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EDMONTON, ENFIELD, WOOD GREEN, TOTTENHAM and the surrounding areas

N9, N11, N13, N17, N18, N21, N20, N22. EN1,2,3 and E4

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History[edit]

Angel Road, Edmonton, at dusk. Edmonton gasworks on horizon. (February 2006)

Edmonton gasworks seen from Tottenham Marshes

The old highway Ermine Street passed through what is today Edmonton. Ermine Street was the main Roman road from London to Lincoln and on to York. Edmonton appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it is recorded as Adelmetone- 'a farmstead or estate of a man called Ēadhelm' from an Old English personal name and tūn.^[3]

Edmonton Hundred was a division of the historic county of Middlesex from Saxon times, an area of some 31,000 acres (125 km²) stretching up the west bank of the Lea from Tottenham to the county boundary south of Waltham Cross, and west into what is now Hertfordshire as far as South Mimms. Local government in the modern sense began in 1837 with the Edmonton Union, set up under the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834. This also covered a wide district of 47,102 acres (191 km²), including the modern boroughs of Haringey and Enfield, plus Cheshunt, Waltham Abbey and Waltham Cross. The town hall was built in 1884^[4] and extended in 1903.^[5]

The population of this area grew rapidly, reaching 445,875 by 1911 and would today be about 615,000. As the population mushroomed Middlesex was subdivided into many small local government areas, a much smaller Edmonton of 3,894 acres (16 km²) eventually achieving the status of borough (main article Municipal Borough of Edmonton) in 1937. At the 1961 census the borough had a population of 91,956.^[6] This was absorbed into the London Borough of Enfield in 1965, and the former town hall and civic buildings were controversially demolished by Enfield Council in 1989.^[7]

Pymmes Park with its historic walled garden is Upper Edmonton's park. Pymmes Park originated as a private estate. In the late 16th century it was owned by the powerful Cecil family. In 1589 Robert Cecil, later 1st Earl of Salisbury, spent his honeymoon at Pymmes. Cecil was a protege of Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth I's chief spymaster and he succeeded him as Secretary of State in 1590. The estate was eventually acquired by Edmonton Council and opened as a public park in 1906. Pymmes House was destroyed by fire during the Second World War and the remains were demolished.

In the 17th century the then rural Edmonton had a reputation for supernatural activities. In approximately 1600, a play entitled The Merry Devil of Edmonton was performed in London about a wizard who lived there. In 1621 the villagers accused an old woman, Elizabeth Sawyer, of witchcraft and she was subsequently executed at Tyburn; her story was told in a pamphlet by Henry Goodcole, and in a 1621 play entitled The Witch of Edmonton.

The historic All Saints' Church is situated in Church Street as is Lamb's Cottage, which was home to writers Charles Lamb and Mary Lamb.

John Keats, the poet, was apprenticed to surgeon Dr. Hammond in Church Street between 1810-1816. The house was demolished in 1931 to be replaced by Keats Parade. An extant shop carries a blue plaque in commemoration.^[8]

Geography[edit]

Wood Green stretches from Turnpike Lane in the south to the borough boundary in the north.^[3] It's eastern and western boundaries have changed over time and today people have varying senses of what exactly is included in Wood Green. One definition sees the western boundary as formed by the Great Northern Railway Line. Others argue that Alexandra Park is still within Wood Green's boundaries. Less contentious is the eastern boundary. A common definition would roughly describe it by a line running from the south western corner of Tottenhall Park, to the junction of The Roundway and Lordship Lane, then along Downhills Way as far as Belmont Avenue. This part of the boundary is completed by a line running in a northwesterly direction as far as Westbury Avenue. ^[4]^{[dubious – discuss]}

The area is rises from 66 ft (20m) to 98 ft (30m) above sea level.

