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Local History/Local Studies

Edmonton festival offers photography and poetry prizes

29 April 2018

The Lamb Festival 2018: Saturday 16th to Friday 22nd June. An arts Festival at All Saints, Edmonton, to celebrate the lives and legacies of Charles and Mary Lamb. You can find the wonderful 2017 Festival Diary here - save the dates and come and join us! (And don't forget - for the fourth year running, there's free admission to ALL Festival events, so why not come and try something new?) 2017 LAMB FESTIVAL DIARY As before, there will be poetry and photography competitions - three prizes.......

Behind the Scenes at the Enfield Museum and Archives

03 April 2018

Enfield's newly accredited Museum and Archive Service this month launches a programme of events in which visitors are invited in to learn about some of the objects in its collection. The Service's accreditation status was announced at the end of March by the UK Archive Service Accreditation Partnership.  The panel awarding accreditation looks at "an organisation’s ability to develop, care for, and provide access to its collections, and those areas such as resources and planning which.......

Do you have memories of Forty Hall Farm?

01 March 2018

The search is on for Enfield residents who have previously worked at Forty Hall Farm, or anyone who has memories of the Farm and its history. Land girls in Southgate Park, during WWII. Source: Enfield Local Studies Centre. Thanks to funding from the Enfield Society, Forty Hall Farm in north Enfield has been awarded a project grant to produce a series of information boards for visitors, to tell the history of the Farm and farming in Enfield. Farm manager Kate McGeevor explains:.......

Celebrating PG's role in the campaign for women's suffrage

27 February 2018

2018 is the centenary year of the extension of the right to vote to (some) women. In recognition of the fact that many leading campaigners for women's suffrage lived in and around Palmers Green, Southgate and Winchmore Hill and that local halls, churches and schools hosted campaign meetings, Enfield Council will next month be unveiling a plaque at Palmers Green Triangle. The unveiling will take place at 10.30am on 8th March - International Women's Day. Palmers Green Triangle has been chosen.......

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Broomfield House and Park: Your memories wanted!

21 February 2018

The Broomfield House Trust and Enfield Museum Service have agreed to hold a joint exhibition, "Hidden Treasures: Revealing Broomfield House", at the Dugdale Centre in Enfield from 23 July 2018 until 6 January 2019. The Broomfield House Trust will be using donations and a grant from the Enfield Society to fund the restoration and display of the Minerva panel of the Lanscroon Murals, which will be the centre piece of the display. We are awaiting formal permission from Enfield Counci,l who "own".......

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A fascinating line-up of talks at this Saturday's Haringey Local History Fair

13 February 2018

This year's Haringey Local History Fair at Bruce Castle Museum promises a fascinating and very varied series of talks.  Highlights include a talk about Holocaust survivor and local artist Moshe Galili and the story of the Gestetner factory (fascinating for me, because I use to use a Gestetner in the early 1960s to produce flyers for my mother's concerts). Saturday 17 February 11.00am - 4.30pm Haringey Local History Fair at Bruce Castle Bruce Castle Museum, Lordship Lane, N17 8NU .......

Plenty to read in the Enfield Society Spring Newsletter

13 February 2018

The Enfield Society have published their quarterly newsletter for Spring 2018, and as always it's packed with interesting articles and news covering conservation matters and local history throughout Enfield borough. To list just some of the articles: Enfield's award-winning new council housing in Ponders End and Enfield Wash The Local Heritage List for Enfield (to be read in conjunction with this earlier report on PGC) Blocking of access to the historic Clarendon Arch Planting trees in.......

The history of the Bounds Green Road obelisk

05 January 2018

If you've ever wondered about the "obelisk" in Bounds Green Road, its history and the story of the person is commemorates are recounted by Harringay Online. The obelisk, actually a drinking fountain, was erected in 1879, originally in the middle of the road, but is now located on the grass, opposite Nightingale Gardens.  It commemorates Mrs Catherine Smithies of Earlham Grove, Wood Green, founder of the Band of Mercy Movement.  The Band of Mercy was a predecessor of the RSPCA. .......

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The last of the "secret listeners" has died

20 December 2017

The Trent Park Museum Trust has announced the death of Fritz Lustig, the last of the "secret listeners", who collected invaluable intelligence by listening in to bugged conversations between German prisoners of war during World War 2. This once top secret intelligence gathering was carried out at three large country houses that had been requisitioned, one being Trent Park.  Fritz Lustig, a refugee from Nazi Germany, did not himself work at Trent Park, but as one of only two surviving.......

Restoring the Ally Pally theatre

12 December 2017

Friends of Alexandra Palace Theatre have been publishing videos about the restoration work.  There are three introductory films (the first is number 2 for some reason)... <?php//some text to stop all the films showing on the website home page - though it may not have any effect. ?> {youtube}QPiHDMapf4k{/youtube}  {youtube}M2R7f1BpdQI{/youtube} {youtube}9D6pJKIufrA{/youtube} ...and a new film showing progress to date. {youtube}kjH1uEKIBio{/youtube} Friends of the.......

