Litchfields estate agents director Giselle Harrison on sitting down to dinner with Margaret Thatcher
Giselle Harrison is director of Litchfields estate agents in Highgate High Street, the principle sponsor of this year’s Fair in the Square on June 14. The 45-year-old lives in Crouch End but has worked in Highgate Village for 20 years.
What brought you to Highgate? I grew up in Hampstead and we got the Ham&High every Friday. I had just left school and I saw an advert for a trainee estate agent in Highgate and I applied.
What is your favourite thing about the area? The sense of community and camaraderie between the traders.
How has Highgate changed since you came to the area? There are double the amount of estate agents since 1987! And more hairdressers and more coffee shops.
What is the area’s best kept secret? The Capital Ring Walk which encompasses most of Parkland Walk.
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What would you change about Highgate? A unified parking system between Camden and Haringey and fewer restrictions on parking in the High Street, South Grove and Pond Square.
If you were editor of the Ham & High for a day, what local issue would you champion? I would push to have CCTV installed in the High Street.
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Who is the most inspiring person you have ever met? Margaret Thatcher. My mother was chairman of the Hampstead and Highgate Conservative Association in the 1980s and Margaret Thatcher came to our house for the association’s centenary dinner which my parents hosted. I never voted for her though!
How would you spend your perfect Sunday in Highgate? I love dog walking in Highgate Wood and then going for Sunday lunch with friends at The Bull in North Hill.
What tips would you give to somebody moving to the area? Embrace local independent traders and support the High Street.
If you had to write your own epitaph what would it say? I came, I saw, I sold.
Where in the world would you twin with Highgate? Crickhowell in the Brecon Beacons, Wales.
