A London local history blogger pays an overdue visit to Broomfield Park.
Matt Brown's article begins with this classic photo of Broomfield House by Christine Matthews
Very few people go to Palmers Green. "Is that down near Fulham?" puzzled my wife. "Never heard of it," rejoined my neighbour. Even I had not been to Palmers Green, despite having spent 20 years writing about the capital.
Perhaps because it’s not on the tube map, Palmers Green slips between the cracks of cognisance.
Part of an introduction to PG for the uninitiated from a new article on the Londonist Time Machine Substack channel, written by Londonist "editor-at-large" Matt Brown under the title "The Forgotten Tudor Hall of North London" after he paid a long overdue visit to Broomfield Park.
The journey into terra incognita beyond the North Circular Road was prompted by a suggestion from PG resident Adrian Day, who acted as a guide along with John Cole, the council's liaison officer for the Unlocking Broomfield project.
Matt makes up for the unforgiveable delay in visiting PG by conceding that "Palmers Green, it turns out, is a charmer of a neighbourhood: characterful high street; gem of a railway station (on the Hertford Loop line), with a conjoined gem of a cafe (The Yard); and an historic old pub (the Fox)".
There follows a potted history of Broomfield Park and Broomfield House - I say "potted history", but it's actually remarkably comprehensive considering its length, delving right back to its earliest days, but not neglecting to mention the spaceships and robots depicted on the recently painted hoardings around the burnt-out building.
The author concludes:
"Not many local history projects have the confidence to trace themselves back to the dawn of time and space. We can only hope that the site’s future will be equally self-assured, even if Broomfield house itself must be swept away."
Read the full article on the Londonist Time Machine Substack channel
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