Ponders End

Elevations range from {{convert|21|metres}} to {{convert|13|metres}} above sea level, uniformly dropping from west to east. Two north-south railway lines enclose the residential parts of the area, bounded east and west by estates of warehousing, industrial and commercial use

Its northern and southern limits are along Hertford Road at The Ride and The Boundary pubs (north to south). Its loosely defined east and west limits coalesce around Wharf Road in the east and the Southbury station or Kingsway in the west.[http://www.enfield.gov.uk/362/Ponders%20End.pdf Local Government Map of Ponders End Boundaries]{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Retrieved 28 February 2008

Ponders End is marked on the Ordnance Survey map of 1822. It was recorded in 1593 as Ponders ende meaning the "end or quarter of the parish associated with the Ponder family" from the Middle English ende. John Ponder is mentioned in a document of 1373; the surname is believed to mean a "keeper of, or dweller by, a fish-pond or mill-pond".Mills, A, D, Oxford Dictionary of London Place Names (2004) p180 {{ISBN|0-19-860957-4}} Retrieved 17 October 2008

{{see also|London Borough of Enfield#History|Edmonton, London#History}}

Ponders End once was rural Middlesex, but in 1840 the Northern and Eastern Railway (Now part of Greater Anglia National Rail) Station opened, bringing the area gradually alive. The Station is planned to be part of the new Crossrail 2, but this is very unlikely to be built any time soon.

All but a southern belt of the district was in Enfield, as the south lay in Edmonton, the parishes becoming a civil and ecclesiastical after a split of functions in the 1860s, which saw the final secularisation of government, the disestablishment of the vestries following the increase in Poor Law Unions in the hundred years before.[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol5/pp128-129 Map of the Edmonton Hundred of Middlesex] Victoria County History of Middlesex, Volume 5, A P Baggs, Diane K Bolton, Eileen P Scarff and G C Tyack (1976). Retrieved 2015-02-20

Through the 19th century the area became industrialised, due to its straight road and waterway network up and down the Lea Valley including the 17th century River Lee Navigation. The first major firm to arrive was Grout, Baylis & Co, who were established in Norwich in 1807 as crape manufacturers, the material being used for widows' weeds. They opened a dyeing and finishing plant in Ponders End two years later. Crape went out of fashion by late Victorian times, and the factory closed in 1894. The buildings were taken over by the United Flexible Tubing Company.

In 1866 the London Jute Works Company established a factory on the Navigation in a desolate area known locally as Spike Island. Many of the new employees came from Dundee, the traditional centre of the jute industry in Scotland. The jute works closed in 1882, to be replaced by the Ediswan factory. Over the years the factory was enlarged, eventually covering {{convert|11.50|acres}}, and employing many people, notably girls, from the area. Ediswan produced electric lamps, and the factory was colloquially known as The Lamp. They also manufactured appliances for the shipping and aviation industries, mechanical pianos and butter makers.

To the south of Ponders End Lock a factory making white lead was built in 1893. Further south of that factory, the Cortecine works produced floor-cloth and carpet backing. By 1906 over 2000 people were employed in local factories. Another major industry in the latter years of the 19th century was horticulture. Tomatoes and cucumbers were the principal produce but flowers and fruit were also grown in the many orchards and greenhouses to the north of the locality.Godfrey A (notes to) Old Ordnance Survey Maps: Ponders End 1895 Alan Godfrey Maps, {{ISBN|1-84151-043-2}} Retrieved 7 September 2009 During World War I, a huge munitions factory, the Ponders End Shell Works was built in Wharf Road. The factory building was sold after the war. Further factories were built in the 1930s alongside the newly built Great Cambridge Road.[http://www.enfield.gov.uk/downloads/file/2486/ponders_end Ponders End history] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318023538/http://www.enfield.gov.uk/downloads/file/2486/ponders_end |date=18 March 2012 }} Retrieved 19 February 2011

Today (2009) little remains of manufacturing and much of the area has given way to warehousing and residential developments. Aesica pharmaceutical manufacturers (formerly Thomas Morson Ltd)[https://books.google.com/books?id=4JYjsQkBm3MC&dq=thomas+morson-+ponders+end&pg=PA258 Thomas Morson] Retrieved 8 September 2009 closed its plant in 2011.[http://www.nebusiness.co.uk/business-news/latest-business-news/2010/09/14/aesica-to-close-plant-after-client-loss-51140-27263763/ Plant closure] Retrieved 18 April 2011 Wright's Flour Mill, the oldest working industrial building in the borough remains, some of its buildings having been constructed in the 18th century.