Locale[edit]

The shopping area and residential areas of Wood Green offer quite different identities. Although it was developed as a mainly middle class residential area, today the high street and the shopping mallhost mainly low-priced shops, giving a somewhat down-at-heel air. However, behind the high street, Wood Green's streets include a high proportion of attractive high quality Victorian houses. To the north and west of the tube station, a large number of green spaces weave through the streets and a number of larger open green areas remain.^[5]

Toponymy[edit]

The name Wood Green derives from ‘Woodlegh’ or 'Woodlea', a Saxon word meaning open ground near a wood, which in this case relates to an opening in Tottenham Wood, an extensive area of woodland which formerly covered most of this area and westward to Muswell Hill.^[6]. The earliest surviving written record of ‘Woodlegh’ is a reference in documentation dating from 1256, which relates to a grant for Ducketts Manor, (a sub-manor of Tottenham) which used to be located just to the east of the present-day Wood Green High Road, roughly opposite the junction of Alexandra Road and the High Road.^[7]

History[edit]

Records suggest that settlement around Wood Green did not start till after the Norman Conquest.^[7] There is some limited evidence of Roman presence in the Wood Green area but none of any Saxonsettlement. However, from the latter part of the 14th century a number of estates developed around Wood Green. This included the Manor of Ducketts and a handful of smaller estates.

In the early Seventeenth Century, the lord of Tottenham Manor, the Earl of Dorset, conducted a major survey of his land. It showed that Wood Green, at the time roughly the Western half of Tottenham, had only sixteen houses and 50 inhabitants.^[7]^[8]

“Round House” or “Mushroom House”. Built in 1822 as the gatehouse for Chitts Hill House, this building still stands at the edge of Woodside Park in Wood Green. It is Grade II listed.^[9]

At around the same time as the Dorset Survey, the New River was constructed through Wood Green. Winding through the area, the river looped across Chitts Hill and then passed along the northern side of Wood Green Common before turning south. The proximity of Wood Green to the new water course enhanced the area’s reputation and between the 17th and early 19th Century several large properties were constructed in the area, initially as country retreats for wealthy Londoners. Such dwellings included Cherson House, Wood Green Cottage, Moat Cottage and the Grange, all of which were situated on the fringes of Wood Green Common and dated from the 17th Century. Later, Wood Green House (c. 1780), Chitts Hill House (c. 1805) and Bounds Green House were constructed at the perimeter of the common. Despite the development of these dwellings, by 1798 the population of Wood Green stood at just 100 inhabitants and remained scattered. It was centred at this period on Wood Green Common.

Notice for 1806 sale of land in Wood Green (Exact location unknown).

At the same time as the population was growing so was the traffic along Green Lanes. As a result Wood Green's first inn and recognisable business appeared. In 1770 George Chesser established a blacksmith's shop on the corner of Green Lanes and Lordship Lane (later known as Spouter's Corner). In 1781, the Three Jolly Butchers coaching inn was opened on the west side of Green Lanes between Lordship Lane and Bounds Green Road.^[7]

During the early decades of the 19th Century the number of inhabitants in the area began to increase significantly. By the middle of the nineteenth century the population had increased to 400^[7] and the centre of Wood Green's gravity had moved north and east with most development taking place in a triangle directly north of St Michael's Church.^[10] By the time of the publication of the 1869 Ordnance Survey map, Clarence Road, Truro Road, Nightingale Road, Finsbury Road and Commerce Road were all laid out and were becoming increasingly built up.

The opening of the Great Northern Railway Line station at Wood Green in 1859 encouraged further development. By the end of the nineteenth century, much of Wood Green had been built up. What remained was built over during the first part of the twentieth century.

As Wood Green's population grew, so did its high street. The earliest retail developments had been in Commercial Road and Finsbury Road during the 1860s. However by the early 1880's retail activity was clearly shifting to the High Road. At first it focussed on the area between White Hart Lane and Truro Road. As the population grew, retail growth south of Lordship Lane began to exceed that north of it and by the end of the first decade of the twentieth Wood Green High Street had become a popular shopping centre for North London. By 1976 Wood Green was the largest shopping centre in north London with a turnover of more that £20m.

