Chapman’s Green is first recorded in 1619 when it appeared on a map of the Parish of Tottenham, made for the Earl of Dorset. It appears upside down to us, as like most maps of this period, it reads south to north. A this time it would have been a field in agricultural use, and remained as such until the late 19th Century when the Noel Park and Scotch Estates were built.

Fortunately, this little wedge of open space survived amongst the new residential streets and, complete with mock-Tudor pavilion, became a neatly manicured public park typical of the kind that sprang up as London’s suburbs expanded. Between 1904 and 1936, visitors to the park would have seen trams passing along Lordship Lane between Wood Green and Tottenham – these were replaced by trolley buses and later diesel buses.

Noel Park Bowling Club, formed in 1925, made Chapman’s Green their home and played here for almost a century. In late 2018 its remaining members made the difficult decision to wind-up the club, but the Friends are determined to keep their legacy alive by making sure their pavilion remains a hub for social activity in the years ahead. Their honours boards remain on display inside the pavilion, except one which was apparently removed by one of the members to turn it into a head board. Oh well!