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WW1 hero to be commemorated in New Southgate ceremony

25 November 2017

A World War 1 officer who was awarded the Victoria Cross is to be commemorated at a ceremony taking place in the street in New Southgate where he was born. At 11am on 1st December a specially made paving stone will be unveiled at a short commemorative event in honour of Captain Alastair McReady-Diarmid. Attendees will include the Mayor of Enfield, Councillor Christine Hamilton, Bambos Charalambous MP, Councillors and members of the Middlesex Regiment, as well as relatives of Captain.......

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Listing our local heritage

22 November 2017

The Local List was published jointly by Enfield Council and the Enfield SocietyHard work and foot slogging put in by teams of volunteers has been rewarded by finalisation and publication of a new heritage list covering the entire London Borough of Enfield. The Enfield Local Heritage List was published last week by the council's Heritage Officer, but the organisation which took the lead in drawing up the list was the Enfield Society, aided by the Enfield Conservation Advisory Group,.......

Keeping tabs on our local war memorials

14 November 2017

The war memorial in Broomfield Park dates from 1929 and has some unique features. It is currently closed for restoration but was opened temporarily for last week's service.Did you know that there are at least 116 war memorials in Enfield? War memorials can be found in schools, places of worship, clubs and work places. They come in a variety of forms, such as: the memorial to the Men of Edmonton, now standing on the busy roundabout at Edmonton Green; the lychgate at St Stephens.......

Enfield Making History: Women at Work - Then and Now

03 November 2017

Do you know women who worked in industry and manufacture in Enfield?  If so, you could help artist Rachael Nee in a new lottery-funded project that she has just embarked on.  Rachael will be collecting stories and pictures that will contribute towards a new publication, website and exhibition - Enfield Making History - Women at Work: Then and Now. Last month Rachael began a 12-week term as Artist-in-Residence at Building BloQs, located at Meridian Water, Edmonton.  Building BloQs.......

"I prefer vulgarity": A rock'n'roll and pop pioneer who grew up in Palmers Green

05 October 2017

This week's newspapers carry obituaries for Jack Good, the TV producer behind Six-Five Special and Oh Boy! who reputedly helped launch the early career of Cliff Richard.  In addition to playing a very important part in the UK's musical revolution of the late fifties and sixties, he was also a TV and film actor and producer of musicals such as Catch My Soul.  He was himself the subject of a West End musical, Good Rockin' Tonite, in the 1990s. The reason for bringing this up is that.......

Living Memories of Forty Hall - a new oral history project

19 September 2017

Catherine Lee-Smith is involved in the launch of a new oral history project: Living Memories of Forty Hall.  Click here to send an email to Catherine. Photo by Pterre reproduced under Creative Commons by 3.0 licence My name is Catherine and I am assisting Verity Roberts in setting up a Forty Hall Oral History Group. OUR AIMS & OBJECTIVES: To discover and capture local peoples’ experience of Forty Hall and the impact that this place has had on their lives. To record this.......

Trent Park Mansion application goes to Planning Committee

12 July 2017

Following three public consultations and discussions with Enfield planning officers, the planning application for the redevelopment of the former Middlesex University campus in Trent Park will go before the Planning Committee on Tuesday 18th July. Berkeley Homes are applying to refurbish the mansion and some other historic buildings, demolish most of the more recent former university buildings and create a total of 262 residential units. A notable inclusion in the plans is the reservation of.......

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When Enfield was the first stop north of Londinium

02 April 2017

The latest publication by the Enfield Archaeological Society (EAS) provides a definitive description and analysis of all the known Roman archaeology in the London Borough of Enfield. First Stop North Of Londinium: The Archaeology of Roman Enfield and its Roadline Settlement has been written by Martin J. Dearne with contributions by Geoffrey Gilbert and Roger Dorner.  The title refers to the fact that the settlement that grew up around Ermine Street - an important Roman road linking London.......

Talkies brings you a historic and groundbreaking film, with a live orchestra

14 March 2017

Talkies Community Cinema has never been known to rest on its laurels.  This month the locally based "pop-up" cinema will be launching its third HERE film festival with a special event featuring for the first time a live orchestra.  The film in question is of great historical importance and was itself a groundbreaking achievement when it was first shown just over a hundred years ago. Talkies' screening of The Battle of the Somme on 22nd March at Heartlands High School will form part.......

Free training sessions at Southgate Adelaide Hockey Club

26 February 2017

The latest addition to the PGC Community Directory is a hockey club in Southgate which offers free weekly training sessions to members and non-members alike and is on the lookout for more members. Southgate Adelaide is a men's club, but shares its facilities with a ladies' club,  Hendon and Mill Hill Hockey Club It runs three/four teams playing on the astroturf pitch at Ashmole Academy (Southgate, N14 5RJ) and does its socialising just down the road at the Walker Ground Clubhouse.......

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