Sounds of Seven Sisters
Celebrating sisters in Tottenham, North London
Part of Haringey’s Women’s History Month, 2026
Quick links to soundscapes: Crows’ Walk, With Milk, First Reform
The Trees of Seven Sisters
Engraving from William Robinson’s History and Antiquities of the Parish of Tottenham, 1840, Wellcome Collection
A circular group of trees at Page Green in Tottenham appears in the Dorset Survey of 1619, but some accounts say that it was from Roman times that a group of seven elms, surrounding one walnut tree, grew there. Whatever the original reason for the seven trees, the Seven Sisters area is named after them. Since 1852, the seven trees have been replanted a number of times, always by seven sisters, and seven trees still stand today.
The seven trees at Page Green in March 2026
Hans Unger’s tiles on the underground platform
Tree planting timeline
1852 - McRae sisters
1886 - Hibbert sisters
1928 - 3 trees replanted by 5 Hibbert sisters
1955 - Basten sisters
1996 - Baptiste, Fordham, Monk, Littleton, Robinson, Edwards, Giertych and Jack sisters
Artist Amanda Lebus’s wonderful poster for the re-planting in 1996, which ran alongside a local schools bulb planting and puppet making project.
The Hibbert sisters, Alice, Amy, Edith, Julia, Georgina, Matilda and Rosa, planted seven elm trees on 2nd March 1886, watched by 2000 spectators. A brooch in the shape of a spade was presented to each sister, one of which can be seen at Bruce Castle Museum, alongside the ceremonial spade that has been used at every subsequent tree planting.
The Hibbert Sisters
Portrait of the Hibbert Sisters at the 1886 planting, Bruce Castle Museum and Archive
Along with her six sisters, Edith grew up on Tottenham High Road, an amateur artist, she painted scenes from the area, including several of Crows’ Walk, the top end of a much loved walk from Bruce Grove station to Bruce Castle, so named as a large number of crows nested in the large elm trees which lined the route.
Edith Hibbert (1869 - 1949)
Crows’ Walk, Bruce Grove, with the Station Master in 1880, Edith Hibbert, Bruce Castle Museum and Archive
Crop of the 1864 OS Map showing Crows’ Walk, Bruce Castle Museum and Archive
Bruce Grove Station, circa 1900, Bruce Castle Museum and Archive
Felling the elms in Bruce Grove, 1903, Bruce Castle Museum and Archive
Bruce Grove was made a through road in 1899, and by 1903 all the elms had been cut down. Nowadays, walking from the station to the park the sounds are of traffic rather than crows, but once in the park, there is bird song a plenty, the gentle thump of tennis balls from games on the courts, the shrieks of children playing, and snatches of conversation from those enjoying the peace of this beautiful park, home to Haringey’s oldest tree, the magnificent Tottenham Oak.
Listen to a soundscape which reanimates Edith’s painting with sounds and voices from present day Bruce Grove and Bruce Castle Park. You can read a transcript from those I spoke to in the park here.
For support with this section thanks to Julie, Deborah and Annabel at Bruce Castle Museum and Archive. Kami, Yasemin (6), Talia (4), Elizabeth, Song, Tiff and Becca for sharing their stories from Bruce Castle Park. And to Amanda Lebus for talking to me about her project from 30 years ago and sending through her poster.
Two sister owned businesses rooted in Tottenham
With Milk cafe
Hana and Lela
After talking about it for a few years, Tottenham sisters Hana and Lela took the plunge and opened their coffee shop, With Milk, on Philip Lane. With a lifelong love for cafe’s, With Milk would be coffee forward, bringing quality to the local community.
Opening in early 2020, just six weeks later they found themselves rapidly adapting to COVID restrictions, soon widening their offer to a deli and fast-tracking strong bonds with the local community as everyone got thrown together.
Now based on Lawrence Road, With Milk has a bigger deli offer of carefully curated products, with the larger cafe space allowing them to expand their community offering.
“There’s people who’ve moved away who still come back and visit us, because we were a lifeline for them and they were a lifeline for us.”
“I want people to feel like they can come in, enjoy themselves, have a really high quality coffee, and either have peace and quiet if they need it, or a listening ear if they want it.”
“I think that’s the main thing, that With Milk is thought of as a warm place… I would not feel like With Milk is successful if people feared coming inside”
Mixing sounds from the cafe with reflections from Lela and Hana about their love for Tottenham, how they started their business, and how they are building their offering to the community at their new site on Lawrence Road. You can read a transcript from the soundscape here.
Visit With Milk Cafe at 67 Lawrence Road, N15 4GL, M-F, 7.30am - 4.30pm, Weekends - 9am - 4.30pm
First Reform Pilates studio
Maxine and Georgie
Twin sisters, Maxine and Georgie, opened Tottenhams first Reformer Pilates studio, First Reform, in February 2024. Utilising their local network and craftspeople, they did much of the build themselves, renovating an old garage down an alleyway off Kitchener Road, into a warm, safe and inviting space.
Two years on it is a thriving micro-community, where every body is welcome, and the value and care the sisters have for each other translates into the ethos of the studio..
“I feel like exercise should be accessible and open to everybody, and that’s what I wanted First Reform to be, is open to anybody, from all walks of life, and all body types. And if you’ve done it before, or not done it before, if you come in a t-shirt with a hole in it, no-one’s going to judge you. We’ve really enforced that, and I think you can really see it in the space and the community that come there.”
“It’s pretty unassumingly a Pilates studio. Long alleyway, old concrete, plants hanging out everywhere. Amazing display of fly-tipped goods! There’s a roller door, and then you walk into the space, and it hopefully has this warmth and welcomingness that we really try to embrace, that you know, Tottenham has done for us really.”
“Sometimes big cities can be so isolating and everything can be really intense, but if you spend this 50 minutes going somewhere for yourself, and your practice and your mind, and then you meet these other people there, it’s a really beautiful way of connecting with other people who might not have the same interests, or dress the same, or look the same, or anything, but you are all coming together for this 50 minutes…and in that space you are one little united community, which I think is really beautiful.”
Mixing sounds from the studio with sections from a conversation with Maxine and Georgie discussing their love of the area, how First Reform came to be, and the community they are holding, including classes for the visually impaired community at their welcoming studio off Kitchener Road. You can read a transcript from the soundscape here.
Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced Reformer Pilates classes, alongside specialist classes, are available to book online at First Reform Pilates studio, 2B Kitchener Road, N17 6DX
With thanks to Georgie, Maxine, Lela and Hana for generously giving their time to the Sounds of Seven Sisters project.
Thank you for general project support from Rosie Murdoch, design skills magic from Lucy May, and the lending of equipment by Tom Linay.
All images copyright Emma Crouch unless otherwise stated.
See other projects and events as part of Haringey’s Women’s History Month 2026 programme.