‘I hated it’: London council’s renaming of Black Boy Lane divides locals

While some in Tottenham welcomed the change to La Rose Lane, others protested

When Jackie Wright first moved to Black Boy Lane in Tottenham in 1999, she asked her taxi driver if he knew the history behind the street name. She wasn’t from London, but the 53-year-old had always been interested in black history.

“I asked the cab man: ‘Why is this road this name?’ And he said: ‘Go to Tottenham library.’ So I went to the library; my head blew,” she said.