We all agree - Enfield is Magic!

Working at a recent wedding, I met up once again with local close up magician Kevin Flannery.  

I was amazed at his slight of hand & theatrical skills - and smiled at the way that he single-handedly entertained a large group of wedding guests in that often difficult period between the ceremony and the meal.

As the guests sat down to eat, drink and be merry, I chatted to Kevin about the idea behind the WeLoveEnfield Photo Blog, and suggested that as he fitted the bill as one of the more interesting and unusual characters in the borough, I might take a photograph of him and feature it here:



As you can see, Kevin graciously accepted!

You can find out more about Kevin at http://www.kjfmagic.com/.

If you know of anything interesting, unusual or just plain great going on within the London Borough of Enfield, or just someone who's doing/done something amazing, then why not get them featured on this blog.   It exists to celebrate and bring wider notice the great things going on around us, giving us all more and more reasons to shout "We Love Enfield".

Drop me a message in the comments below if you've got any ideas!

Bush Hill Park goes Jubilee Crazy

How wonderful it was to see the whole community coming together (and the weather just about holding fine!) for one amazing street party in the appropriately regally named Queen Anne's Place in Bush Hill Park this afternoon.

The entire afternoon was aimed at raising money for the excellent Great Ormond Street Hospital, and judging by the numbers attending they should be receiving a worthwhile contribution once all the pennies are counted.

Individuals and businesses worked side by side to create a truly memorable atmosphere for the scores of families who attended, and if my experience of the '77 Silver Jubilee is anything to go by then these are memories that they will carry forward for the rest of their lives.

Trying to name everyone who put considerable time and effort into creating such a great event is an envidious task, and I'll no doubt forget many, but big congratulations to Natalie Vassilou, Denni King, Bush Hill Park Nursery, Rebeccas Cakes, Signature Sounds, Enfield Fire Brigade and everyone else.   You should all be proud.

Here are a few images I captured as I wandered around the party earlier today:



These and more can also be found on my facebook page, so if you like to tag, comment and share please pop on over!

Dan

Innovation Celebrated at the Dugdale Centre

Tuesday evening saw the final of the 2012 Enfield Innovation Competition at the Dugdale Centre.

The competition celebrates, inspires, promotes and supports businesses, residents and students of the borough who've created, developed or produced innovative products or services.

Here are a few images of the ceremony, presentation and celebrations:


With the 2012 awards coming to a close, focus starts to move to the 2013 renewal.   You can benefit from a huge amount of support just by entering, so if you think you're an innovator, check out the 2013 competition website.

The WeLoveEnfield photo blog is designed to showcase and promote the many unusual or interesting events and places in London's most northerly borough.   If you know of anything that you'd like me to cover then please drop me a comment below.

Dan

Your London Florist Lights up Southgate

Sometimes, a single picture is enough to tell a story.

I've loved the beautiful "art deco" shops around Charles Holden's 1933 Southgate Tube Station, and after getting to know Migle who runs the excellent Your London Florist I was itching to take a picture showcasing the fantastic shop as the light dropped towards evening.

So tonight, I went dodging buses, double parked motorists and people 'just hanging around' to capture this lovely picture of the shop, and of Migle working away in the window.   The shop is open late in the evening, so if your journey takes you through Southgate Station why not stop off and grab a bloom for someone significant in your life.

We Love Enfield, precisely because it's full of great independent shops like Your London Florist, but they'll only be there if we support them!

Dan

Spring Comes to Enfield - if you're looking for it!

I spend my life taking photographs in my head.   Even when I don't have a camera I'm taking pictures!  I look at how I'd frame things, what makes a view or a person special or unique, how I could expose for best effect and so on.

So it was, when returning from a haircut on Friday that I first noticed the blossom on the trees around the New River Loop in front of Enfield Register Office, on Gentlemans Row.   I decided to return as soon as I could with my camera.

It's always lovely when Spring begins to overtake dull, grey and cold winter and I think everyone's heart is lifted by the bright colours of the early blooms as they push through previously frozen ground.   I hope that the photographs below will bring a little bit of joy, and encourage you to keep your eyes open for the small details that can brighten your day!

Congratulations to Enfield Council for their planting schemes and make sure that you take time to notice the small details and help you to remember that Enfield is a great place to live & work.

     Dan

Love is in the Air at the Willow

	Love was certainly in the air last night, as over 100 public spirited individuals gathered together at the Willow Restaurant in Southgate to celebrate Valentines, and raise money for the wonderful North London Hospice.  The evening was a tremendous success, not just in terms of money raised, but also in terms of the relationships that blossomed and bloomed as the evening progressed. The host Dani Frangimore of Sprint Printers and Stationers was overwhelmed by how well the evening went off and by the generosity of the businesses that supported her efforts. Signature Sounds were responsible for the banging tunes that got people on the dance floor as soon as they were able, and the venue was enhanced by the beautiful cupcakes from Cakes by Soulla and the ballons supplied & set up by Sabella Floral Designs. My photographs from the evening can be viewed here, or on facebook here (guests, don't forget to "tag" yourselves so that your friends and family can see how fierce you all looked last night!). As a further fund-raiser, full sized image downloads can be purchased from Daniel Davies Photography for only £10, with all proceeds going to the North London Hospice. There really were so many photo opportunities for me last night, I had an absolute blast photographing such a friendly bunch.    Thank you from me to everyone who made my job so easy. Dan P.s. Don't forget that this is the place to promote anyone or anything who helps make Enfield such a fantastic place to live and work.   There's no charge(!) so if you know of someone, then please put me in touch with them; just add a comment in the space below and I'll get on to it.  I'd love to help them!