With the reorganisation of local government in the 1960s, Haringey Council was formed from the former boroughs of Wood Green, Hornsey and Tottenham. The new unified administration wanted to reinvent Wood Green as a ‘Heart for Haringey’. It was one of a number of new suburban centres intended to counteract the pull of Central London. The Shopping City was constructed between 1976 and 1981.^[11] With its mall and retail developments above, it was, and remains, a gargantuan development.

Governance history[edit]

Up to the nineteenth century, Wood Green came under the governance of the Manor and Parish of Tottenham. Tottenham developed from a parish in Middlesex into an Urban sanitary district in 1875, after a local board of health had been established in 1850.^[12]

In 1888, the Municipal Borough of Wood Green was created as an urban district, and later a municipal borough, of Middlesex. In 1965, under the London Government Act 1963, the Municipal Borough of Wood Green was abolished and its area merged with that of the Municipal Borough of Tottenham and the Municipal Borough of Hornsey to form the present-day London Borough of Haringey.^[7]

The constituency of Wood Green was created in 1918 and existed until 1983 when it was split. Some of the constituency was transferred to the neighbouring seat of Tottenham, but most was merged with the Hornsey parliamentary constituency to form the Hornsey and Wood Green parliamentary constituency. Since 2015, the seat has been represented in the House of Commons by the Labour Party MP, Catherine West.^[7]

Other Threads of Wood Green History[edit]

Entertainment history[edit]

The Alexandra Palace, which is within Wood Green parish, played a leading role in the development of public service television. Wood Green also played its part in the history of commercial television in the UK.

In 1955, with the opening of Lew Grade's London weekend franchise Associated Television (ATV), The Wood Green Empire in Lymington Avenue was home to variety programmes on Independent Television (ITV); one of which was The Arthur Haynes Show, starring the host himself and his straight man Nicholas Parsons.^[13] Only the frontage of The Wood Green Empire survives. It is now a branch of the Halifax.

The now-demolished bus depot at Wood Green was used for location filming by London Weekend Television for their 1970s situation comedy On The Buses.^[14]

1992 Bomb incident[edit]

Two bombs planted by the Provisional IRA exploded at the Shopping City complex on 10 December 1992, injuring 11 people, including four police officers. The bombs were hidden in two separate litter bins about 200 yards away from each other.^[15]^[16]

Demography[edit]

Wood Green does not fit neatly into wards. However a significant part of the area is contained within the Noel Park and Woodside wards. The population of those wards is given as 28,453 in the 2011 Census. The same census reports that white groups make up 55% of the population of Noel Park ward.^[17] The figures for the Woodside ward are 53% white and 8% Black African.^[18]

Economy[edit]

Wood Green is a busy urban activity centre with a sizeable shopping area with two cinemas, bars, nightclubs, numerous restaurants and cafes and a shopping area, The Mall, close to the tube station. The High Road, the main shopping spine, stretches from the Wood Green tube station to the next stop on the Piccadilly line, Turnpike Lane, and is lined with shops along its route. It joins with Green Lanes at both its northern and southern ends.

Etymology[edit]

Enfield was recorded in Domesday Book in 1086 as Enefelde, and as Einefeld in 1214, Enfeld in 1293, and Enfild in 1564: that is 'open land of a man called Ēana', or 'where lambs are reared', from the Old English feld with an Old English personal name or with Old English ēan 'lamb'. The feld would have been a reference to an area cleared of trees within woodland that would later become known as Enfield Chase.^[2]

Historical[edit]

Enfield Town used to be a small market town in the county of Middlesex, on the edge of the forest, about a day's walk north of London. As London grew, Enfield Town and its surrounds eventually became a residential suburb, with fast transport links into central London.

The current borough was created in 1965 from the former areas of the Municipal Borough of Southgate, the Municipal Borough of Enfield and the Municipal Borough of Edmonton. The armorial bearings of these three boroughs were also merged. The heraldic beast on the shield of the Enfield coat of arms is known in heraldry as an "Enfield" (or colloquially as the Enfield beast), and is used extensively as a logo representing Enfield, particularly by the borough council.

