Carbuncle’s Passageway connects Hartington Park with Tottenham Marshes. It is about 1 km long, runs at the back of two parallel rows of houses and was built too light to carry vehicles. In 2005, had become a site for waste dumping and drug trafficking, and for most of its residents a place to avoid.
In the summer of that year, City Mine(d) met with local planning officers who were aiming to improve the public realm in Tottenham. Instead of proposing an intervention for one of the existing parks, City Mine(d) engaged with locals. A leaflet about the local history was distributed in the neighbourhood, to make people think about where they lived.
Next a Coco Loco was organized. Thermoses of hot chocolate were prepared, a table taken out, and City Mine(d) set up stall in the passageway. Meetings were inspiring and intense, not in the least because it was dark the moment chocolate was served, but it became step 1 in City Mine(d)’s longest running projects in London.