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History of cobbles
• REFERENCE your report (Historic cobbles are lost in Tarmac bungle July 3), the most astonishing aspect of the story must surely be that so many sane and rational business people trading in and around the area could have convinced themselves that their street had been paved with cobblestones when in fact it had not – and it is rather surprising that you should have carried such a wildly exaggerated and inaccurate account.
In the interest of accuracy and in fairness to Camden Council, it must be pointed out that if ever Perrins Court was paved with granite setts – which it almost certainly was, like those that can still be seen in Oriel court and Bird In Hand Yard – these were actually removed well over 100 years ago.
A photograph taken about 1908 to record buildings in the High Street when the Northern line was being extended clearly shows cobbles at the entrance to Perrins Court extending just to the back of the High Street pavement (as they still do) with a Tarmac surface extending beyond, under the arch and past what is now the Villa Bianca restaurant, exactly as it is today.
So the council can be absolved of any charge of vandalism – they were merely replacing like with like; and perhaps your reporter too should admit to a flight of fancy when he described the wrecking of a historic cobbled street with a boiling pot of Tarmac when this did not happen.
Quite how an expanse of dreary grey asphalt came to be remembered by so many people as original cobblestones will doubtless remain a mystery. However, the council were clearly at fault in not taking the opportunity to upgrade and restore Perrins Court.
Like-for-like replacement is not good enough in conservation areas (or anywhere else for that matter).
Polished granite setts, carefully laid, can create as smooth a surface as Tarmac, as can be seen at the bus terminus in South End Green.
So it is good to have the reported assurance of the council that new cobbles have already been ordered from a specialist quarry and that work will start later this month to restore Perrins Court to something like its original appearance.
DAVID CHRISTIE
Rosslyn Hill , NW3
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