In Roman times, Enfield was connected to Londinium by Ermine Street, the great Roman road which stretched all the way up to York. Artefacts found in the early 1900s reveal that there were Roman settlements in the areas that are now Edmonton and Bush Hill Park.

In 790 King Offa of Mercia was recorded as giving the lands of Edmonton to St Albans Abbey. The area became strategically important as East Angliawas taken over by the Danes. In the 790s strongholds were built by men loyal to King Alfred the Great, in order to keep the Danes to the east of the River Lea.

After the Norman Conquest, both Enfield and Edmonton were mentioned in Domesday Book. Both had churches, and Enfield had 400 inhabitants, Edmonton 300. Enfield is also described as having a "parc". This parc—a heavily forested area for hunting—was key to Enfield's existence in the Middle Ages (see Enfield Old Park). Wealthy Londoners came to Enfield first to hunt, and then to build houses in the green, wooded surroundings. In 1303, Edward I of England granted Enfield a charter to hold a weekly market, which has continued up to this day. The old market cross was removed in the early 20th century to make way for a monument to the coronation of King Edward VII, but was preserved by the horticulturalist E. A. Bowles for his garden at nearby Myddelton House, where it remains today.^[3]

Enfield Grammar School with its Tudor Old Hall stands next to the Enfield Town Market Place and St. Andrew's Church, the school having been extended several times since 1586. A new hall and further additions were completed shortly before World War II.^[4]

Nearby historically was the palace of Edward VI, where Elizabeth I lived while a princess, including during the final illness of Henry VIII. Edward was taken there to join her, so that in the company of his sister, Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford could break the news to Edward, formally announcing the death of their royal father in the presence chamber at Enfield, on his knees to make formal obeisance to the boy as King.^[5] Later Elizabeth held court there when she was queen (this was remembered in the name Palace Gardens that was a street running behind Pearsons department store and is still recalled in the name of Enfield's shopping centre).^[6]^[7]

Industry[edit]

Enfield has a history of armaments manufacture—see Royal Small Arms Factory. The Lee–Enfield .303 rifle was standard issue for the British Armyuntil 1957, although its usage carried on afterwards for some time. Other firearms manufactured there include the Bren and Sten machine guns—the "en" in both cases denoting the place of manufacture.

The world's first solid state circuitry colour televisions were manufactured by Ferguson at their now closed plant in Enfield.

The first mass-produced dishwasher was manufactured in Hotpoint's now closed Enfield plant.

The Barclays Bank branch in Enfield was the first place in the world to have an ATM or cash machine; it was officially opened in June 1967 by Reg Varney, a television actor and personality most famous for his lead role in the comedy series On the Buses. This historical event was marked by a silver plaque on the wall of the bank, and later by an English Heritage Blue plaque.

A fine example of a grade II listed art deco factory building can be found along Southbury Road, with the former Ripaults Factory,^[8] now an office building for Travis Perkins.

Enfield today[edit]

Enfield Town

The borough's Civic Centre is in Silver Street, Enfield Town, and is home to the council. Enfield Town is also home to the local credit union, North London Credit Union.

In 2007, Enfield Town centre completed a major redevelopment project under the name PalaceXchange while retaining the Palace Gardens Shopping Centre. An extension was added to the existing retail area with many new shops, and a second multi-storey car park was built along with a new road layout.

A major redevelopment of Edmonton Green including the shopping centre, and adjacent municipal housing over a wide area, started in 1999. This is still on-going, and provides new housing, health facilities, a new leisure centre, a supermarket, and many other civic features.

Many local activities are located around the A10 road, on the sites of former industrial enterprises, which has a number of large retail outlets and a large multiplex Cineworld cinema. The cinema also plays host to Jubilee Church on a Sunday morning; whilst cinemagoers continue to watch films in the other screens, a charismatic church which draws its worshippers from a wide area, hiring several auditoria for worship.

The western part of Enfield is largely residential, with shopping centres in Southgate, Palmers Green and Cockfosters.

