museum and Archive).

Nowadays there is much enthusiasm for micro-breweries and their craft ale and lagers which has seen Tottenham at the heart of this new popularity in London – check out Redemption Brewery!

At the time Tottenham Brewery (also known as Wooldridge’s Brewery) was operating here, the mews was where locals could pay their water rates at the Metropolitan Water Board’s offices. Businesses and organisations have changed, and now other flourishing businesses occupy the site.

Uncle John’s Bakery 

Uncle John’s bakery has a shop at 74 West Green Road but their famous products are produced in Morrisons Yard, a site just behind the stretch of the High Road near Bruce Grove.

Having grown from a husband-and-wife team – John and Emelia - to a family business, the bakery has become a supplier to national supermarket chains and a wholesaler from 2015 onwards. 

Uncle John’s bakery is proud to have been the first to supply Ghanaian sweetbread in this country. Craving the sweetbread of their Ghanaian roots, the bakery’s great flavours draw on the Mensah family’s own recipe and traditional baking experience, handed down from one generation to the next. 

(Courtesy: Uncle John’s Bakery)

In the early days of their business Emelia would reassure her husband by saying, ‘Obeyeyie’ – meaning ‘life will get better’ in Ghanaian dialect Fanti. This phrase would become, and still remains, the company slogan. 

Our Story – Uncle Johns

Assunnah Islamic Centre 

The Assunnah Islamic Centre was first established in 1997 with the aim of assisting the new and upcoming Muslim community to familiarise themselves with their new surroundings. By 2003, AIC’s head office was moved to Tottenham. By 2008 it had raised enough money to purchase the building to house the centre and mosque on the present site at 565A High Road, backing onto Morrisons Yard. This is a dedicated space to provide a mosque and school, and services to the wider community.

(Assunah Primary School at their Sports Day in 2021 at Bruce Castle Park. Courtesy: the school’s website). 

Assunnah Primary School was established in 2007. The school was the project of AIC and was formed in response to the high demand from the Muslim community in North London for an Islamic Primary School. It was also created to address the under-representation of Muslim schools in the borough of Haringey.

Further resources

Assunaha Islamic Centre

Assunnah Primary School