On 7 August 2011 Ponders End was the scene of copy-cat riots which spread from Tottenham to neighbouring districts.[http://www.enfieldindependent.co.uk/news/9183188.Commuters_arrive_to_closed_down_Enfield_Town/ News report] 8 August 2011

In Spring 2017, Camden Town Brewery completed a new facility in Ponders End on the western bank of the Lee Navigation.{{Cite web|title=Big Brewery - Camden Town Brewery|url=https://www.camdentownbrewery.com/about/big-brewery/|access-date=2021-03-28|website=www.camdentownbrewery.com|archive-date=16 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416145916/http://www.camdentownbrewery.com/about/big-brewery/|url-status=dead}}

In August 2020, Beavertown Brewery opened "Beaverworld", a new brewery on a six-acre plot on the western bank of the Lee Navigation, creating up to 150 jobs.{{Cite web|title=Beavertown Brewery opens 'London's largest' new brewery|url=https://imbibe.com/news/beavertown-brewery-opens-londons-largest-new-brewery/|access-date=2021-03-28|website=Imbibe|language=en-GB|archive-date=27 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027225947/https://imbibe.com/news/beavertown-brewery-opens-londons-largest-new-brewery/|url-status=dead}}

Critchley & Simmons released an album titled Ponders End in 2017 - inspired by the area where they first met.{{cite web |title=Ponders End |url=https://open.spotify.com/album/5rtWFrji1vn5qNlKt4h5un |website=Spotify |date=26 January 2017 |access-date=8 September 2021}}

Musician Jah Wobble was inspired to write his (2005) album Mu by his experiences in the Lea Valley and Ponders End.Hatts, Leigh The Lea Valley Walk p99 {{ISBN|1-85284-522-8}} Retrieved 14 March 2008[http://www.leavalleywalk.org.uk/ponders-end-to-tottenham-hale/ Lea valley walk] Retrieved 15 May 2008

{{Cquote| It's as close as London gets to New Jersey. But it's one of my favourite places for walking, through the Lee Valley. It gets beautiful in that urban way, but then you go through soap factories up near Ponders End. It's got a wonderful, dislocated, alienated feeling |20px|20px| Jah Wobble}}

Ponders End Allotments Club is a track from the (1975) Chas and Dave album One Fing 'n' Annuver.[http://www.chasndave.com/disco_onefingri.html Chas and Dave] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724075925/http://www.chasndave.com/disco_onefingri.html |date=24 July 2008 }} Retrieved 14 May 2008

File:Wrights Flour Mill2.JPG

• Wright's Flour Mill The oldest working industrial building in Enfield.[http://www.enfield.gov.uk/448/Industry%20in%20Enfield%20A%20History.htm History of Enfield] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080403002626/http://www.enfield.gov.uk/448/Industry%20in%20Enfield%20A%20History.htm |date=3 April 2008 }} Retrieved 22 November 2007
• Ponders End Pumping Station. Built in 1899 by the East London Waterworks Company.Buildings of England London 4:North by Bridget Cherry & Nikolaus Pevsner pg 451 {{ISBN|0-14-071049-3}} In 1995 the half-timbered building was converted into a public house called the Harvester Navigation Inn a Harvester restaurant. Located on the west bank of the Lee Navigation, with views towards the grassed embankment of the King George V Reservoir and close to Ponders End Lock.{{cite web|title=Harvester: The Navigation|url=http://www.harvester.co.uk/restaurants/london/thenavigationenfield|website=Harvester.co.uk|access-date=17 February 2017}}

• Brimsdown
• Enfield Highway
• Edmonton, London
• Enfield Town
• Bush Hill Park
• Chingford

File:Ponders End.JPG

• River Lee Navigation
• The Overflow Channel is approximately {{convert|2|mi|km|1|}} long. Flowing from the River Lee Navigation above Ponders End Lock across South Marsh close to the King George V Reservoir and following the western perimeter of the William Girling Reservoir to merge with the River Lee Diversion at Edmonton.

• Angling is allowed on the River Lee Navigation upstream and downstream of Ponders End Lock. Information from the River Lea Anglers Club.[http://riverleaac.wix.com/river-lea-ac River Lea Anglers Club] Retrieved 2 December 2014

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• Ponders End railway station
• Southbury railway station

London Bus Routes 191, 279, 349, 491, 377, 121, 307, 313 and N279 serve the area.

The 191 Bus stop Oasis Academy Hadley used to be called Falcon Road, but when Oasis Academy was built, the bus stop's name changed. Similar to Ponders End Stn/Oasis Academy Hadley which was just called Ponders End Station.