Parts of Enfield experienced rioting in August 2011, in which a private car and a van were set alight and completely destroyed, a police car vandalised (smashed windows) and a number of shops in Enfield Town Centre (HMV, G. Mantella, Pearsons, Argos etc.) as well as others in the Enfield Retail Park being broken into and looted. The Sony Distribution Centre in the Innova Business Park, near Waltham Cross, was burnt to the ground. Although early reports questioned whether this was an arson or a coincidental incident arrests were later made in connection. In September 2012, a year after the attack, a rebuilt Sony Distribution Centre was opened by the prime minister, David Cameron.^[9]

Location[edit]

With the Winchmore Hill conservation area as a focal point, Winchmore Hill is a ward of Enfield borough, bounded on the east by Green Lanes (the A105 road), Barrowell Green, Firs Lane and Fords Grove, and on the west by Grovelands Park; in the south it extends to part of Aldermans Hill, and in the north to Vicars Moor Lane and Houndsden Road. Winchmore Hill is 8.9 miles (14.3 km) north north-east of Charing Cross.

Once a small hamlet in the parish of Edmonton, Winchmore Hill now borders Palmers Green, Southgate, Edmonton, and Grange Park.

Prior to the Roman invasion, Hertfordshire, Essex and Middlesex were occupied by the Catuvellauni tribe. It is believed that this tribe built a hill fort on the mound now occupied by Bush Hill Park Golf Club.

The earliest recorded mention of Winchmore Hill is in a deed dated A.D. 1319 in which it is spelt Wynsemerhull. In Old English, 'merhull' translates according to the Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place Names as 'boundary hill'. It might be speculated that the overall title could mean 'Wynsige's boundary hill'. By 1395 the name had been altered to Wynsmerhull and by 1565 the village was known as Wynsmorehyll, becoming Winchmore Hill by the time it was mentioned in state papers in 1586.

There are many buildings of historical note in Winchmore Hill. The first religious building recorded is the Quaker Meeting House, 1688, rebuilt in 1790. Among those buried here are Luke Howard, the father of modern meteorology, Alice Hum, founder of Palmers Green High School for Girls, and members of the Hoare and Barclay banking families. Samuel Hoare played a prominent role in the campaign against the slave trade.

St Paul's Church was built as a Waterloo church on land donated from the Grovelands estate. The church ceiling was said to be the largest unsupported expanse of plasterwork in Europe until its renovation in the 1960s introduced concealed supports. The original wooden clapboard St Paul's School building can be seen a little further down Church Hill. The remains of the second, brick-and-stone school building are evident in the walls of the church car park. The current 1960s building is on Ringwood Way, off Station Road. Other historical buildings may be seen on Wades Hill, leading north from The Green. On the right, just beyond the shops, are some wooden clapboard cottages; beyond these on the left is a tall five-storey residential building dating back to 1710. This is in the style of the Georgian town houses of London's West End, but stands alone. It once had a partner house to its right, which was demolished by its owners, Keble School (in the days before such buildings were 'listed').

The oldest pub in the district was probably the Green Dragon – on Green Lanes. It is reputed to have opened in 1726 on the junction of Green Lanes and Green Dragon Lane. The Victoria County Historyreveals that by 1752 The Green Dragon was established, although not in its present form. At that time, highwaymen were hanged near to where they were caught, and it is said that one was caught and executed on a gallows erected by the Green Dragon's front entrance. These gallows were not pulled down for a number of years, which might have prompted the owner to move the pub to its current location at the bottom of Vicars Moor Lane near the end of the eighteenth century. The original Green Dragon was pulled down in 1892 and the new one was extensively remodelled in 1935. It was closed as a public house in 2015 although the building remains as a supermarket. In 2017, a micropub called the Little Green Dragon was opened near to the site of the original eighteenth century Green Dragon at the end of Green Dragon Lane.

The Woodman pub near the end of Broadwalk is reported to have been built in 1727, although there is also evidence to suggest that it dates from 1820. Before the building obtained a pub licence in 1868, it was a private residence.

Woodside House and Rowantree House on The Green at the end of Broadwalk were built in 1750 and of painted brick.