Dani is the Valentines Queen!

What with today being the centre of everything romantic, it seemed that today was the perfect time to photograph Dani Gavriel, who not content with her hard work for Sprint Stationers, is also up to her eyeballs in final preparations for Sunday's Valentines Ball at the Willow restaurant in Southgate.

The ball will be raising funds for the wonderful North London Hospice.  It should be a great night, what with the Willows' lovely food and sophisticated ambiance and the always excellent music provided by the guys at Signature Sounds.  I personally can't wait to tuck into the towers of red & black cupcakes that Cakes by Soulla will be setting out (if you're coming, don't be late or they might all be gone!).

I asked Dani why she put herself forward for all this work, and she explained that her family had had a private fundraising event for her 25th birthday, raising money rather than passing gifts and that this had inspired her to put on something on a more public level.  Dani had personal experience of the tireless efforts of the hospice, and so thought they'd be the perfect charity to raise money for.

So earlier today I popped down to Sprint's busy Oakwood branch, where I found a small space in amongst their extensive stock.   We found an appropriate cup and saucer from Sprint's wide range of valentines gifts, and sat down to take this lovely portrait:






Unfortunately, it's too late for you to purchase any more tickets for Friday's ball, but there are still opportunities for people or businesses to offer prizes to be given out on the night - what a great piece of positive PR that could be!   You can also make a donation to the hospice via this direct link.

I hope to see everyone this Sunday & be ready, I'll have my camera!

Dan

Cathy Underwood - Expanding the boundaries of yoga in Enfield and beyond

As regular readers will know, the We Love Enfield Photo Blog is constantly on the lookout for people who are just doing that little bit extra, and using their skills to put something into the mix that helps make Enfield such a great place to be.    One such person is the wonderful Cathy Underwood, who has expanded her yoga teaching business Yoga4Mums in a number of great directions.

Last night I went to Merryhills Primary School, one of a couple of venues that Cathy teaches from in order to help raise funds for local schools (the other being Forty Hill School), but what really inspired me to want to make a portrait of Cathy was the work she's doing under the "Yoga4Care" banner.

Cathy is committed to extending the reach of Yoga throughout the community and Yoga4Care provides classes for special needs and learning disabled, mental health and all other vulnerable groups.     Cathy says; "Yoga is an exercise that is suitable for all age groups and abilities.  Our teachers are trained in all areas of special needs and mental health with a sensitive and practical approach and we tailor classes to small groups and individual needs."

Equally importantly, Yoga4Care also provides classes for those caring for people with special needs.  Again, it's over to Cathy for an explanation;   "We appreciate the dedicated attention and care that carers, parents and families provide each day.  Therefore, we have devised a simple yoga programme that can help relieve physical and mental stress and replenish energy."

Cathy can be contacted on 07957 272066 or via her twitter feed @Yoga4Mums.    

We salute you!

Dan P.S. Do you know of anyone who we should be featuring on the We Love Enfield Photo Blog?   Fill out the comments form below if you know of anyone or anything deserving of a feature.

Karen & Gunther (and a famous friend) @MyCoffeeStopUK

 Karen & Gunther compete for attention with their extremely impressive coffee machine.
I decided to launch the "We Love Enfield Photo Blog" as there are so many great people in the borough doing so many great things and I wanted to do my bit to draw attention to a few of them.  Today I had a longstanding appointment with Karen Mercer & Gunther Hollenstein, owners of the amazing MyCoffeeStop, which resides on the London bound platform of Enfield Chase Station.

When I first "stumbled" upon their shop, I was immediately drawn in by the quality of their coffee, but as much as that has remained constant, what's kept me coming back is the unique atmosphere and ethos of MyCoffeeStop.

 Gunther the barista. He can make your coffee, from scratch, in less than 30 seconds?

The shop seems to draw in all of the most interesting people passing through Enfield, with the level of banter and goodwill something you'll never see replicated in a 'Costbucks' type chain store. It also acts as a conduit for Karen's amazing fundraising efforts for the Chickenshed theatre group, with a book swap being one easy way to raise funds for such a good cause.

As well as it all tasting great (especially this mornings freshly baked cakes), you can leave with an easy conscience as everything in the shop is Fair Trade.

Karen Mercer with Clive Bull and a lovely bit of Cake.

An unexpected bonus of my visit was the arrival of long time LBC presenter, and unchallenged king of relaxed talk broadcasting, Clive Bull.    Clive's taking a break from more than 15 years of overnight broadcasts, and using the time to catch up with old friends.   Karen is a former LBC travel presenter and so he arrived to show his support to MyCoffeeStop.

  Karen filming Clive tasting MyCoffeeStop's fabulous Chocolate Brownie for  an online video review.

Karen was kind enough to enthusiastically explain the concept of this blog and of the wider #WeLoveEnfield campaign, both of which Clive wholeheartedly backed.

You can find out so much more by following @MyCoffeeStopUK on twitter.  Come and take a look the next time you're passing Enfield Chase station.   You'll love the coffee, you'll love the people, and you'll realise that it's another reason why We Love Enfield!

Dan

A couple of Enfield Vignettes

Just a quick post today. I was out in Enfield with my camera and took a couple of shots that illustrate some of the best parts of the borough.

Firstly, enjoy this shot of Town Park this afternoon, just as the sun started dropping down:



And finally, I noticed the inscription on this bench in Gentlemans Row. I don't know what the story is behind it, but it's quite lovely and a little moving.



It goes to show, that theres beauty of all sorts all around us, you just have to look for it.

Dan