• Lea Valley Lines serving all stations to Hertford East via the Southbury Loop and to Stratford
• West Anglia Main Line stopping services to Bishops Stortford and to Stratford

The 2011 census showed that 45% of the population was white (26% British, 17% Other, 2% Irish), 16% Black African and 8% Bangladeshi.{{cite web| url = http://www.ukcensusdata.com/ponders-end-e05000206| title = Ponders End - UK Census Data 2011}}

• James and John Chambers pioneers in South Australia in Stuart expeditions.
• John Hollowbread, footballer
• Christopher Hughes, former Mastermind and International Mastermind winner both in 1983
• Stephen Mangan, actor
• Dave Peacock, musician
• Norman Tebbit, politician
• Chijindu Ujah, Olympic sprinter

The local newspapers are as of 2011:

• Enfield Independent{{cite web|url=http://www.enfieldindependent.co.uk/ |title=News, sport and local information for Enfield and surrounding areas |publisher=Enfieldindependent.co.uk |access-date=2011-06-30}}
• Enfield Advertiser{{cn|date=November 2024}}

After boundary changes in 2010 - Ponders End became one of seven wards which form the Edmonton parliamentary constituency.[http://www.enfield.gov.uk/info/364/elections-electoral_register/936/election_boundaries/1 Electoral boundaries] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514235603/http://www.enfield.gov.uk/info/364/elections-electoral_register/936/election_boundaries/1 |date=14 May 2011 }} Retrieved 15 April 2011 The MP for constituency is Kate Osamor.

• Secondary schools: Oasis Academy Hadley and Heron Hall Academy
• Primary Schools: Kingfisher Hall Primary Academy, St Mary's RC Primary School, Alma Primary School, Southbury Primary School, St Matthew's CoE Primary School, Oasis Academy Hadley
• Special schools: Waverley School

• Middlesex University, Enfield Campus (now closed)
• The College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London

• Church of St Matthew, Church of England[http://www.achurchnearyou.com/st-matthew-ponders-end/ St Matthew's Ponders End] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120603054730/http://www.achurchnearyou.com/st-matthew-ponders-end/ |date=3 June 2012 }} Retrieved 25 May 2011
• Church of Mary, Mother of God, Roman Catholic church[http://www.rcdow.org.uk/Pondersend/ Mary Mother of God RC church] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131106012412/http://www.rcdow.org.uk/pondersend/ |date=6 November 2013 }} Retrieved 15 December 2010
• Jalalia Jamme Mosque[http://mosques.muslimsinbritain.org/show-mosque.php?id=1139 Ponders End mosque] Retrieved 27 June 2009
• At the 28th Enfield Scouts Group, on Friday, there is exclusively Jumu'ah congregation, Alma Road.
• Lincoln Road Chapel, Lincoln Road.[http://www.lincolnroadchapel.org.uk/ Lincoln Road chapel] Retrieved 9 January 2013
• Ponders End Methodist Church, High Street.[https://web.archive.org/web/20120519094138/http://www.enfieldcircuit.com/churches/pondersend/worship.html Ponders End Methodist church] Retrieved 9 January 2013
• United Reformed Church, College Close, High Street.[http://www.findachurch.co.uk/search/church_view.php?church_id=27991 Ponders End United Reformed church] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130526190412/http://www.findachurch.co.uk/search/church_view.php?church_id=27991 |date=26 May 2013 }} Retrieved 9 January 2013

• Ponders End Park, formerly Ponders End Recreation Ground and Ryan's Park.[http://www.enfield.gov.uk/news/article/455/ponders_end_park_springs_open London Borough of Enfield parks] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140726193735/http://www.enfield.gov.uk/news/article/455/ponders_end_park_springs_open |date=26 July 2014 }} Retrieved 23 July 2014

• [http://www.mylondondiary.co.uk/2004/02/feb.htm Ponders End photographs]
• [http://www.mylondondiary.co.uk/2004/02/feb07-01.htm Wrights flour mill]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20081120042813/http://www.enfield.gov.uk/448/Ponders%20End%20A%20History.htm Ponders End a history]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110609111156/http://www.enfield.gov.uk/downloads/file/630/ponders_end_flour_mills-character_appraisal_2009 Ponders End flour mill conservation area]

{{reflist}}{{Areas of London}}{{LB Enfield}}

Category:Places in Enfield, London

Category:Areas of London

Category:Districts of the London Borough of Enfield

Category:Places formerly in Middlesex