Numerous local buildings that were constructed between 1770 and 1839 remain today. Near the Dog and Duck on Hoppers Road are some old terraced houses built around 1770. Number 106A Vicars Moor Lane is a distinctive private residence that retains the façade of a chapel. To the east on the same road are a number of residences that were probably built around the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century.

The station c.1875.

In 1865 the Great Northern Railway obtained permission to build a new line to run from Wood Green to Hertford through Palmers Green and Enfield. However, in 1869 financial constraints forced the company to consider Enfield as the northern terminus. Palmers Green and Winchmore Hill were to be the intervening rural stations. The intention was to finish the line to Enfield by 1870, but the terrain was more troublesome than expected and five men met their death while laying the track. The branch opened on All-Fools Day in 1871 and the first passenger train came through Winchmore Hill, creating a new suburb of London. At first only 16 trains a day left Enfield, mostly for Moorgate.

An electric tramway along Green Lanes from Palmers Green was developed in 1907, helping to further develop the area. The tramway is now long gone, but the wide road remains and the 329 bus (formerly the 29, and before that the 123) follows the tram route from Enfield to Turnpike Lane.

The Capitol Cinema, designed in the Art Deco style by Robert Cromie, was opened on 29 December 1929 in Green Lanes, on a site now occupied by the office block Capitol House. Briefly run by Lou Morris, the cinema was taken over in December 1930 by ABC Cinemas, which ran it until its closure on 5 December 1959. It was demolished the following year.

Winchmore Hill today[edit]

At the heart of the area is Winchmore Hill Green, a village green surrounded by shops and restaurants. Winchmore Hill also has its very own millionaires row Broad Walk that has been home to the rich and famous. Of particular note in Winchmore Hill is Grovelands Park, which was originally a private estate before being partly sold off to the council in 1913. The part remaining in private hands now contains the Priory Clinic, which hosted General Pinochet whilst he was in the UK awaiting charges from the Spanish government.

Winchmore Hill Sports Club provides the local area with cricket, football, tennis, hockey and table tennis facilities and teams.

Winchmore Hill is located in the Parliamentary constituency of Enfield Southgate.

Palmers Green
Palmers Green Library

Palmers Green

Palmers Green shown within Greater London

Population15,162 (ward, 2011)^[1]OS grid referenceTQ309927• Charing Cross8 mi (12.9 km) SLondon borough

Enfield

Ceremonial countyGreater LondonRegion

London

CountryEnglandSovereign stateUnited KingdomPost townLONDONPostcode districtN13Dialling code020

PoliceMetropolitanFireLondonAmbulanceLondonEU ParliamentLondonUK Parliament

Enfield Southgate

London Assembly

Enfield and Haringey

List of places: UK; England; London

51.6178°N 0.1092°WCoordinates: 51.6178°N 0.1092°W

Palmers Green is a suburban area of the London Borough of Enfield in north London, England. It is located within the N13 postcode district, around 8 miles (13 km) north of Charing Cross. It is home to the largest population of Greek Cypriots outside Cyprus and is often nicknamed "Little Cyprus" or "Palmers Greek".^[2]

Contents

[hide]

1Etymology
2History
3Palmers Green today
4Demography
5In popular culture
6Transport
- 6.1Nearest places
- 6.2Nearest tube stations
- 6.3Nearest railway stations
7Education
8Churches
9References
10Bibliography
11External links

Etymology[edit]

Recorded as Palmers grene 1608, 'village green associated with a family called Palmer' (mentioned in local records from the 14th century), from the Middle English grene.^[3]

History[edit]

Palmers Green was once a tiny hamlet in the parish of Edmonton, situated at the junction of Green Lanes and Fox Lane. Its population was very small, and there were no more than a few isolated houses in the mid-17th century. Local records mention a Palmers Field in 1204 and a Palmers Grove in 1340. Palmers Green is mentioned as a highway in 1324 (in Westminster Abbey Muniments).

By 1801 the area had grown to a village of 54 buildings, including two inns (according to the Middlesex Record Office). In 1871 the railway line from Wood Green to Enfield was opened and a station was built in Aldermans Hill to serve Palmers Green (half a mile away from the nearest houses).

