O is for Osidge

LONDON A-Z O is for Osidge Osidge is a loosely-defined 1930s suburb in north London, marginally in Barnet. It started as one big house and is now thousands, sloping down to the Pymmes Brook in a generally overlooked manner. It's a product of the extended Piccadilly line, expanding to the west of Southgate station, and is often marked on maps some way from where it actually began. It's been home to a grocery magnate, a noted meteorologist and a kohl-eyed singer. And yes it rhymes with sausage, before anyone feels the need to ask. Last year 28 small mosaics were hung around Southgate town centre as part of a heritage-focused Art Trail. The pair outside the former Halifax building society commemorate two local business dynasties, both consequential, whose estates were eventually sold for housing. The brewing Taylors and Walkers lived in a big house at Arnos Grove, beyond the scope of today's post, while Thomas Lipton lived at a smaller big house called Osidge. Thomas was born in the…