Bruce Kent and nuclear disarmament

Bruce Kent and his wife Valerie Flessati are long time Harringay residents.

Two local residents recount their involvement in some of Harringay’s most prominent anti-war movements

Bruce Kent almost never made it to Harringay. After he put down an offer for his house in south Harringay, just a few minutes’ walk from Finsbury Park, he was almost gazumped by a rival offer.

“I bought this house from an extremely fair man who turned the other buyer away saying he had done a fair deal with me,” he says, although he adds that the Harringay he moved into in 1987 was not the attraction it is today.

“I think the area was going down when I moved here,” Bruce says. “But the stadium was being demolished and Sainsbury’s arrived soon after that. I think it did make a difference.”

He really likes the diverse communities that Harringay has attracted in the 28 years that followed, and not just the Turkish and Kurdish people that the area has become known for.

“On this street we’ve got a Polish gentleman, a World War Two veteran; we’ve got a couple of Indians. It’s a lovely variety,” Bruce says.

His wife Valerie Flessati adds: “I think the regeneration of the different sections of some of the shops is very successful. I think it makes it look really nice. And obviously the restaurants bringing loads of people from all over London.

“It has got a good atmosphere because there are always people and life on the streets and it’s not a threatening atmosphere, I think it’s a friendly one.”

Valerie takes an active interest in local history and helped start the First World War Peace Forum, which highlights the centenary of the conflict with a peace angle. In 2014 the forum staged a re-enactment outside the Salisbury Pub and next year hopes to put up a plaque to remember the 343 conscientious objectors to the First World War in Harringay.

The high number of objectors could have been because Harringay was an area inhabited by young men working in trade and business, she says.

Her husband is a well-known political activist, having led the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in various offices throughout the 1980s.

“When I became secretary of CND in 1980, I don’t suppose there were five thousand members nationally – and some of those were dead, I discovered, because they weren’t paying subscription,” Bruce says.

But within three years, as the debate to replace the Polaris weapons system drew attention, the CND had 120,000 national members.

The Trident renewal mooted today shows how the debate has “always gone in circles”.

The couple are now happily settled in Harringay and often venture out for meals and drinks in the local community. They are particular fans of the live music at Bun & Bar, opposite the Salisbury Pub.

And their favourite band there? King Toadfish and the All-Weather Riders. But they don’t tend to make a late night of it.

Bruce Kent(92) is a retired Roman Catholic priest and active in the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.