The area remained largely undeveloped for thirty more years, as local landowners refused to sell their large estates for building. In 1902, however, large tracts of land were sold for building and the area began to develop rapidly. The first large-scale developments were on the Old Park estate between Fox Lane and Aldermans Hill, and the Hazelwood Park Estate between Hazelwood Lane and Hedge Lane. Within the latter development the building that now serves as Hazelwood Infant School and Hazelwood Junior School was built in Hazelwood Lane in 1908.

Notable local buildings include Broomfield House and Truro House. The former Southgate Town Hall is now the library and flats. The former Pilgrims Rest (reflecting the name Palmers - "medieval pilgrim who carried a palm branch as a token of having visited the Holy Land") has already been demolished for housing. The Fox public house, which has been in its present guise since 1904, was once the site of the Electric Mouse comedy venue.

The poet and novelist Stevie Smith lived in Palmers Green from 1905 until her death in 1971. That same year Joe Strummer shared a flat at 18 Ash Grove with Tymon Dogg and several others. Paul Scott, the author of The Jewel in the Crown, was born in Palmers Green on 25 March 1920. Victoria Cross recipient Alfred Herring lived locally. Local author Douglas Hill was killed by a bus on a zebra crossing at The Triangle in 2007.

The Intimate Theatre was opened in a building that had been built in 1931 as St Monica's Church Hall. Among the actors who performed there were Richard Attenborough, Vivien Leigh, Roger Moore and (in a mime production) David Bowie. It is no longer a repertory theatre and the building is no longer used exclusively for theatrical performances, but it is still often referred to as the Intimate Theatre. In 1992 the building housed a Radio Cracker studio.

In 1988 Palmers Green's only hospital, Greentrees Hospital, was closed and demolished.^[4]

Palmers Green today[edit]

There is a parade of shops known as Palmers Green Shopping Centre along Green Lanes, with many restaurants, pubs, clothing shops, independently owned cafes, beauty salons, and branches of Superdrug, Wetherspoons (The Alfred Herring), Morrisons, The Carphone Warehouse and Starbucks.

Broomfield House, in Broomfield Park, remains a burnt-out shell despite numerous redevelopment proposals and an appearance on the BBC2 programme Restoration.^[5] The Conservatory in the park has recently reopened after a refurbishment.^[6]

Palmers Green railway station car park is the location of a Sunday farmers' market and also of the Waiting Rooms cafe ([2]), which hosts live blues music on a Friday evening with performers including "Mad Dog" Dave Barnes and Graham Hine, guitarist of Brett Marvin and the Thunderbolts. There is also a small platform coffee counter and art exhibitions are occasionally held in a second waiting room.

The widening of the North Circular Road single-lane section at Bowes Road/New Southgate is almost complete, after more than 20 years of discussion.

Public access to the New River canal has been improved with waterside paths and access gates.

Demography[edit]

According to the 2011 census, 64% of the ward's population is white (34% British, 27% Other, 3% Irish). 6% was Indian and 5% of 'Any other ethnic group'. The main foreign languages are Turkish, spoken by 795 people, and Greek, spoken by 605.^[7]

In popular culture[edit]

Green Lanes, the high street of Palmers Green, is featured in the "Knight Bus" sequence in the film Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.^[8]

Palmers Green is mentioned in Jona Lewie's song "You'll Always Find Me in the Kitchen at Parties" (1980).^[9] The song's lyrics were written by Lewie's friend Keef Trouble, a fellow member of Brett Marvin and the Thunderbolts. The reference to Palmers Green was prompted by the fact that Trouble had split up with his girlfriend and was at a party thrown by his friend Charles "Charlie Farley" Hallinan near The Fox public house in Palmers Green.^[10] Jona Lewie slightly amended the words, but still mentioned the "do in Palmers Green". In his second autobiographical book, “Snakes and Ladders”, Dirk Bogarde writes of joining the army at the same time as a man he refers to as “Palmers Green” who, after merciless bullying.

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