CONTINUING our Down YourStreet series NNIICCOOLLEE LLEEMMAARRIIEE discovers what it is liketo live on a rural road steepedin tradition

FRIDAY Street in Abinger is a walker’sparadise surrounded by National Trustland and the Wotton Estate, the birth-place of a famous Fawlty Towers actressand steeped in history.

One of the first things you notice whenarriving at Friday Street, apart from thestunning scenery surrounding it, is thebright primary blue and yellow anddoors.

“The yellow and blue doors mean theproperty belongs to the Evelyn Estate”,Carol and Charlie Bailey, who live inwhat used to be the old stables, informme.

“All of Wotton belongs to the Evelynsand if your door is marked in thosecolours it means you work for them.

“Back in the old days colours used todistinguish between estates, Shereestate had green doors, so it showed thepublic who they were. Even the garagesare painted in those colours”

The Baileys have their cottagebecause Carol is the Evelyn’s house-keeper. They have lived on Friday Streetfor nine years.

Carol said: “As far as we know theEvelyn family started the street, and atone point everyone living on FridayStreet was a tenant, the majority on theEvelyn estate.”

“Now the street is a mixture of peoplebut most of the houses belong to theWotton Estate.

“The gardener, the housekeeper, thehead forester, the painter, the plumberand the gamekeeper all live here.

“Lots of people come here to walk. Youget people down from London and peopledoing their Duke of Edinburgh Award.

“The last big community event we hadwas the Queen’s jubilee celebration,where everybody congregated in the pubcar park.

“Prunella Scales, famous for playingSybil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers, was bornon Friday Street so she came and openedthe jubilee barbecue.

“She comes back to visit the area mostsummers and stays up near AbingerCommon and will come down to FridayStreet for a visit.”

Another notable part of the street isthe Stephan Langton Pub, named afterthe Archbishop of Canterbury who setout to limit the excesses of King John inthe early 13th century.

The current pub building was built inthe early 1930s after the original wasdestroyed by fire.

Chris and Rosie Robinson moved tothe pub with their children Patrick,eight, and Kate, five, last November.

Chris said: “We had been looking forour own business for about 18 months,and when we saw an advert for thiswithin a couple of weeks we took it up.

“Friday Street has a great communityspirit. It’s very feudal in that everyoneworks on the estate and everyone knowseveryone else.

“It is such a unique location and thepub is the main meeting point for thecommunity. We have about 30 to 35locals who use it as a basis for theirmeetings.

“Most of the people in the houses willcome in and visit us. They also provideus with local produce and there is manwho is going to do our website, everyonein the community is doing trade witheach other, it is unusual to have such anincredible community spirit.”

Street of history and beauty

Famous resident: Chris and Rosie Robinson from The StephanLangton pub named after a former Archbishop of Canterbury

Photo No: 20245/9 by Peter Gardner

Stunning: The beautiful countryside around Friday StreetPhoto No: 20245/14 by Peter Gardner

Famous founder

Days gone by: Friday Street

IT IS thought that the land on whichFriday Street lies has been owned bythe Evelyn estate for about 500 years.

The street was founded by thefamous diarist John Evelyn, acontemporary of Samuel Pepys.

In the early days of the Evelynfamily, gunpowder was a majorproduct of the area and there isevidence to suggest that the 1605 GuyFawkes plot drew some of its keyingredients from the area.

The Archbishop of CanterburyStephan Langton was the fourthsignatory on the Magna Carta in 1215,which established the principle thatthe crown was subject to the law andwas thus the starting point for thelong, slow development of Englishdemocracy.

Friday Street’s name could derivefrom the Scandinavian goddessFrigga, although another theory isthat places called Friday Street referto Friday being the fast day and placesgiven this name were difficult to makea living on.

Another rumour has it that childrenborn in this street are automaticallylicensed to fish in the trout filled pondin Friday Street.

Quality of life

Loves scenery: Carol BaileyPhoto No: 20246/13 by Peter Gardner

Carol Bailey 60, has lived on FridayStreet for nine years and is PatrickEvelyn’s HousekeeperWhat is the best thing about living onFriday Street? The scenery and wildlife, youwill have herons, kingfishers, deer, snakes, andwhen its snowy the scenery is just stunning.What is the worst thing about living onFriday Street? The difficulty with lorries, theroad is just too narrow.How neighbourly is your street? I wouldgive it a six, people are friendly and if you havea problem people would help you out. But acouple of years ago it would have been higherbut a few people have moved away and thatwas an end of an era.Who would be your ideal neighbour?Virginia McKennaWho would be your worst neighbour?Someone who does a lot of drugs like thatPete Doherty.